DPA or PDA

If any of you attended a Christian school, college or university, you know what PDA means.  For those of you who didn't, it stands for "Public Display of Affection" and on site there was to be none of it!

At our most recent RSM, we were given some new direction on PDA at our school.  Yes, PDA!  When there were a few laughs and jeers, we quickly realized that they meant DPA (Daily Physical Activity)  which is very different!  Or is it?  Perhaps our DPA could involve some PDA as a family.  I have read that doing physical activity together can develop close bonds between the participants.  I think that is one reason homeschool families are described as being very close or connected - they have more time to do activities together. 

The technical implications of this new direction is that we need to record how our families are completing the Daily Physical Activity components of their program.  Many of you already use the DPA log that I sent in the Parent Pack or one similar; others provide the info in a weekly update.  Sometimes, however, it is difficult to record how each family is doing it - we know they ARE doing it, but we may not know HOW.  As such, we would like to be sure to provide accurate info on the reports as to how this is accomplished.  You will notice a new "course" on your report card specific for DPA.  On it, we will need to record HOW it is being done.  For those of you who have found a way to share the details of how you are doing your 30mins each day, keep it up and I will record that info.  If you have found it difficult, please let me know and I would love to work with you to find a way that works for you. 

Here are a few ideas or resources that could help:

• LearnNowBC has an ONLINE DPA LOG that may make it fun for the kids to manage themselves.
• The Ministry of Education has THIS DOCUMENT that includes information and a tracking log
• Here is another version in a CALANDAR FORM.

Perhaps it is a good idea to review the requirements of DPA:
a. The government requires that all students K to 9 be involved in daily physical
activities 30 minutes a day for five days a week. (15 minutes for K)
b. I believe all of you are already doing this and you do not need to do any extra
special weekly reporting.
c. In home schooling, the 5 days can come from any of the seven days of the week.
d. It does not have to be 30 continuous minutes, but each section must be at least
10 minutes long.
e. Activities can include cardio, flexibility or strength.
f. Activities do not have to be organized or directly supervised.
g. Some examples:
i. 10 minutes of running around the neighbourhood + a 15-minute family
walk + 10 minutes of morning exercises would count.
ii. Or a 1 hour ballet class.
iii. Or bike riding for 20 minutes + shooting hoops for 10 minutes.
iv. Or a soccer league game.
v. Or chopping wood for 15 minutes + walking to the store for 10 minutes +
10 minutes of morning stretches


So, keep up that PDA!  I mean... DPA.  and PDA! 

And, please don't forget to e-mail with a weekly update or arrange to skype.

Blessings,

News and Notices

Term 3 is right around the corner here at HCOS!  It is during this last term that, believe it or not, families are thinking about next year!  Yep - next year!  And so here are a few bits of news and notices to help you (you may want to use this as a check list of sort).

1. Finish up term 2 by passing in term 2 portfolios by end of February - please let me know when and how you plan on submitting them.
2. Re-enrol: The office is ready for re-enrolment.  Please go into Encom and inform the office of your intentions for next year.  As you may know, HCOS continues to grow each year and knowing who is returning will help our admin decide how many more teachers to hire.
3. Register for CHEC, Christian Home Educator's Convention - April 29 & 30, in Kelowna, BC!  Yes, registration is open!  New this year is a "High School Fair"!  Click on the link to the right of the main page of my blog. For the last couple of years, we have planned a field trip to somewhere in the lower mainland while we are all driving over anyway.  If you have any ideas, please let me know.  I will keep you posted as plans are arranged.
4. Remember Deadline for Curriculum Funds purchasing.  The deadline to use this year's PO# is May 15.  You will no longer be able to use that number for purchases and any remaining funds can not be transferred to next year.  PO# for next year will be ready by CHEC IF you have re-enrolled and submitted your residency form.

As we head into term 3, many are planning a research report. I found a neat school site that has information on how to cite your work.  There is a range of expectations for each grade level.  Click HERE to check it out!

I hope you have a great weekend and let me know if I can help you get ready for term 3!

Blessings,

Angela

Love is in the Air!

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

I hope you are all able to take some time out of your day to celebrate those you love as well as the Love the Father has bestowed upon you!

I had a fabulous celebration of my marriage with a trip up the mountain for a "Snowshoe and Fondue" - a one hour snowshoe tour through Stathcona followed by a 3-course fondue meal.  The weather was wonderful and the food was fabulous!

From romance to work...  I would like to remind you that I would like term 2 portfolios in within the next couple of weeks.  Thank you to those of you who have already handed them in.  I look forward to reviewing them all over the next month.

There are so many items that I wanted to share piling up in my inbox.  First I would like to share some "Resources of the Week":

• Parks Canada will be offering free Parks Passes to grade 8 students.  Visit MY PARKS PASS for more info.
• Here is a really neat video passed on from Judy about a new "state of matter" that I have never heard of.  Really Cool!  FRAZIL ICE
• To keep up on new technologies that can be used for education, please visit Pippa's blog where she highlights a new technology each week!  PIPPA'S LIBRARY BLOG

Now for some "Teaching Tips from Rick and Bruce":

Learning Through Role Play -  Integrated in Health & Career and Bible

Teaching tip:   Last time I reviewed the use of role playing as a method of teaching content in language arts, science or social studies. This week I want to expand that a little.  In health and career you could use role play to set up and practice some safety scenarios, or for the older ones to enact a job interview.  Trying to take the practice as seriously as possible helps everyone discover the strengths and weaknesses of their responses.  In Bible one might role play a news interviewer interviewing a Bible character.  Have fun with it.  You might even go to some lengths to make costumes and video it to show dad when he comes home from work.  Let your imagination fly and you could surprise yourself with what kind of fun you can have with role play.

DEVELOPING HIGHER LEVEL THINKING PROCESSES

Analysis

Analysis is the fourth key component as we look at developing higher level thinking processes. Developing the ability to read, or consider something and then analyze how it is put together is invaluable, particularly to those in leadership.

Verbs that describe “analysis” thought processing are: Analyze, Distinguish, Examine, Compare, Contrast, Investigate, Categorize, Identify, Explain, Separate, Advertise.

Sample question starters: Which events could have happened…? If ____ had happened what might the ending have been? What was the underlying theme? What do you see as some other possible outcomes? Why did … changes occur? When you compare “A” with “B” what do you see? What are some of the motives behind…? What was the problem with…?

    Potential Activities:  Design a questionnaire to give information. Write a commercial to sell a product. Conduct an investigation to produce information to support your view. Make a flow chart to show critical stages. Make a family tree showing relationships. Prepare a report about… Arrange a party. Make all the arrangements and record the steps needed.

Have a LOVEly week!

Keeping up with Technology

Being an online school, HCOS strives to keep up with advances and resources using technology for education.  Sometimes it is difficult to keep up with it all.  But once you figure out how to use it, there is a world filled with new creative juices and opportunities for expression! 

Let's take research for reports. Now, I remember going to a library, finding the reference section, looking for the encyclopedia with the letter I want and skimming through to find the information I was looking for.  Then you hope you got all the info you needed and that you didn't lose the papers before you had a chance to write the report.  Well, in this techie age, there are ways you can get the same info and MORE from a wealth of resources right from your home computer!  We have a subscription for a great online reference resource called EBSCO. It includes World Book and Gale/Cengage Learning. There is so much you can do with it, like create your own folders of notes.  If you are like me and have logged on but feel overwhelmed at all the options, then these webinars are for you! 

We invite participation from teachers, parents and students, to join Lisa Dennis from Ebscohost in the following webinars .

 Searchasaurus: February 16 and My Ebschost Folder: on March 9th.  If you are interested in joining either of these webinars , please can you register for the events by clicking on the events by going to "click here" below.

 SEARCHASAURUS

In this session participants in the age group grade 2-7 will learn how to search for academic articles using the child's version of Ebscohost.  This session will be about half an hour long, and is ideal if you have a student who is working on submitting a project. *****  

Wednesday, February 16, 2011* at 3pm Pacific time

Searchasaurus and Kids Search for Heritage Christian Online School

To register: Contact me.

My EBSCOhost Folder

In this session, participants will learn how to save important articles and organize notes using EBSCO’s personalized web accessible folders.  See how easy it is to get journal table of contents and new articles on specific topics delivered right to the user’s email!  Approximately 40 minutes long.  This will appeal to all students who are doing projects from elementary to high school.  *****

Wednesday, March 9, 2011*   at 3pm Pacific time                   

My EBSCOhost Folder for Heritage Christian Online School

To register:  Contact me.