SONORAN DESERT HOMESCHOOLERS

Walking in Hozho'

Beauty, happiness and harmony

April 1999

SDH EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

THE READING CLUBS have agreed from now on to meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. The youngest and middle groups will meet at 11:15am and the teen group will meet at 11:00am. When the meeting time for park meeting is changed May 1, due to Summer heat coming on, to 9:30am, then the reading clubs will meet at 9:00am.

The youngest group will be reading "The Giving Tree" on April 27, led by Janet S. In May Heidi H. will be leading the group.

For more info on the middle group please call Judy H.

The teen group will not be starting any new material before our summer break. The group is led by Danetta M., Jane K. and Laurie S. Please call Danneta for more information.

HANDWORK NIGHT OUT

The parent's handwork evening will be held at Sybella's house on Wednesday April 28th, 7:30 pm. All are welcome. Call Sybella for directions and more information.

TEEN CLUB

There is no teen club meeting planned at this time

STAR PARTY AND POTLUCK

On Tuesday, May 18, 1999 we will be combining the Star Party with a Potluck to celebrate the end of another school year. Come to one, or come to both. The potluck starts at 5:30pm; the star party starts at 8:00pm. Both will be at the home of Karen and Brian M. Because the M. family has horses, it would be a good idea to wear sneakers. For the potluck, please bring your own chairs, drinks, place settings, a dish to pass, and a folding table if you have one. For the star party, you may bring a flashlight, but it must be kept pointed down. On May 11 I will pass out an educational packet for the star party. A small donation to cover the cost of printing would be nice. If you have any questions, please contact me at the park or call me. Thanks, Becky L.

Directions: If you need directions please call Karen. (There will be a map on the bulletin board at park meeting the next few weeks as well.)

PRESCHOOL THEATER GROUP

A class for 4-6 year olds is forming now. Please see Jennifer S. at park day, or call the teacher Michelle F. for more info.

DOGS...

A gentle reminder to families with dogs to please be aware that we have several families with young children who are very nervous around them. Please make an effort to keep dogs on the grassy areas of the park, and off of picnic blankets, play structures, and sand play areas. Thank you.

ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING

Part 2

By Debbie G.

Sonoran Desert Homeschoolers met at Fort Lowell Park on April 13, 1999. The purpose of the meeting was to establish guidelines for the operation of the group, and to clarify job positions within the group.

It was accepted that a 2/3 majority of SDH members present for a vote would be required for a vote to be carried. If someone is interested in a particular matter, that person is responsible for showing up to vote, or arranging a proxy or phone vote.

It was accepted that Sonoran Desert Homeschoolers will assume that all members are reasonable people who will behave reasonably.

It was accepted that "If you want to do it, do it," will determine how activities, events, or special interest groups will be implemented within SDH. Don't wait for someone else to do it. If something is important to you, then make it happen.

It was accepted that SDH will be an open group that welcomes the diversity of its membership. The concept of openness encompasses religion and homeschooling style.

The importance of role modeling within the homeschooling community was discussed. Homeschooling parents are conscious of the many ways that children learn, and it was important for the children to see the acceptance of different styles within the group. The people present approved the use of the word "open" in the SDH mission statement.

The group decided that whoever shows up at a park day meeting is entitled to vote at that meeting, and that meeting any or all of the three above criteria would be acceptable to establish membership in SDH.

Felicia L. requested that a deadline for newsletter submissions be established. The newsletter welcomes submissions from all members, especially children. She asked that submissions be either typewritten, for ease of legibility, or e-mailed directly to her. The collection of the subscription fee was discussed. It was decided that collection would begin now, at a charge of $10.00 per year, with an extra amount possibly added to cover the May and June newsletters. People felt that it was desirable to have the subscription period coincide with the SDH year, running September through June.

Carol T. and Lalita K. offered to co-manage the group's finances, which resolved the issue of who would manage the group's money. People talked about the importance of having accurate figures of available funds at any particular time in order to plan events, purchase supplies, etc.

The convening of an annual parents' meeting was discussed. It was felt that this would be a chance for the group to review the past year, and to make changes for the upcoming year. It would provide an opportunity for people to discuss issues important to them, and would allow a way to make any necessary changes in the group.

The SDH mission statement was then reviewed. This had been initially written by Danetta M. and had been presented at the organizational meeting. After a few modifications, the statement now reads:

"Sonoran Desert Homeschoolers is an open, not-for-profit home education network, providing social and creative outlets for homeschooling families. We are not devoted to any one homeschooling approach, political platform, religious outlook, or philosophical ideal. Our homeschooling community supports all families, regardless of their personal lifestyle or educational choices in the area of home education. Our motto is "Hozho'," a Navajo word meaning "harmony" or "walking in beauty or friendship."

This mission statement was accepted by the group.

Conflict resolution was the next subject discussed. The discussion began by explaining that the recommendation of the organizational group, "There will be no conflict," was made in jest. Some people at the park day meeting thought that the group could rely on the reasonableness of its members to get through any problems. Group dynamics could be relied on to take care of minor disagreements before the problems became huge. The group could encourage working out problems directly between two people. Other people were concerned that without an established mechanism for dealing with conflicts, there would be nothing to fall back on in case of a problem. It was decided that people interested in creating a conflict resolution mechanism for the group will meet with Racheli G. to discuss what form the mechanism should take, and then present their recommendations to the entire group.

Rules for SDH were discussed. The only rule that was offered was that there would be no solicitation of members through use of the membership list.

It was decided that there would be four meetings per year that would focus on particular subjects related to homeschooling. Holding summer potlucks was also discussed, and people were asked to volunteer their homes if they were interested in hosting one of the gatherings.

The longest discussion of the meeting came about in relation to the location of park day meetings. Some members are dissatisfied with Fort Lowell Park, and would like to see the group move to a smaller, better-contained location. Some members felt that SDH needs to be better organized to provide activities that encourage the teenagers in the group to work together with the rest of the children instead of spending the meeting time by themselves. Other people felt that it was important for the teenagers to spend this time by themselves with no demands on their time.

People were encouraged to organize and lead activities that will bring the group together. Members were asked to scout out different locations for park day meetings, and to add possible parks (with their cross streets) to a list that will be brought to future meetings.

It was then proposed that the issue of park day location be tabled until May, and even later than that if necessary. In the meantime, SDH will continue to meet at Fort Lowell Park.

The subject of meeting earlier during warm weather was then discussed. It was decided that park day meetings would begin at 9:30 AM, with announcements held at 10:00 AM, beginning the first Tuesday in May. People also talked about meeting throughout the summer months, and it was decided that people could meet if they desire, but that the gatherings will be informal, with no decisions being made during those months.

Members were interested in holding a party in August to welcome new families to SDH. The date for this party, as well as for the summer potlucks, will be announced before the summer.

PARK CHANGE PROPOSAL

A proposal has been made to further investigate moving the park days to a smaller public park. The hope would be that the group could discuss and come to a decision on this issue before we modify our meetings for the summer months. I would propose we discuss and form a consensus on this issue at the May 11 park meeting. Please take the next few weeks to talk with others about the pros and cons regarding this issue, and search out other parks (and their feasibility) that you are comfortable with during this time. One alternative location that has been mentioned is McCormick Park - at Lighthouse YMCA. Further research needs to be done as to the feasibility of this park, located at 2900 N. Columbus Blvd. Sara S.

WELDING

By Chris S., age 13

I went to a welding show on March 16 and 17 at Praxair welding store. I did a lot of welding and cutting. I used a mig, tig, stick, and pulse, which are all types of welders. I also used a plasma cutter. I welded aluminum, steel, and other types of alloys.

I like the tig (tungsten inert gas) welder the best. Stick welding is the hardest type of welder to use. I have been welding for about 2 months."

WHAT ARE SOCIAL STUDIES?

By Danetta M.

What are Social Studies? I studied rainfall and cattle production of Brazil, etc., in the 7th grade. It was useless and boring.

My boys and I have studied the various continents and then chosen a couple of countries from those continents to focus on. But we ate in a Chinese and Japanese restaurant, read some Japanese haiku, listened to traditional Chinese music as well as studied some history, geography, art, and culture of the countries. We tried to make our studies more alive and sensory.

Another idea is to just study history. History is so much fun and much more interesting that a one year review course. Study the Egyptians (or any other period) all year (or for a semester)! Read historical novels about them, check out videos about them (there's a good one with Elizabeth Taylor and Lawrence Olivier about Julius Caesar who fell in love with Cleopatra), check out the fashions and medical care and the Egyptian Gods. Just go to the library and read every book they have about Egyptians in general or famous Egyptians (like King Tut) in particular. You'll learn about the river Nile and the rainfall along the way, I'll bet!

What have other people done for "Social Studies"?

Learning to Learn

By Danetta M.

Q. After instructing on the basic reading, writing, and math skills, I'm depending on the concept that teaching our children how to educate themselves is our main goal. Showing them how easily they can find the information about a topic (from How to Write a Research Paper to researching medical information) and helping them learn to follow instructions (from recipes to model cars) will ultimately be the key to their success. It will be up to them whether they ever use the information. Does that sound terribly pessimistic ???>>

A. No, but it is a different approach from mine. Ironically, learning how to learn is one of my 4 guiding principles of home education, but I guess I just go about it in a different way. I also agree with you that it will be up to them if they ever use the skills we show them.

I know that many home educators require only math, English writing (and sometimes grammar), and lots of reading about other topics, hopefully to fill in the history and science, etc.

Now I do almost the exact opposite! We don't concentrate on English much because with all the reading we do, their spelling, grammar, and writing skills just kind of came. We probably should do more math, but with as little as we've done, the boys seem to be up to grade level or a little ahead.

We, on the contrary, spend almost all of our time on history and science. History puts all of the current folly into perspective, so that you don't think the world is going to heck in a hand-basket OR that we live in the best of all possible worlds. It teaches us how we got where we are and why the same mistakes keep getting repeated--mostly because people don't study history ;-). Science teaches you how to think for yourself without accepting dogma (history does that too, doesn't it!), and how to calmly interpret and appreciate natural phenomenon.

The thing that impresses me most is that there are lots of ways to skin a cat. So new people should relax about finding the one best way to home educate and adopt a comfortable, meaningful path of their own choosing.

What is your approach to home education, and what long range goal does it support?

NEWSLETTER NEEDS NEW EDITOR!

I've enjoyed typing up the SDH notes for everyone the past 3 months. However, I will be unable to continue doing this job. If anyone else would like to take over please speak to MaryBeth D. who will work with you in maintaining a current address list. Additionally, Leslie P. has made mailing labels for those who receive hard copy, so you will need to work with her too. If someone would like to do it but isn't sure where to start I will be happy to assist you in anyway I can, and will be happy to take over occasionally if needed. Please let me know if you're interested, if no-one is then I'll continue on for another issue or two. Thanks, Felicia.

Sonoran Desert Homeschoolers   Tucson, Arizona