http://www.umesd.k12.or.us/homeschool_home

The new things for this year have to do with the Sports Fee.  Last year the Association was able to pay for the gym for Sports due to a surplus in the checking account.  This year that is not the case.  We had to have two sports times in the gym due to the large turnout and we have to pay rental fees for the Recreation Center.  Janet further explains the fee:

“We have approximately 20 days of indoor sports of 2 hours each (Group A and Group B.)  That would be $480.00 if the price stays at $12.00 per hour, but it could cost as much as $15.00 per hour ($600.00.)  We settled on $30.00 per family to hopefully cover all the costs with 15-20 families participating.  If we have money left over at the end of the year, we can adjust the sports fee for the following year accordingly.”

Please indicate which of your children will be participating in sports when filling out the membership form.  Remember: the child must be 9 or turn 9 during the sports season. (Sept.-May)

Remember to read the Bylaws and sign that you have read them.

Looking forward to seeing you next year!

Testing Information for 2010

Tues., May 11   Peace Lutheran Church (9th and Carden, Pendleton)

Wed., May 12 Nazarene Church of Hermiston

(1520 W. Orchard Extension.)  Take the Hwy 207 Exit off I-84.  Go North about 5 miles. Go through the stop light at Highland and Hwy 207. At Orchard turn left and go about ½ mile. Church is on the right.

Testing times: Grades 1-12                    9:00-11:30

Please arrive 10-15 minutes prior to testing time. Pencils are provided. Calculators may not be used. Students may bring a book to read while they are waiting for others to finish. They may also bring a snack for break time. Grades 1, 2, and 3 each test separately. Students in grades 4-12 test together.

Testing is done by Basic Skills of Oregon City. The test is the California Achievement test (CAT).

The cost is $40 per student. There is an additional fee of $7 for an optional diagnostic profile. The profile gives you more specific information of the content of the questions your child missed.

Testing is required by the state in grades 3, 5, 8, and 10. Some school districts require testing if home school students are to participate in public school sports or activities.

Practice tests called “Achieving Peak Performance” are available through the Pendleton Home School Association website.   http://phsa.bcmi.net Click on the Basic Skills button under “links”. Practice tests are available in hard copy or e-book form and are reproducible for your own family use.

If you have questions, feel free to contact Janet at (541) 443-2920  or

email: witnesstree@eoni.com

DEADLINE for REGISTRATION and PAYMENT is April 30th, 2010.

CURRICULUM SALE: If you have any curriculum that you wish to sell, there
will be a sale area available at each test site. Please have each item
clearly labeled with your name and the item price.  Sale items and money are
the responsibility of the seller.

We changed the fee schedule for this year.  We’ve included gym time in the regular fee instead of charging seperately for it.  The fee for this year (July 1- June 30)will be $25.00 per family.  Please read the By-laws.

The Gym- Rec time is a popular time.  We meet at a local gym and let the children play for an hour.  I believe we are adding more weeks this year so it will start earlier in the fall and go into spring.

We request the information about what curriculum you use in order to provide a resource for others who are interested in that curriculum.

We are always looking for people to be involved and welcome your input.

There is going to be an Eastern Oregon Fall Mini-Conference in Baker City on November 15, 2008. It is sponsored by the Baker Area Christian Homeschoolers and OCEANetwork. This is what is planned:

Homeschoolers in Eastern Oregon will be encouraged and equipped by conference speakers Kevin and Christine Bullock. Topics for moms are “Listen for Your Child’s Learning Style” and “Help for the Harried Home Educator.” Dads’ sessions are “Charges of the Father” and “Practical Family Discipleship.” Sessions for the whole family include” Homeschool Success Stories” and “Portrait of a Healthy Homeschool Marriage.”

Admission to the event is free. For more information view the conference brochure at http://www.oceanetwork.org/currents/Baker_City_Conference.pdf

It starts at 10 AM and goes until 3 PM at Harvest Church, 3720 Birch Street.

It’s great to have an event in our own backyard!

Also, OCEANetwork is looking for people to participate in the 2008 Homeschool Academic Achievement Research project. Here is their write up:

The 2009 Oregon Legislature will be in session soon. In order to prepare for the session, the Oregon Christian Home Education Association Network has commissioned Dr. Brian Ray of the National Home Education Research Institute to compile statistics on the academic achievement of Oregon homeschool children. It has been 10 years since the Oregon Department of Education collected test scores thanks to the change in the homeschool law in 1999. But it’s time we had updated research to show “Home educators are doing well enough to be left alone.”

If you had your child(ren) tested with a standardized achievement test last year (September 1, 2007 – August 31, 2008), please participate in the 2008 Oregon Homeschool Academic Achievement Research Project.

All information will be kept strictly confidential. You will generate a student research ID for each student (following a specific formula) which you will use when answering questions in an online survey and when mailing your student’s test scores to OCEANetwork. Neither OCEANetwork nor NHERI will have any personally identifiable information on your students or your family.

This survey of Oregon students is part of a nation-wide survey being conducted by NHERI and the Home School Legal Defense Association.

Deadline for participation is November 14, 2008. You can find more information on the project by going to OCEANetwork’s web site http://www.oceanetwork.org/alerts/research.cfm

There is also a PHSA Board meeting in November, again contact me for details, and then come tell us what you would like to see happen.

I found two articles about The Big Question- Socialization, interesting. The first one is at Principled Discovery titled “What is it about socialization?” Then The Rebellious Pastor’s Wife continues the subject with this post- “The Plus Side of Homeschool Socialization.”

Is there a novel floating around in your head? Did you know that November is National Novel Writing Month? To learn how it works and some tricks check out National Novel Writing Month at Little Blue School.

Check out the Carnival and find some gems of your own.

The Charlotte Mason Carnival is up at Homeschoolers. Oregon Style. The list is fairly short this time. Go see if anything catches your eye.

“A Review of the Homeschooling Literature” at Help! My Kids are Smarter than Me! is an interesting, although a tad intellectual, read. One of the things that caught my attention was this:

In the United States, at every grade level, home schooled students’ average score placed between the 82nd and the 92nd percentile in reading and reached the 85th percentile in math. Overall, test scores for home schoolers placed between the 75th and 85th percentiles. In contrast, public school students scored at the 50th percentile, while private school students’ scores ranged from the 65th to the 75th percentile.

And this one can help us all breath a sigh of relief and a possible talking point when those people look at you all horrified as they drop the big question- “what about socialization???!?”

Research also suggests that home schooled students are more sociable than their school peers, as well as more independent of peer values as they grow older.

I’ll leave you with this last article about a study in the United Kingdom about how father’s spending time with their children can effect, for the good, their children’s I.Q.

A big hat tip goes to Why Homeschool for highlighting the last two articles. I glean most of my articles of interest from them.

Also, the Charlotte Mason Carnival is all about narrating- so your assignment will be to go read an article ONCE then come back here and narrate it. It’s hosted at Simply Charlotte Mason.

I found mention of a site for homeschoolers called Homeschoolers Like Us. It’s a “social network web site”- has anyone used this site? What do you think of it?

This very nice, funny and informative man took us on a tour.

(Click on thumbnails to enlarge. The thumbnail tends to cut off some of the photo.)

The dirty, right out of the field, seed is put into large storage rooms. Here the kids are feeling it.

These are screens that the seed goes over in one of the processes to clean it. The seed must meet certain standards- I believe it has to be 98% clean – before it can be sold. Every batch is tested before it’s bagged.

On the second of three floors we saw some seed going over a screen.

On the top (third) floor we got to feel the insides and outsides of drums used to filter out the dirt.

Here he is explaining how this machine works.

We walked back down the three flights of stairs and went over to see how the seed is bagged. I’ll show those pictures another day. Stay tuned!