Thanksgiving Luncheon

We had a great thanksgiving feast today, thanks to all the families that contributed food items. It was very tasty, all in part to our great kitchen help!

Thanks to those who helped with food, set up, cooking, clean up & anything else we might have overlooked, not seen or requested!

Check out the photos....pictures are worth a thousand words!

Group Picture

The group picture is in!!

If you ordered & paid for a group photo...you can pick one up in the K-3rd class.

Regular pictures should be in before Christmas break. We sent back the corrections & proofs this last week. We will keep you posted!

Heart Dissection in Science Class

Today was a big day for the home school classes. Everyone got to witness a dissection of the heart. Some of our students that returned from last year, saw this before, but when you can SEE how something works, TOUCH it to see how it feels, and UNDERSTAND better by participating, it's all worth the "EWWW", the "UCKS" and the "GROSS" comments that are flying around when you first bring out something like this. However, by the time we were observing chambers, and poking probes through arteries to show how blood flows, it was totally quiet, total attention was given, and this is what makes teaching so fun....what a kick!

Thanks to the Morehead family for the donation of two deer hearts. We also had a steer heart, and it was interesting to the kids to see that other than the size...every heart is the same!

Check out the photos. These kids are gearing up to our fetal pigs!

Thanksgiving Celebration NOV 23rd,2009

All classes will be having a Thanksgiving Luncheon on NOVEMBER 23rd at 11:15 AM. This will take place of their lunch. No lunch needed that day!
Please help out by providing an item for our luncheon. The list will be sent home on the 9th. If it is perishable, please do not bring it until the morning of the 23rd. Non-perishables can be brought in prior if you wish. Items should be in the kitchen NOVEMBER 23rd, no later than 9:30 AM, so items can be prepared in time for lunch. IF for some reason you have any trouble with the request, contact Shawnna or Dana so we can make other arrangements.

Thanks for your continued support!

Registration Forms are ONLINE!!

If you need registration forms for the first day of class--they are here & can be printed!!

Go to the sidebar, and follow it down to "registration forms". Choose the ones you need, save them to your computer and print them from home!

Back to School Meeting Update

We had a good turn out yesterday (August 10th), and lots of new faces! Welcome! It was great to meet each of you. We hope to become more aquainted when school starts! As for those familiar faces...we missed you over the summer. It was great to see you too!

If you missed the meeting, and are planning on sending your children to homeschool group, please contact me by e-mail, so that I can get you on the class list. We want to be prepared for supplies for science, sign and for class size. We want to ensure your child a spot, as we will only take 25 per class....the High School we will cut off between 15-18 due to classroom size.

We covered a lot of information--I will try to get it all down.

Registration forms were passed out. If you filled them out, and returned them before leaving--you are all set except the emergency card (one per student) that you will need to fill out on the morning of the 14th. If you took them, and have them in your possession...please bring them back filled out. If you didn't get them, or didn't make the meeting--e-mail me, and I will send the forms to you via e-mail. District transfer forms are required by the 3rd week of classes for those coming in from other districts.

First Day of Class- Monday, September 14th, 2009

Home School Calendar for 2009/2010

School begins September 14th, 2009

Christmas Break December 21st & December 28th, 2009

Martin Luther King Day, January 18th, 2010

Presidents Day, February 15th, 2010

Spring Break, March 22nd, 2010

Last day of Classes May 17th, 2010

PICTURES—
Scheduled for October 26th @ 9:00AM
Picture packets will come home around the 1st week of October

FIELD TRIP—OREGON GARDENS Home School Day
Tuesday September 15th, 2009 - 10am - 2pm
Admission
$8 Adults Children 7 and under Free
$6 Students (8-18) Admission includes tram ride
The Oregon Garden would like to invite all home schoolers ages 5-12 to visit the Garden in full bloom. Learn more about your natural world as you investigate a wetland habitat and visit the Rediscovery forest. See our new tropical house and discover unique plant adaptations. We will have hands-on learning stations set up throughout the Garden that you may visit at your own pace. Pre-registration is not required! Check in at the Visitors Center located at the upper parking lot entrance to pay admission and receive packet of station information and resources. Activities are geared toward ages 5-12, younger siblings or older students are welcome. Picnic area will be available. Bring your own lunch or visit our café.
For more information contact Cindy Quam at 503-584-7256.

We will meet at Oregon Gardens. If you are interested in Carpool info-call 367-5178.

Helpful Sites
www.bookfinder4u Great prices on new & used books—they find the cheapest place for you!
www.bvillehomeschool.blogspot.com Our own web address—we have lots of helpful links, and try to keep info current.

SUPPLIES FOR CLASS (PER STUDENT)

K-3rd
Pencil box or similar filled with:

Crayons or colored pencils (no markers please)

Pencils (6-8)
3-4 Glue Sticks Scissors

Please mark box, and all items inside, in case they get misplaced.

4th-7th

Three Ring Binder with dividers for different subjects

Spiral notebook for sign language
Pencils (at least 6-8)
Lined Paper

Dictionary
Colored Pencils (crayons are fine too)

8th-12th

Three Ring Binder with dividers for different subjects
Spiral notebook for sign language

Pencils (at least 6-8)

Lined Paper
Dictionary

Colored Pencils (crayons are fine too)

TESTING:

Benchmark testing through the district is required to be in our program. We are provided the tests, and we take them on Monday's to comply with the Districts requirements. This does not take the place of your required home school testing requirements through ESD. We do this simply because we are in the District's headcount, and our student numbers not testing affects the money they receive from the state.

LUNCHES: Brown bag lunch is needed each week. Non perishable please, or ice pack provided, as we have no refrigeration. Please also send a drink. We do not have a microwave that is ours, so please do not send items that need heated with your child. Thanks!

DONATION: We are asking a $10.00 donation from each family for the year to help defray costs for class supplies that the teachers provide.

ITEMS NEEDED FOR CLASSROOMS:

Paper or plastic cups (5 oz work great--kitchen size dixie cups)

Snacks & Juice for K-3rd class

Ream of colored paper for newsletters

Plastic spoons & forks

LUNCHROOM HELP-We are asking parents to help out with lunchtime. It's very difficult for teachers to get lunch eaten and watch the kids during lunch & recess time. A parent available from 11:30 to 12:30 to help watch kids, and clean up after would be great! There are many that have signed up. The sign up sheet will be in the hallway on the bulletin board by the K-3 class.

ONLINE CLASSES-

The district has also asked about interest regarding online classes for our students. If you are interested in Language Arts, History & Social Sciences, Math, or Science, please get with Shawnna and we will get more information from the district. These classes are geared for Middle & High School students. These are free classes to us.

Home School Field Trip--September 15, 2009

Our first field trip of the year!

We will have a sign up sheet at the meeting for school sign ups (see previous post!) If you can't (or didn't) make the meeting, please e-mail Shawnna if you wish to go.

OREGON GARDENS Home School Day
Tuesday September 15th, 2009 - 10am - 2pm
Admission
$8 Adults
$6 Students (8-18)
Children 7 and under Free
Admission includes tram ride

Description
The Oregon Garden would like to invite all home schoolers ages 5-12 to visit the Garden in full bloom. Learn more about your natural world as you investigate a wetland habitat and visit the Rediscovery forest. See our new tropical house and discover unique plant adaptations. We will have hands-on learning stations set up throughout the Garden that you may visit at your own pace. Pre-registration is not required! Check in at the Visitors Center located at the upper parking lot entrance to pay admission and receive packet of station information and resources. Activities are geared toward ages 5-12, younger siblings or older students are welcome. Picnic area will be available. Bring your own lunch or visit our café.

Back To School Meeting

Hi!!

We are scheduling our back to school meeting at Brownsville Park in Brownsville.

Bring your brown bag lunch and a drink, and join us to get your kids signed up for class. We will let the kids have fun hanging out with their friends (and meet new friends)and play on the playground while we meet. We will discuss schedules for this fall, curriculum and take your suggestions for future things that will be taught.

Where: Pioneer Park--Brownsville From Hwy 228: Turn onto Main Street, cross the bridge, and turn left at City Hall. We will meet at the back of the park near the new play structure.

When: August 10th, 11:30AmWhat to Bring--Lunch for you & your kids, something to drink and if you wish to stay to swim in the river after the meeting....your bathing suit & towel!

Questions? Call Shawnna at 367-5178

Year End Pictures

Our last day of school was spent having some FUN!

We enjoyed some fun activities in our own class groups, and then headed outside for some field games. We had a great time with three legged races, sack races, and a relay race with eggs. The kids did a great job of working together. One thing about our group....young or older kids, they all work together great.

Afterward we had a great lunch bbq style, with help from some great Moms (and a Dad!) Thanks so much! Check out the blog listing below for the details of the last day. The pics are all here!

Enjoy the pictures!

Barnes & Nobel Summer Reading Program Info and other Helpful Tips

We've received lots of useful information from Barnes & Nobel. This info is from the Eugene Store, but is available at all Barnes & Noble. Be sure to get your educator discount card. You only need you EDS paperwork showing your child is homeschooled to get this discount. If anyone has any questions they can contact Andrea at the Eugene store by phone 541.687.0356 or by email at crm2978@bn.com. I hope to see some of you in the store soon to pick up those Summer Reading Logs!

Educator Discount Card
To educators of grades PreK-12, Barnes & Noble offers 20% off the publisher's listprice on titles for classroom use. You can apply for an Educator Discount Card at any Barnes & Noble store- simply present your valid school ID, state registration, or pay stub. A valid driver's license or state ID must be presented each time you use your card.

Educator Appreciation Events
To honor our PreK-12 educators, Barnes & Noble offers a 25% discount on classroom and personal book/gift purchases and 10% off music and DVDs during several Educator Appreciation Weeks throughout the year. We also host Educator Receptions, inviting local educators and school librarians to hear presentations on new book titles and to receive free classroom resources through raffles and giveaways.

Extensive Education Selections for Parents & Teachers
Our stores are great resources that offer an abundance of curriculum-based materials, as well as books about the process of schooling and the nature of education. We also feature reproducible books ideal for use in the classroom and workbooks to aid parents with skills practice at home.

Summer Reading Program
Students in grades 1 through 6 can earn a free book in the Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program by reading eight books and completing a Summer Reading Log. When students return the completed reading log, they can pick a free book from a list of popular titles. This program begins May 26 and goes through Sept 7, 2009. Stop by the store to pick up your Summer Reading Log today!

In-Store Tours
Kids love to visit Barnes & Noble for a personalized store tour. Options can include a personalized storytime, scavenger hunt or "Red Dot" music appreciation lesson!

Summer Break

We finished classes on Monday with a wrap up/field day. It was great fun, and I'm hoping that someone will e-mail some pictures, as I neglected to get my camera out there! Check back, just in case someone takes pity, and e-mails some pictures this way!

The weather was beautiful, the luncheon very well organized by some great volunteer parents ( I usually say ladies, but this year we had a Dad help out--yahoo!) Thanks ladies & Brent for the great job in the kitchen.

Great news...Fetal Pigs for next year's science class have been ordered, and will be shipped to us in mid September, so when we are done with the systems of the body in late September/early October, they will be ready to go. Hoping that some parents might consider helping out with this big venture!

We will have a meeting in August for September classes, which are estimated to resume Monday, September 14th. Watch your e-mail and this website for details. Please remember, if your address, phone or e-mail info changes, please drop us a line, so we can keep you informed.If you have not filled out your end of year survey, letting us know if you are returning or not, please e-mail your answers to us soon!

Boxtops have been submitted, we gathered 400 to send in! We have 32 in our can for the next round! Great job. Keep saving those boxtops through the summer. Those sure add up to help us with science supplies, sign language books and PE supplies.

Have a FUN & SAFE Summer! Thanks for a great year!

RUMOR

School is on for MAY 4th, 2009--


The rumors about the district being closed due to Swine Flu are not true. There have been no outbreaks, and we are on for classes tomorrow, May 4th!! See you then!


PS. While you're here, check out the pictures from our field trip on the post below!

Civil War Re-Enactment Field Trip May 1st, 2009

Brownsville Homeschool Group heads to Cheadle Park to view our 2nd Civil War Re-enactment. We were not disappointed! The rain held off until we were at home!! Yahoo!

The weather was perfect, the stations informative, and the re-enactment,small, but enjoyed by all!!

Angel was chosen to get dressed up in the many layers that women in 1863 wore!

It was a great day at Cheadle Park. There were fewer school groups due to Lebanon and Albany both having in-service days....so therefore, no school for those districts. Bad for them, great for us, who had pretty individualized attention at some stations. With many stations (there were more than 12 this year), and only the ability to hit 7 of them, it makes it tough to decide where to hit. Like last year, many of us spread out, to see the things that most interested us. Even though we go as a group, it's fun to be able to get the group benefits, yet still be able to oversee what your kids do. Those of us that attended last year, were able to catch those stations we missed last year, and visit the favorite ones...still, it wasn't enough. Many headed back today (Saturday) to see the actual enactment, with many more re-enactors than there were yesterday.
Micah with a very heavy cannon ball

The school day is one that is loved and appreciated by us. Thanks to the NW Civil War Council for putting this on. It's all volunteer, and put together well. Thanks again for another great year!!

Ryan & Miranda in the bandage contest at the medical tent

For more info on the NorthWest Civil War Council & events-- visit http://www.nwcwc.org/events.html

Our favorite horse & rider.....Ken Morris & Jeffy....of the 10th NY Cavalry http://nwhorse.com/10ny.htm

Home School Dissection

Today was a big day in Science Class for the students. We were fortunate enough to have a very large cow heart donated for us to dissect! Today started off with a very excited science teacher (Shawnna) and a very helpful aide (Dan Giles) who was gracious enough to help us out today. It was great to have the extra help as three teachers in class are always better than one! Thanks Dan!




The students seemed to enjoy the dissection, some of them wanting to get in there themselves, others content sitting where they were and watching. It gave us a good feel for who is going to be good at this when we do our fetal pigs next fall, and who is going to be our note takers! I must say, I was VERY impressed, as some that I thought would not want anything to do with it, stepped right up, touched, held, and did a great job! Well done!

Unfortunately, I did not get pictures of the older class during dissection, but did get a few of the younger class, and also some students after class that wanted a closer look. Check it out!

Thanks also to friends Bill & Debbie who went the extra mile to help us get this incredible cow heart and to Marcus (one of our students) and family for bringing a deer heart (AND for storing it all winter in your freezer). They were great learning tools today.

TESTING FOR HOME SCHOOL (ESD TESTING)

To be compliant with ESD Home School Laws, you need to test your child in Grades 3,5,8 & 10. Some parents choose to test each year, just to make sure they have covered all the bases for the grade they are teaching. If you need to have testing done for ESD or for your own knowledge, then check out the following dates, and/or one to be added sometime after June 3rd.

Dana Giles has graciously set two testing dates so far. There will be one more testing date set sometime in June. If you are interested, please get with Dana to schedule. The cost for each child is $40.00. 466-3525

May 8th, Testing Grades 3 and up, 9:00AM

May 14th, Testing any grades, 1:00PM

Civil War Re-Enactment May 1st 2009

Join us on May 1st at 8:30 AM (events start at 9am) at Cheadle Lake Park for the Civil War Re-enactment. This is more than a re-enactment though--it is a day geared for kids to learn. There are stations set up around the battlefield, where kids can switch stations every 25 minutes to see all aspects of the Civil War.

These are the stations that are available:

Artillery

Medical

Infantry

Calvary

Civilian Life

Period Dance

Period Fashion

Music

War Reporting

Military Music

At the end of the stations, approximately 1:30, there will be skirmish re-enactment. The battle will be finished around 2pm.

Lunch is sack lunch, and seating is on the ground. Please come prepared.

The cost is 2.00 per person, and needs to be paid by April 20th. If you are not able to attend with your child, please make arrangements prior to the day of the event for another parent to be responsible for your child. We can not have kids dropped off at the event without supervision. Please sign up in the hall outside the K-3rd grade class, or contact Shawnna for other arrangments.

If you have any questions, please contact Shawnna at 367-5178. Thanks!

Check out last year's trip here http://bvillehomeschool.blogspot.com/2008/05/civil-war-field-trip-05-16-08.html

WELCOME OUR NEW HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER

We would like to introduce our new High School Teacher to you!

Shawn Garrett joined us on February 23rd. Here's a bit about him:

Shawn was born in Lebanon, and graduated from Lebanon Union High School. He enlisted in the Air Force and spent 6 years as a Current Intelligence Analyst before coming back to Oregon. After 3 years delivering mail he realized that his calling was to work as a teacher and started back to school at LBCC, Lane Community and finally earning a B.S. in Political Science at the University of Oregon. Currently, e is attending the University of Phoenix for his masters in education.

He was an assistant coach for U of O's club baseball team from 2005-2007, in which the 2007 team were national runner-ups. He is currently on staff at Central Linn as the Junior High Basketball and Baseball coach.
He has 2 children, Elizabeth, 15, a junior at CL and Bucky, 13, an 8th grader at CL.

Welcome Shawn....we are happy to have you!

President's Day

NO SCHOOL FEBRUARY 16th, 2009

PRESIDENTS DAY

Enjoy your time off!

Valentines Party Grades K-3

We will be having a Valentines Party in Class on Monday, February 9th. The K-3rd graders will be exchanging valentines and enjoying some treats as well as a fun craft. Grades 4-12 will have treats, and a fun puzzle in class. Valentine Exchange for that class is on their own and optional.

There will be no luncheon...so please, remember your lunch!