Field Trip Update

The Alabama Wildlife Homeschool Day has been scheduled for Friday, September 20 from 9am - 1:30pm. The cost is $10 per child at the Alabama Nature Center. You can find directions here.

We do have a firm sign-up deadline of September 10th. We cannot guarantee that you will be able to go if you sign up after this deadline.

This was an AWESOME trip last year. We would love to have everyone go!

Virtual Field Trips

Awesome opportunity! 2013–2014. THE ELECTRONIC FIELD TRIP SERIES is an Emmy Award-Winning Programming. You can check out the website at this address 

http://www.history.org/history/teaching/eft/eft_upcoming.cfm. All field trips begin at 1 on the following Thursdays at the Roy Downs Calera Public Library.

Ø  October 10, 2013 The Bill of Rights - The Bill of Rights protects individual freedoms, but what if the government had too much power and there was no such thing as the Bill of Rights? Explore an alternate reality in which individual rights are limited and life is very different.
Ø  November 7, 2013 The Balance of Power P R E M I E R E - Presidents, members of Congress, and Supreme Court justices from the past two centuries compete in a baseball game unlike any you’ve ever seen. Discover how the rules laid out in the U.S. Constitution preserve the balance of power between the three branches of the U.S. government: the executive, legislative, and judicial.
Ø  December 12, 2013 Women of the Revolution - Bravery. Loyalty. Sacrifice. Women of the Revolution possessed all of these qualities. Explore the excitement, peril, and individual stories of Deborah Sampson, Mary Perth, Martha Washington, and other women, on both sides of the conflict, who proved their mettle in America’s war for independence.
Ø  January 16, 2014 The Amazing Trade Shop Math Race P R E M I E R E - Colonial Williamsburg’s tradespeople help two teams of students in a race against the clock to help the Continental Army! Quirky “Professor Eddie” is back again, highlighting how students use their math skills to make shirts, bread, cartridge boxes, and more.
Ø  February 13, 2014 Harsh World, This World - What was slavery really like for enslaved people and their masters? Traditional proverbs guide students through personal stories, based on primary sources, showing kindness, betrayal, trust, cruelty, and the many emotions that govern complex human relationships.
Ø  March 13, 2014 Civil War Ironclads P R E M I E R E - In the Civil War, both the Union and the Confederacy raced to build armored, steam-powered warships that were the ancestors of today’s navies. Meet the people behind and aboard the “ironclads”—and relive the famous 1862 battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack.
Ø  April 10, 2014 The War of 1812 - A generation after the Revolution, Americans were once again plunged into war with Great Britain. Why? Join Henry Clay, Tecumseh, Andrew Jackson, James Madison, and others as they struggle to determine what course the United States will take.

Field Trip List 2013-14

Ø  September- Greek Festival- 9/27-  12 Noon-  We will meet and explore the music, dancing, arts and crafts.  All of these events are free.  If you would like to purchase a food ticket to taste a variety of food you will need to get one of those. Please RSVP so we will be looking for you.  Alabama Wildlife Federation – They are finalizing home school plans.
Ø  October 25-  Living History Day at Old Baker Farm Hapersville, AL-  Join us for our Annual American Civil War and Living History Day! Open only to schools groups grades 3 thru 6. $7 per person. Classes will meet Civil War living historians who will tell and demonstrate different aspects of one of the most influential wars in the United States.  Demonstrations include artillery firing, infantry manual of arms, learning and participating in some basic infantry marching drills, cavalry, signal corps, and old fashion soap making. Classes will learn about uniforms and equipment used by soldiers, what camp life and food were like, different flags of the war, and see and learn about earthworks forts by stepping into a full size replica earthworks fort.  Includes tour of each aspect of the war described and an Old Baker Farm hayride. (Lunch is not included, so be sure and bring lunch for your class).  RSVP by October 1^st.
Ø  November 8th-  Golden Flake Chip Factory- Birmingham, AL -  We will be visting the plant on this day.  They will not give us a official time till after September 1^st.  So watch for updates!
Ø  December-  No field trip.
Ø  January -  Meeting at Hope!
Ø  February 7^th- Rosa Parks Museum 10 am- Montgomery, AL. Experience the energy and emotion of the Montgomery Bus Boycott at this museum, which features a recreated street scene and reenactment on the bus with video footage that transports witnesses to the fateful day on December 1, 1955. The Children's Wing prepares visitors for the museum reenactment involving Rosa Parks. RSVP by January 15^th.
Ø  March-Alabama Power Martin Hydro Dam-  This field trip will be for grade 3^rdand up.  Because of water levels and other conditions they will not confirm dates and time to after the first of the year.
Ø  April 4^th 10 am- Karl C. Harrison Museum of George Washington Columbiana, AL  The Karl C. Harrison Museum of George Washington collection focuses on art and artifacts from the colonial period through 1865.  The collection contains paintings, letters, furniture, porcelain, glassware, silver, jewelry, busts and more.  Martha Washington’s prayer book printed in New York in 1783, an original 1787 Samuel Vaughn sketch of Mt. Vernon grounds, writing instruments and tools from George Washington’ s survey case and an original tin type depicting Robert E. Lee in his uniform for the last time are just a few collection highlights. This is a free field trip.

Good Monday afternoon, my friends! I hope everyone's summer is going great. Rhonda and I are already planning next year's activities and keeping up to date on all of the latest info for you guys. We are heading to our leaders' meeting this week at Hope and are getting excited about what is in store. 

Is there anything we can do to help you? What would you like to see us repeat or begin this year? Almost game time, people! :)

Also, please be sure to check out the Hope Christian Blog for info on the upcoming Hope Days next month.

January Required Meeting

It's that time again! Our required January meeting is next Tuesday, January 22nd at 1pm at the school. Everyone is encouraged to attend because this is the midpoint of the year and this informative meeting may remind you of something or let you know about an event you didn't even have on your radar. It is also so good to see everyone!

That being said, we wanted to let you know that if you have schooled with Hope Christian for 3-5 consecutive years, you may email the school office and request to be excused from this meeting. We would just need to get with you outside of the meeting to check lesson plans or you can send 5 copied pages to the school office for approval. If you have schooled with Hope for more than 5 consecutive years, you can request to be excused from the meeting and you do not have to have lesson plans checked unless you have a question or just want someone to look at them. Again, you must check with the Hope office in order to be excused.

Rhonda and I both have previous obligations at the Calera Library immediately following the meeting on Tuesday (it's almost Fairy Tale Ball time!) so we won't be around after the meeting to chat. However, we can be there early if anyone needs to meet with us for any reason. Just shoot us an email and let us know!

We can't wait to see you all next week!

DonDee & Rhonda