Week+One

I am amazed at the six (soon to be seven) blessings I had the opportunity to serve today. Each one is a treasure I look forward to getting to know over the next several months. I think we got off to a good start. If you are excited about the year, yet a little overwhelmed and slightly confused about what exactly it is your child is supposed to be doing, don't worry because those are perfectly normal feelings at the beginning of this program. I promise it will get easier. Here a few notes:

PROGRESS REPORTS: Obviously, we didn't really have much to report today. I sent them home anyway because I said I would, and I wanted you and your student to see them to use as a guideline for classes. Our day was very full, so there wasn't time to properly establish a folder for the reports and other communications, but look for ﻿GREEN﻿ folders to come home next week. If you will review the report with your student and sign it, he/she can return it to me for auction pts.

Handouts/Auction Points: Please look at the handouts I gave today and make sure they are in the correct folders and ready for use. The students have a green writing checklist placed in a page protector for both BBW and natural science. If they will check off the items as they complete them with a nonpermanent marker, and then have you review the list with them and sign it directly on the sheet, they can return the sheets each week for auction points. I hope these checklists will help them know exactly what to do for their writing assignments.

Student can also earn auction points for the questions/activities at the end of each chapter in their //It Couldn't Just Happen// and //Don't Check Your Brains// books. I encouraged them to use the questions at the end of DCYB as a basis for discussion at family devotions as they usually involve looking up scriptures. The answers do not have to be written unless you require it. Students just label (book name, chptr.#, date)a page in his/her notebook, write the number of the question/activity completed, and have you initial it for pts. I hope this will encourage them to dig deeper into the material as well as have some great discussions with you.

Research/MLA : We covered some basics of research today, but your student will need your help to get established. I recommended the databases available on the Greenbrier Co. Pub. Library site. For those in Virginia, you probably have similar ones. Just click on databases on the site and have your library card ready. There is a wealth of info that the kids can use, including full-length journal articles. Please just make sure they are collecting their reference info before they begin their keyword outline (they know what that is), and that they include a reference page with their natural science paragraph. This year, I am asking the students to use MLA citation standards. I gave them a very brief sample sheet. If they use a source not on the handout, simply google "MLA simplified" and you'll find more than enough citation examples. Also, there is an automatic formatter on our wiki (writing page) and Microsoft Word has an automatic formatter.

Details, details...so many details! If you have specific questions about a learning strand, please contact me.