March 2004 Newsletter
Sonoran Desert Homeschoolers
Tucson, Arizona
Mission Statement
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.”
Quote of the Month
“Like the mother of the world, touch each being as your beloved child” Jack Kornfield
SDH PE
SDH Physical Education classes are scheduled for Monday mornings from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM at Himmel Park. This activity is open to all homeschoolers. The program is for children age 5 and up. AIT (Athletes in Training) supplies all the equipment. The day’s events start with a 5-10 minute warm up, then the rules of the game are taught, the children practice the skills, and finally play a game! A new sport is taught each month. Contact Eileen D. for information!
Reading Group Tuesday, March 2 11:30 AM
A reading discussion group young children is scheduled for the first Tuesday of the month at 11:30 AM, prior to the regular Park Day meeting. The next meeting is March 2. There are three levels and all ages are encouraged to read the book that fits their skill and interest.
Group 1: “Little Bear’s Visit” by Else Holmelund Minarik
Group 2: “ The Knight at Dawn” by Mary Pope Osborne (Magic Treehouse #2) and if possible, the accompanying Research guide- “Knights and Castles: A Non-Fiction Companion to The Knight at Dawn” by Will Osborne and Mary Pope Osborne; illustrated by Sal Murdocca Call No. 940.1 OS18k 2000
Group 3: “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster
Men’s Coffee Night Wednesday, March 3
The men’s coffee night is held the first Wednesday of each month. This is an opportunity for us fathers to discuss homeschooling issues as well as other topics. Please join us at the Borders on Oracle, for coffee, tea, good company and conversation. This casual meeting starts around 7:30 PM. For more information, contact Jeff O. or Brian M.
Book Discussion Group Thursday, March 11
A few of us will be meeting to discuss “The Red Tent,” by Anita Diamante. Everyone is welcome to join in the discussion. The more people, the livelier the discussion. The group will be held Thursday, March 11 at 7:00 PM, at Something Sweet - 5319 E. Speedway Blvd. If you have any questions, please contact Erin S. at cericon@theriver.com.
Attention All Star Trek Fans Thursday, March 18 4:00 – 5:00 PM
Looking for Trekkies of all shapes, sizes, and species to start a fan club with! We’ll talk about books, episodes, movies, and do fun stuff. Please bring one Star Trek item to talk about (i.e.: book, shirt, action figure, etc…) Mission library conference room, March 18, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM. Looking for all ages, especially teens. For more information, call Bean. LIVE LONG AND PROSPER!
Archaeology Mock Excavation Friday, March 19 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Our Mock Excavation field trip is fully booked and scheduled for Friday March 19 from 1:00 – 3:00 PM. Thank you all participants, for your enthusiasm for this trip. I have copied a packet of information the Old Pueblo Archaeology Center mailed to me. It is not mandatory reading to attend the excavation, but you may find sections of it helpful as a way to prepare. I have also distributed guidelines and directions to all participants. Please let me know if you have not yet received them. We should meet at OPACenter at 12:45 PM to make sure we are on time: they will not go over the two hour schedule. Therefore, if you are late, they cut into our time. If you have any questions please contact me, Victoria M.
Teen Book Club Tuesday, March 23, 11:00 AM
The next meeting will be at Fort Lowell Park on March 23 at 11:00 AM, ONE HOUR before the regularly scheduled meeting. The book is “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes. Call Brian at 883-1543 with questions.
UA presents Reminders
Thursday, March 11 - Fes Festival of World Sacred Music
Wednesday March 17 - Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (note change: show starts at 9:30 AM instead of 10:00 AM; please meet in front of the Hall at 8:45 am. Thank you)
Friday March 26 - Kronos Quartet
All shows are at Centennial Hall on the U of A campus. We meet at 9:15 AM in front of Centennial Hall. We will be seated as a group at 9:30 AM. If you need further information, have a question, or can’t remember what you signed up for, please e-mail me at dragonhawk4@cox.net.
Thank you - Alicia M.
Medieval Festival Tuesday, March 16
The SDH Medieval Festival is upon us! It will happen on Tuesday, March 16 starting at 12:00 PM. Everyone is welcome, and we encourage you and your children to wear costumes. Be creative! The Middle Ages was not just lords and ladies of the court. Outlaws, monks, nuns, warriors, samurai, Vikings, troubadours, jesters, and peasants all populated the Middle Ages. Food! Yes, there will be a potluck as well. Bring anything medieval. Some suggestions are cheese, fruit, gingerbread, rustic bread, pound cake, meat pies, and apple juice. And don't forget the napkins, plates, and cups. We will also need as many chairs, tables, and shade awnings as we can get. If anyone has extra tables and/or shade awnings we can use, please bring them.
Medieval Festival Schedule of Events
12:00 PM Art Gallery
Starting at 12 noon and displayed throughout the day will be works of art created by SDH members. Submissions are for children and adults so please don't be shy! The following are the art projects we are doing - Coloring pages, Illuminated Letters, Tapestry Designs, and 3D Castles. For more information check the web site at http://hozho.homestead.com/MedievalFestival.html.
12:00 PM Stone Soup
We will re-enact the story of Stone Soup. The fun begins at 12 noon with a reading of the story. Then the soup will be made! If you want to participate, please bring a chopped vegetable for each member of the family to add to the soup. Think variety!
12:30 PM Falconry Demonstration
An employee of the Sonoran Desert Museum will bring a real, live falcon and/or hawk to the park! She will fly the bird of prey and give a brief talk about falcons.
1:00PM Crafts, Games, and Juggling
During this time we will have a variety of crafts and games available for all to enjoy. You can make hair ribbons or Robin Hood hats, play tug-of-war or Blind Man's Bluff. A juggling demonstration by one of our own members followed by a class on juggling scarves will also be happening! Plus much more!
1:30 PM Scottish Sword Dance
A group of homeschooled girls will do the Scottish Sword Dance (Gillie Callum) and a couple of other dances. The story goes that in 1058, Malcolm Canmore, King of the Scots, killed his opponent and, thrilled at his victory, placed his own sword and that of his enemy on the ground in the form of a cross and danced in triumph over them. A bagpiper will be accompanying them and play some medieval songs.
2:00 PM Theatre
A performance of St. George and the Dragon for the kids, followed by a short performance by members of the Shakespeare Theatre Troupe.
2:30 PM Sword Fight Demonstration
Some members from the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) will be demonstrating the art of sword fighting.
3:00PM Trebuchet Demonstration
An 8-foot trebuchet, owned by a member of SDH, will be on hand to demonstrate the firing capabilities of a trebuchet.
If you have any questions, ideas, or want to help, please contact Lou K. or Kim B.
Choir
If you are interested in joining a Homeschool choir contact Beverly Howard at 721-8347 or jdbkhoward@aol.com.
Roots and Shoots
Roots & Shoots is the Jane Goodall Institute's international environmental and humanitarian program for young people. Its mission is to foster respected compassion for all living things, to promote understanding of all cultures and beliefs and to inspire each individual to take action to make the world a better place for the environment, animals and the human community. Our group is open to all members of SDH. So far we've had kids ages 0-13, although most of our members are ages 4- 9 yrs. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, Heather M. at heather@optionsanalysis.com.
Friday, March 5 11:00 AM -?: Play in the snow on Mt Lemmon! Meet in the parking lot at Ft. Lowell park at 11 a.m. to caravan/carpool. Wear 2 layers of clothes and bring an extra set of clothes to change into for the drive home.
Friday, March 19 10:00 AM – noon: Make mud & seed balls at the Mason Audubon Center. Wear mud-friendly clothes. The Mason Center is at 8751 N. Thornydale, on the Southwest corner of Thornydale and Hardy (parking is available on the south shoulder of Hardy Road). This is far northwest Tucson. The Mason Center is a lovely 22 acres of mostly pristine desert. If we have time after the seed balls, we'll go on one of the trails for a short natural history interpretation. Bring sack lunches and we'll have a picnic afterwards at the nearby Arthur Pack Park.
April 2 10:00 AM – noon: Build a Giant Peace Dove for the annual Earth Day Parade, (which will be held on Saturday, April 17.) We'll meet at Riverdance Center, 3636 N. Edith Blvd., just off River Rd near Dodge. It is hard to find the first time, so bring these directions with you! (Directions: Heading west on River Road... go through light at Dodge and proceed to sharp turn to right. At the sharp turn, take left onto Allen Rd. There are signs for GREEN THINGS NURSERY. Take left onto Edith Blvd. Take second driveway on left. This is just a dirt road. Proceed on drive, passing one house, hang a left and go past the garbage container and turn right. It is located in the back northeast corner of the property. If you get lost, please call Anna C 603-8878 or Heather M 490-4136. There is a map at: www.riverdancecenter.com.) Go here to see a picture of a Giant Peace Dove. Supplies we need: 1. chicken wire, 3' x 6' 2. size twin or double cotton, muslin, or linen bedsheets - white (try hotels, hospitals, or industrial launderers) 3. Rubber ties - used bicycle inner tubes are excellent, 1" x 4 feet (ask at a bike shop) 4. a 1 1/2" plumbing T-connector 5. one 8' and two 12' bamboo poles, 1" in diameter. Or use rigid aluminum poles or broomsticks. For greater control "flying" the dove, use shorter poles, one 6' and two 10'. 6. a 1 1/2' long rigid dowel, stick or bamboo, 1-2"in diameter. 7. black, white, yellow acrylic or latex paint (try paint recyclers). We want to use as many used materials as possible. Let me know if you have any of these items or are willing to go find them. I'll go out and buy whatever we don't have.
The 2004 Tucson Earth Day Festival and Parade will be held on Saturday April 17 from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM on the grounds of the Tucson Children's Museum and Armory Park. We'll gather early on the 17th for the parade. Details to follow. More info on the Earth Day Festival can be found at http://www.tucsonearthday.com/ including a children's poster contest sponsored by Bear Essential News for Kids and a recycled art competition (see www.ci.tucson.az.us/tcb/docs/RUMBA-signup.doc).
SDH Clothing Exchange Tuesday, March 23
Clean out your closets and bring your outgrown, unused, but still usable clothes for someone else to enjoy. Take home something that you can use. Any excess will be donated to a local women and children's shelter. For more information contact Christine@great-scott.com. Thanks, Christine.
Mom's Coffee Night (formerly Crafty Ladies) Wednesday, March 31
The mom's night out has changed location! We are now meeting at Something Sweet located at 5319 E. Speedway. That's at the NE corner of Speedway and Beverly (the Office Depot store is on the intersection's NW corner), and Live Theater Workshop is in the same plaza. We get together at 7:30 PM on the last Wednesday of every month. Don't worry if you can't make it at 7:30, many of us stay until midnight! We chat, laugh, and generally have a great time. It is a great way to get to know others better and there is always a mix of parents with younger or older children, so you can ask lots of questions. Contact Kim B. for more information.
Treasury Report
Treasurer's Note: Due to losing track of time, the deadline for the newsletter passed last month without the January Treasury report being sent in. Here it is, along with the February report.
Treasury report for January 2004
Our balance on December 31st 2003: $1159.06
Our income since then totaled: $35.00
Various authorized expenses* were: $7.00
Our balance on January 31st 2004: $1187.06
*(Newsletter)
Treasury report for February 2004
Our balance on January 31st 2004: $1187.06
Our income since then totaled: $20.00
Various authorized expenses* were: $71.27
Our balance on February 24th 2004: $1135.79
*(Copies, conference, calendar)
Unschooling Discussion Monday, March 8 7:00 PM
Interested in unschooling? Please join the discussion on Monday, March 8 at Wilmot Library, starting at 7:00 PM. All ages are welcome, but there will be no childcare provided. If you have questions, like “Just what is unschooling?” here are some sites with answers:
By Billy Greer
By Earl Stevens
Interviewer: Marlene Bumgarner
By Jon Shemitz
And here is a message that I posted on the SDH e-mail loop in 2002 about the definition of the word unschooling:
This discussion about the definition of unschooling bothered me the first time around in June, but I didn't know why until today when it started up again. I thought about it and realized that the problem is in the framing of the objection to the word unschooling.
There are actually two definitions of the prefix un-. The main definition is simply not. Examples of this are unkempt, unkind, unloved, and unknown. None of these words imply the prior condition of the base word – unknown does not imply that something was once known but is not known anymore; unkempt does not imply that the hair was tidy at some earlier point; unkind does not imply that kindness existed before…. One final commercial example is Uncola, the word coined by the makers of 7-Up in an old ad campaign. There was no implication that 7-Up was at any time a cola soft drink. Instead, it was something completely other than cola.
The second definition of un- indicates removal, reversal, or deprivation. Examples of this are unleashed, undressed, unnerve, and untie. Interestingly enough, this second un- is completely unrelated in origin to the first usage.
The confusion about unschooling has come from mixing these two definitions. For a child to be unschooling does not imply that the child was schooled at some earlier point. There is no implication of removing from school or negating the effects of school. That sort of sense would come only from the second, less common usage of un-. The word unschooling is used by homeschoolers to indicate not schooling, other than schooling, unrelated to schooling. I think the word deschooling, coined by Ivan Illich, is closer to the meaning that some people have ascribed to unschooling. Deschooling would be similar to the usage of de- in the word decompression ( to release from compression) or detoxify (to remove toxins)." © debbie gubernick 2002
Spring Music Recital Thursday, May 3 3:00 PM
Our next music recital will be the first Thursday in May at 3pm, at Washburn Piano Co. (Craycroft and Broadway). All Homeschoolers are invited. There’s a stage for dancing, a piano and much room for many guests. Please sign up in the activity book at Park Day or call me, Victoria M.
SDH Parents’ Organizational Meeting Wednesday, May 19
Please take a minute to mark the SDH Parents’ Organizational Meeting on your calendar. It happens on Wednesday evening, May 19 (exact time/location will be announced later). Traditionally, the organizational meeting has been held at the end of summer, near the fall start-up of SDH park days. This year we are trying something different - the meeting will take place right after regular park days have ended so that year’s events are still fresh in our minds.
The organizational meeting serves a few purposes- to establish a tentative calendar for the upcoming year, to ensure that every event or job has a volunteer-in-charge, and to give a brief hearing to new ideas and suggestions for SDH. Coffee and desserts will be served. Everyone interested in organizing an activity or event for SDH is encouraged to attend this meeting. If you have questions, please contact me at the park or at debbiegubernick@yahoo.com.
Girl Scouts
A Brownie troop (consisting mostly of homeschooled girls) meets at 3:30 PM every other Tuesday. We meet never River and Swan, and we’d love to have more girls! If you are interested, please contact Lisa B. at cottrellbentley@cox.net.
SDH Featured Sites
If you have suggestions for April’s featured sites, please send them to sdhtucson@yahoo.com. Thanks!
New Biology Class
Our middle school age and high school aged students were already polled in the fall for a biology class and ten students have been attending a Wednesday night class on the far northeast side of town. Several others and myself however, expressed in the past a wish for a more central location, which the Riverdance house can provide. The teacher, a biology major at the U of A, has been teaching the Wednesday class, and has said that she is available in May to teach another class on Thursday evenings at 7:00 or 7:30 p.m. The class will go through the summer and finish up in December. The teacher stated that U of A labs would be available to her this summer, so we could hold some of the classes on the campus with the lab equipment. We need 10 students to take the class for it to happen. Please let others know about this offer so the class can be available to us. The Riverdance house is available on that night as well, for classes not being held at U of A campus lab. The cost is $11.00 a week for the class and rental of the Riverdance house, and siblings are ½ price at $5.50. Please contact Michaela B. for more information. Thank you.
Riverdance Center
Riverdance Family Enrichment Services (3636N. Edith Blvd- Dodge/River area) has combined with CRIZMAC multicultural education program to offer a multicultural workshop for the whole family. It is a combined-day event, beginning on Thursday, March 18. On the 18th, from 5-7 PM, children can stay at Riverdance while parents go to the CRIZMAC showroom (1642 N. Alvernon- b/w Pima and Speedway on East Side of road, south of Pima) for a brief orientation on integrating multicultural art and awareness into the family. There will be light snacks and an open house. Then, on Saturday, March 20, from 10:00 AM –2:00 PM at Riverdance, the team of CRIZMAC will conduct an extensive art project for everyone. We will also make an ethnic dish together, explore music and native games. The country we have chosen this month is Australia. There is limited availability, so call Anna (603-8878) or email SCOL880990@aol.com for reservations. The price is $25 per participant.
Yoga for Kids
Yoga classes for kids (and their parents)! Kids (and their parents) can practice yoga in two ongoing classes at the Providence Institute on Wednesdays 2:30-3:30 PM, or Saturday 2:00-3:00 PM. Classes are fun and playful, incorporating games, storytelling and imagination. Parents are welcome to participate if the choose. Cost is $5.00 per class per student, or $4.00 per class if purchased in groups or 10 or more. The Providence Institute is located at 1126 N. Jones Blvd., north of Speedway between Country Club and Alvernon, across from Wild Oats shopping center. Call 323-0203 for more information.
Book Report by Colin Elsberry
Holes
By Louis Sachar
DATE: 2/25/2004
MAIN CHARACTERS: Stanley Yelnats, X-ray, Zero, Armpit, Mr. Sir, Stanley’s family, The Warden
SETTING: Camp Green Lake in Texas.
WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM OR STRUGGLE IN THE STORY? Stanley struggled with a hard life and a Family Curse. He never gives up and in the end it pays off. SUMMARY: This story is about a hopeful boy who was framed for a crime he didn’t commit and was sent to a detention center that was run by mean people who didn't like kids. At Camp Green Lake he made friends and learned if you don’t give up you will succeed. He became a member of society even if they were bad boys.
INFORMATION: Fiction; Number of pages: 233
THE PASSAGE THAT TELLS THE MOST ABOUT THE BOOK: “The reader is probably asking: Why would anybody go to Camp Green Lake? Most campers weren’t given a choice. Camp Green Lake is a camp for bad boys. If you take a bad boy and make him dig a hole in the hot sun, it will turn him into a good boy. That was what some people thought. Stanley Yelnats was given a choice. The judge said, “You may go to jail or you may go to Camp Green Lake.” Stanley was from a poor family. He had never been to camp before”.
RATING: 4 shovels up
Notes from the Editor
If you need to send long documents, please send them to my home email address at greenfreaks@earthlink.net, as I have been unable to cut and paste document from the yahoo site. Thank you very much. Heather H.
The newsletter editor job will be up from grabs after the May 2004 newsletter comes out, due to the fact that this editor will be having a baby this summer and won’t have the time in the fall to edit the newsletter. This has been a fun and rewarding experience. If anyone is interested please contact me, and I will let you know how it works. You can also go to the Parents’ Organizational meeting in May to get the job!
