HCAFE Recitation Night November 14

Hi HCAFE families! I hope you are all well. We have been battling some illnesses the past couple of weeks, but we are looking forward to getting out and joining our fellow homeschoolers tomorrow night for a fun time. Our recitation program will be at the new Main Street Ministries building at 7 pm. There is a room with a side entrance that is finished and with a small stage just right for our program.

Recitation Night is simply a night for our students to share with others what they have been learning. Obviously, it is also a time to allow students to speak in front of others, in hopes that they will grow comfortable with this over time. As homeschoolers, we don't get this opportunity often! We hope that we can have a few of these each year, and this is our first one, so we will surely get better and better as time goes on (as far as the planning, too!)

Right now, we still need more information about each student's presentation. I have Lucinda Gates, and the Anderson's, but I need more details on others who are participating. I am designing the program today and will be listing what each student is sharing. Please send me your information if you plan on participating and have not done so (just comment below).

We will have refreshments available after the program. Even if you don't have a student presenting, feel free to come check it out and support our fellow homeschoolers!

Chaplin Nature Center Field Trip

I just blogged about our experience on my personal blog, Stay at Home Child. If you attended this field trip with us, I have a job for you and your children! Please comment to this post and share your most memorable thing about our day at the Nature Center. As I was typing what I remembered, it occurred to me that different people probably took away something different and I'd like to hear about them.

Chaplin Nature Center Field Trip Tomorrow

Chaplin Nature Center is at Ark City. We are making plans to go on Fridy, Oct. 24. Ask God for a beautiful autumn day. We will leave Anthony at 9:00 A.M. There is no cost to the Nature Center. I"m sure there is opportunity for a donation.

Suggested schedule for the day:

8:45 A.M. - Meet at Jack Gates house - (With your sack lunch) (We want to leave at 9:00)
We'll plan to carpool as much as possible, so don't be late.
10:30 - 12: 00 - Educational program presented by a person at the center
12:00 - 12:30 eat sack lunch at the nature center
Afternoon- Visit the nature center's educational exhibit building
Bring camera for taking pictures of nature.
You may want to check out Chaplin Nature Center on the web.
I need to know if who of you are interested in going on this homeschool field trip. The leader knows that we are a homeschool group with a variety of ages. (As of Sunday night we have 10 or 11 students going, plus a parent from each family.)

**The weather should be HIGH of mid 50's so dress appropriately!!

Art Class

For those not "in the loop," we began art class in October. We meet on Fridays at 1:00 pm until about 2:00 pm. Currently the kids are working on perspective and shading. We have had a great group already, but don't want to leave anyone out. For more details, click "Art Class" below. You will see the original post with location and phone numbers.

How to Hit the One-Handed Backhand

Greetings tennis students and parents! After many days of playing tennis, I've decided that the best way for everyone to know the right way to hit the ball using a backhand stroke is to see this link: http://www.operationdoubles.com/one_handed_backhand_tennis.htm

I personally have a two-handed backhand, primarily because I didn't have a very good tennis coach :o) and I've always needed the strength of two hands to get the ball across. Oddly enough, I have a really good backhand when I play regularly, and can place the ball well and get it across pretty quick. But it's not always in anyone's best interest to depend on a two-handed backhand. Sometimes you can't get to the ball quickly enough to set up for the two-hand.

Please visit the link and have your older kids watch it, and get their rackets in hand while doing so. I will be practicing this backhand as well!

Book It! Program for Homeschoolers

The Pizza Hut "Book It!" program is now available for homeschool families. If you are not familiar with the program, it's basically an incentive program where you keep track of how long or how many books you read. Your child is rewarded with free one-topping personal pan pizzas. You can enroll here, or learn more about the program if interested. Good luck!

Spanish Class

A number of HCAFE parents have shown an interest in starting a Spanish class. Since we have children between the ages of 5 and 15, we may break into two separate groups for lessons and come together for different cultural activities that tie the two groups together. We will be evaluating different Spanish curricula and decide how to move ahead. Once we make a decision, our plans will be announced here.