Brownsville Homeschool Association: April 2009

Monday, April 27, 2009

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.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

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

Sunday, April 5, 2009

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

Supply List for Home School Classes

Supplies for Home School Classes--Each Student should have:

K-3rd Grade Supplies

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 Grade Supplies Three Ring Binder with dividers for different subjects

Spiral Notebook

Pencils (at least 6-8)

Dictionary

Colored Pencils (crayons are fine too)

8th-12th Grade Supplies

Three Ring Binder with dividers for different subjects

Pencils and/or pens

Colored Pencils

Spiral Notebook

Dictionary

**All students need tennis shoes, gym shoes or the like for PE. These can be worn each week, brought extra to change into or kept in class. For safety reasons, flip flops, slip-on’s, boots or sandals should not be worn to PE.

Enrichment Classes

Brownsville Homeschool Association offers Enrichment classes on Monday's at the Central Linn District Office in a classroom setting. We have three classes; K-3rd Grade, 4th-7th Grade and 8th-12th Grade. We begin at 8:45AM and finish at 1PM.

We offer:
Science (All grades)
History (All grades)
Sign Language (All grades)
Physical Eduction (All grades)
Creative Writing (4th-12th grades)

Please check below for an explanation of each class

Enrichment Class Explanation

Science--Science is broken into three groups K-3rd Grade, 4th-7th Grade and 8th-12th Grade--all of which study the same subject, just on different learning levels. There are hands on experiments and a great opportunity for kids to do what you don't do in your home school program! We are planning to continue the microscope unit and move into Marine Biology. Science for K-3rd & 4th -7th is taught by Felicia Molahan and 8th-12th is taught by Dana Morehead.

History--History is broken into three groups K-3rd Grade and 4th-7th Grade and 8th-12th Grade. All classes study the same subject, just on different learning levels. We use many resources for history, including books, videos, visuals, speakers, and stories. We will continue with Native American History and then work in the early 1900's. History for K-3rd & 4th -7th is taught by Felicia Molohan and 8th-12th is taught by Shawn Garrett.
Sign Language--We are fortunate to have Dana Morehead who is very fluent in Sign Language to teach our kids. She has done a lot of interpreting, and what a great way for your kids to get a 2nd language.

PE--Physical Education is offered for all age groups, and split into three groups, K-3rd, 4th-7th and 8th-12th. A great way for your home schooled student to join in group activities

PE is taught by Shawn Garrett and Dana Morehead

Creative Writing-Creative Writing is broken into two groups. The High School Class and the advanced Middle School class are both taught by Shawn Garrett. Jennifer Ewing teaches more of the fundamentals to the new writers in 4-7th grade. Attention is given to creative writing, techniques and reports.

Meet Our Teachers

Dana Morehead--Dana has been with the program for 8 years...and teaching for 7. She is fluent in sign language which makes her a great asset to our program and to the kids. She will be teaching High School Science, and K-3 PE.

Shawn Garrett--Shawn has been with the program since January of 2009. He is a great asset to our High School Class and teaches History, Creative Writing, and teaches PE to 4th-12th grades.

Jennifer Ewing--Jennifer joined us October 2009, and brings Language Arts as her specialty. She is working with the 4-7th grade Creative/Fundamentals Writing Class and also heads up many of our online programs and home school opportunities through the district. She's a great source of home school help!

Registration forms for Home School Group

--Registration Form (either Elementary K-6 or Jr High/High School 7-12)
--Household Verification
--Emergency Card (To be filled out the first day of class--available in the classroom)

A district transfer form is required at the end of the 2nd week you preview classes if you are not currently in the Central Linn School District. We do not turn in registration forms for two weeks...but do require them to be turned in when you preview classes. The district transfer form has to be renewed each year.

Forms will be given to you after the first class, providing you have decided to return. An emergency card is required the first day of class, regardless if you plan to stay in the program or not. We need to know allergies, emergency contacts, etc.

State Testing Requirements

Students in home schooling need to be tested by August 15th following the completion of 3rd, 5th, 8th and 10th Grades. Results are due to LBL ESD by September 30th of the indicated test year.

Our own Dana Giles is a state certified Home School Tester and although she has moved, she is still willing to test our kids in her home in Eugene, or if a group is ready to test, she can schedule a date & time in Brownsville!

She can be reached for you testing needs

Rates are as follows for basic testing:

Individuals $50.00

*Basic Testing includes tests required by ESD: Vocabulary, Comprehension, Language Mechanics, Language Expression, Math Computation, Math Concepts and Math Applications.

Additional testing categories of Spelling, Study Skills, Science & Social Studies can be added for a fee of $20.00. The ESD does not require test scores in these categories but some families find it helpful for monitoring their children's progress.

Any questions? Please contact Dana Giles at danddgiles@hotmail.com or call her at home at 541-343-3446

Brownsville Homeschool Association