Welcome back

Welcome back!

We are excited about our theme this year: Time Travel through History: Investigate previous civilizations’ influence on our culture. We have many new families in the program this year. Please introduce yourselves and welcome them into the program. Please return your 2011-2012 sign up sheets by Thursday, September 1.

Competent Private Instruction Form A

Return form by August 26

According to the revised Competent Private Instruction Rules of 2009, “parents, guardians, or legal or actual custodian of children enrolled in a Home School Assistance Program must also fill out Form A for each student enrolled in the program. At a minimum, questions 1, 3, and 5 must be filled out.” You may fill out 8 & 9 if it applies to you. Remember to sign the bottom of the page. If you have any questions concerning this form, please call Mrs. Bartle or Mrs. Watson.

Courtesy Notification Form

Since Form A is a public document, we recommend that, for privacy purposes, you complete the courtesy notification form, which will instruct the district not to release any information without your prior consent. (FERPA – Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)

New Student Immunization Records

Please make a photocopy of your students’ immunization records for our school nurse ASAP. You may give it to Mrs. Bartle or mail it directly to the school nurse.

High School Senior Meeting

Seniors and their Parents

Mutchler Center

Thursday, September 1

3:30 P.M.

Graduation plans, portfolios, and final transcripts will be the topics of discussion at our meeting. Seniors, if you are working toward a diploma, please bring your portfolio. Please RSVP to Mrs. Watson by August 29^th.

Quarterly Contacts

Iowa Administration Code Chapter 31.3a states, “…the teacher practitioner shall have contact with the child and the child’s parents, guardian, or legal custodian at least four times per quarter during the period of instruction. One of every two contacts shall be face-to-face with the student under competent private instruction.”

Please be sure to make your contacts, and let us know how your student is progressing academically. We have shortened our office and library hours to accommodate individual family appointments. If you would like a teacher to meet you at your location of choice, please contact us with your request.

2nd Annual Homeschool Day

“Fall Chores Day”

11121 Hickman Road, Urbandale, Iowa

Wednesday, September 7

Living History Farms welcomes homeschool families! Tour 300 years of Midwestern history, from when the Ioway Indians farmed in Iowa to the beginning of the 20th century when farmers used horses, and participate in chores done by children. Explore the daily life of a child in 1875 as you tour the town of Walnut Hill and participate in chores at 5 locations throughout town. And don’t be late for a lesson at the schoolhouse! Activities take place from 10:00 – noon, and from 1:00 – 3:00, and, if you pre-register by September 1st, you will receive a tentative list of activities before you arrive. Special discount of $1.00 off admission price for homeschool families that pre-register so the price would be children ages 2-12 - $6 and ages 13 – adult - $11.

· Pre-purchase tickets online

· http://www.lhf.org/en/learn/homeschool_day/

· Pick them up at "Will Call" once inside the Visitor's Center at Living History Farms.

· Sorry, no refunds on pre-purchased tickets.

· Families with a Living History Farms membership are admitted free; simply show your membership card at ticketing.

· Arrive by 3:00 in order to have enough time to tour all three farms. After 3:00, you may only visit the 1875 Town of Walnut Hill.

· Last tickets are sold at 3:00.

· Some hands-on activities are weather dependent and are subject to change without notice.

· Tours are self-guided, with Living History Farms interpreters at designated areas to answer questions, lead activities, and demonstrate historic farming and domestic tasks, as well as trades and crafts.

· Homeschool Day will be held rain or shine. Please dress appropriately for the weather.

· Lunch will be available for purchase at Living History Farms at Rosie's Snack Shop. You are also welcome to bring your own picnic lunch.

Castles & Cathedrals

Mutchler Center

Thursday, September 8

1:30 P.M. – 3:00 P.M.

You are hereby invited on a journey to the Middle Ages of Europe, time traveling to the days of knights and castles. To get there, you will have to go through the “gates of imagination.” What was it like then? When did it occur? Who had the power? Bring your curiosity along as you travel back in time – back to the days of knights and castles. This activity will give you an overview of the Middle Ages.

Des Moines Renaissance Faire

Sleepy Hollow Sports Park, Des Moines

Ages 4 and under – free, 5 – 12 - $6, 13 – 18 - $8

Adults can get a discounted ticket of $14

purchasing their ticket at *Hy-Vee

Saturday, September 10

10:00 A.M. – 6:00 PM

Experience the “Age of Enlightenment” at the Des Moines Renaissance Faire. Enter the gates and you will go back in time to an era when royalty ruled, knights jousted, and the arts came alive! Attend the spectacle of the coronation at the Royal Court. Shout the battle cry of your favorite knight at the jousting arena. Partake in demonstrations by glass blowers, blacksmiths, potters, wood carvers, and painters. Browse through more than 50 specialty shops. With unique costumes, our people bring the Medieval period back to life.

Bring a purse full of coins, for our merchants offer the finest in jewelry, weaponry, leather goods, candles, clothing, children’s items, chocolates, pottery and more. Come hungry! The irresistible aromas of the various vendors’ baked goods, smoked meats, stir fry, roasted nuts and caramel corn will delight even the pickiest eater. In addition this festival offers 8 stages featuring comedians, musicians, minstrels, jugglers, and more! You will also find games of skill and chance as well as period man-powered carnival rides.

The architecture of the village, with Marick Castle overlooking it, will transport you to the best-detailed and realistic simulation of Renaissance Europe that Iowa has ever seen. Visit the gorgeous 16-acre Festival Park, the first-ever permanent location for the Faire, and enjoy a wonderful and educational experience for all ages! So, come! Bring your family and friends and spend the day reliving the past. Feel free to dress in Renaissance attire if you so desire! Actual schedules for 2011 will be posted a week or so before the event at www.dmrenfaire.com. Our group will be given a suggested itinerary. Bring your student discount ticket coupon with you. (This is in the parent packet.)

Directions to the Faire: Take highway 163 to Des Moines, turn left onto Williams St. (This street is before the State Fairgrounds.). Turn left on Dean Avenue. 4051 DEAN AVE is on the right.

*To purchase your adult discount tickets, stop at the Pleasant Hill Hy-Vee as it is less than a block off highway 163 and before William Street. Turn left on N. Hickory Blvd. Turn right on Maple Drive. HyVee, 4815 Maple Drive, will be on your left.

All about Archaeology

Ottumwa GPAEA ICN Classroom

Recommended Grades 3-6

Younger and older students are welcome to attend.

Wednesday, September 14

10:00 A.M. – 10:50 A.M.

Join this session to give your students an early introduction and understanding of what an archaeologist does in his daily work. The overall goal of this session is to demonstrate that archaeology is the study of people of the past through the recovery, analysis, and interpretation of material remains.

Academic Writing

Grades 9 - 12

Mutchler Center

September 15

1:00 P.M. – 3:30 P.M.

This course will help students become comfortable with the basic demands of academic writing: researching, asserting a position, developing points by providing support/examples and drawing conclusions. It will give students specific writing strategies to develop their academic writing skills. Students will write various types of essays, such as persuasive, compare and contrast, cause & effect. Additionally, students will be introduced to interpretation of literature. This class is designed to be a one-semester course at 9^th- 10^th grade level. There will be daily assignments.

***Please bring a three-ring binder with loose leaf paper and pen/pencil.

Writing Workshops

Grades 6-8

Mutchler Center

Thursday, September 15

1:00 A.M.– 3:30 P.M.

This year, Laurie Bartle is offering a series of middle school writing workshops designed to enhance your teaching. Good writers use sentence structure (simple, compound, complex and compound-complex) to emphasize ideas, create readers’ interest, and improve readability. This is where we will start our workshop. Then we will move into paragraph and research basics, and, finally, we will do several sessions on different types of paragraphs such as descriptive, narrative, process, comparison and cause and effect. Through literature, we will discover awesome examples of literary elements as well as the six writing traits. Practice improves one’s skills; therefore, there will be assignments each month that will reinforce the skills being taught. Laurie will meet with each student on monthly basis to assist the student in their writing assignments. Parent involvement will be required as good writers need people to discuss their ideas with, and parents will need to be sure assignments are completed promptly.

***Please bring a three-ring binder/pen/pencil/paper.

Indian Village Life

Jefferson County Park

Fairfield, Iowa

Thursday, September 22

10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.

An opportunity, in a small way, to journey back 1000 years to experience the various activities found in an early Native American Village. This hands-on program gives students an opportunity to try their hand at grinding corn, making tools, scraping hides, making gourd bowls, and throwing “darts” with a spear-thrower called an atlatl. It’s a favorite among students. For lunch, let’s eat as students from the 1800’s. Bring your lunch in a basket or pail, drinks in a jar, and homemade food as much as possible. Think what didn’t exist at that time, such as no plastic and no modern processed foods.

Directions: From Bloomfield, take J40 to Keosauqua. Turn north (left) at the Van Buren Hospital on Highway 1 to Fairfield. At the south edge of Fairfield, turn west (left) on Libertyville Road. Then turn right at Jefferson County Park Drive. Then turn left at the first road. Go up the hill and curve to the right. We will meet at the two small shelters.

From Ottumwa, take highway 34 east to Fairfield. Take Exit 212, and turn north (left) toward Fairfield. At the south edge of Fairfield, turn west (left) on Libertyville Road. Then turn right at Jefferson County Park Drive. Then turn left at the first road. Go up the hill and curve to the right. We will meet at the two small shelters.

Career Day: So You Want to be an Engineer?

Recommended Grades 8-12

Younger students are welcome to attend.

Ottumwa GPAEA ICN Classroom

Tuesday, September 27

12:30 P.M. – 1:30 P.M.

This session will offer your students the chance to hear from two engineers about their career paths.

-A civil engineer who worked for the Iowa Department of Transportation. She is a great example of a woman who went back to school after her kids were grown and became a very successful engineer managing road design and construction projects.

-A civil engineer that works for a prominent engineering firm in Central Iowa. A recent graduate of Iowa State University, this civil engineer works on a variety of projects from land development design to hydraulic and hydrology design. The firm he works for is actively involved in a career awareness program in Ankeny. There will be time for questions, so students are asked to come to the session prepared.

Yearbook Club

Ottumwa GPAEA Technology Room

Tuesday, September 27

1:30 P.M. – 3:00 P.M.

Learn design and computer skills as you help create our HERALD yearbook. This is an extracurricular activity that could be listed on your student’s transcript. At the first meeting, we will look at past yearbooks and begin our planning strategies for the 2011-2012 yearbook. If time allows, we will work on computer skills.

Library Research Tours

Grades 6 - 12

Thursday, September 29

Ottumwa Public Library

10: 00 A.M.– 11:30 A.M.

Bloomfield Public Library

1:30 P.M.– 3:00 P.M.

The librarians of each public library will give the students a tour of their library, highlighting research resources. Then HERALD teachers will teach critical researching skills: such as note-taking, paraphrasing and documentation. The seriousness of plagiarism will be emphasized. Although this activity is a requirement for all writing students, all other secondary students are encouraged to join us.