Winter Break

We are officially on Winter Break!

Have a wonderful two weeks off with family and friends. I hope everyone gets some time to relax and enjoy themselves. See you next year!

School resumes on Monday, January 5, with one week remaining in Semester 1.

Ordering Reminders

All ordering is open for Spring Semester - This includes curriculum, vouchers, and enrichment classes.

Voucher ordering for Spring - in order to receive vouchers for services starting on the first day of the Spring semester (January 14, 2015), please enter these into Launchpad by Monday, December 15 (Today), so that the resource center can process the majority of them before the offices are closed for Winter Break from December 20 - January 4.

Last day to place orders for the year - the curriculum deadline is February 20, 2015 and the voucher deadline is March 20, 2015.

Visions Project and Science Fair is Just Around the Corner!

(This information is copied from the Wire. The location nearest us is in Rescue. The Rescue location offers the Science and Project Fairs but not the Performance Fair.)

Visions in Education Charter School is excited to offer a variety of locations for our Project, Science and Performance Fairs. These are opportunities for our students of all ages to share their talents, hobbies and projects that they have been working on throughout the year. Keep these events in mind when planning curriculum and completing projects. Prepare, plan and participate!

It is open to all levels of ability. Students may present and perform in more than one area. (Not all locations offer all areas of presentation.)

See the event flyer for details and registration form.

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 12/15
Ms. Bryon in Professional Development in Carmichael

Tuesday
Pine Grove/Pioneer
Joy - 1:00
Emma N. - 2:15
Tristan - 3:30

Wednesday
Jackson Public Library
Emma P. - 11:30
Baruch & Ana - 1:00
Leila - 3:00

Thursday
Placerville 
Marley - 11:00
Thomas, Dianne & Kennedy - 12:15

Friday

Somerset
Alex M. - 10:00
Ione
Phoenix - 12:00
Alex & Luke - 1:15

Report Card Time!

Kindergarten through 5th grade:

1) Print
Grade K Standards Based Report Card

Grade 1 Standards Based Report Card

Grade 2 Standards Based Report Card

Grade 3 Standards Based Report Card

Grade 4 Standards Based Report Card
Grade 5 Standards Based Report Card

2) Fill out a "rough draft" 
We will go over and finalize the report card at your LP5 meeting. I will generate and print an official copy for Visions and one for you that I will bring to our LP6 meeting.

In general, students working at grade level at this time of year should generally be earning "2's" (approaching grade level standards) for most areas. If you have any questions about specific sections, you can leave them blank and we will decide together at the meeting.

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Special Situations:
If your student is working a full grade level above, every day, in any subject (meaning a full year ahead), they will also need a report card for that grade level. (For example: Tommy is a 3rd grader, he is on grade level in all subjects but math. He is in 4th grade math. He will need a 4th grade report card for math and a 3rd grade report card for all other subjects.)

If your student is working a full year ahead in all subjects, just use the report card for the level they are working at. (For example: Justin is a Kindergartener, he is working with all 1st grade materials. He needs a 1st grade report card.)

If your student sometimes works ahead with a brother or sister, but also works at their own grade level just use their own grade level report card. (For example: Sandy is a Kindergartener, her brother Jack is in 2nd grade. Sometimes Sandy does projects and worksheets with Jack that are 2nd grade level work. But she also works in her own grade level materials. She only needs a Kindergarten report card.)

Please email, text, or call with any questions!

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6th through 12th grade:
Parents will provide me LP5 grades at our LP5 meeting, I will calculate the cumulative grades from LP1-LP5 and enter them in to Launchpad. Visions will create and send the report card to you.

From The Wire...

Spring Enrichment Class Registration begins December 8!
http://wire.viedu.org/spring-classes-registration-december-8/

Seats are limited so register early.




Looking for Supplemental Worksheets? Try these free sources...
http://www.commoncoresheets.com/
http://www.mathworksheetsland.com/grades.html
http://www.k12reader.com/common-core-standard/ccss/

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 12/8 - First Day of LP5
Camino/Pollock Pines
Charlotte - 9:50
Sarah - 11:00
Alexandra - 12:15

Tuesday
Plymouth
Jezreel - 11:00
Haley, Madeline, Paige, & Riley - 12:15

Wednesday
Ms. Bryon Assisting 
Enrichment Classes in Rescue

Thursday
Ione
Phoenix - 11:00
Alex & Lucian - 12:30
Gracyann & Daisy - 2:35
Austin & Dylan - 4:30ish (paperwork only)

Friday
Office Day

Upcoming...

• LP 4 Ends: Friday, December 5
• Scholastic Book Fair: Monday, December 8 - Friday, December 12
• School Pictures: Thursday, December 11  
• Book Fair and Picture Day Flyer
• Spelling Bee: Friday, December 12, 9-12 p.m.
• Christ Community Church, Manzanita Avenue, Carmichael. Grades 1-8 will do a grade level preliminary spelling bee. The top three winners of grades 3-8 will progress to a final round. The winner of the final round is eligible to participate in the Central Valley Spelling Bee.
• Winter Break: Monday December 22 - Friday, January 9

Upcoming and Notable:

Science Fair - Rescue - March 11 from 2:30 to 5:30. Start brainstorming your projects now :)
Ski Days - January through March (Flyer)

State Capitol Field Trip

Would you like to go on a homeschool group tour of the California State Capitol?

When: This Thursday, December 4th at 2pm.

If you are interested or would like more info, text Cassy Smylie at (209) 768-0100.

Testing Update (subject to change)

SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium)
All students in 3rd - 8th and 11th grades will be taking the SBAC this year. It consists of two tests, one in English and one in Math. This test is a computer based test and it is not timed. Each section has 50 questions.

Location:
Grace Fellowship
8040 South Highway 49
Jackson, CA 95642
Testing Dates: 
March 24 - 26 12:00-4:30 (3rd - 8th Grade Students Only)


STAR
5th, 8th, & 10th graders will take the STAR Science test. This is a paper and pencil test based on the CA state science standards. I will forward more info on when this will be administered as soon as I get it.

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What you can do to help your students get ready

Take a Practice Test
The more familiar students are with the types of questions asked and the format of the test, the less stressful the test will be.
https://login4.cloud1.tds.airast.org/student/V42/Pages/LoginShell.aspx?c=SBAC_PT
(Ignore the Click here if you are a California student link and just sign in as a guest)

Practice Keyboarding Skills

Students will have to type words, sentences and paragraphs and use numbers and symbols on a computer keyboard to answer the test questions. The more comfortable students are using a computer keyboard, the more they will be able to focus on answering the questions.

There are lots of free typing and keyboarding games on the internet. Just do a Google search for "free typing games" or "keyboarding free".

STAR Science Test Released Test Questions
5th, 8th & 10th Graders can study for the STAR science test using the California Department of Education's Released Test Questions.
Grade 5 - http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/documents/cstrtqscience5.pdf
Grade 8 - http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/documents/cstrtqscience8.pdf
Grade 10 - http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/documents/cstrtqscience10.pdf

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 12/1
Office Day

Tuesday
Ione
Austin & Dylan - 11:00
Jasmine & Roxie - 1:30

Wednesday
Plymouth/Ione/Somerset
Michael & David - 8:30
Grace - 11:00
Teran - 1:00

Thursday
Pioneer
Wyatt - 11:00
Joseph - 12:30
Emma E. - 1:45

Friday
Ione
Austin & Dylan - 3:30

Ski Days!

Come and enjoy a day on the mountain with other Visions families and friends this winter at Sierra at Tahoe! Whether you know how to ski or snowboard or whether you are a beginner, there is an opportunity for you to have a blast in the snow.

These events are planned and supervised by Visions CTs Ty Beekman and Shelby Shupe. There are a variety of specially discounted packages. These events are not purchased with vouchers. Click on this flyer for all package and event details. Click here for the flyer.

To enroll your student and family in these events call Nancy Peterson, Home School event coordinator at (916) 971-5518. Do not enroll directly in Launchpad. Doing so will result in your order not being processed properly with the venue.

Homeschool Facebook Group

Would you like to connect with other homeschool families in this area? Share tips, tricks, and go on field trips together? 

Check out the Making Homeschool Fun Facebook page that is administered by our own local Ione Homeschool mom Audre Fowler. I can't say enough good things about this group :)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/MakingHomeschoolFUN/

Report Card Preview

During our LP5 meeting, we will be focusing on semester report cards.

We have plenty of time, but I wanted to give you a preview of the process and the K-5 report cards so you can download them, look them over, and let me know if you have any questions.


Kindergarten through 5th grade:
Parents will fill out a standards based report card prior to our LP5 meeting. We will go over the report card at that meeting. Then, I will generate and print an official copy for Visions and one for you that I will bring to our LP6 meeting.

.doc format (Microsoft Word, can edit on the computer)
Grade K Standards Based Report Card
Grade 1 Standards Based Report Card

Grade 2 Standards Based Report Card

Grade 3 Standards Based Report Card

Grade 4 Standards Based Report Card
Grade 5 Standards Based Report Card

.pdf format (Not editable digitally)

Grade K Standards Based Report Card
Grade 1 Standards Based Report Card

Grade 2 Standards Based Report Card

Grade 3 Standards Based Report Card

Grade 4 Standards Based Report Card
Grade 5 Standards Based Report Card

6th through 12th grade:
Parents will provide me LP5 grades at our LP5 meeting, I will calculate the cumulative grades from LP1-LP5 and enter them in to Launchpad. Visions will create and send the report card to you.

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 11/17
Office Day

Tuesday
Pine Grove/Pioneer
Joy - 1:30
Emma N. - 2:35
Tristan - 3:40

Wednesday
Jackson Public Library
Emma P. - 11:30
Baruch - 1:00
Ana - 2:00
Leila - 3:00

Thursday
Placerville 
Marley - 11:00
Thomas, Dianne & Kennedy - 12:15

Friday

Teacher Meeting Placerville

Phoenix - 1:30 ?

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Monday 11/24 - Friday 11/28 - Thanksgiving Break

Resource Center Important Ordering Dates

1. Spring ordering – families can place Spring semester orders for curriculum and vouchers, starting on Monday, December 1, 2014.

2. Voucher ordering for Spring - in order to receive vouchers for services starting on the first day of the Spring semester (January 14, 2015), please enter these into Launchpad by Monday, December 15, 2014, so that we can process the majority of them before our offices are closed for Winter break from December 20, 2014 – January 4, 2015.

3. Budget Transfers - these are being accepted through November 30 (either by email, fax or mail) and they will be processed by early December, so that you have funds in place for Spring semester ordering.   Please email them to rc@viedu.org or fax them to 916-971-5379 or mail them to our office.

The purpose of this Budget Transfer Form is to allow families to have the ability to move budget dollars between student(s) accounts within the same family.Transaction ranges are limited to:

Individual student account deduction, limited to $100-$250 (no more than $250 from a single student).
Individual student account increase, capped at $500 (no more that $500 can be added to a single student).

4. Last day to place orders for the year – the curriculum deadline is February 20, 2015 and the voucher deadline is March 20, 2015.

K-12 Scholastic Book Fair and Picture Day is Coming Soon!

Visions annual Scholastic Book Fair is coming in December.  Our Scholastic Book Fair theme – “Sir Readalot’s Castle! Enter the Kingdom of Books!” – is part of an exciting reading event that brings to school a wonderful selection of fun, engaging, and affordable books students want to read.

This year’s event will be:

Monday, December 8 – 12, 2014 at our Resource Center in our new location at 5030 El Camino Ave., Carmichael 95608.

Hours: Monday - Thursday - 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Friday: 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

There will be two options for our students and families to order books from our Scholastic Book Fair this year!

Option 1: Visit our offices to browse and purchase on site. Visions CTs and Resource Center staff will be on site to assist you in selecting items.


Option 2: Online ordering

On Thursday, December 11th, Lifetouch Photography will be on the premises if you would like to have portraits taken of your student(s) and siblings.  This is a one time, optional opportunity.

For complete details regarding these events and links to the websites for Scholastic and Lifetouch, please view the flyer.

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 11/10 - First Day of LP4
Ione/Plymouth
Gracyann & Daisy - 11:00
Jezreel - 1:30

Tuesday
Veterans Day - No School

Wednesday
Camino/Pollock Pines
Sarah - 11:00
Alexandra - 12:15
Karter - 1:30 (Book Pick-up)
Charlotte - 2:45

Thursday
Ione
Phoenix - 11:00
Alex & Lucian - 12:30

Friday
Office Day

Visions is still seeking students to participate in the 2015 Annual Visions Spelling Bee. This event is open to all Home School Academy students in grades 1-8. Spellers of all levels are encouraged to compete.  We provide a relaxed atmosphere for students to experience this  competition.

Our spelling bee begins with a preliminary round for all grades. The top three winners of the preliminary rounds from grades 3-8* will participate in a final round from which the winner of that round will be eligible to participate in the Central Valley Spelling Bee Competition sponsored by the Sacramento Bee.  (The winner of the Central Valley competition wins an all-expense paid trip to Washington D. C. to participate in the National Scripps Spelling Bee in May 2015.)

 *Winners from first and second grade do not participate in the final round, as they are not eligible to progress to the Central Valley Spelling Competition which is Grades 3-8 only.

When: Friday, December 12, 2014
Time: Check-in begins at 9:30 a.m. First preliminary rounds begin at 10:00 a.m.
Where: Christ Community Church, 5025 Manzanita Ave, Carmichael, CA 95608

View the flyer for complete details and enrollment instructions, as well as finding links to the study words and rules.

Preliminary and final rounds are completed on the same day.  Certificates of participation and place winner certificates will be given.

For all questions  please contact Nancy Peterson in the Home School Academy office: 916-971-5518 or napeterson@viedu.org

LP3 ends Friday

I will be entering LP3 grades and LP4 assignments into Launchpad this Friday. Please make sure your semester plan and LP3 progress tab are up to date as I will be pulling the info from there.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!

This Week's Meeting Schedule

This week is not a regular meeting week. It is reserved for office work (organizing work samples, submitting attendance, updating Launchpad, checking orders, reviewing semester plans, and other necessary paperwork :)

Upcoming...

• Harvest Festival: FLYER: This Friday!

• Daylight saving time ends: Sunday, November 2
• LP3 Ends: Friday, November 7
• Veteran's Day (Holiday): Tuesday, November 11
• Sly Park Science Camp: Monday, November 17 - Friday, November 21
• Overnight science camp for 5th & 6th graders only. Student enrollment by contacting Nancy Peterson at napeterson@viedu.org.
• Thanksgiving Week Break: Monday, November 24 - Friday, November 28

• LP 4 Ends: Friday, December 5
• Scholastic Book Fair: Monday, December 8 - Friday, December 12
• School Pictures: Thursday, November 11
• Spelling Bee: Friday, December 12, 9-12 p.m.
• Christ Community Church, Manzanita Avenue, Carmichael. Grades 1-8 will do a grade level preliminary spelling bee. The top three winners of grades 3-8 will progress to a final round. The winner of the final round is eligible to participate in the Central Valley Spelling Bee.
• Winter Break: Monday December 22 - Friday, January 9

Upcoming and Notable:

Science Fair - Rescue - March 11 from 2:30 to 5:30. Start brainstorming your projects now :)

Daylight Saving Time

Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 2nd. Don't forget to set your clocks back!

8 Things You May Not Know About Daylight Saving Time

1. It’s “daylight saving time,” not “daylight savings time.” 

Many people render the term’s second word in its plural form. However, since the word “saving” acts as part of an adjective rather than a verb, the singular is grammatically correct.

2. Though in favor of maximizing daylight waking hours, Benjamin Franklin did not originate the idea of moving clocks forward. 

By the time he was a 78-year-old American envoy in Paris in 1784, the man who espoused the virtues of “early to bed and early to rise” was not practicing what he preached. After being unpleasantly stirred from sleep at 6 a.m. by the summer sun, the founding father penned a satirical essay in which he calculated that Parisians, simply by waking up at dawn, could save the modern-day equivalent of $200 million through “the economy of using sunshine instead of candles.” As a result of this essay, Franklin is often erroneously given the honor of “inventing” daylight saving time, but he only proposed a change in sleep schedules—not the time itself.


3. Englishman William Willett led the first campaign to implement daylight saving time.

While on an early-morning horseback ride around the desolate outskirts of London in 1905, Willett had an epiphany that the United Kingdom should move its clocks forward by 80 minutes between April and October so that more people could enjoy the plentiful sunlight. The Englishman published the 1907 brochure “The Waste of Daylight” and spent much of his personal fortune evangelizing with missionary zeal for the adoption of “summer time.” Year after year, however, the British Parliament stymied the measure, and Willett died in 1915 at age 58 without ever seeing his idea come to fruition.

4. Germany was the first country to enact daylight saving time.

It took World War I for Willett’s dream to come true, but on April 30, 1916, Germany embraced daylight saving time to conserve electricity. (He may have been horrified to learn that Britain’s wartime enemy followed his recommendations before his homeland.) Weeks later, the United Kingdom followed suit and introduced “summer time.”

5. Daylight saving time in the United States was not intended to benefit farmers, as many people think. 
Contrary to popular belief, American farmers did not lobby for daylight saving to have more time to work in the fields; in fact, the agriculture industry was deeply opposed to the time switch when it was first implemented on March 31, 1918, as a wartime measure. The sun, not the clock, dictated farmers’ schedules, so daylight saving was very disruptive. Farmers had to wait an extra hour for dew to evaporate to harvest hay, hired hands worked less since they still left at the same time for dinner and cows weren’t ready to be milked an hour earlier to meet shipping schedules. Agrarian interests led the fight for the 1919 repeal of national daylight saving time, which passed after Congress voted to override President Woodrow Wilson’s veto. Rather than rural interests, it has been urban entities such as retail outlets and recreational businesses that have championed daylight saving over the decades.

6. For decades, daylight saving in the United States was a confounding patchwork of local practices.

After the national repeal in 1919, some states and cities, including New York City and Chicago, continued to shift their clocks. National daylight saving time returned during World War II, but after its repeal three weeks after war’s end the confusing hodgepodge resumed. States and localities could start and end daylight saving whenever they pleased, a system that Time magazine (an aptly named source) described in 1963 as “a chaos of clocks.” In 1965 there were 23 different pairs of start and end dates in Iowa alone, and St. Paul, Minnesota, even began daylight saving two weeks before its twin city, Minneapolis. Passengers on a 35-mile bus ride from Steubenville, Ohio, to Moundsville, West Virginia, passed through seven time changes. Order finally came in 1966 with the enactment of the Uniform Time Act, which standardized daylight saving time from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October, although states had the option of remaining on standard time year-round.




7. Not everyone in the United States springs forward and falls back. 
Hawaii and Arizona—with the exception of the state’s Navajo Nation—do not observe daylight saving time, and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands also remain on standard time year-round. Some Amish communities also choose not to participate in daylight saving time. (Around the world, only about one-quarter of the world’s population, in approximately 70 countries, observe daylight saving. Since their daylight hours don’t vary much from season to season, countries closer to the equator have little need to deviate from standard time.)

8. Evidence does not conclusively point to energy conservation as a result of daylight saving.
Dating back to Willett, daylight saving advocates have touted energy conservation as an economic benefit. A U.S. Department of Transportation study in the 1970s concluded that total electricity savings associated with daylight saving time amounted to about 1 percent in the spring and fall months. As air conditioning has become more widespread, however, more recent studies have found that cost savings on lighting are more than offset by greater cooling expenses. University of California Santa Barbara economists calculated that Indiana’s move to statewide daylight saving time in 2006 led to a 1-percent rise in residential electricity use through additional demand for air conditioning on summer evenings and heating in early spring and late fall mornings. Some also argue that increased recreational activity during daylight saving results in greater gasoline consumption.

~ history.com

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 10/27
Office Day

Tuesday
Ione
Austin & Dylan - 11:00
Jasmine & Roxie - 1:30

Wednesday
Plymouth/Ione/Somerset
Michael & David - 8:30
Grace - 11:00
Teran - 1:00

Thursday
Pioneer
Wyatt - 11:00
Joseph - 12:30
Emma E. - 1:45

Friday
Harvest Festival

FAME - from Traci Muldery

Visions Families,


We will be having our next FAME presentation on this coming Wednesday, October 22, beginning at 10:00.


We will be looking at the art of El Greco "View of Toledo" and the music of Modest Mussorgsky, "Night on Bald Mountain".

The art and music presentation will be followed by individual art projects for all students.

FAME will end around 11:00 ish.  FAME is free.


Hope to see you there,

Traci Muldery

Link to FAME flyer

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 10/20
Ms. Bryon in Carmichael
for Professional Development

Tuesday
Pine Grove/Pioneer
Joy - 1:30
Emma N. - 2:30
Tristan - 3:30

Wednesday
Jackson Public Library
Emma P. - 11:30
Baruch - 1:00
Ana - 2:00
Leila - 3:00

Thursday
Placerville 
Marley - 11:00
Thomas, Dianne & Kennedy - 12:15

Friday
Office Day

Curriculum Ideas

Are you looking for additional curriculum resources? Here are some that were shared at our last teacher meeting:






Common Core 4 Today
Available on Amazon
Math, Language Arts and some Science
Workbooks with daily practice

newsela.com
News articles for kids.
Free with signup.
"Read closely. Think critically. Be worldly. Newsela is an innovative way to build reading comprehension with nonfiction that's always relevant: daily news. It's easy and amazing. Every Article At 5 Levels Newsela makes it easy for an entire class to read the same content, but at a level that’s just right for each student."  - newsela.com

mobymax.com
A complete K-8 curriculum. $99/year. Order through Launchpad. Has a free version so you can try it.
"MobyMax is the fastest growing curriculum in the United States with over 5 million students registered since MobyMax was introduced three years ago. The simple reason for such widespread adoption is that teachers and students love rapid achievement. Students learn twice as fast! You need curriculum that is not only effective but also affordable to succeed. MobyMax redefines the meaning of affordable curriculum." - mobymax.com

dreambox.com
Online math Program.
"A student-driven math learning experience that powers success." - dreambox.com
$12.95 per month, $59.95 for 6 months. Order through Launchpad.

adaptedmind.com
Online math Program.
"A better way to learn math." - adaptedmind.com
$10.00 per month. Free trial. Not a Visions Vendor (yet).

Tenmarks.com
Online math program.
"The free program comes with complete curriculum for a single grade with deep and rigorous content, and embedded instruction for students. It’s designed for use alongside daily instruction to reinforce concepts." - tenmarks.com


I also had a parent share with me that she found these books an improvement over the common core supplements that were recommended by Visions:

Power Practice (Math, but they have other subjects as well)
by Creative Teaching Press
Workbooks
Available on Amazon

She also uses and recommends:
Vocabulary Connections
by Steck Vaughn
Available on Amazon

Can you recommend any curriculum resources to other home school families? I will be adding the resources from this post to a new page on the blog next week. Email me your recommendations (or criticisms) and I will add them to the page.

Budget Transfer Form

(Copied from the Newsletter)
The purpose of this Budget Transfer Form is to allow families to have the ability to move budget dollars between student(s) accounts within the same family.

These requests will only be accepted during the month of November, and they will be processed before the December winter break.  Please email, fax or mail them to the Resource Center.

Transaction ranges are limited to:

• Individual student account deduction, limited to $100-$250 (no more than $250 from a single student).
• Individual student account increase, capped at $500 (no more that $500 can be added to a single student).

If you have any questions on this process, please email kwellsfry@viedu.org.

New, Improved Semester Plans

I am in the process of developing new and improved semester plans. I will copy your old info into your new plan so you do not have to. When your plan is ready, I will place a link to your new plan on the page your old plan used to occupy and send you an invite.

I will go over the new plans at our next meeting. 

Here is a preview:

Plans are now Google Doc Spreadsheets (similar to Excel) with multiple tabs, rather than Google Documents (similar to Word).

Your plans now have drop down menus for the learning units. No more pulling out the learning units handout!

Each Semester Plan is geared to individual student grade level with the appropriate learning units.




K-5 Semester Plans have the whole year on one sheet because courses in K-5 rarely change during the course of the year.


6-12 Semester Plans are broken up into semesters, as middle school and high school often have semester length courses.







Semester plans now include tabs for LP progress recording. (No more LP progress grades through the form on the Blog). The Texts/Materials and Planned Assignments are auto filled from the semester plan. By default, the Completed Assignments section is auto filled from the planned assignment box. You will change this if you made adjustments to your plan. There is a drop down menu for letter grades, basic progress notes, and a place for further notes about each subject.

You should start seeing your updated semester plans this week. Feel free to explore and update them.  Go ahead and fill in info for LP1 and LP2 progress tabs if you feel comfortable.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

I am so impressed with your teaching and parenting. I know, especially for new families, the beginning of the year can be really rough. There is so much to learn and there are so many new things to figure out. You are doing a great job.

I am hearing so many parent educators say "I think I am getting the hang of it." Things are starting to make sense, curriculum is finally arriving and you can see what your days and weeks will look like. I have collected an amazing first set of work samples and am having a great time hearing your children talk about what they are learning.

I just wanted to take a moment to say how much I respect what each and every one of you is doing, and to let you know that I admire your commitment to your child's (children's) learning. I am in awe of you.

Returnables

How do you know what curriculum items you will need to return to Visions?

Some items are consumable (most workbooks and paperback novels, etc.), that means they are designed to be used up. Others are returnable (most hardback textbooks and manuals, some materials), that means that you will need to return them to Visions at the end of the year.

To determine what portions of your orders are returnable, go to your Orders screen. At the top you will see a summary of your account. It will look something like this, with your student's name above it:

The blue link for "Returnables" will take you to another page that will list items that need to be returned to Visions at the end of the year. It will look something like this:

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 9/30
Teacher Meetings

Tuesday
Ione
Austin & Dylan - 11:00
Jasmine & Roxie - 1:30

Wednesday
Plymouth/Ione
Michael & David - 8:30
Grace - 11:00
Jezreel - 1:00

Thursday
Pioneer
Wyatt - 11:00
Joseph - 12:30
Emma E. - 1:45
Tristan - 3:30

Friday
Office Day/Somerset
Teran - 11:00

Upcoming...

• Friday, October 10: LP2 Ends
• Friday, October 31: Harvest Festival - FLYER

Visions Families,

We will be having our first FAME meeting on Wednesday, September 24, starting at 10:00.  FAME (Fine Arts Multi-Experience) focuses on the works and lives of significant artists and composers.  Each lesson is an opportunity to introduce your child to the contributions of these people.  We will be looking at a large size copy of a famous work and listening to the music of a famous composer.  The arts add so much to our lives, and your children will grown in appreciation of great works.  Following the lesson, we will have individual art projects.

This meeting will be particularly fun because it will be followed by a birthday/retirement celebration for fellow CT Nonnie Muehlenhaupt.  Nonnie has added so much to our FAME lessons over the last 5 years, and will be greatly missed.  I'm hoping that many of you will be able to come and celebrate with us. We will have a free hot dog lunch with refreshments and cake for dessert.

FAME lessons are free. While FAME focuses on K-8, we have had high schoolers come and participate or help, and they are truly appreciated!

Hope to see you there!
Traci Muldery

Link to FAME flyer

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 9/22
Office Day

Tuesday
Pine Grove/Pioneer
Emma N. - 11:00
Joy - 12:10
Emma P. - 1:30
Tristan - 3:30

Wednesday
Jackson Public Library
Jezreel - 11:30 ??
Baruch - 1:00
Ana - 2:00
Leila - 3:00

Thursday
Placerville 
Marley - 11:00
Thomas, Dianne & Kennedy - 1:00

Friday
Jackson Public Library
Emma P. - 12:00
Gracyann & Daisy - 1:00

New Blog Pages

I posted a few new blog pages with information about how to find Visions vendors in your area, how to order vouchers, and how to find information about enrichment classes. You can find them at the top of this page.

Please feel free to post a comment on the pages about classes and events that you would recommend to other home school families.

Work Samples Simplified

I think I may have made the idea of gathering work samples much more complicated than it needs to be. Sorry for that.

The basics of work samples:
I will collect work samples at each meeting.
That means only once per LP :)

Work samples should consist of:

• 1 paper sample per subject, per student
• On 8 1/2 by 11 standard size paper, should be consistent with what is noted in your semester plan.
• 1 discussion, demonstration or display sample per subject, per student
• Can be demonstrating a  karate move, playing a song, showing me a model or a project, sharing pictures of a field trip, showing me your progress on a computer program, reciting a poem, summarizing a story, reading to me, showing me how to do a math problem, etc.

Please let me know if you have any questions about work samples or are having any anxiety around them. Thanks!

This Week's Meeting Schedule

Monday 9/15 - First Day of LP2
Office Day

Tuesday 9/16
Ione/Plymouth
Gracyann & Daisy
Leila - 1:30
Jezreel - 3:00

Wednesday 9/17
Camino/Pollock Pines
Sarah - 11:00
Alexandra - 12:30
Charlotte - 2:00
Karter - 3:30

Thursday 9/18
Ione
Phoenix - 11:00
Alex & Lucian - 12:30
Grace - 3:00

Friday 9/19
Office Day

Progress Grades - due Friday

Please use the appropriate form below to submit your LP1 progress grades. If you have any questions, or need any help, please text, call or email me. Thank you!
For students in grades K-5:



For students in grades 6-12:

Semester Plans - due Friday

Have you finished your semester plan?

Your semester plan is your master lesson plan for the semester. This is where you will record the texts and materials you are using for each subject, and how and when you plan to cover them. A semester plan helps you to see the big picture and gives you a structure for your school schedule. The semester plan needs to be completed sometime before the end of LP1 (9/12).

Remember: you do not need to use the format I provided. If you have another way you would like to organize this information, that is totally fine. I just need a copy.

Let me know if you have any questions or need any help.

This Week's Meeting Schedule

"D" Week
D weeks are generally the last week of the learning period and are paperwork/office weeks for me. There won't be any meetings other than make-up meetings on D weeks.

Monday 9/8
Ms. Bryon to attend teacher meeting

Tuesday 9/9
Phone
Jasmine - 9:30
Roxie - 10:30
Plymouth
Michael - 5:00
David - 6:00

Wednesday 9/10
Jackson
Joseph - 11:00
Katrina - 12:00

Thursday 9/11
Office Day

Friday 9/12 - End of LP1
Office Day

An Introduction to Visions Information Systems

Students and parents can access Launchpad, our student information system, anytime, 24-hours a day. A few helpful tools here will allow you to: place orders, keep track of funds, and register for classes and events. We have found that Google Chrome performs better with Launchpad than other browsers. It is free and can be downloaded here. Here is a link to a handy Quick Start Guide that will tell you everything you want to know about Launchpad.

This is the place to check for a collection of curriculum resources. Here you’ll find more information on supported curriculum, pacing guides, project ideas, videos and online resources. Sign in to Launchpad first, then log in to the Hub (Username: homeschool, Password: Home2014!)

TextbookX is the official vendor you’ll use to order adopted curriculum, purchase most teacher editions and shop the marketplace for great savings, up to 60%. To complete your order, use the Flexpay username and password for payment. If an item is offered on TextbookX, you will need to order it there instead of another vendor.

The Visions eHandbook is the internal site for students, families, teachers, and staff. Here you will find policies, procedures, and forms. This site contains resources, including step-by-step instructions and videos to help users comfortably navigate our student information system (Launchpad), as well as the rest of Visions eHandbook. Think of it as place to do a “Google Search” for Visions policies and forms.

The Wire is the school’s communication system, connecting Visions to you. Weekly Newsletters are sent from The Wire to families on Tuesdays, at 10:00am.