LOTS OF BUSINESS
was conducted at the April 6, 1999 General Meeting. OFFICERS were elected for terms beginning July 1st and ending June 30, 2000. BY-LAWS were adopted. A NEW NAME for our group was chosen.OFFICERS-ELECT ARE AS FOLLOWS:
President: Buddy Goulart
Vice-president Kyle Travers
Secretary Lynn Emerson
Treasurer Bonnie Malinowski
BY-LAWS were hashed out and adopted.
OUR NEW NAME, WHICH GOES INTO EFFECT JULY 1 WILL BE: CHESAPEAKE HOME EDUCATORS
SMHSA EVENTS:
GRADUATION -
for those graduating K, 5, and 8, to be held on Field Day May 23.PRESENTATION DAY Friday, April 23rd, 7PM
at Jesus the Good Shepherd Church. Non-mandatory dress rehearsal the day before - time not determined yet. Still accepting Program cover designs.FIELD DAY May 23rd
behind Fairview Library. Sign up at the skating rink.Skating dates upcoming:
April 26, May 10, May 24LAST SKATE is June 14. Dave is going to supply a grill and meats for a cookout. We are to bring side dishes. Sounds like fun!
FIELD TRIPS: Baltimore Museum of Industry MAY 6th, 1 - 3:30 PM - gr. K-7.SWIMMING
at Arundel Swim Center April 23rd and May 21st from noon to 2PM. $1.50 under 17; must be potty-trained; $3.50 swimming adults. Call Lynn and let her know if you plan to attend. See Page 2 for more details.PLANETARIUM
May 17, 9-10 AM. $3.00 for non-Calvert County residents. Call Lydia. GEOGRAPHY CLUB - Tuesdays from 1 - 2:30 at Fairview Library for grades K-7.SCIENCE FAIR
On March 19th, the first annual SMHSA Science Fair was held at Jesus the Good Shepherd Church. 31 students registered with experiments ranging from paper planes to mathematical probability. The first thing that one might have noticed was the time and care these students took in preparing these experiments for presentation. It was clear that most of the students took their experiment seriously. Many students repeated their experiments multiple times in order to be certain of their data. The projects were evaluated by volunteer judges using criteria provided by the Judging co-ordinator Dr. Craig Emerson. The judges were impressed by the depth of thought of the experiments, and in some cases the imagination of the subject matter being considered. There were projects on paper planes, household products, such as batteries and disposabl diapers, plant growing, astronomy, bridge building, and many others. Congratulations to all the participants in the Science Fair. You made us all proud. I hope you will all re-enter the Science fair next year. A special thanks is also extended to Lynn, Science fair co-ordinator,and Su who handled the arrangements with Jesus Good Shepherd Church. Many others also helped put this event together in various ways. In the end, the students all learned a tremendous amount, both from doing their own experiments and from viewing the efforts of the others. I know I did. ~BuddyPLAYGROUP AT THE EMERSONS
on the fourth Fridays of the month (April 30th and May 28th). Please bring a snack to share. There will be no organized events, just fun and socialization.SWIMMING
at Arundel Olympic Swim Center, Riva Rd., Annapolis. April 23rd and May 28th. Children (17 and under): $1.50 Adults: $3.50. Children under 2 are not admitted into the pool. Children over 2 must be toilet trained. If you don't swim, you don't have to pay, although they would like kids under 12 be accompanied by some adults. You may sit along the edge of the deck (with your shoes off) or up in the balcony area. There is an area outside the pool area where food is permitted. GEOGRAPHY AWARENESS WEEK: Nov 14-20. 1999. The theme will be "Geography and Technology: Think the world of Your Community" Teachers' packets will be available in June. You can write for a free packet, while supplies last, to National Geographic Society, P.O. Box 98190, Washington, D.C. 200090-8190.NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY BEE
National Championshipswill be televised May 26 on PBS.LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT YEAR!
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MATH OLYMPIADS
--Want more for math curriculum? Join MATH OLYMPIADS for elementary and middle school students. The main goals of the Math Olympiads is to: develop their enthusiasm for problem solving; and to contribute to their cognitive development. A math Olympiad contest contains five problems, each with a time limit. Five Olympiads are held at monthly intervals during the school year, commencing in November. For each correct answer a student receives one point, thus a maximum of 25 points. Each child who participates in one or more Olympiads receives a special certificate. There are other awards for individuals as well as for teams (top ten scores). Registration fee is $75 per team (up to 35 members) and includes 5 contests, all awards, 8 newsletters, and all the problems from the previous two years. Registration deadline is Sept. 30th.HOMESCHOOL BAND
- Yes! We've had an offer from Tracey to start a homeschool band next year.KENNEDY CENTER PERFORMANCES
- Please call 202-416-8835 and ask for the booklet on Performances for School Groups. It will help immensely in the coordinating of these performances for next year if everyone has their own brochure.FOLGER SHAKESPEARE THEATRE
- Trips will be scheduled for next school year according to the interest generated. Look for more info at the skating rink.ODYSSEY OF THE MIND SCHOOL PROGRAM
--It's mission is to foster the development of creative thinking and problem solving skills of students K- College. Students work in teams which are divided into different divisions according to age. Teams are composed of up to 7 participants of different ages (the age of the oldest participant on the team determines the team's division). OM problems have open-ended answers empowering participants to create solutions that are imaginative, original, divergent and ingenious! Once team members develop a solution, they present it in a performance, designing and creating--without adult assistance--all props, costumes and other 'style elements' necessary to bring the solution to life. Five divergent questions are unveiled each fall. Problems are from across the curriculum. Members receive problem-solving materials and curriculum materials. The curriculum materials are intended for further practice in creative problem-solving and teamwork skills. Membership fee is $135 (approx. $20 per team member).CAMP WEE WANNA BE and CAMP GONNA BE
presented by The Talent Co. are summer camps for kids ages 4-6 and ages 7-14, respectively. Older students will experience an audition, receive parts, and learn music and dialogue. They will learn the process of developing scenes and music. Camp runs for two consecutive weeks. For more information and pricing call 410-956-0512.The Talent Co
. is also willing to set up a course next year for our homeschool group provided there is enough interest.ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES
- Estuarine Research Center is holding an Open House on May 1 from 10 AM - 4 PM. It's free and fun! Educational boat trips aboard the R/V Joseph Leidy (limited availability) - behind-the-scenes-tours, lots of fun activities, celebrate the Chesapeake Bay, hands-on exhibits, face painting and more... Rain or Shine. Located at Jefferson Patterson Park, St. Leonard, Maryland (Rt. 4 S. to right on Broomes Island Rd to left on Mackall Rd).AMAZING JELLIES
: Sea Nettles, Comb Jellies and Other Incredible Creatures of the Chesapeake - an evening seminar - Friday, May 7 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM. at the Academy of Natural Sciences Estuarine Research Center mentioned on Page 2 - Dr. Denise L. Breitburg will talk about the behavior and ecology of these amazing creatures and their relatives, about their role in the Bay ecosystem, how they may compete with Rockfish and other fish for food, and her research on how changes we have caused in the Bay's ecology may favor their abundance. Admission is by advance registration only. RSVP is by April 30. Call 410-586-9700 for more information.5 WAYS TO HAVE FUN WITH BOOK REPORTS
1. Write a straight summary of the story.
2. Write a 3-5 sentence synopsis of each chapter.
3. Write a character sketch of one or more of the people in the story.
4. Write diary and/or journal entries as they would have been done by one of the characters during the action of the book.
5. Write a review of the book telling why you did or did not like it. (To prepare for this, read book and/or movie reviews in the newspaper.)
LOOK FOR MORE FUN IDEAS NEXT MONTH!
WEBSITES:
ART SITES: http://www.bconnex.net/~jarea/lessons.htm and http://www.homeschoolarts.com
www.exploratorium.edu (the museum of science, art and human perception -- I particularly like the the science explorer stuff under the learning studio)
And if anyone wants to read a dept of ed (I think) report on testing results nationwide on homeschoolers, they can check out: http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v7n8
Sites submitted by Su. Thanks Su!
TIME FOR KIDS Kids can stay on top of current events at http://www.timeforkids.com sponsored by Time Magazine. You can also subscribe to the publication which is printed weekly during the school year! Submitted by Lynn, thanks!On behalf of all those parents who's children took Kyle's felting course, I would like to thank her for opening her home and sharing her knowledge and experiences. The children really enjoyed it. Thanks Kyle! ~Lynn