Silver Dollar City Homeschool Rates

Silver Dollar City has a homeschool weekend in the fall

Event Details

  • Exclusive Homeschool classes available! Tickets must be pre-purchased.
  • Continue to watch the website for a Homeschool Weekend Schedule of Activities.
  • Registration at Guest Relations Horseshoe from 8:30-Noon (pick up FREE goodies).
  • The Marvel Cave Mystery Tour is back in 2014! Join fellow spelunkers as you travel through Marvel Cave attempting to solve the mystery of what nearly wiped out our Gray Bat population a couple decades ago. Complete a student workbook as you go from station to station gathering evidence and solving equations to help you determine the culprit. Book early, only 1 tour available.
  • Meet master craftsmen and watch them in action as we Salute The Great American Cowboy during National Harvest Festival.
Event Ticket Prices
Adult (age 12+):$47.00 + tax $50.51
Child (age 4-11):$37.00 + tax $39.77Price includes 2-day admission.

Ticket Details

Meal tickets available and include buffets! These optional meal tickets are charged in addition the admission price.

• Adult: $11.82 ($12.70)

• Child: $6.33 ($6.80)

Or you can use this special Homeschool rate with a code anytime, it looks like. Check the web for all the details.

(Thank you, Kristen!)

Fermilab adventures

Check this out from Fermilab:

Fermilab Science Adventures — January – May 2014

Fermilab: Explore the Science Around You

The Spring Science Adventure class list, registration instructions and a downloadable registration form are available on our website. http://ed.fnal.gov/sciadv

In addition to many favorite classes, look for these new and returning adventures:

January 25, 2014 – Magnetic Magic, grades 1-4

February 1, 2014 – Snow Crystals, grades K-5

March 1, 2014 – Girls Scientific Salon, grades 4-7

April 26, 2014 – Creativity and Circuitry, grades 3-5 – NEW!

May 3, 2014 – The Bugs are Back! grades 2-4

Spread the word to your friends. To be added to our e-mail notification list, contact sdahl@fnal.gov.

Links to Upcoming Public Events:

Fermilab Family Open House – February 9, 2014, 1:00 – 5:00 PM

The FREE open house will be most appropriate for families with children in grades 3 and up. Tours restricted to those ages 10 and up. Go to the website to register for the tours. Watch the website for updates.

Visit the Fermilab Education Office at Family Science Days at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting

February 15-16, 2014, 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Family Science Days

Family Science Days are FREE and open to all. Explore interactive science exhibits, learn about cool science jobs, and have your questions answered by scientists! This free community science showcase features hands-on demos, shows, and other activities appropriate for K-12 children and their families. Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, IlL 60601.

Wonders of Science (Ages 7-12) – April 6, 2014, 1:00 – 2:00 PM

Tickets: $4.00/person (nonrefundable). Contact edreg@fnal.gov (preferred) or 630-840-8259 with questions. Printable registration forms available on our website at: http://eddata.fnal.gov/lasso/program_search/wos_form.html

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)) High School Career Expo April 23, 2014, 5:30 – 8:30 PM

The program, held at Fermilab’s Wilson Hall, is FREE and no registration is required.

Fermilab Outdoor Family Fair (Ages 5-12) June 8, 2014, 1:00 – 4:00 PM

Activities include walking the emerging tallgrass prairie, netting for land and water critters and visiting the bison herd. The fair is FREE.

Get to Know the Lederman Science Center

Explore Fermilab science from a kid’s point of view! Bring your family for a guided tour of Lederman Science Center exhibits on the first Saturday of each month from 10:00 AM to noon. No registration is required.

Fermilab Science Adventures is also a Facebook Group.

If you are a Facebook member, go to the top search box and search for “Fermilab Science Adventures” and click “Ask to Join Group” on the top right. As a member you can read and post questions and comments to the other members of this group. You can also have online chats with other members of the group.

Contact Program Staff

Marge Bardeen, Education Office Manager, mbardeen@fnal.gov

Susan Dahl, sdahl@fnal.gov

Andrea Cox, avarry@fnal.gov

Free Homeschool Expo coming Crystal Lake

Sunday, November 3, 11 AM-3 PM, FREE Home School Expo at Park Place
Sunday, November 3, 11 AM-3 PM, FREE Home School Expo at Park Place

Park Place, a Crystal Lake Park District banquet facility will be hosting the 1st Annual Home School Expo (FREE admission) on Sunday, November 3, 2013, 11 am-3 pm, Park Place, 406 W. Woodstock St, Crystal Lake. “Whether you’re a seasoned homeschooler, a newcomer or simply a curious parent, this event has exhibitors, vendors, displays and plenty of important information for everyone,” says Lauren Thibodeau, Park Place Facility Manager.

Vendors include: The Racket Club, Crystal Lake Park District, Johnsburg Public Library, Crystal Lake Public Library, MCCSG, All Star Tutoring, Crystal Ice House, Classical Conversations, Fox River Valley Library, DK Books, Music Makers for Life, Lindmood-Bell Learning, Bit of a Boost, Congressman Hultgren, Epic Air Park, Roots Education, Milestone Therapy Center, Elite Kids, Raue Center for the Arts, Young Living Essential Oils, Creative Arts School and Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois.

For more information contact Lauren Thibodeau, 815-477-5871, lthibodeau@crystallakeparks.org

Scholastic’s big sale

Scholastic Book Fairs BIG EVENT Warehouse Book Sale 25% to 80% OFF EVERYTHING! Most items discounted at least 50%
Register online to receive additional savings coupon. $10 OFF your $50 purchase OR $25 OFF your $100 purchase.
You’re invited to our exclusive Big Event Warehouse Book Sale. 25% to 80% OFF EVERYTHING!

Register now and receive a valuable coupon for an extra $10* or $25* off!

Visit our special book sale exclusively for school and district employees, homeschool directors and teachers, Book Fair chairpeople, and school volunteers. You’ll find deep discounts on selected hardcovers, paperbacks, and school supplies.

Take an extra 50% off permanently reduced red tag items!
Maximize Title I funding and purchase order dollars.
Hundreds of items $2.00 or less.
Great way to refresh school, home, and classroom libraries!
Save more with Build-a-BOX!** Fill a box with books from a specially selected collection. Pay only $24.95 plus tax for each box you build.
Find a Sale Near You &
Get Additional Savings!
* $10 off your $50 purchase or $25 off your $100 purchase.
**Participating locations only. While supplies last. Locations participating in Build-a-BOX are identified with a symbol. Preferred payment methods: credit cards, checks, purchase orders, and Scholastic Dollars. Note: Items purchased with Scholastic Dollars do not qualify for further discount pricing and will sell at the full cover price.

Teaching Homes for Christ curriculum sale

Website: http://www.teachinghomes.org/

Annual Used Book/Curriculum Sale

Where:
First United Methodist Church of West Chicago
643 E. Washington St. (Geneva Rd.)
West Chicago, IL 60185
(1 block east of Walgreens on the corner of Washington & Rt. 59)

When:
Saturday, April 27th
2-5 p.m.

The contact person for the sale is Terri Moore. booksale@teachinghomes.com Please contact her if you have questions or are interested in selling. All sellers will be assigned a seller number to put on the official tags. You may not drop off materials for the sale without a seller number.

Educator’s Night at the Museum in Sycamore

Midwest Museum of Natural History

Hi Homeschool families!

The Midwest Museum of Natural History is holding an educators’ open house on Thursday, February 28, 4:30-6:30 pm. The event is for teachers, scout leaders, homeschool parents, and other educators in the community. Explore the Museum, enjoy refreshments, and learn about the resources the Museum has to offer. The event is free. Please rsvp by calling the Museum at 815-895-9777 or reply to this email.

We hope to see you there!

Molly Trickey

Executive Director

Calendar of Events
A quick view of events, classes and other things of interest. Enjoy!

Coming up…

Heart Dissection
February 16

Big Run Wolf Ranch
March 16

STEM Exploration Lab
March 30

Educators’ Night at the Museum

Thursday, February 28, 4:30-6 pm

You’re invited! Join us for an open house for educators at the Midwest Museum of Natural History in Sycamore.

Explore the Museum, enjoy refreshments, meet our live animals, and learn about the programs we offer, including our new Educator Resource Boxes.

The event is FREE, but please RSVP by calling 815-895-9777 or email information@mmnh.org

Educator Resource Boxes are supported by a grant from the DeKalb County Community Foundation.

Where: Midwest Museum of Natural History
425 West State Street • Sycamore, Illinois 60178
Phone: (815) 895-9777

Website: www.MMNH.org

Choosing a co-op

For most of our homeschool years we have not involved ourselves in a co-op. However, there have been certain seasons when we have found them a helpful addition to our curriculum.  As we enter into a new year, many people find themselves beginning planning for next school year. Since we are still teaching and running a household the planning can be a long process, and it is beneficial to take your time and digest the resources, information, and opportunities that surround you.

Sharing from personal experience, I thought it might be helpful to put into writing some of the important considerations in choosing a co-op.

The top three I think are the most important — schedules, cost, and family fit.

Scheduling – Take some time to consider all of the scheduling ramifications of a co-op. You will be committed, each week on a certain day and time to be somewhere, whether it is all day or just an hour or two. This can be a great thing, but make sure it fits in your daily routine and your weekly schedule. Make sure you understand the commitment before jumping in. And, can you back out at the end of the semester if it isn’t a good fit? Especially if the co-op requires volunteer hours or the teaching of a class, all of those will fall on you as well.

Cost – Be sure to add up all the expenses — class fees, books, registration fees, per semester costs, etc. At one point I realized that instead of my child taking one class I would rather spend a little more on what we were doing at home and just enjoy staying put.

Family fit – What are your kids’ ages? Do they have programming available for everyone? Are you kids interested in the classes available? Are you still juggling naps? Consider each child and their needs and developmental ability to make sure it is a workable fit.

Reasons to skip it (at least for now)

Takes you away from each other – One of the huge joys of homeschooling is time together. Some homeschoolers spend much of each day in the car chasing opportunities for different children. Not wrong to take advantage of a beneficial time of learning, but sometimes you might find the greater benefit in staying home. Sometimes.

Immaturity and other issues– Another one of the many reasons that I homechool is that some of my kids would not have fit well into a classroom at the state designated age for kindergarten. They needed to run a bit still. Different kids at different ages will benefit more or less from a more structured class environment. Most co-ops are a little more flexible than a traditional classroom, but it is still important to consider the suitability of the situation to your child’s personality and level.

Husband’s perspective- Always seek unity. I don’t rush into anything without talking it over with my husband. Sometimes he leaves the choice to me and is fine either way, but other times he has a stronger opinion about our participating, or not, in a particular activity. I always value his perspective on the situation and want to make a decision that we both are comfortable with.

Other considerations –

Accountability – I think I hear this the most often for why people joined a co-op. They just wanted someone else on a regular, but not daily, basis keeping them and their child on track. Other homeschoolers are in exactly the same place as you and there is something wonderfully enlivening about seeing them once a week and knowing that the rest of the week they are grinding away at the assignments as well. Academic excellence is an important goal and if the co-op will gently keep you on that path, then that is a great reason to join.

Tough subjects — whether it is a subject you hate or one you just plain ol’ don’t understand, a co-op can be a real life saver in certain subjects. Whether it is high level math, speech, writing, or high school science (Physics played a role in our co-op consideration), you might find a co-op a great fit for filling your teaching gap.

Educational philosophy– They might not have to agree with your completely, but you will want to at least be compatible. Be sure you understand their approach and how it affects their classes (worksheets and books chosen, topics of study, class structure, etc.)

Time commitment – you will usually be required to assist, teach, or fill volunteer roles. Don’t forget about transportation times. This will cost everybody’s time if you have other kids at home that you are teaching.

Doctrinal statement – This may or may not apply to you, but this was a significant factor in our decision. Do they have one? Must the teachers agree to it? Must the families agree to it (one parent or both)? Are classes taught from a clear, stated worldview? Do you fit with it, or are you just “ok” with it?

Size and experience– Pros and cons both ways here. I prefer small and personal, others prefer large with lots of choices. Some might like fresh and innovative, others might prefer established and with a track record.

Behavior expectation– what do they expect in class and how do they enforce it? This is important to know if your child happens to be the one that struggles in a new setting or if he might be influenced by the “other kid” who does.

And, a few NOT good reasons to join a co-op :

(these may be way down on your list somewhere, but they will hopefully never be the driving force behind your decision to seek out a co-op)

Socialization – Hopefully you are as sick of hearing this as I am. Your kids need you, not a group of peers to show them how to relate in this world. Yes, they need to work that out with others at times, but you don’t need a weekly commitment to a co-op to accomplish that.

Default -Everyone’s doing it. Um, if everyone jumped off the cliff . . . 😉

Insecurity – Do seek out other homechool moms that can encourage you in your journey, but don’t assume that you need someone else teaching your child for them to get an adequate education.  There are lots of resources that you can use right at home in a subject that you struggle with.  Trust who God has made you to be and His wisdom in placing these children under your care. You can do it!

There is not one perfect co-op and even amazing co-ops don’t necessarily make a suitable fit for every family. Take your time and get to know the co-op, the leadership, some of the members, and even the facility. It does not matter if they worked well for others, what matters is if it will improve your homeschool or take away from it.

I know my bias comes through in this post and as much as we love what we have received and been able to offer through our current co-op, I am more of a non-co-op person. I just love being at home with my kids learning and living life together. But, I also know what an amazing tool a suitable co-op can be in your homeschooling arsenal, so weigh the decision, and enjoy another year of homeschooling whether it’s all under your roof or a little here and a little there.

SEE THE LIGHT Art Curriculum

Art is one of those areas you either enjoy teaching, you “outsource,” or you unfortunately avoid as unessential. However, if we simply drop this as an unneeded subject we are doing a disservice to our kids, but private art lessons can be costly and time consuming.

Rather than skip it or offer them a sub-par artistic education, there is a wonderful resource that you can use to teach your kids art within your own home, and, for significantly less than individual art lessons.

SEE THE LIGHT DVDs integrate art and Bible with step by step lessons.  They offer three distinct product lines :

ART CLASS – 9 DVD set with 36 lessons to last you a full school year and lay the foundation for great art skills

ART PROJECTS – Take your art skills into specific projects and styles for another year of art instruction

BIBLE STORIES – Five more lessons related to specific stories from the Bible.

You will thoroughly enjoy each of the teachers that come uniquely qualified as artists and as dedicated Christians.

We have personally enjoyed their first sample lessons and I will have a review coming in a few weeks on one of the Art Project DVDs as well. These are great products and essential for no-fuss art instruction that will work across the spectrum of ages.

Check out all the information, their useful resources, and some free tips and sample lessons at their website, http://www.seethelightshine.com

Scholastic Warehouse Sale

Here’s the website with all the details: http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/events/warehouse/

They have some great deals on everything in their warehouse and you can register in advance to get a coupon for $10 off a $25 purchase. Great for stocking stuffers, gifts, or motivational rewards for your favorite “students.” It looks like they don’t have as many in the area as they used to, so it might be more of a drive for you, but still some great opportunities around the Chicago area.

Getting Your Elementary or Middle School Aged Children Started Learning Spanish

Guest post by Debbie Annett
Author of Spanish for You! – A Simple, Effective, Affordable Curriculum for Grades 3-8

You CAN give the GIFT of language. Parent or teacher, Spanish speaker or not, YOU ARE
ABLE to accomplish more than just vocabulary learning with your elementary and middle
school students. It just takes knowing a little about the language learning process and how to
do it.

The Language Learning Process
Language learning takes time and practice, much like learning to play an instrument or a sport.
Becoming fluent takes many years, unless your student(s) is in an immersion situation where
he/she is using Spanish with Spanish speakers for several hours every day.

However, most parents would like their children to become fluent by the time they are adults.
This means that you have many years to accomplish the goal. So, get your students started in
elementary or middle school. You can work on things steadily, over time, in a non-stressful
way.

If you are not a language teacher, knowing something basic about the language learning
process will help you should you decide to get started on your own. You can do this!

We can break language down into 2 elements, receptive and expressive. Receptive refers to
the language we receive and need to understand. That would be listening and reading.
Expressive refers to the language we express and use to make ourselves understood. That
would be speaking and writing.

When we first learn a language we learn the receptive piece. Think of babies learning their
first language. They come to understand all that they receive from those speaking around
them and slowly begin to express themselves. First they say words, then phrases, then more
over time. They learn the receptive piece first and then develop the expressive piece.

When teaching a language you want to provide students opportunities to read and listen, and
then slowly get them to write and speak. Their EXPRESSIVE language should be encouraged
first as words, then phrases, and then sentences.

And know this – speaking is the most difficult piece. Spoken fluency is the icing on the cake.
And that will come after many years of steady practice and study. YOU, as the parent or
teacher, are getting them started and preparing them for higher level learning in high
school and maybe college.

How to Do It
You know some basics about the language learning process. Now, how do you get started?

First, choose a curriculum/product that is:
1. easy to use – meaning it has a lesson guide or something you follow
2. can be used by a Spanish teacher or not, or for self-study
3. provides lots of audio, so you can hear what is in the book – important!
4. provides lots of self-checking practice
5. provides a variety of practice activities to develop listening, speaking, reading, and
writing skills
6. provides opportunities to practice with others – this means the product can be used by
individuals AND has the flexibility to be used with others.
7. does more than just teach vocabulary and phrases. You do not want your student(s) to
just memorize some things. You want your student(s) to learn how the language works.
8. economical – this is not a must, BUT there are some good ones out there that provide all
the above and accomplish A LOT without the big price tag! (Ahem, Spanish for You! is one!)

Second, decide on your approach and schedule.
1. If your approach is to create a class or be teaching in a school, then decide how much
time you have each week to devote to Spanish and how much outside of class you want
students to practice. For example, you might schedule a class 1 hour each week with 4 days
of homework, 10-20 min. each day. OR one class for 1/2 hour a week with 2 to 4 days of
homework, 10-15 min. each day, etc.

2. If your approach is at home for self-study, then decide how much time you have each
week to devote to Spanish. You may schedule your efforts 20 minutes 3 times a week, OR 30
minutes twice a week, etc.

NO MATTER YOUR APPROACH WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THAT YOU KEEP IT STEADY.
If you “fall off the wagon” occasionally do not fret. Just pick back up and keep going. You want
to look at the big picture. If you have kept things going steadily 80% of the time, for example,
things will be fine. It is when you “fall off the wagon” most of the time that you may not get
results.

(A side note – It is ok to take summers off, or holiday time off. You will not ruin your efforts. During
summers it helps to do a little review here and there, just to stimulate the brain and keep those
connections going.)

As you can see, it is VERY possible for you to begin your student(s) learning Spanish even if
you do not have experience with the language or teaching. You just need to know some
basics about the language learning process and how to do it. You just need to work steadily
over time. Do that, and you will have something of value.

If you would like to learn more about the Spanish for You! curriculum, please visit us at
www.spanish-for-you.net.

I wish you all the best in your language learning efforts!