December 7, 2012

Moms' Time Notes - December 7, 2012


Moms’ Times Notes

·         The business class presented three commercials for their store, Gifts of Gratitude. Be sure to stop at their store each week at lunch time.

·         Start checking out library books for the speech meet. They will not be due until the week after the speech meet so you will have an extension on the normal two week loan time.

·         The date for the used curriculum sale is now June 15. The set up will be on Friday, June 14.

Susan O. Field Trips

·         Thanks everyone for your integrity this semester with the field trips. Our field trips have gone smoothly! 

·         A flyer for the spring field trips was in your mailboxes.  Please refer to the flyer for upcoming field trips.

·         Remember, if you signed up for Sacramento, call the Vagabond to reserve your room.

Brenda S./Angela d.

·         The Speech Meet will be on February 15, from 9 a.m.-11 a.m.  It is a wonderful opportunity to prepare your children from a young age to get in front of others and speak. 

o   Start by choosing a selection appropriate for your student.  There have been a wide variety of selections in the past ranging anywhere from “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” to self-written pieces.

o   This will be a judged event and will give your child an opportunity to get feedback regarding his speaking skills.

o   You can sign-up now. Sign-up even if you do not plan on participating by simply writing “no” next to your child’s name. 

o   The Speech Meet is not mandatory, but everyone is encouraged to participate. It counts as a home school day.

o   Choosing a selection that is appropriate for your student and have your student read it over daily. 

o   Once your child has memorized the selection, have them practice it in front of people.

o   On the day of the speech meet, families will be breaking up into groups to recite their pieces. Those who do an especially superb job will be reciting their pieces in front of everyone in the chapel.

o    If you have any questions regarding the Speech Meet, please ask Brenda or Angela.

Kristen H.

·         Home School Fair

o   The Home School Fair will be Friday, February 15, the same day as the speech meet.

o   Everyone should have received a flyer in her mailbox.

o   The theme for this year’s fair is “Choosing Gratitude.”

o   Begin thinking about how you would like your students to participate. Look at the projects you are already working on at home.

o   All the projects will be judged.

o   You may submit a project in the following categories:

§  hanging art

§  model art

§  History

§  Science

§  baked goods

§  cake decoration

§  table decoration.

o   Refer to the back of your yellow flyer for a complete description of each category and for specific directions regarding each category.   The handout also describes the steps you need to complete in order to participate.

o   The Home School Fair is not mandatory, but everyone is encouraged to take part.

o   Everyone will need to come on Thursday, February 14, to set up projects.

·         Report Cards

o   Please remember that there will be three forms due by January 11.

§  Attendance forms

§  Updated course of study forms

§  Report cards.

o   For attendance forms

§  Use Friday, December 21, as the last day of the semester.

§  For school days, simply mark “P” for present or “A” for absent. 

§  Any planned vacation days or holidays can simply be left blank.

§  If you want, you could complete this form prior to the Christmas break.

o   For course of study forms

§  You may have made some changes from your original course of study forms.  Refer to your e-mail attachments for instructions on how to note these changes.

§  Focus on neatness and accuracy when completing your course of study updates.

§  All forms need to be in Kristen H’s PSP mailbox on January 11, or postmarked by January 11. Otherwise, please include the $5 fee per form per child per week late.

o   For report cards

§  It is a basic document and not the place to put curriculum information.

§  It has been e-mailed to you as an excel document.

§  Fill in the basic information (student’s name, birthday etc.) and save the document on your computer.  Underline the information that you put in (student’s name, birthday).

§  The date of the second semester will be left blank.

§  Complete instructions on filling out report cards were sent to you as an attachment. Please walk through the instructions carefully.

·         Everything in block letters will have a grade. If you did not teach a subject in block letters, put “N/A.”

·         For any PSP class your student is in, that, teacher’s grade must be listed.

·         If you are teaching the same subject at home, please do not combine grades. There will be two separate grades. Please refer to your instructions for details on this.

·         There are spaces for comments.

·         Work habits grades include areas such as listening, following directions, neatness, and attitude.

·         Citizenship grades include a student’s relationships with others.

·         Comments are optional. Use the comments section for encouraging words and not as a space to complain about how they could have done better.

·         Do not forget the attendance summary at the bottom. You need to record days present and days absent.

·         Have you or your husband sign the signature line at the bottom.

·         Kindergarten report cards have a different grading scale. Students will receive an “O, S, N, U, or N/A” for all block letter categories. For subheadings, you can assign a grade, but this is optional.

·         For junior high and high school, they may get “+’s” or “-‘s” with letter grades. Please refer to your instruction sheet one how to calculate GPA.

§  Before you call Kristen with any technical issues, please see if your husband can help.

§  Keep everything on one page.

§  Do not add or subtract lines.

 

Alejandro P.

Alejandro P.  shared regarding the ministry he will be working with in Argentina.  He shared that of the 41 million people living in Argentina, 88% live in the capital city, Buenos Aires.  When they put the training center in the capital city, they can easily reach half of Argentina’s population. 75% of people in Argentina identify as Catholic but are not necessarily practicing Catholicism. 9% of people in Argentina identify as Evangelical. The evangelical movement is growing rapidly. However, there are not many strong churches, Many of the churches lack depth, lack good teaching, and are based on experience not good theology. Pastors are often self-educated.  The evangelical movement is extensive but lacks depth. The goal is to start a training institute by nationals for nationals, starting with five pastors. They will be starting with a group of 25-30 students.

How to Pray

§  Please pray that support will come in (support was completed in November 2012).

§  Please pray for their move to Argentina will go smoothly.

§  The two adult children will be remaining in the United States. Pray for JP as he separates from his siblings and friends.

§  Please pray that another TMS graduate will be on board by 2015.

Helen H.

The family will be returning to Australia. 13 years ago, their friends left Australia for TMS. The friends returned and started a church. In 2003, John Street came to the church to encourage them. Three years ago, Rod Hole started long distance training in Biblical counseling. They came over, so that he could go to TMS. He has been offered the position of as the associate pastor/director of marriage and family ministry in their home church.

Please pray

§  The move to Australia

§  Growth/stability of the church

§  Homeschooling (getting everything organized for homeschooling in Australia)