WANTED: LEGO LOVERS

First Lego League Homeschool Group for Kids 9-12 Years Old

2010 SEASON – THE BODY FORWARD

Do you love building with Legos?

Are you interested in learning how to program robots?

Come join a brand new first Lego League (FLL) forming this summer!

Cost to participate varies depending on the number in the group, but would be approximately $125.

Light commitment in the summer 2010 (1 meeting/mo).  Heavier commitment during the fall/winter 2010 (1-2 meetings/week).  Go to www.usfirst.org & click on the FLL link to learn more.

Please contact Esther Lee by June 1^st, 2010 at estherclee@mac.com or call 719-571-9596.

Meetings will take place at my home near Briargate Pkwy & Union.  Maximum 10 participants.  

2010 Father Son Retreat

2010 Father & Son Discipleship Retreat

August 13-16, 2010
Held at the beautiful Crooked Creek Ranch
Winter Park, Colorado

Registration is now open!
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Sign up by February 1st and receive a 10% discount off your total registration cost! A $100 per person deposit is all that's required to get the discount and hold your place! The event will take place at the beautiful Crooked Creek Ranch Resort near Winter Park in the majestic Colorado Rockies. It's a world class destination in a world class location.

Don't wait- the discount ends February 1st!!! 

Libery University Online Academy

Quality online education with world-class support Liberty University Online Academy is an online  academic program specially developed for grades  3-12 and supported by Liberty University — the  world’s largest Christian university and non-profit  online educator. Proven curriculum that’s simple to administer Liberty University Online Academy offers a turn-key home learning system with solid curriculum that is  simple to manage. With Liberty University Online  Academy you and your homeschoolers will benefit  from: Online academic support through a unique faculty/student messaging system Automated lesson planning Instant grading feedback Flexible, yet structured program, customized to  meet the needs of each student Biblically-based, Christ-centered curriculum Rolling Enrollment: enroll and start classes  at any time of the year Qualified academic support with your personal academic advisor Record keeping and transcripting of all  student work Access to Liberty University’s extensive  online library services Save $250 on Spring Tuition! Call (866) 418-8741 for details, or click here to  submit your online application and to begin  enrolling your student in the Spring 2010 semester!

CHEC Spelling Bee - February 6, 2010

Date: Saturday, February 6, 2010
Place: Bear Valley Church, 10001 West Jewell Avenue, Lakewood
Time: 9am - 1:30pm (please plan on arriving at least 30 minutes early)
Cost: $15 per student
Who can participate: Students from 4th to 8th Grade (not already graduated to 9th) and not yet 15 years of age as of September 1, 2009.
What to study: Click myspellit.com. You will notice a list of words by origin available on the left. This is a helpful list as they have pronunciations and well we tips available for many words. Additionally, the following website will assist you as you prepare: www.spellingbee.com. Click on "Students and Parents."
Deadline for Registration: January 20, 2010
The qualifying bee is a written test of 50 words some of which will be taken from the practice booklet. The top seven spellers on this test will be able to participate in the Rocky Mountain News Colorado State Bee on March 6, 2010, at the Denver Convention Center, 700 14th Street, Denver, Colorado.
An oral bee for the top 25 qualifying participants will follow the written test. First, second, and third place ribbons will be awarded.
For questions and information contact the CHEC office at office@chec.org or 720-842-4852 or 1-800-842-2432. 

Jr. Speech Tournament

A reminder from the Jr. Tournament staff that registration closes in 1 week (November 1)! All the details can be found at here. Don’t wait to sign up your under 12 speaker for a fun day of speech practice!

Jr. Tournament is rapidly approaching, and registration closes November 1st: just one week away.

Again, Jr. Tournament is an excellent way for students under 12 to practice speaking and communicating in a fun, exciting environment.

For more information, and to register, you can go here.

-Josiah Dasher

Tournament Director 

HSLDA Message: Physical Education?

Physical education falls under the elective category on the high school transcript. One to two years of credit are usually adequate for most high school programs (but check your state homeschool requirements and specific college requirements for any exceptions). Evaluate credit for PE by logging 120 hours for one credit, 60 hours for one-half credit, and so forth. For many families, awarding a pass/fail grade is the easiest way to go for this elective. However,you may choose to award a letter grade so you can include this elective in your teen's grade point average. In order to assess a grade for PE, check out PE Central's website for information about lesson plans and assessment tests Additional activity ideas can be found here.

You will be encouraged to know that it's not necessary to expend a lot of money on equipment, programs, or trainers to accumulate PE credit.Rather, a variety of activities can be bundled together to accumulate hours. If your family enjoys the outdoors, hiking or biking on a beautiful fall day will be a great way to begin. Then consider adding a game of touch football in the backyard--maybe inviting the neighbors--followed by a barbeque. Continue to add other physical activities while keeping track of the hours. You may want to give the responsibility of logging hours (in 15 minute increments) to your
teen.

If your son or daughter is a member of a sports team, accumulating hours for credit will be quite easy. (Remember, though, if you are using this activity for credit, you may not want to include it as
extracurricular at the same time.) Or, if your teen is training for a marathon or triathlon, then keep a record of that time. Other activities to use for PE include martial arts or dance classes, gymnastics, fencing, bowling, aerobics, and many more.

Sometimes, it's possible to fulfill PE credit in the summertime freeing up the academic year for another elective. Swimming, boating, jogging, walking, and team sports are all ways to earn credit. It's not too late to calculate the hours your teens spent in such activities this past summer to include on their transcripts.

During the months of winter (or periods of inclement weather) when it's cozier to stay indoors, a physical fitness program can be designed to keep those muscles toned and tummies flat. Exercise videos borrowed from the library may be a good option for you to use indoors. A side benefit will be clear and energetic minds to complete those academic studies.

Last, why not join your teens in their physical fitness activities? You'll benefit from the exercise and it will be an opportunity to show your teens that physical fitness is not only a high school course but also a beneficial lifetime pursuit. Brisk walks outdoors either before your school day begins or as the last activity of the afternoon are a great way to spend time with your teen and also provide opportunities for communication--all the while adding up the phys ed hours. How's that for multi-tasking? 

AME Program

Many parents and students are discovering that most modern education systems are inadequate in preparing young people for their professional career. This discovery is leading many back to the age-old, tried-and-true method of an apprentice working alongside a master in a trade.

Christian Home Educators of Colorado, which serves at least 45,000 homeschooled students across the Rocky Mountain Region, desires to promote life-preparation opportunities for students beyond K-12 education that will adequately prepare them for the calling God has upon their lives and thereby impacting the world for Christ.
How does AME work?

Let’s say a homeschool graduate at age 17 or 18 wants to become a civil engineer. What should he do? At AME, we think the first step is to find a godly, experience civil engineer that that young man can work alongside in a mentorship. Maybe he works in a part-time mentorship under than engineer as he pursues formal study at a college at the same time. Maybe he works side by side with that engineer full time for the next 4 years until he eventually starts up on his own or joins that engineer’s business. Maybe the young man realizes that civil engineering wasn’t what he was looking for after all (and it didn’t take him 4 years of college and $150,000 to figure it out)!

No matter which way you approach it, the young man has a chance to experience the real-life business world, and be trained by an experienced master who will focus on his character, skills, and understanding of the business, not just his academics. It’s the tried-and-true method of learning that many of America’s founding fathers used, and it’s working again today.

Get started TODAY!