Hedstrom's Lumber Field Trip

Here are a couple of videos of the mill that Molly took. She has some more that I might add if I get some time. It looks like it was really interesting.

I had written down some of the things the kids learned on the field trip, but I can't find that at the moment (total chaos right now). I'll try to add more to this in future. Enjoy!

Reporting to the School District

Just a reminder, report forms to ISD 166 are due by October 1. Report to the district if you are home educating a child/children aged 7 (on or before October 1) through 15. You can find report forms that allow you to report what is legally required HERE.

These forms completely take the place of those from the Department of Education that you may have received from the school district. Please take advantage of these forms as they have been created by MACHE to report all required information, and nothing else. They are very simple to fill out. It takes only a couple of minutes to do.

If you haven't filed a report before, use the form entitled Initial Report to Superintendent . If you sent in your report to the district last year, please use the form entitled Letter of Intent to Continue Homeschooling.

It is fine to use forms created by other state groups or organizations as well, such as Home School Legal Defense Association, Minnesota Catholic Home Educators, Minnesota Homeschoolers' Alliance or any others that I don't know about.

If you really want to, and you're aware that you're reporting more information than you have to, you can also use the forms from the Department of Education. This will result in more work on your part as you assess and document progress, as these forms still ask the parent/instructor to file quarterly report cards with the district as well as report the names of assessments you will use to assess your students' progress in areas not covered by standardized tests.

You can find a legal analysis of Minnesota Homeschool Law HERE, if you are interested in reading it.

As always, please feel free to email or call me with any concerns or questions you may have.
I wish you all the very best year of homeschooling!

Educational Opportunities In Our Community

Andra Lilienthal, the Community Education Assistant, recently sent me an e-mail asking if I would post some information about community education events. There are a lot of great opportunities being offered through Community Education this fall. Click here to check it out!

***Please check the Field Trip page for information on the field trip to Ocontoe***
- I will be bringing some of the new report forms and letter of intent forms to hand out at Ocontoe, and will be available to answer any questions about the new law that you may have. If you aren't attending the Ocontoe field trip, but have a question or want a copy of the new forms, please call or email and I'll get you the information that you need.

Minnesota Homeschool Law Changes

The Homeschool Mandate Reduction Bill has passed, and Minnesota now has new, simpler reporting laws. Please see the following link for a summary of those laws.
Summary of Homeschool Law Changes
I will be attending a webinar on these changes to our homeschool laws and what it means for us next week. I will try to post again if/when I have more information. If you have any specific questions you would like answered, please add a comment here or call/email me and I'll try to make sure I get an answer to your questions.

Best wishes to you all as you prepare for the 2011/2012 school year!

Apology

I apologize to whomever may have gone to the campground playground yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon and found that I didn't show up. I completely forgot to go! I will try hard to remember to show up next Tuesday at 12:15. I hope to get the chance to visit with some of you there.

Summer Kid's Camp

Hi all!
I hope you all are having wonderful summers, and feeling refreshed and energized for the school year ahead.
Christine Kunze has informed me of an opportunity for the kids to be involved in some great field trips through this Summer Kid's Camp program. If you're interested, explore this link for more information.

Christine will be attending the next two field trips (which will be the next two Thursdays) as a chaperone. The first will be to Wolf Ridge E.L.C. and the next to Fort William.

If you're interested in having your children participate in the Wolf Ridge trip you will have to register by Monday. You can call Christine at 387-2338 if you have any questions that aren't answered by following the above link.

As an aside, I apologize for not rescheduling our picnic, but hope to do so in the future. Until then, would anyone be interested in having a playground afternoon once a week? I'll plan to be at the campground playground next Tuesday at 12:15 (right after swimming lessons). I'm going to bring a picnic lunch for my kids. Anyone who wants to is welcome to join us. If there's interest, I'll be planning to be there every Tuesday at the same time. We hope to see some of you. :)
Have a GREAT weekend!

A Quote For the Day

"There's no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one." -Jill Churchill

I read that and just loved it. It's true! We as mothers so often are focused on all of our short comings. That's too bad when we could pull some good mothering out of our hat and use it any time. When I read, "...a million ways to be a good one" some wonderful thoughts came to mind instantly. Too bad up to that point I was wasting useless time and emotional energy feeling like such an "imperfect" mother. Please excuse me; I've got some wonderful kids who could use a good mother right now! Happy Fourth of July weekend, everyone!