It's the Old School Timeline Party--This Friday!

Becky and I are co-hosting this event, and we are excited.  Ever since last semester we have wanted to have a day where we would all get together and make a giant timeline in the gym--a fun visual experience to help all our kids get a better feel for where the events and people they have been studying fall in relationship with one another. 

What: The Old School Timeline Party

Where: upstairs classrooms, Children's Ministry Bldg., Vintage Faith Church

When: This Friday, April 11, noon-2:30.

We will meet up in the upstairs right-hand classrooms again for the first part, until most everyone has arrived. We will have circle time and do just a little sharing.  But most of the event we will spend in the gym--not goofing off this time, but presenting!

Each child who wants to should pick a person your family has learned about so far this year--or that the child can research in the next few days--and write a brief, first person narrative report that explains who the Important Person is, where and when he/she lived, and why he/she is important to history.

*This is not a hard assignment--you parents can take this idea and run with it to the extent you want to this week, making it fit your child's interest and abilities and your school schedule for the week.  It may remind some of you of our first Author's Fair project--as it should since we are using the same template as a starting point!  So this week, just have your children gather a few facts about this Important Person in History:


MY NAME IS:

IT IS THE YEAR: (choose a date important to this person's role in history)

I LIVE: (give the location(s) important to this person's role in history)

I AM: (here is where you briefly tell the person's role, or job, or what was going on around him/her at this place/time in history, and/or what he/she was doing about it)

I AM AFFECTING HISTORY BY:

ONE THING YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME IS:

ONE THING I WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW IS: (talk with your kids about the beliefs and values of this person in relation to their role in history. Choose either a direct quotation of this person, or help your child summarize a belief or value that has come through in your studies.


Older kids can write more--that is up to you, parents, but every Important Person at least need to have accurate dates and places recorded.  When we all get together on Friday we will give an opportunity for each child to present his/her Important Person, and then we will figure out on the timeline we make where the person belongs.

*Any child who wants to participate is encouraged to do so!  Siblings can work on the same topic and present their findings together, or they can work individually on separate topics--you decide what works best for your family.

*Any child who wants to dress up as his or her Important Person is welcome to! 



This event is not a food party, so no need to bring any food items to share.  But as always, you are welcome to bring lunch for your family, or to eat before you come--whichever is easiest for your family!  But would you please remember to bring plates, napkins & cups for your family.  We're striving to make our gatherings as waste-free as possible. : )  Thank you!

Old School Mondays--TOMORROW and the rest of the semester!

Ok, Vintage Homeschool Moms, time to get out your calendars:

Here are the tentative dates for Old School Mondays and other Vintage Homeschool Days!

TOMORROW, January 27: our first Old School Monday for 2014! We have some fun things planned, including sharing time--so please encourage your child/ren to bring something to show or tell that they are learning here at the start of 2014. 

Friday, Feb. 14: our annual Valentine's Day party

Monday, Feb 24: Old School Monday

Monday, March 17: Old School Monday/St. Patrick's Day party

Friday, April 11: Old School Timeline Day

Monday, April 28: Old School Monday

Friday, May 23: End of School party

Unless we specify on special events, all of these gatherings will take place in the usual rooms there at Vintage Faith (downstairs in the Children's Ministry building) from 12-2:30. 

We have some other fun events still in the planning, but I will discuss this with you all tomorrow and then later here on the blog.  For all these events, I'll be sure to post any info you need to know in advance (usually about a week before).  Be sure to subscribe by email to the blog so you don't miss out on information!

I hope to see you all tomorrow! 

Ye Olde School Medieval Monday, NEXT week!

image (and fascinating discussion of trombones in ancient art) found here

Welcome to Ye Olde School Medieval Monday

October 28, 2013

Vintage Faith classrooms

noon - 2:30

Children are welcome to dress up in Medieval-Renaissance appropriate clothing.

Please bring a finger food item to share--we will have a Medieval feast!  *It is perfectly fine to bring food that is not historically accurate.*  We will be talking as a group about the foods they would have eaten at this time, and why, and so it is will work well if we have some foods they would not have eaten. : )   If you would like to bring a food that is more historically accurate, I have found some web pages here, here, and here for starting points.  *Whether you bring historical or modern food, please choose something that is not very messy and can be eaten with fingers.*  

Some quick food options from Medieval times:
--dark bread (rye, barley, wheat)
--cheese
--figs, dates
--apples, plums, pears
--grapes
--roasted nuts
--chocolate gold coins (for taxes ; )
--sausages
--apple cider

For extra ambiance, see if you have any wooden or metal plates or bowls to serve your foods in.

Please remember to bring plates, napkins & cups for your family.  We're striving to make our gatherings as waste-free as possible. : )

If you and your children would like, the kids can also come prepared to share a favorite book that takes place in or a historical character that lived during the Middle Ages or Renaissance periods in world history.  Each child who comes prepared will share briefly, if they desire; older kids may write and present a report if mom wants. ; )

Questions or comments?  Please leave them in the comments below, so that everyone may benefit from the discussion.

 

Old School Monday gatherings--Beginning THIS MONDAY!

Hello Vintage Homeschool Moms!  There are even more of us this year, with lots of new homeschooling families to welcome.  Becky and I have thought up a few fun events for this Fall that we want to invite all of you to.  Please pass around this info to all the homeschool moms in your circle!

Our first Old School Monday is this next Monday, Oct. 7, from  noon till 2:30.  As usual, we will meet there in the two right-hand downstairs classrooms in the Vintage Faith Children's Ministry building.  This will be our annual "back to school" share day, and our theme is "What We've Been Up To."  This is a great opportunity for your kids to prepare something to share with the group. 

Some things your kids may have been up to, that they might want to share:
--What they did this past summer
--Something they learned this week
--Something they did recently that was exciting
--Someplace they went recently

You get the idea.  There are also many ways your kids can share their information:
--They could make a display
--Or make an old-school poster board presentation
--They could write a story
--They could show some photographs
--They could write a play and act it out
--They could write an old-school report
--They could present an interpretive dance
--The new moms hopefully realize I'm joking. But yet, I'm not!
--They may do it individually
--They may collaborate with siblings or friends.

Again, you get the idea.  There is only ONE rule:  Any child who participates must have a writing element in his or her presentation.  It can be as short as a page, or paragraph, or sentence, depending upon the age of the child.  But there must be writing of some sort in the presentation.

I apologize for not posting this sooner and giving you more time to get all into it--and yet, I know most of us do these things only a few days beforehand anyway. ; ) 

So, there you go!  I hope you encourage your children to participate, if they want to.  But no one has to if they don't want to. However, any child who participates will earn a prize!

And let's make this first gathering a party!  You are welcome to bring lunch for your family, or to eat before you come--whichever is easiest for your family--but please bring one food item to share with the group.  Also, please bring your own dishware & cups. 

But of course if nothing else we hope you just bring yourself and your kids. : )


Here is roughly what Monday will look like:

12:00 - 12:30 -- arriving, setting up displays, eating lunch for those who want to bring theirs
12:30 - 1:00   -- Circle time, introductions, story
1:00 - 1:30     -- kids can share whatever they prepared (don't forget their writing!)
1:30 - 2:30     -- kids can play in the gym, moms can chat!

Hope to see you there!


The rest of the Vintage Homeschool Moms gatherings we have planned this Fall:

Monday, October 28--The Old School Medieval Monday (Middle Ages costumes optional)

Monday, November 25--The Old School Monday Timeline Day

Friday, December 20--Our Christmas Party

In the past we have had an Operation Christmas Child shoebox filling party, which would need to happen by early November.  If anyone is interested in doing this, please let me know.  The likely date of such an event would be Friday, November 8. 


Any questions or comments?  Please feel free to leave them in the comments below, so everyone may benefit from the discussion.

Old School Valentine's Party! YOU are needed!

Hello Vintage Homeschool Moms!

So, after our last gathering, many of you told me how much your kids enjoy the annual Valentine's Day party.  So, yes let's do it!  I have reserved the room for Friday, Feb 15 from 12:00 to 2:30, as we discussed last time. 

BUT I am really suffering from allergies this year, ladies, and am feeling pretty stretched thin.  I just don't know if I have the reserves to plan and execute another party so soon after the last one.  SO this is the chance for some of you other moms to step in!  Does anyone want to plan and lead the party?  Or do several of you want to take turns leading certain parts of the party?  Please, everyone, jump in with your excellent ideas and leave them in the comments below, so others know your intentions and ideas. : )

In the past we have had Valentines-ish party food, a reading of a book something about love, and some kind of craft or activity.  (Often some kind of holder for valentine's day cards.)  And then we have the traditional passing out of the valentines at some point near the end. : ) 

I look forward to hearing whatever you come up with!

lisa

Old School MATH Party! This MONDAY, Jan 28

Old School Monday Math Party

Monday, January 28, 2013

11-2

Vintage Preschool classrooms

Hello everyone!

My girls all finished their math programs before Christmas, and I am so proud of them.  Per our tradition, we are going to have a Math Party to celebrate, and we want to celebrate the math accomplishments of all your kids too.

So part of our next Vintage Homeschool gathering will be all about math!  Please have your kids come with something to share (if they want) to show something they are doing in math, or something they completed in math of which they are proud.  We will have share time so everyone who wishes to share gets a turn.

We will have the gym that time too, so does anyone know of a good physical game that involves any math?  I would love it if someone knew/would lead such a game!  Send me an email or leave a comment if you are game. (Ba dum dum!)

As always, you are welcome to bring your lunch for your family.  This party you do not have to bring food to share (unless you want)--my kids will each make something to bring that represents the colors of their math book covers!  (But if your kids want to do the same, of course they are welcome to--we don't want to hinder their creativity!)

Hope to see you there!

Vintage Homeschool Party! THIS Monday

Hello Vintage Homeschool Moms!

Wow, looking at the last post makes me realize how busy we have all been this Fall semester. 

Well, it's time for another party!

I tried to get official permission for us to use the usual classrooms for a Christmas party, and never heard back from the person who schedules the rooms, so that is why I am posting this at the very last minute.  We're down to the last week before Christmas, and I really want to have a party, by gum!  So let's go ahead and have the party and pretend they said we could. ; ) 

(You know they likely meant to say yes and just got busy and forgot. So I am sure it's fine.)

But we're not going to make this a big production this year.  No cookie exchange, no ornament craft, no announcing on any other homeschool groups.  Let's just get together and celebrate Christmas!

WHERE: usual classroom at Vintage
WHEN: THIS MONDAY from 11-2
WHAT TO BRING:  a festive food item to share

We will sing some carols, read a story or two, and eat yummy food and chat and play.  Very low key!

Hope to see you all there!

Rainbow Math Party reminder and info

Hello Moms!

Just a reminder that the Rainbow themed math party is this Friday at noon--see the post I made below for the details.

ONE MORE THING, though, that was not part of the original announcement:

As most of you know, we normally do a book project for the Author's Fair, which is the first Sat. in April.  This year we are doing sensory poetry, and will be making our own watercolored papers that we will then use for the artwork.  I'll explain more in a separate post, but for now, I just wanted to let you know that I am planning to have the kids start their painting on Friday at the Math party!  We will have the school-age kids in the adjoining classroom, and start at noon.  If you are not able to make it to the party by noon, don't worry--this is something you can do at home with your kids too.  (And if you can't come to the party at all, you can still be part of the book project--we are just getting a jump start on Friday.) The big kids will paint until about 12:30-45, when we will start the fun math/rainbow activities in earnest.

The moms and tots can hang out in the regular room.  And if any of you don't want your kids painting, no worries--just come and hang out and play. : ) 

If you do want your kids to paint, then I recommend you bring the following:
--play clothes on your kids, or smocks
--any watercolor paints, if you have them
--any brushes, if you have them.
--and any watercolor paper you might have on hand.  (but thick paper is not necessarily good for the project, so don't pull out your really good stuff)

I think the book project is going to be really fun, and painting with a rainbow of colors seemed an appropriate activity for our fun rainbow math party!

Post comments here if you have any questions. : )

Parties! Mark your calendars

Hello families!

We have TWO fun parties now on the calendar for the upcoming months. 

Valentine's Day Party

Tuesday, Feb. 14th
12:00-2:00
In the usual downstairs classrooms there in the Children's Ministry building on the Vintage Faith church campus. 

This is purely "socialization" time, with no specific educational goals, so please invite your homeschool friends, come and have fun!  I'll try to bring a good Love story to read to the group, and will lead a little Valentine's Day craft for the older elementary kids while moms with little 'uns can hang out and chat. : )

Please Bring:
--Lunch for your family, if you wish.*

--A snack to share (and while this is the perfect time to break out the sweets, let's see if we can get a few healthy things in there too).

--Valentines!  If your kids want to participate in this part of the fun, please have them bring a valentine for every child (and always wise to have a few extra).**

--Your own special Valentine's Day mailbox!  This can be a decorated shoebox, a folder, a big envelope, a basket, whatever you want--as long as it can hold cards and probably a little candy.  You can bring one for each child, or one for your family--you decide.  It just needs to be labeled somehow, so each "delivery person" knows where to deliver his or her valentines.

(Moms, in my opinion, this is the time to let our healthy urges take the back seat, and get whatever little candy treats you remember most fondly from childhood. This is an Old School party, after all!  ; )




*As always, every family should please bring their own plates, water bottles, napkins, etc.  Let's strive to make all our gatherings as waste-free as possible. 

**If we all RSVP in the comments below, it will help us all know about how many cards to prepare.



The Rainbow Math Party

Friday, March 16th
12:00-2:00
In the same downstairs classrooms there in the Children's Ministry building on the Vintage Faith church campus.

Years ago, our family started a tradition--when each child finishes a math book, we have a math party to celebrate!  We make the color of the math book cover the theme of the party.  Well, last year we finished several math books, but every time we were so busy we never stopped to have the parties!  So now we are going to have one big rainbow themed party, to make up for it!  And we would love to have our friends join us.

We will have some rainbow-themed activities (Becky has agreed to talk about light and the color spectrum!) and some math games.  So, this party will be more structured and "educational," but we will leave time for socializing too!

To bring:

--Lunch for your family, if you wish.*

--If you choose, please bring a snack that is ONE color. Be creative! Our family will be bringing a rainbow veggie tray, and a rainbow-themed dessert--but the more snacks the better!

--If your child has a math project or math accomplishment to share, please bring it, and we will make a special "Show & Tell" time during the party so all the kids can share all their fun math learning. : )


We would love to have you join us!

Questions on either of these events?  Please leave them in the comments, and I'll answer as best I can.

lisa c.

On our Christmas party and sharing the fun with the greater SC community

Hello Moms!

So, I have had a very interesting exchange today via emails with the local Santa Cruz Homeschool Yahoo group (my main source of info for all things homeschool in this area--which I why I occassionally quote good stuff from the group here, for the benefit of you all).  As most of you know, when we have a special "Vintage Homeschool Group" event and I tell you all to invite friends, I also send an invite to all the families on the Santa Cruz Homeschool Yahoo group.  This is usually for the "Back to School," "End of School," "Valentine's Day," and "Christmas" parties.  Do you remember Hilary who came a couple of times with her son, or Zan who came a couple of times with her son and daughter, or Susan who came once with her young son and daughter?  These are just some of the people who have visited our parties from the greater SC homeschool community to be friendly and join in the fun.  I am so glad they did, and I hope they felt welcome. 

Well, today I posted a group-wide invitation to our Christmas party.  What follows are the emails that came as a response this afternoon.  I'll explain at the end why I am sharing this dialogue with you all, but I think you will be able to figure it out:

------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello all!

Our Vintage Homeschool Moms group is having our annual Christmas party next Monday, Dec. 19 from noon until 2:30 there at Vintage Faith Church in S.C.

All familes are welcome!

Please check out this link for more details: http://vintagemoms.blogspot.com/2011/12/old-school-monday-christmas-party-is-on.html

Hope the rest of your week is a merry one! : )

lisa c-------

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I was wanting to find out more about the Vintage Faith Church a
while back when some friends were talking about the Abbey
coffeehouse the church runs, and was very disappointed to find out --
from the web site and from reviews of a book by the pastor -- that
they are anti-gay. Would "All families are welcome" really apply to
all the local two-mom homeschooling families and LGBT homeschooling
teens I know?

In general Santa Cruz has a lot of LGBT-inclusive and welcoming
churches and other houses of worship -- just for one small example,
it is my experience as a person who has danced in both the Downtown
Santa Cruz Holiday Parade and the Santa Cruz Pride Parade that the
latter has a lot more churches in it -- so yes, it was an unpleasant
surprise that a church that seems to want to make a big deal of
having a hip coffeehouse would not be included in that number.

I hope we will all remember that homeschooling families are a
diverse group.

T--- T------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi T---,

Thanks for your honest and sincere email response to my invite.  The Vintage Homeschool Moms group is just that--a bunch of moms who enjoy getting together to have fun and encourage one another in our homeschooling and parenting.  The Christmas party is not a church-sponsored event, but we routinely use the Vintage Faith Church classrooms for our gatherings, since they have such great facilities (like a bathroom in the classroom, the gym for the kids to run around in, etc.).  We call ourselves "Vintage Homeschool Moms" just because most of us happen to be, but we have families from other churches join us, and have welcomed Jewish, agnostic, and atheist parents as well.  I am the organizer for most of the gatherings we have, and I love to invite new people--you never know who might really want to get their kids out of the house for a fun, casual event with other homeschool kids, or what mom might be struggling and need a few kind words. : )

So, we do not claim to represent the overall Vintage Faith Church, and I am sure all of us moms in the group have different opinions about all aspects of life, just like all of us here on the homeschool group forum do.  I can't speak for any of the other moms (or dads, who are welcome and sometimes come too!), but I personally welcome any homeschool family who feels comfortable with us.  What I can speak for the other moms about is that yes, most of us are trying to live as followers of Jesus Christ, and believe each and every person is a unique, valuable creation worthy of love and respect. 

You are right that this will not be an all-inclusive gathering, in the sense that we will be celebrating "Christmas" and not "the Holidays" and God might very well come up in the conversation as moms chat.  ; )  I posted the invite with the assumption that anyone who wants to avoid such things would simply disregard it.  But it will not be a religious gathering in nature (i.e. other than the fact that Christmas is what it is, we are not out to convert you), and so I invite anyone who is comfortable with such a dynamic to please feel free to join us.

lisa

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow, thanks for doing the research T---. I'll look into this too. I've been to The Abbey twice to knit with a friend, just assuming they were friendly.  As another lesbian mom, I won't be spending my money there anymore.


A--

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Lisa,

 I was confused by some parts of your reply (below), so I was hoping you could clarify a few things:

- Is T--- correct that this church has an anti-gay theology?  I understand that your group is not church-sponsored, but some might consider this information relevant in deciding whether to attend an event at their facility. 

- You said that most of the members of the group are in fact members of the church.  Does the group have an explicit understanding that gay families are welcome and will not be subjected to anti-gay attitudes?  If not, a reasonable person might assume that the stance of the church is the (unspoken) stance of the group.

- Statements like "every person is a unique, valuable creation worthy of love and respect" are often code for "hate the sin, love the sinner."  Is this in fact what you meant to convey?

We are indeed a diverse group, and should be free to announce gatherings etc. that would not suit all of us.  I do think, however, that accurate information about the nature of a group would be helpful.

Thanks in advance for clarifying,

M--

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Speaking as an all inclusive mom, I feel that you both are being very unfair with your expectations and judgements. I also feel the tones of your reply/comments are very negative and unaccepting themselves. Let us keep our personal feelings aside and ask objective questions with the expectation of a reasonable answer.
Sent from my LG phone

[no name given]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are referring to my comment, I don't see how declaring that I won't spend money in a cafe that funds an anti-gay church is being unfair to anyone, least of all Lisa, who wasn't representing The Abbey. I want all homeschoolers to feel welcome posting here, but I also want to be reasonably informed about the politics/religious leanings of any group or event I choose to attend, so I welcome the discussion that has followed Lisa's posting.


A--

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Hi M--,

Your questions are reasonable.  I was trying to avoid speaking for the overall church, for several reasons.  Mainly I don't feel qualified to speak for the church, so hope all of you who are really interested in knowing the church's stance on such issues will go directly to the source, and call and set up a meeting with one of the pastors.   D-- K------ is the pastor who I think T--- was referencing in her email, and he is a very sensitive man who is always available for such discussions.  If you would prefer to speak with a woman, K------ J----- is not a pastor, but is one of the members at the heart of the church.  I understand why some of you want to know the church's stance on gender identity, GLBT families, etc., esp. in regards to the Abbey coffeelounge, since we all want to support business (or in this case, non-profits) that align with our personal values. 

I tried to be clear that I was not speaking for the other moms/families in the Vintage homeschool moms group, but you are raising an excellent question about whether or not the other moms would welcome gay/lesbian families.  To be candid, I don't know.  What I do know is that they have welcomed every other family who has come, and I will never invite the greater homeschool community to an event that is specifically religious in nature or at which they might not be welcome.    

I do want to address your question about whether my statement "every person is a unique, valuable creation worthy of love and respect" was code for "hate the sin, love the sinner."   While every single word I chose is loaded with meaning, and intentionally so, please take them together in their most beautiful, person-affirming way.   I personally respect people of all faiths, cultural backgrounds, etc, and hope those of you who know me even a little in person would agree that I live out these beliefs.  (I feel like I am supposed to whip out my "diversity portfolio" at this point, or show you my gay and lesbian parent personal references. ; ) 

I am not offended that you are asking, esp. since I am sure others are wondering at this point, although it is certainly uncomfortable.  I enjoy being a part of this homeschool group because it represents the whole broad spectrum of our greater Santa Cruz area, and in fact do not choose to participate in groups that purposefully exclude a variety of world views.  But within this group, I hope there is enough room on the spectrum of ideas for mine too.   It is healthy and wise for such a group to avoid entangements that come with seeming to promote certain views above others.  I have been sharing only those events and ideas that seemed to be relevant to the greater homeschool community. 

So, everyone, do my clarifications and assurances here suffice?  Do we all agree with M--'s statement that "We are indeed a diverse group, and should be free to announce gatherings etc. that would not suit all of us"? 

Ironically, I have to run to church now. ; )  But please feel free to email again if we need to further the dialogue.

lisa

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


That was all the emailing that happened today.  If more views come forth, I will add them to this post, because I think this is an important dialogue that you all should be aware of, since it concerns you specifically. 

Tonight when I was at the kid's choir practice, I had a chance to share some of this with a few of you, and was so glad to get the response I expected from you, which was that you were unhesitatingly willing and even glad to open our special events to all homeschool families, and only hoped that any who came would be as willing to tolerate our views as we would be willing to tolerate their views. 

I think it was actually really cool that such a conversation happened in that public forum--that people were talking about churches being welcoming or not, Christians being loving to others or not, esp. those with whom they might disagree.  I am sure not only the parents who participated in this dialogue thought about the implications, but surely so did all the parents who just read the responses and did not chime in. 

I want you all to have the same chance, to think about these things, and what response we as a body of believers in Jesus Christ should have to our surrounding community. I do hope that us Christian homeschool moms (wherever we are!) would genuinely welcome any family who we encounter--that we can love them without fear, from the fullness of Christ's love for them. 

Since the SC Homeschooling group has been given this blog link for the information about the party, I have written this with the expectation that some of the readers might be more curious about us after the email exchange and might stop by this blog.  I hope whatever we say here will reflect who we really are, and we will be seen for the friendly bunch we are.  So, please feel free to comment, and "let your gentleness be evident to all--the Lord is near." : )

much love to you all,

lisa

The Old School Monday Christmas Party is ON!

Hello all you Vintage Moms!

Ok, so I got permission from the church to use our usual classrooms next Monday, December 19.  So please come join in the holiday fun!  We will meet the usual time, from noon until about 2:30.  We will chat and play and do a few ornament crafts. 

We will also have a Christmas cookie exchange!  Here's how it works: 
--each child who wants to participate should bring one dozen cookies on a plate.
--we will place all the plates of cookies out when everyone is there
--each child who brought a plate of cookies gets to go through the cookie buffet with an empty paper plate, choosing a dozen cookies, whatever strikes his or her fancy.
--so this means every child leaves with the same number of cookies he or she brought, but gets the fun of trying other family's favorite holiday treats.  : )
--and of course our children will share with their siblings and daddies and mommies, right? ; )

I'll bring the empty paper plates, so here is what you may want to bring:

--one dozen cookies per child (IF you want to participate in the cookie exchange)

--lunch for your family (IF you want to), including drinks*

--one non-sweet snack to share with the group


Please feel free to invite friends!

*Remember, we would like to make our gatherings as waste-free as possible, so if you could bring your own reusable cups, little plates, etc. that would be so helpful!

Reminder--Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Party THIS FRIDAY

Hello all!

Anyone interested and planning to join us, please scroll down to re-read the post I made a few weeks ago, where you can find all the details you need to know--what to bring, etc.  And please feel free to bring friends!

*Also, don't forget you can pre-pay for your box online, and then be able to have your box tracked as it is shipped and handed out!  TOTALLY the way to go if you and your kids are studying world cultures, geography, etc.

ALSO, if you received this post today in your email inbox, would you please leave a comment to this post?  That will help me know not only that the post notifications are back up and running, but also that the comment feed is running.  Thanks!

Hope you all have a great week!
 

Operation Christmas Child party!

Hello all!

We have been collecting little things for Operation Christmas Child for a long time (since we do this at every birthday party in lieu of gifts) and it is time to have a party and get together and fill shoeboxes!  This fun event will be open to any and all homeschool families and friends.  We can even make it a little holiday themed party, where we talk briefly about being Thankful and Giving in the name of Love. : ) 
                               
We can all pool our resources, so feel free to bring a packet of pens, or a collection of combs, for example, and we will share them in our boxes.   (In fact, that's why I am announcing this plenty early, so you can keep your eye out for special deals on erasers, pencils, little things that are perfect for these boxes.)

So, everyone interested, please bring:

--empty, clean shoeboxes (if you have extra, we can use them!)--some people use plastic shoeboxes.

--small new items to put into them (see the Operation Christmas Child website for ideas)

--cheerful wrapping paper and tape, if you have it on hand.

--$7 for each shoebox your family makes, to help pay for the cost of shipping the shoeboxes.***

***I strongly encourage any of you wanting to be part of this fun project to visit the OCC website before the party, so you can see a new feature--paying for the cost of the shoebox shipment online, and receiving a tracking number for your family's shoeboxes so you can find out where they went!  We are SO going to do this!  Perfect for a lesson not only in compassion and sharing, but also in geography and world cultures!

****Please do still come and help make shoeboxes even if you don't have the $ for the shipping donation.    If all you can bring is an empty shoebox, great!  The main thing is putting these together with one another. : )

These shoeboxes really go to the hands of children around the world who don't have much--can you imagine the feeling the child might have, to realize that loving people somewhere else in the world put together a box full of fun and useful things just for them?  We have seen this in action!  We help support an orphanage in India, for boys who are orphans due to HIV.  When my in-laws visited the orphanage, they were so surprised to see that there was a special cupboard in the orphanage, in which were each boys' cheerfully wrapped Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes!  The boys are well cared for, and loved, and have all their basic needs met, but those boxes and their clothes were all they had for their very own. 

(For more feel-good moments, you can also look up youtube videos to see kids in other parts of the world receiving their boxes!)


WHEN:  Friday, November 18, noon-2:30

WHERE: the preschool classroom there at Vintage Faith Church (children's ministry building)

WHY: to spread love, help our kids learn about the world and to clear out our over-accumulated gift bins!  (ok, maybe that last part is just me)


Please leave a comment if you have any questions, and please spread the word!

Vintage Homeschool Moms Back to School Party!

Hello all!

So, it is that time again.  Can you believe it? I thought it would be fun again to have a party/open house to celebrate the start of the new school year.  Since most of us can no longer make Mondays, I was thinking we would have it there at church on Friday August 26th instead, at our normal time of noon-2:30. 

I am checking with the church to make sure we can use the building at that time.  But even if the church classroom is not available, let's keep the time and date on our calendars and we will make it a park date instead, ok?  Check here for any changes, but if you don't see an UPDATE to this post, that means the original plan to meet at church is a go. : )

So, either place we meet, bring a lunch for your family and a food item to share with the group! 

Also, talk to your kids about your goals for this Fall, and have each kid come up with one learning goal they have that they can share with the group (or one thing they are going to be learning about that they are excited about, like dinosaurs or handwriting or something). 

And please spread the word and invite your friends!

lisa c.

Our Valentine's Party!--THIS FRIDAY

Hi Vintage Moms!

I have been trying to spread the word for a couple of weeks now, so that hopefully you all would set aside the date, but I did not post anything sooner because I had not yet heard officially if we could use the classrooms.  Turns out poor Janene in the church office has been sick, but YES we can use the rooms, so we are on!

This Friday, Feb. 11 from noon until 2:30.  Please come and invite friends!

--We will be making valentine "mailboxes"--very simple ones this year--and then filling them with valentines, so please have your children prepare valentines ahead of time and bring them to share.  

--It's a party!  So please bring some party snack to share. 

--to cut down on waste, would everyone please bring small plates, utensils, napkins, etc. for your own family?  Thanks!

--I would like to have the older kids do a special craft in the attached classroom, so would one mom volunteer to watch my littlest in the main room in the meantime?  Thanks!

If anyone has a favorite book dealing with "Love," please feel free to share it for circle time!

I hope you can all come!

i'm drooling over this Vintage Homeschool idea. . .

If you don't yet visit CakeWrecks, you are missing some good fun.

And some great ideas! 

I saw these images posted, and immediately thought how FUN this could be for our homeschool families--a cake/cupcake decorating event where the kids (with their parents' help of course!) try to reproduce a famous work of art in frosting!  We could invite the general homeschool public to come to the contest, and vote for the winners, and maybe we could even make it a fundraiser and sell the cupcakes/cakes or slices?  

Let me know what you all think of this!  (And don't get scared--I'm thinking sheet cakes and Monet dipples, totally doable!)

Benefits:
--kids get the fun of creating, with a specific challenge
--lots of learning opportunity on Color!
--lots of learning opportunity on art styles and famous works of art!
--accessible to all ages of kids
--if a contest, we would make sure everyone got a prize (most colorful, best reproduction, best color mixing, best use of the color red, etc. ; )
--if we invite non-Vintage homeschool families we can make it a fun, positive introduction to our group, and to Vintage itself
--if we make it a funraiser, we can choose to bless an organization that is loving and serving children, which our kids will also be excited about.
--other benefit to it being an event welcoming outsiders--we won't end up having to eat all that cake and frosting ourselves!!! ; )

UPDATED!: New Year's (Homeschool) Party!

Really, do we NEED a reason to get together and have fun? 

Seriously, fellow moms, this weather and various ailments being passed around our family for the past three weeks has gotten me just a teeny bit blue--I am ready to get out and reconnect with friends!  So how about a party?  (think I'm experiencing just a tad post-holiday let down? ; )

I was thinking it would be so fun to get together with TWO sole objectives:

1) kids playing while moms chat
2) kids sharing with the group one learning goal for 2011

Moms could share a learning goal too! 

If we wanted an activity, I have two bags of flour I have saved for making playdough (unless we think that would make too much of a mess--moms, please give your feedback).

Otherwise, I was just thinking of everyone bringing one snack to share, and we can chat and eat and play. . .

Who is up for it?  Please leave a comment if you can come!

WHEN: This Friday, Jan. 7, noon
WHERE: the usual classrooms at Vintage

Please invite your friends!

***UPDATE***
To cut down on paper/plastic waste, please bring a small plate/bowl and cup and napkins for each member of your own family.  Thanks!

No Old School Monday until Sept!

Hello Moms!

Summer business and travel are upon most of us, so I think we will suspend our official OSM for the rest of the summer. BUT if anyone wants to gather for any other reason, please feel free to suggest something!

AND when we have our first OSM in Sept--on the 27th, by my calendar--we will have a Back to School party, with our "annual" Summer Adventures Show and Tell. So as you have family adventures this summer, keep in the back of your mind how you could get your kids interested in some schoolish way to share it later, like a picture book, a travel journal, a collage, etc. I strongly recommend making writing be a requirement! Each interested family can make a table display. See our last year's write up for ideas.

Have a great summer, everyone!

P.S. I want to talk with all of you more this next fall about making times that are good for everyone. So if you were not able to come with the switch to afternoon, let's talk about that! I care about all of you, and miss those who we have not seen for a while. : )

Old School Monday--our first of 2010!

Welcome moms, to a new year of Homeschooling! Thanks to all of you who have been joining us for Old School Mondays and holiday parties the past year and a half--I hope you can all come this NEXT MONDAY January 25th to our first Old School Monday of the new year!

**If you are new to Vintage Homeschool Days and specifically Old School Mondays, please go quickly read through the original OSM posts--scroll to the bottom to start with the oldest--so you know roughly what it is all about before you read the specifics for this month.**

We have some fun activities planned for you and your kids, including:
--a short Latin lesson on parts of the body
--continuing memorizing the U.S. States via goofy songs
--some hands on learning--TBA
--some kind of get-em-movin' game in the gym

But mainly this first OSM will be for us moms, so we will give the kids lots of independent play time this month so that us moms can discuss:
--One brief aspect of the Charlotte Mason approach to education (I am hoping we can take turns this year, each mom sharing some homeschool approach that is working well for her or some education theory that is inspiring her. So I will start us off this month with something that is inspiring me.)

--What you are all hoping to see in our time together during OSM this year! So come prepared to talk about ideas and visions for what fun learning things we might do together. In particular, please consider "hosting" an activity or lesson during any OSM--the more you moms jump in as you can, the more interesting and fun OSM will be, since all of you combined are WAY more creative than just me by myself! ; ) I suggest we bring our calendars and get some moms to volunteer for the Feb and March OSM gatherings, and then you volunteers can *just plan an activity/lesson that goes along with whatever you are already learning about with your family.* It is as simple as that. : )

So, here are a few things I would like to throw out for you all to think about:
--How we might be able to break up our group during part of OSM so that the bigger kids can have a lesson/activity geared for their abilities, and the littles can have a lesson/activity geared for their energy and attention span. ; )

--I LOVE the idea of having monthly "spell downs" to give our kids incentive to be learning their spelling words, and think I have worked out the kinks of how to do it in such a large, multi-age level group. But you all need to tell me if YOU like this activity--if you would like it once a month, only occassionally, or not at all.

-- What special events do we want to have this year? I'm thinking back to last year and how much fun the Valentine's Party was--let's do another? Does anyone else have any special event ideas for the next couple of months, so we can get them on the calendar?

--What do we want to do with this website to make it most helpful and usable for everyone?

Ok, that should be plenty to get us started! We had so much fun in 2009, and this year I look forward to seeing some new faces, and more moms hosting the lessons/activities, and us doing more for the various age groups represented. Can't wait to see you all!

Remember, bring lunch for you and your kiddies, if you want. And the Abbey will be open! ; )

Please post comments to this post if you have questions, and I will gladly respond!

The Old School Monday Welcome Back to School Party!

Moms, please get this date on your calendars!!!!!

We are starting back up with Old School Mondays this month, and our first one will be a party! Sept. 28, 10-1 there at Vintage--we will meet in the gym and then move into a classroom for the party and our main event, the "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" displays made by YOU!

Don't get scared--this is going to be fun and as easy as you want it to be! Every family (or child) who wants to participate in the event should make a colorful display representing your summer learning and adventures. I am going all out--think posterboard and cardboard booths, like at a science fair! But you can make it much simpler if you want--anything goes!

Ideas for your display:
--postcards, souveniers from travel
--photos, photo books
--hands-on objects (things gathered at the beach this summer, a necklace won at the state fair, etc. Just make sure they are objects that can be touched by the other kids who are coming and will be interested in handling them.
--Drawings, artwork

The one things I am requiring* is that your child must write something to be included in the display.

For our family display, we are making a book about visiting the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo while in Colorado. If we are really on top of things, we will also make a scrapbook about our first roadtrip! And we will have photo displays of a wedding we were in. We will also display a pioneer journal that is in process, some postcards, some descriptions the girls wrote (or narrated to me) about what we saw and did, and some hands-on fun things to show and tell, like the rope they made at the Laura Ingalls Homestead living museum, and their prairie girl outfits.

So here is a breakdown of what our first Old School Monday will look like:
10-10:30 families meet at the gym, say hello, go set up their displays in the classroom, come back and hang out until time to start.
10:30ish welcome and introductions in the gym
then we can all head over to the classroom and look at the displays. Each child will get a turn to talk about his/her display to the group.
And then we will break out the food and party!

I am hoping that everyone brings at least one food item to share. I think, because of the carpets, that we will just have water to drink (although grown-ups are welcome to get a drink from the Abbey, which is NOW OPEN on MONDAYS! Whoo-hoo!) but let's make it a true party with food!

I also hope that everyone invites whatever homeschool families you know to participate or just show up for the party! Oh, and Ocean Grove families, please invite your ES's too!

AND I hope that during the hang-out time, we can brainstorm about other fun activities/lessons we can do in future OSMs. (See my other posting) So think about it, and come with ideas!

I will try to get there a little early to set up some tables and get some decorations up. Anyone who wants to help, or bring decorations (I am thinking easy, like balloons) please do! : )


Questions, comments, ideas--please post them to the "comments"! And PLEASE RSVP so we know how many tables to get set up! : )

I hope you all had fantastic summers, and I can't wait to see you!


*like I can really make you do anything! but this is a strong encouragement to add to the educational benefit of this fun event