2009 September

McNay Evening for Educators

Thursday, October 15
5:00-8:30 pm, Chiego Lecture Hall
Evening for Educators: All in the Family: African American Art & Dutch Paintings

Two families, two art collections, two different stories... Learn about African American works on paper in Harriet and Harmon Kelley's works on paper and paintings acquired by Dutch art dealer Jacques Goudstikker. Teachers choose two curriculum sessions from art, language arts, and social studies, and earn three hours of continuing professional education credit. Space is limited and registration is required. Fee: McNay members, $5; nonmembers, $8. To register, email education@mcnayart.org or call 210.805.1768 by October 13.

Art Classes for Homeschoolers

We are a children’s art studio, Paint Paper Scissors, and are known for comprehensive, creative art programs.  Our homeschool classes will begin October 23rd and will run on Thursdays from 1 to 2:30 through January 15th, they are taught by professional educator, Marta Amezquita.  More information is available on our website, www.MyPaintPaperScissors.com/classes.htm .

Math Tutor-All Grades

Retired former College Math Teacher makes math easy.  North Central SA or will travel.  Start conquering math today. Call or email: Kirk Kirkpatrick 210-389-7475 hnkirk2@gmail.com

Ag Awareness Fair 2009

Ag Awareness Fair 2009 will be held at the Texas Agricultural Education & Heritage Center, 390 Cordova Rd, Seguin, Texas in October.  Classes for fourth grade students are still open for the following days:
 
October 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, and 29.
 
We try to keep the number of students to 200 per day therefore; we can accept a few students for the above days. Should any homeschooler children be interested, please contact me and we will do everything possible to accommodate you.

Each day information is taught in the following learning stations:
1.     Southwest Dairy provides a mobile milking station with live cow.
2.     Equine information with live horse.
3.     Live farm animals exhibited.
4.     Poultry with baby chicks provided by Tyson Foods.
5.     Field Crops by local farmers
6.     Wind, solar, electrical power.  Water usage and conservation.
7.     Vegetable garden by Master Gardeners
8.     Wildlife by wildlife management specialist
9.     Miniature cotton gin and cotton byproducts demonstration by Farm Bureau representative
10.            Farm Safety
11.            Spinning, weaving, and quilting
12.            Home Electrical Safety by GVEC
Each child receives a Student Activity Book “From the Farm to the Barn and Beyond” developed especially for  Ag Fair students.

• Cost to each student is $3.00
• One teacher/chaperone per 10 students is admitted free and other teachers/chaperones and parents/adults with the class cost is $3.00 each.
• The Ag Fair is geared for fourth-grade students.  In some cases upon approval third and fifth grade students may attend.
• Children and adults bring their lunch.  Tables and chairs are provided in a clean air conditioned facility.

Thanks,
Mel Grones
TAE&HC, VP
830-303-8955
Cell 210-410-4400

Project Wild Educators' Workshop

The Witte Museum will offer the “Project Wild” workshop on Saturday, October 10th.  the program is offered in cooperation with the Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Project WILD office. Educators, youth group leaders, and others can only receive the K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guides by attending these workshops.  Each session will be held at the museum from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM with a 1 hour lunch break.  There is a $10.00 museum facilities fee.  6 CPE credits will be awarded to participants.  For reservations contact Witte Reservations at 210-357-1910.   

Project WILD Workshop - The Project WILD K-12 Curriculum and Activity Guide focuses on wildlife and habitat. The guide is full of 124 activities that emphasize hands-on, inquiry-based, and cooperative learning strategies with demonstrated classroom effectiveness. It is organized in topic units and is based on the Project WILD conceptual framework. Because these activities are designed for integration into existing courses of study, instructors may use one or many Project WILD activities or the entire set of activities may serve quite effectively as the basis for a course of study.

Each Project WILD activity contains all the information needed to conduct that activity including objectives, method, background information, a list of materials needed, procedures, evaluation suggestions, recommended grade levels, subject areas, duration, group size, setting, and key terms. A glossary is provided, as well as a cross-reference by topics and skills.   For more information on these programs go to: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/project_wild/project_wild.phtml

North East Side Girl Scouts

Homeschool Girl Scouts troops on the northeast side: a Daisy Troop, a Brownie troop, and a troop for juniors and up. Contact Stacy Puckett at bluecelestite@gmail.com for more information.

Theater Discount for Riverdance

The theater discount for Riverdance San Antonio is up and running. I
do not yet have the link for Riverdance in Austin for their Dec shows
but am expecting it soon.

For the farewell tour here's our dates:
Riverdance in SA Farewell Tour- order now!
Magestic Theater in San Antonio
Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 2pm
Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 2pm
Sunday, November 8, 2009 at 730pm
Great discounts, tickets start at just $23.50!
includes discounts on main floor seating.
Offer expires on October 29, 2009

http://www.jsoft.com/archive/taffie/BroadwaySA.html
Order your tickets by logging on to:
http://www.broadwayacrossamerica.com/groupsales
and enter your special password:
taffiesa

If you order, please email Susan Frederick at sjf@jsoft.com and let me know how many tickets and which date you ordered.

Show Description - Riverdance RIVERDANCE, the thunderous celebration of Irish music, song and dance that has tapped its way onto the world stage thrilling millions of people around the globe, will play Farewell Performances across North America. A Phenomenon of Historic Proportions! raves the Washington Post. "An explosion of sight and sound that simply takes your breath away, ". Cheers the Chicago Tribune. "A family evening unlike anything else!"exclaims The London Times. Discover why nothing in the world compares to The Original International Phenomenon! Whether it's your first time or your fifth, you won't want to miss these FAREWELL performances of Riverdance!

theater overview:
http://www.jsoft.com/archive/taffie/theater/

current offers are also posted at Taffie's events page:
http://www.jsoft.com/archive/taffie/events.html

Feel free to pass this onto other lists and other homeschoolers.

Educator Night at the San Antonio Zoo!

Join our educator's orientation of the San Antonio Zoo. Get a look at the available school programs and join a docent tour. First 150 educators will receive a fabulous San Antonio Zoo fabric tote bag! RSVP by Thursday, September 17th! Sorry, no family members, just educators. RSVP to schools@sazoo-aq.org or from more information contact: Lana Reynold, School Education Coordinator. 210-734-7184 ext 1504

Student Water Action Team (SWAT)

SA-HERO will be sponsoring a SWAT team again this year.  This will be the 6th year that we have had a homeschool team.  It’s an excellent opportunity for students to be exposed to issues about water.  Our team is open to middle and high school students.  Read the description below and email or call me if you have any questions. Terry Spanglet Duncan, 210-863-1126, tduncan1@satx.rr.com.

Water is a hot topic in San Antonio and is an important part of our environment, our society and our economy. The Student Water Action Team (SWAT) is a service-learning educational program developed for San Antonio area high school students and teachers with a concern for our community’s water resources. SWAT is a mechanism that provides an opportunity for students and teachers to develop a personal water ethic through active learning and community involvement.

SAWS understands that today’s young people are tomorrow’s customers and decision-makers. That is why SAWS is committed to teach them a set of C.O.R.E. values in order for them to understand their personal and civic responsibility (citizenship).

Throughout this year-long program, these C.O.R.E. values will be infused in SWAT projects, field trips and supplemental lessons to help shape students into active community participants. These C.O.R.E. values include:

Community
SWAT students understand their valuable role in the community. They recognize their immediate contributions to the community by helping to identify water resource issues and then proposing solutions.

Ownership
SWAT students take ownership of water resources in their community. They identify water resource issues affecting their community and actively partner with other ownership groups (governmental agencies, organizations, advocacy groups) to propose and implement solutions.
Responsibility

SWAT students understand the necessity of water to the health and growth of a community and see a personal responsibility to care for this important resource.

Education
SWAT students proactively pursue educational opportunities to increase their awareness, knowledge, skills and participation in water resource issues facing their community. SWAT students carry-on the educational process by sharing their knowledge with others in their circles of influence.

What’s In It for Me?
In addition to a well-rounded educational experience that will greatly benefit the students and community, SWAT members will also receive:
* Free lunch at all the Field Investigations.
* T-shirts that will be handed out at the SWAT Conference to each student who completes the SWAT requirements.
* Letters of Recommendation and Certificates of Completion given to each student who completes the SWAT requirements.
* A banner given to each participating school designating it as a SWAT affiliated campus.
* Free dinner at the SWAT Con event.

NASA Education Invites Students to Drop Everything!

NASA's Dropping In a Microgravity Environment, or DIME, allows students in high school and in middle school to design and build an experiment that will be operated in a NASA research drop tower. This will put the students' experiment in microgravity, just as if it were in space.   New for school year 2009-10 will be a two-part DIME with separate competitions for high school teams and teams of students in grades 6-9.

Four teams in the high school DIME competition will be invited to visit NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and operate their experiment in the drop tower. Four additional teams will send their experiment to Glenn for the drop tower staff to operate it. Teams comprised of students in grades 6-9 will compete for the opportunity to build an experiment to be operated in the same drop tower by NASA drop tower staff. Proposals are due on Nov. 2, 2009. Competition selections will be announced in mid-December and drop tower operations will be conducted in April 2010.

The DIME competition is funded by NASA’s Teaching From Space program. For more information about this opportunity, visit http://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/DIME.html .  
If you have questions about this opportunity, please e-mail your inquiries to the DIME team at dime@lists.nasa.gov.

Sally Ride Science is coming to Rice University

Come join the fun at Rice University in Houston for the Sally Ride Science Festival.
Place: Rice University in Houston, Texas
Date: Saturday October 24, 2009
Time: 11:00am to 4:15pm
Fee: Only $15 if you register by October 8, 2009
The Science Festival features

• An inspiring talk a featured speaker
• Discovery Workshops for 5th-8th grade girls, which may be given by local veterinarians, astronomers, microbiologists and more
• Workshops for parents and teachers on ways to support students' interests in science and math
• A street fair with booths, hands-on activities, food, and music
  

Don’t miss out—sign up now!
http://www.sallyridescience.com/festivals/09rice1024 SIGN UP NOW! Early registration special ends October 8, 2009! Registration increases to $20 per person on October 9, 2009.
Call: 1.800.561.5161 for more information. Advance registration is required.
If you’d like to help spread the word about the Science Festival, we’d be happy to mail you flyers and posters. You can also send this email to your friends. See you there!

Sally Ride Science
http://www.SallyRideScience.com P.S. While our festivals are primarily focused on encouraging middle school girls to pursue their interests in science, everyone is welcome to attend!

Dinosaur George's Ultimate Paleo-Adventure

World Audio & Lights presents Dinosaur George's Ultimate Paleo-Adventure, this 2 week event is an exhibition of Dinosaurs, displayed in brilliant lighting, sound, and settings.  More than an event, it is a museum experience created to be educational and entertaining that the entire family will enjoy.

Dinosaur George with his life-like animations will propel museum goers into an exciting experience for all ages.  The museum is entertaining yet educational, and will host over 25 complete life-sized skeletons and hundreds of skulls, all under a tapestry of brilliant lighting and sound effects. The event will be one of the largest dinosaur exhibits in the country. Putting the event over the top is the T-REX theatre which will feature high-end animation and audio by TANNOY placing each spectator in a room with a T-REX. 

The exhibit will be open to the public from October 15 to November 1 at 310 Chestnut Street, near the historic St. Paul Square in downtown San Antonio. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.com beginning August 31.  Prices are $5 - $10, Tickets will be available at all Ticketmaster outlets, online at ticketmaster.com, or charge by phone at 1-800-745-3000, additional fees may apply.

Announcing: River of Life Bookstore

Ready to escape from the curriculum treadmill? Tired of the next latest/greatest thing? Here's a homeschool bookstore that isn't going to try and sell everything but instead sell the materials that we can support and encourage homeschoolers in using. We currently carry the following publishers: 1) Alpha Omega (12% discount year round), 2) Apologia (20% discount year round), 3) Institute for Excellence in Writing, 4) Beautiful Feet, 5) Castlemoyle (Spelling Power), 7) Greenleaf Press and 8) Tapestry of Grace. If any of those are items you're interested in, then let's set up an appointment!   We're not just about the "purchase" but making sure you have the tools to make the most of your purchase.

Sue Laprise
Your Homeschool Consultant
210-385-5914
River of Life Books

SA CHAP Missions Boys Basketball Try Outs

Middle School and High School Evaluation/Try Out. Thursday and Friday, September 10th and 11th  ( need to attend both days )

• 7 to 9 PM
• Bulverde Baptist Church
• $10 try out fee per player

$250 of the basketball season fee will be due the second day of try outs when players are placed on a team.  The remainder of the fee will be due the first day of practice.
 
Middle School Boys
Total fees for middle school boys should be approximately between $425 and $525 depending on the number of players placed on the team and practice location TBD.
These fees include the use of uniforms,insurance,all practices and all team tournament fees ( including the State Tournament in Dallas ).
Middle School practices will begin by November.
 
High School Boys
Total fees for high school boys should be approximately between $515 and $685 depending on the number of players placed on a team and all practice locations TBD.
These fees include the use of uniforms, insurance,all practices and all team tournament fees ( including State, Regionals and Nationals ).
First high school practice begins October 13th.

Questions? Contact Rick Shumake at SACHAPmissions@aol.com or ( 210 – 771- 4040 ).
May also email sandra@shumake.net

San Antonio Homeschool Baseball Fall Practices

TIME TO PREPARE FOR SPRING OF 2010

Fall practices will run from Thurs Sept 17th through Thurs Nov 5th (8 weeks).  The practices will be 3 PM to 6 PM at Bain Field. These practices will focus on player development and preparation for the Spring season.  The practices are open for everyone from 7th grade through 12th grade. The final two weeks will serve as the first tryout for the varsity team. Cost for the 8 weeks will be $80.  This will include a Wolverines Baseball t-shirt. Help us get the word out and let everyone that might be interested in homeschool baseball about these practices. or more information send a message to sasoefje@sahomeschoolbaseball.org.

STACA Hornets Basketball

STACA currently has four spots open on both the girls and boys high school level teams and are looking for skilled players to fill them. If you are interested in participating please contact us at info@stacahornets.org

Bonus Theater Discount for San Antonio

They gave us a bonus show for our Homeschool theater discounts for San Antonio.
 
RAIN - A Tribute to the Beatles
Tickets start as just $9.50 also save up to $20 on main floor seats
 
Order NOW through October 5th for RAIN at the Magestic Theater in San Antonio. Performance dates are Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at 8pm, Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 2pm, and Sunday, October 25, 2009 at 730pm
 
http://www.jsoft.com/archive/taffie/BroadwaySA.html
Order your tickets by logging on to:
http://www.broadwayacrossamerica.com/groupsales
and enter your special password: taffiesa
 
You may also continue to order for Lion King. If you order, please email Susan Frederick at sjf@jsoft.com and let me know how many tickets and which show, that helps me keep track of our group min. Feel free to cross post to other lists and other homeschoolers and pass this onto friends and family.

NISD PSAT Testing for Homeschool Students

Home school students who live in Northside ISD attendance boundaries and whose current instructional level is Grade 10 or 11 are eligible to take the PSAT being administered at the Northside ISD Student Services Building on October 14, 2009. Students wishing to participate must provide:

• the completed registration form
• proof of residence in Northside ISD (such as a utility bill showing parent name and residence address)
• a picture ID for the student (preferably government issued license or ID)
• the non-refundable administrative fee ($10.00 cash or money order only, no personal checks)

Deadline for registration is Friday, September 18th. Applications must be presented to the Testing & Evaluation Dept. located in the Patrick Teicher Student Services Building at 5651 Grissom Road with the $10.00 fee (cash or money order only, no personal checks accepted), proof of residence, and identification. For more information visit http://www.nisd.net/general/requiredpostings/. The PSAT test date is Wednesday October 14, 2009. All home school students will test at the Patrick Teicher Student Services Building located at 5651 Grissom Road, 78238.

San Antonio Zoo Homeschool Programs

9:30–11:30 am
Cost: $15/member parent/child;
$25/nonmember parent/child

We’ve prepared some special Real.Wild.Classroom. programs for home schools. Program includes animal presentations, activities and a topic related tour.
Sept. 16—Grades 1–5
Jaws & Claws (Predators)
Oct. 14—Grades 1–5
Creatures of the Night
Nov. 18—Grades 6–9
Animal CSI
Dec. 16—Grades 1–5
Rainforest
Jan. 20—Grades 1–5
Birds
Feb. 17—Grades 6–9
Conservation

http://www.sazoo-aq.org/edzoocation/teachersandschools.html#home

SAT Prep

Northwest Vista Community College 
September 12, 19, 26 
9a.m. – 1p.m. 
Pauline Bauml and Cayce Yarbrough
Cost: $170
Contact: Pauline Bauml
210-287-1898

Baseball Information Session and Fall Practices

The Wolverines Baseball club will be hosting an informational session regarding homeschool baseball on Thurs, Sept 3 at 7 PM at the Medical Center Baptist Church. This session is open for players in middle school through high school (grades 7 through 12).  This session will review the requirements and expectations for participating in homeschool baseball program.  We will discuss the middle school and high school level programs.

Baseball fall practices will begin on Thurs Sept 17th and run through Thurs Nov 5th (8 weeks).  The practices will be 3 PM to 6 PM at Bain Field.  These practices will focus on player development and preparation for the Spring season.  The practices are open for everyone from 7th grade through 12th grade.  The final two weeks will serve as the first tryout for the varsity team.  Cost for the 8 weeks will be $80.  This will include a Wolverines Baseball t-shirt.

Please pass this message on to anyone you know that might be interested in homeschool baseball. For more information send a message to sasoefje@sahomeschoolbaseball.org.

Simply Charlotte Mason Workshop

You are invited to attend a Simply Charlotte Mason 2-Day Workshop with Sonya Shafer in Northwest San Antonio, Texas.

October 30-31, 2009
(8:30 a.m. to @4 p.m. Friday and Saturday)

You can register for both Friday AND Saturday for only $60.00, OR Friday Only for $28.00, OR Saturday Only for $35.00. OR, you can register for individual workshops on Friday for only $8.00 per workshop. Childcare is available on both days, all day for only $2 per child per hour.

Sign up today as registration will be capped at 150 and seats are filling up quickly. Childcare will be available for a small fee. Information regarding childcare arrangements will be sent to you after you have registered online. Descriptions of the workshops, location of the event, cost per workshop and all other pertinent information is available at:
www.SimplyCharlotteMason.com