SONORAN DESERT HOMESCHOOLERS
Walking in Hozho'
Beauty, happiness and harmony
Aug 6, 1999
SONORAN DESERT HOMESCHOOLERS
"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 "Hohzo'," a Navajo word meaning "harmony" or "walking in beauty or friendship."
-- mission statement
Sonoran Desert Homeschoolers
Tucson, AZ
AUGUST CALENDAR
AUGUST 17, 6:30 PM--POTLUCK/POOL PARTY
On Tuesday, August 17th Sonoran Desert Homeschoolers will be meeting for a potluck/pool party at Catalina Terrace Community Pool, 2440 E. Hedrick Dr. (just south of Ft. Lowell, near Tucson Blvd.). We will be gathering after 6:30 pm. Bring food to share, dishes, beverage and lawn chairs. Also, there is a $1.00 charge per swimmer for lifeguards. If you can come, please let Sharon know at 326-7993. Celebrate the end of summer and meet new friends! Hope to see you there!
AUGUST 24, TUESDAY, 9:30 AM--FIRST PARK MEETING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR
If we have some homeschoolers new to the area, let's share our favorite day trips in the Tucson area. Cold drinks and cups will be provided.
Volunteers to help decide the calendar schedule for next month, please contact Danetta. We need to decide on the calendar for September today so we can get the newsletter out in a timely fashion. This is also the deadline for news items that you want included in the September newsletter.
AUGUST 31, TUESDAY, 9:30 AM--PARK MEETING
Let's continue to welcome newcomers and catch up on summer happenings.
INTERNET INFORMATION
Sonoran Desert Homeschoolers web site is:
http://web.archive.org/web/20000902074344/http://www.crosswinds.net/~hozho/
The Southern Arizona Homeschoolers' mailing list is here:
http://web.archive.org/web/20000902074344/http://www.egroups.com/group/soazhomeschoolers/info.html
You click the Join button, and if you're not already a member of e- groups, e-groups will guide you through the process where they ping your e-mail address to make sure it's valid and to make sure you're not being signed up by a third party.
TREASURER"S REPORT
by Carol T. (phone conversation summary 6/99)
Annual Dues and Contributions: $111.50
photocopy phone lists $ 13.00
Print out and mail newsletters
(does not include current issue) $ 20.00
Balance $ 78.50
Subscriptions to the newsletter and access to our phone lists run $10/year/family. Some families have already paid. Please pay your $10 participation fee by October 1 to continue to receive newsletters. That gives you almost two months to "try us out" before committing your dollars to Sonoran Desert Homeschoolers. Fees may be paid to Carol or Lalita, our co-treasurers.
HOMESCHOOL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mary Beth would like to publish a bibliography of books pertaining to homeschooling that SDH members have found useful, informative, enlightening, challenging or reassuring. The list will be available to new homeschoolers and experienced ones who need a "re-charge". Please submit your favorite title (or two or three) with author's name by e-mail to Mary Beth, or see Mary Beth at park meetings.
A VARIETY OF THOUGHTS by Michelle Y.
Re: park safety issues -- I like the suggestion of providing some more structured games and activities for all the kids. However, the idea that we discourage the 9+ kids from using some of the equipment caught my attention. At that age, our children still enjoy slides and climbing. It seems unfair to tell them that they're too young to go off with the teens, but they're too big for the equipment. And who would be responsible for enforcing this rule? I understand the concern for the little ones' safety, but my observation is that bigger kids have a kind of radar that helps them avoid squashing toddlers --- otherwise, only the eldest child in a family would ever survive!
Re: news media --- I, too, dislike the idea of news people showing up at the park, filming our children, and possibly misrepresenting what they see our kids doing there as our idea of "schooling." We are not teaching our children at the park, we're socializing, but I'm not sure people who are uninformed about homeschooling would make that distinction. I also think it's a mistake to avoid reporters. After all, we're not doing anything wrong, we're just doing it different, and the community at large would benefit from knowing more about us. The suggestion of assembling a press package and having a few designated speakers from the group, plus a policy about not allowing our children to be filmed without our knowledge and consent, would make me more comfortable with press coverage. I am too cynical to believe that it will totally prevent any more biased stories about homeschoolers, but at least we won't be caught off-guard every time a reporter shows up.
On a personal note, I understand that SDH is still getting on its feet, but I am longing for a little more structure in our meetings beyond announcements. I am one of those new homeschooling parents with the questions that you've all answered a zillion times, but I also think that experienced homeschoolers must have issues to discuss as well. With as quickly as children grow and change, I can't believe that once you get your "routine" down, you never need to make adjustments or that you no longer have need of the information that other parents have to share. For instance, Sam and I seem to be headed in the unschooling direction, but I'm still a little worried about the possibility that my son will never pick up a pencil to write or do math again. There have to be unschoolers or semi-unschoolers in our group, but I don't have the first clue about who they are so I could ask them how they've dealt with this concern. So this is my request for a regular discussion (even monthly would be good) about homeschooling issues at our meetings.
Finally, as my contribution to SDH this year, I will be coordinating with UA Presents for members of the group to attend upcoming performances. The lineup looks great: The Carnegie Hall Jazz Bank, Ballet Hispanico, The Blind Boys of Alabama (gospel music), Children of Uganda and the Madinka Epic (African music and dance). Tickets are only $3 --- what a ganga! I am really excited about this. More details to come.
IDEAS FOR WRITER'S WORKSHOPS by Sue M.
(from an online SOAZ post, reprinted with permission)
I thought I'd share something that really helped my son and some other boys here. Last year, for about 3 months, we had a Writers' Workshop. I got the basics for it from a book called "Writer's Co-op: A Planning Guide" which I bought from Lifetime Books for $6.00. (It's on page 146 is you have the 97-98 catalog. Their phone # is: (941) 676-6311)
I took what she offered and tweaked it to fit our group better. First off, out of the 5 families I pulled together, I was the only mom who wrote. So rather than do it as a co-op, we did it as a workshop. We met once a week on Fridays right after lunch. Each meeting consisted of:
"Sue Time" - that's the "OK let's get together and get down to business" portion. I outlined what we'd be doing for that day. Total time - about 5 minutes or less
Author's Chair count - Took a quick survey to see who had brought something they wrote that they wanted to share. The actual sharing is done later, but you get a count early in case you need to cut other things short to make time.Time - 1 minute
Group exercise - This is the fun part! Everyone (moms included) had to have a notebook just for the workshop, and they had to bring something to write with. Each week I'd come up with a different topic to write about. Sometimes I gave them sentence starters, other times we focussed on things like using our senses and writing full descriptions of things. (More about some of this later.) Total time - 1 minute to share the topic and 5-10 minutes to write...depending on topic, the interest level, etc.
Group Exercise share time - everyone (Moms included) are encouraged to share what they have written. These readings are done from right where the person is sitting. Others can make encouraging remarks, but there is no critiquing of any kind allowed...especially not from Mom or siblings.
Author's Chair - At this point, every child who would like to share something they have written on their own has a chance to do so. A special chair is used, and the author gets to sit there until his/her piece is read and discussed. Kids can share complete works or works-in-progress. If the author has anything in particular she wants feedback on, she asks for it beforehand. After all, we can't really comment on how realistic a dialogue is unless we've been listening for that. All listeners are encouraged to make comments about the works. They can't say things like "That stinks!" but they can say things like, "I think it would be better if the main character was a dragon instead of a goldfish." Total time - good question! HTat depends on how lively the discussion gets. Early meetings were shorter because kids were shyer, but in later meetings everyone wanted to share something they had written.
Snacks: brief time for snacks if you'd like. Since I was in charge of leading the group, someone else was in charge of bringing the snacks - and it was never my responsibility!
Also, kids were required to write in their writing notebooks for at least 10 minutes a day. They could work on a different piece every day, spend a week or more on one piece, or use that time to go back an polish up a story. We had some very specific rules for this time - mainly for the moms. This is a time for creativity, not a time for correction. Moms, dads, sisters, friends, brothers, cousins, etc...n o one was allowed to pick at what was being written. If your 13 year old is writing up a storm and spells "cat" "K-A-T" You leave them alone and let them write. Of course, it will have to be fixed later when the editing portion comes in...if they choose to get to that point with that piece. They may get halfway through a story and decide that they don't like writing it anymore. No problem - go on to something else.
I gave outside assignments rarely. One of these was the first week. I gave them a paper with about 10 sentence starters they could use, if they chose, during their daily writing time. Things like "The funniest thing I ever saw at the grocery store was..." or "If you want to have a really fun time, you should go to..." I shared my page the first day, had them write during the group exercise using one of them, then they had to bring at least 5 original ones the next week. Another mom typed up the master list, and then all the kids had a nice long list to go by, if they chose.
Other group exercises were things like -
The host family baked fresh cookies, the kids all ate a couple then had to write about the cookies using the best descriptions they could. (some included space aliens or gorillas, but the descriptions were there.)
Trip to the zoo - our zoo is small, but if you go to a larger zoo, this can still work. We met together just inside the gates, and I gave them a worksheet of sorts to help them write animal descriptions - questions to help them get past the overall color and size and get them being more observant. Some of the questions could be answered by reading the signs. Two girls really got into it and called the zoo keeper to get more information about the tiger. Editing marks - have a huge posterboard with common editing marks, make up a worksheet that is pretty messed up and let the kids have fun finding the errors and correcting them using the proper editing marks.
Poetry - read several different types of poetry and have the kids write some of their own.
Well, I hope these ideas help a little. Everyone - pre-teen boys included - loved the Writers' Workshops and wanted to start them up again after we were done with JASON Project... Ideally, we would have finished off with an Author's Party and would have collected finished works and had them printed and bound, but 3 of the 5 families had family crises right before Thanksgiving, so ti never came to be. (For more information, contact Sue M. by e-mail)
CREATIVE HOME EDUCATION IDEAS
The following is reprinted from the America Online Homeschool Connection with permission by the author. I reprint it here because it shows how varied home education curriculums can be, and it may inspire you to new creative heights in your own home education endeavors. If you would like to contribute ideas, the author's email address is at the bottom of her article:
<< I am a mother of a young adult who is now living on his own in another city. When he was born I was young, dumb and single. I made a choice at that time which was one of scores in front of me. It was probably one of the best choices I've ever made. I joined a group of La Leche League mothers when I had a question about nursing. While I never intended to stay involved--I did for about six or seven years. Because those women became my friends and my mentors I consistently made choices that were in the best interest of my son. I believe that had I joined up with a support group of single young mothers I would never have learned the values lessons that I gained from this group. I even had the opportunity to write about my choices in a book called Staying Home Instead. (I don't even own a copy of it--that's how dumb and poor I was.)
Anyhow, now I've gone on and earned a number of degrees and worked my way from being an aide in the dietary department (before Drew was born) to an administrator of a nursing home (today). I am writing a curriculum for home schooling so that people will use my nursing home as a classroom and laboratory. I want kids to become involved and learn the richness of the lives of people who are living here. I already have quite a lot done but until now I did not know of a particular forum for getting it out--except in my own neighborhood.
Just as an example--last night after supper Mrs. Reinhardt told us stories about how she and her sister came to the decision to try to excape from the Nazi war camp, how they finally made their escape and what they gave up--and ultimately gained by making that choice.
While that story is facinating...there are also simple methods of learning in our facility. Do you know how many different types of wheel chairs we have? I can think of 17 different types without leaving my computer to look. Do they all move the same? Are some easier to push? If you are helping people wheel to the dining room for lunch you might find out. Even people who can no longer tell their stories can teach.
If you would like to contribute to this series, have ideas or questions--or can refer me to a resource for publication (I am writing for use in my own home right now, but think that the series has value and should be shared) please send me a note at JamieZieg@aol.com>>
CHANNEL 4 AND CHANNEL 9 NEWS COVERAGE
Carol T. reports having the opportunity to see the recent news coverage of homeschooling issues at the CHET Used Curriculum Sale. She was disturbed by the slanted content, with many references made to the recent child abuse case that the Pima County Superintenent's office seems to want to tie in with home education. CHET had some sample letters of concern as well as the addresses of the Pima County Superintendent's Office, KVOA, and KGUN. Carol has copies of these, and if you are interested in reviewing them, please see her at support group gatherings or call her.
STARGAZING FOLLOWUP
As I helped the astronomers pack up their equipment at the end of the night, all of them had nothing but positive things to say about the kids. I thought that all of you would be interested to know that they felt this was one of the best groups they have worked with. They said the kids were interested, well behaved, and well prepared to learn. One of them noted how the parents were right there, learning with their kids.
Listening to those comments just reminded me how much fun it is to homeschool and how great it is to be around other parents who also enjoy being with their kids. Keep watching those stars.
Brian M.
A GREAT QUOTE
" Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work "
- Thomas Edison
JOKE OF THE MONTH
Q. How many homeschooled kids does it take to change a light bulb?
A. Only one, but you need to write it down as Life Skills or Science.
SUMMER TRAVEL AND VACATIONS
I hope that if any of you had special summer adventures that you'll tell us about them. If the kids went to a camp they particularly loved, they are also encouraged to write and tell other kids about it in our next newsletter.
Meanwhile, check out these web sites for ideas for next years' vacation!
* STUDY ABROAD AND FOREIGN STUDY PROGRAMS
(http://web.archive.org/web/20000902074344/http://www.finaid.org/) provides information about study abroad and foreign study programs. There is also a separate page for regional exchange programs--a wonderful resource for teachers and students who are looking for overseas programs.
* HOMELINK INTERNATIONAL
(http://web.archive.org/web/20000902074344/http://www.homelink.org/) arranges for their 11,000 members to exchange homes with each other. You exchange your home and car with another family in order to enjoy an inexpensive vacation that has all the comforts of home. We think this sounds like a great way to travel. It's less expensive and more comfortable for children.
VET CLINIC TOUR
My name is Blake Herrington. I am a licensed veterinarian practicing small animal/avian medicine in Tucson. I thought that it might be fun to conduct an informal tour through our clinic some evening. Those parents and children with an interest in the animal sciences could gain exposure and insight as to the way that a comprehensive veterinary clinic functions.. At some point in the future I'd like to provide a surgical experience ( dog spay or neuter ) to those who would be interested. I'm looking at a date in September for this initial outing. Please contact Danetta M. or me with any input. My E-mail is ekalb@flash.net
SCHOLAR'S BOOKS
My friend, Mary Beth, mentioned that she was going to Scholar's Books. It is a place down by the university on Speedway near Tucson Blvd that buys used textbooks for the university and community college classes. I thought I might be able to find a chemistry book there, and I have meant to visit that store for two years, so I asked her if I could go along.
What a wonderful place! I walked in and the first thing that I saw on my right was a bookshelf entitled: Middle School, High school, and Homeschool. I felt like I had come into a place just for me! There were elementary books in the back room and college texts on the left, so that if you had a child with a special interest in anthropololgy or philosophy, you could find some wonderful materials.
I ended up finding an annotated teacher's edition of an algebra book (the same kind that the publishers won't sell to homeschoolers!) and an annotated teacher's edition of a chemistry book with student study guide. I bought an unrelated lab manual that covered all the basic stuff in the same order that they all do anyway. The lab manual and the textbook will mesh well. The cheapest book I bought was $5 and the most expensive was $20. The copyright dates were from 1990-1994.
Don't hesitate to check it out! Any other suggestions of places you have found have great home education materials?
HANDWORK EVENING
Parents, bring your handwork and join in an evening social. We'll meet the last Wednesday evening of each month at rotating homes, for adult conversation and a chance to catch up on cross-stitch, knitting, sewing, quilting, or whatever keeps your hands busy! September's night out will be at Sara's home in Oro Valley on Wednesday, the 29th at 7:00 PM. Call for more details, directions, or questions.
YOUR FAVORITE DAY TRIP IN TUCSON
Your Favorite Day Trip in Tucson will be the theme for an ice-breaker discussion during the August meetings after announcements, if time permits. Let the new Tucson homeschoolers know about the good stuff! Bring ideas on your favorite daytrip or outing to share with other families. It will be a great chance to talk, and share some great ideas on area adventures! Cold drinks will be provided.
NEWS YOU CAN USE: BETHANY'S LAW
The governor signed Bill 1282 which should help end some scholarship discrimination againat homeschoolers. Bethany is a Phoenix homeschooler who had great SAT scores but was turned down for Regent's scholarships because she did not have a class standing. Out of her frustruation came her proposing a bill to end scholarship discrimination at the 1999 YMCA Youth and Government Program. It passed in the mock government session and was then introduced into the real Arizona legislature by AFHE (Arizona Families for Home Education, http://web.archive.org/web/20000902074344/http://www.afhe.org/) and the Center for Arizona Policy.
In the past, homeschoolers had no class standing, being 1 in a class of 1. Some sort of objective index of merit will be developed for homeshoolers, perhaps based on thier SAT/ACT college entrance exam scores.
CURRICULUM CATALOGS
Mary Beth has collected a variety of home education catalogs. These will be available at some park meetings to peruse. And, if you really like a particular catalog, you might order it by calling the 800 number usually printed on the catalog. For those with email access there is a pretty comprehensive curriculum resource list at:
http://web.archive.org/web/20000902074344/http://members.home.net/ct-homeschool/guide.htm
Happy hunting!
-Mary Beth
4-H BUG CLUB
THE 4-H Creepy Crawly Bug Club will have its first meeting of the year on September 2 from 2:30-4:00 at the Plaza Del Sol Mobile Home Park Recreation Center. The address is 1655 W. Ajo Way (near Mission) and directions to the rec center are available at the entrance guard shack. Thereafter, meetings will take place on the first Thursday of each month. This first meeting is an IMPORTANT meeting, where parents will be asked to assist with the projects for the coming year. Call Debbie D. for further information.
OTHER PROJECTS AND EVENTS
Debbie also coordinates the Book-It Reading Club and the Music in the Schools events sponsored by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. Contact Debbie by phone or catch her at park meetings for more information about how your child can participate.
AND THAT'S ALL FOR THIS ISSUE!
SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE THE 24TH OF AUGUST FOR THE SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER.
Please submit articles to Danetta, until she can get more editorial help. Thanks, Mary Beth for doing this mailing!
