Mar. 15, 2007 - Keystone Arts Academy
So much for my regular blog. I started it and promptly forgot about it, LOL!
After going through about 5 very good possibilities for buildings, I think we've finally got an awesome one! There's a building just off the freeway that the owner built as a barn/square dance place about two
years ago but never finished. Right now it's on a dead end road with a couple of houses, but it's slated to be paved through to the freeway exit and a huge commercial development is going in. The developers want a YMCA there, but to get a YMCA building in, they have to have classes first. So, we talked the owner into finishing the building (he's an investor in the development), and we'll share it with the YMCA. We'll pay MUCH less rent for that amount of space than we would in a regular building because we'll share with the YMCA and because the owner wants these classes to get going (and the building is paid for) so he's being really generous. We'll get it in the daytime, and the YMCA will have it afternoons/saturdays (but we could periodically get it in the evenings/saturday if we wanted to.) The building is 5400SF and we'll have a karate floor, an 1800SF dance floor that can be divided into three dance rooms, an art room and two classrooms that can combine into one bigger classroom, plus a play area and parent's waiting area. They say they can have it finished in about 2 months! In about 5 years, though, they plan to plow the building down to make way for new developments and then they'll build a large YMCA building (and hopefully we'll be going well enough so that we can continue on with them or on our own!)
Meanwhile, we've been meeting for our classes in a homeschooling family's basement that they have almost finished. It's nice and roomy and so nice of them to give it up so we can hold classes there.
Here are the classes we've been doing:
Theater: The kids will be putting on "Summer Garden" in May. That's also known as Beauty and the
Beast.
Theater Jr: The younger kids get to be in the "big" play too, but they also get to work on their own little plays in the meantime. That's so they don't get totally bored!
Speech - the kids ages 10 and up have really be honing their public speaking skills, and made great improvements in writing and presenting speeches. They'll have a speech contest in the beginning of April.
Organic Gardening - There is a class for the older kids and the younger kids. This will be so much fun for them, and as parents, we hope it will inspire the kids to WEED, lol!
Math Games - The kids play games that practice basic math facts, and they also learn cool stuff that isn't covered in a workbook.
Mini Math Games - intro to fun math stuff for the littler kids
Crafts Class - we help the little ones make crafts so they don't get too bored. They really look forward to this!
Creative Writing - The teacher is inspiring these kids to write creatively! Even my son who professes to hating poetry really enjoys this.
Ballroom Dance - The kids taking this class are getting really good! They just learned the cha-cha.
Book Discussion - this is a parent/child class to learn all about literature and how to discuss it. My 6 year old's only complaint, "She only read us ONE story!"
Once we get into the new building, we'll be able to offer even more classes. It'll be fun!
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Nov. 9, 2006 - Building update
Well, apparently I'm not doing a great job of doing a regular blogging. I pretty much just completely forget, so I'll have to see if I can make it a habit.
I've been swamped lately trying to get our homeschool building going! I thought we had a place last time I wrote, but it didn't work out. Then we found a perfect building and the rent was great. We were the first ones to look at it, and we told the landlord we wanted it, but we had to check with the city first to make sure zoning was OK. We found out it was fine with the city. A week passed and we weren't able to get in touch with the landlord. Finally I was able to get her on the phone. She'd been sick, but apparently, she showed the place to someone else who handed her the deposit on the spot and she didn't even bother to tell us first.
I just figure God has something even better in mind for this endeavor! We started our homeschool academy anyway in people's houses. We do co-operative classes where the parents teach and get credit to take other people's classes. And if parents don't want to teach, they just pay tuition. So far it's worked out really way, even if I do stupid stuff like post the wrong address...! The older kids (10 & 12) are taking ballroom dance, karate, theater, speech, creative writing and ceramics. They LOVE it. My little ones (3 & 5) are taking math games and a crafts class. The baby (1) just walks around getting into trouble.
My 12 year old son was talking to some publicly-schooled friends the other day. They were all complaining about how much they hated school. He came home and told me about it. He said, "Mom, I told them I LOVED school, and they were all jealous!" He's writing his second novel, working on scouting merit badges, starting up 3-4 businesses, breeding guppies, working his way through "Real World Algebra", creating a website, making a budget, reading classic books and more. He's doing these things because he chose them and he enjoys them.
My 10 year old daughter is teaching herself cursive, reading classic books, and trying to finish up her math book. She is also working on publishing a magazine for kids. She creates new recipes all the time and sometimes even cooks up dinner from scratch all by herself. She also spends a lot of time in gymnastics, she's been competiting in level 5 this fall and has done really well. She even got 9.45 on the floor routine.
My 5 year old son is learning to do his chores quickly in the morning, including feeding his fish even when he doesn't feel like it. He loves to have books read to him, but mostly he loves to play with friends.
My 3 year old daughter is the sweetest little gal, and loves to play dolls, polly pockets and read books.
My 1 year old daughter is a sweetheart too, but she's also a trouble maker. She aims for the toilet every chance she gets!
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Sep. 6, 2006 - New Blog
I've always wanted to do a regular blog. So I guess I'll give it a shot! I picked out the flower template since it matches my 10 year old dd's room that we painted last January.
We started school today! We are trying to implement some TJED (Thomas Jefferson Education) principles, so I am having the 10 & 12 year old do a certain amount of time each day, and they can choose what they want to do. This is called "Structure time, not content." I actually sat down with them on Monday and I helped them set goals as to what they wanted to accomplish. And they wanted to learn about everything, including math. I have never been one for unschooling, but I figured we could try it this way for a while. My 12 yo son said, "Man, my friends are going to be so jealous when I tell them I actually love school."
My 10 yo dd is very motivated to get her time done because I've told her that when she's finished with her time, she can cook what she wants to as long as she cleans up. Today she cooked tortilla soup for dinner to surprise me! That was sure great to find dinner all ready.
I am trying to start up what is essentially a homeschool building where parents can share their talents and come to learn from each other. I haven't been able to stop thinking about this idea for over a year. I am one to get an idea, be very excited about it for a while, and then drop it because I move on to a new idea. Well, this one will not leave me, even when I figure it'd be way too much work. Something always comes up to keep this plan going, and I am feeling like this is probably part of my mission in life!
I've been searching all summer for a location, and my first three locations didn't work out. I've definitely learned a lot! I think we've finally found a location in Pleasant Grove, and I'm pretty sure that this time we will be able to avoid all the problems that occured with the first three locations. Now the big hurdle is that I have to get a conditional use permit and then I can get a business license and get going with it. I have to go before the planning commission on Thursday, Sept. 28, and they should be able to grant me the permit then. Then I will hurry and get all the business licensing done so we can legally occupy the building, and we are hoping to begin on Monday, October 2nd. We have teachers for Karate and Theater classes so far for sure, and hope to add more classes for all ages so that we can consolidate all the running around. I'm hoping some moms will see things that their children need and offer to teach it at our building. That's a "Momschool!"
So this week, I have to file an application for a conditional use permit with the large non-refundable fee. In the meantime, I'm going forth on the assumption that the permit will be granted. I've been working with the small business development center and the counselor there doesn't see any reason why I shouldn't be granted the permit. So after the permit application is filed, I will work on getting the website up and running, and finding teachers to teach classes so I have a good class schedule. And I'll try to gather supplies for the building, such as carpet, toys, chairs, tables, etc.
