Dinosaur Eggs and Babies exhibition trip

From Selina-Jane:

Hi Ladies,
I am very excited to say that things are all go with our visit to the Dinosaurs and Eggs exhibition! The date is Monday 19th April and 10:00am. We will meet in the entrance atrium, where the cafe is.
We are going to take part in the following activities:
- Size-saurus – looks at the size of dinosaurs and how being so big helped them to survive
- Palaeontologist-saurus – undigging and excavating your own fossils like a palaeontologist, taking great care, and learning about different types of fossils e.g. replacements and imprints
- Are-you-my-mother-saurus – matching up theropod, ornithopod and sauropod eggs to their mothers based on the shape, size, texture and nests that egg/pieces were found in
- Design-a-saurus – creating your own dinosaur through drawing or newspaper dress up (time allowing) describing its name, what it ate, what type of habitat it occupied, its eggs and babies etc.

The programme will run for 1 1/2 hours. The museum has very generously given us a discount into the exhibition. Entry, including admission and the programme will be $6.00 per child and $10.00 per child. This also gives you all day entry into discovery world and the butterfly house.Depending on numbers attending there is the possibility of a further discount for adults, and I will be able to notify you of this closer to the day.

Contact Selina-Jane to book. The cut off date for booking in is: April 5th.

Diary Dates - 29 March 2010

As usual, if anyone has any suggestions for trips or activities, or would like to organise anything for our group, please feel free!

Thanks very much to Claire for organising the three trips to Macraes Goldmine! We had a fantastic time and it was well worth the drive :-) This week will be our last Wednesday gathering for the term, and don't forget our Bike Safety talk by the Police Education Officer on Wednesday 21 April (the first week of Term 2) at Marlow Park (AKA the Dinosaur Park). We have a nice busy newsletter today, and some exciting trips coming up! Have a happy Easter break!

every Monday during term time: Swimsation lessons 11- 12pm, socialising from 12pm onwards. If you are interested in joining the lessons, contact Swimsation at Moana Pool Otherwise, just turn up!

12:30pm Wednesday 31 March: Meet up at Mosgiel Memorial Park.

TERM 2

12:30pm Wednesday 21 April: Meet up at Marlow Park with bike safety talk by Police Education Officer Heather Rei. Bring lunch and bikes.

7:30pm, Tuesday 27 April: Mums' Night Out, Nova Cafe.

12:30pm, Wednesday 19 May: Art Gallery trip - contact Kathrin to book

TERM 3

1:00pm, Wednesday 1 September: St John's "Safe Kids" first aid course for children. Contact Kathrin to book

Remember, if it's raining, our outdoor meet-ups or walks will be cancelled/postponed.

Craig and Barbara Smith Seminar

Venue: Musselburgh Baptist Church, 131 Musselburgh Rise, Dunedin
Time: 10a.m – 3p.m and 7 – 9p.m evening, 26 April 2010
Speakers: Craig and Barbara Smith
Cost: $15 per family, which includes the Children’s Programme
Contact: Dunedin Committee on register4dunedinseminar@gmail.com
or ph Katie 03 489 2349 or Barbara 06 357 4399

Programme:
10:00 Registration and view resource table
10:15 Welcome and Notices
10:30 -12:00 Two Electives:
1. Craig Home Education – Getting things into perspective
2. Barbara Home Education through Secondary and preparing for Tertiary
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch Tea and coffee provided. Bring your own lunch. Alternatively a Dairy is across the road, or a 500 m walk to Musselburgh Shops [Baker's Dozen, and two Takeaways]. Woolworths 1km in same direction.
1:00 – 2:30pm Two Electives:
1. Craig Changing the Heart of a Rebel
2. Barbara Avoiding Burnout – Keeping going when the going gets tough
2:30 – 3:00 pm Afternoon tea and browsing resource tables. [ 3:00 to 7:00 p.m Home ]
7:00 – 9:00 p.m Two electives:
1. Craig Dad’s Essential role in Home Education – from a Christian Perspective
2. Barbara Training our children’s minds – ‘The tools of learning’ and ‘Motivation’

For more information: http://hef.org.nz/2010/6672/
Blessings
Barbara
http://www.hef.org.nz

ERO and NCHENZ meeting

The National Council of Home Educators New Zealand has a meeting with the Education Review Office in Wellington each year. They would like to have some representation from the South Island this year and have invited a member of SHEAF to attend (see below). If anyone is interested, please let me (Nicola) know and I'll forward you more details.

Hi Nicola,

Would any of the members of SHEAF like to be part of the liaison meeting
to be held with the ERO on Thursday 17 June? This will be an informal
opportunity to discuss at a national level any issues we have concerning
reviews.

NCHENZ is willing to subsidise the cost of air travel to this meeting at
a rate of 50% of the cheapest available fare(grab-a-seat) for a member
of a member group, or 70% for an individual member of NCHENZ.

It would be good to have people from the South Island at this meeting.

Regards,
Penny Bilton
coordinator NCHENZ

(Note: SHEAF is not a member group of NCHENZ, but I'm sure that individual membership could be very swiftly arranged)

Work requirements for those on benefits

It has been in the news recently that the work requirements for those on benefits may become more stringent in the near future. Here are two links that explain a bit more about the situation as it applies to homeschooling parents:

http://mandenomusings.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/will-home-educators-on-the-dpb-be-required-to-find-work/

http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/manuals-and-procedures/students/unemployment_benefit_student_hardship/unemployment_benefit_student_hardship-74.htm

Mayhem and Weka networking groups

We received this email this week:

Hi everyone,
Every 6 months I do a membership drive for Mayhem and Weka homeschooled students internet social networking groups. Please pass this on to anyone who may be interested. These groups are a safe alternative to Facebook or Bebo. They have been running since 2002, and the purpose is to help homeschooled teens get in touch with each other. The groups are completely private and can't be browsed by visitors, but once signed up you can read all the posts (although the kids can email their friends privately) and read the profiles of the members. Besides emailing other members there are posts on a lot of different subjects to read and contribute to. Teens should join using their own email address and with their own name. Kids can join by having the parent join, then changing the user name to the child's one. Join Groupbox first (very easy) www.groupbox.com then type Mayhem (13-18 yos) or Weka (8-13 yos) into the search, or I can send an invitation. I have to send it to the email address they want to use to sign in with. (Also, If siblings join Groupbox separately using their own email addresses but using the same computer, they will have to sign in and out each time they access it or groupbox wont be able to tell which user they are)
Feel free to email me with any questions
medusa256@hotmail.com
Marianne
(former homeschooling mum and moderator of Mayhem and Weka)

Swimming lessons

Mondays 11am to 12pm.
Dates booked- 19/4, 26/4, 3/5, 10/5, 17/5, 24/5, 31/5, 14/6, 21/6 & 28/6/10
No lessons on the 7/6 Queen's Birthday
Cost 10 lessons @ $9.10 = $ 91.10 per child
Email Adrian Brown at albrown@dcc.govt.nz to book

Art Gallery trip - a few spaces left!

There are still a few spaces left for the art gallery trip - see the original notice to jog your memory!

email Kathrin to book

St John's First Aid Workshop

From Kathrin (who has had to book this trip months in advance!):

St John's "Safe Kids" first aid course for children. Wednesday September 1, 1.00pm. Suitable for children of all ages. The course will begin with simple first aid directions, such as dialing 111 etc, and progress to more complex instructions. The younger children will be encouraged to colour pictures etc as the course progresses, so all are welcome to come along.

Email Kathrin to book

edited to add: cost will be a gold coin per child.

Weekend Reading - Advice for New Homeschooling Parents

Helpful article here, especially aimed at parents starting down the home education road, and facing all those "Okay, so what do I do NOW?" questions.

From the Home Educator's Family Times

Advice for New Homeschooling Parents

It seems to happen like clock work. The phone at my house starts buzzing off the hook at predictable intervals. The first onslaught of calls usually comes just before or just as school starts up in the Fall. The next onslaught of calls comes later in the academic year, usually in January as the first semester is ending. The calls that I receive at these times are not from parents who are praising schools and all the success their children are having there. Rather, they are from parents who have given school a good chance and just don't want to continue waiting for things to get better. Usually the parents are in despair because, in one form or another, school is not meeting the needs of their child or children. The questions these parents ask are unique to each situation and yet have relatively familiar themes.

For those of you who are new to homeschooling or simply considering its possibility I'd like to share the commonly asked questions that come my way... (click on the title to read the full article)

Diary Dates - 22 March 2010

As usual, if anyone has any suggestions for trips or activities, or would like to organise anything for our group, please feel free!

every Monday during term time: Swimsation lessons 11- 12pm, socialising from 12pm onwards. If you are interested in joining the lessons, contact Swimsation at Moana Pool. Otherwise, just turn up!

9:50am Wednesday 24 March: Macraes Gold Mine trip, meet at Macraes Village - contact Claire to book

10:50am Friday 26 March: Macraes Gold Mine trip, meet at Macraes Village - contact Claire to book

12:30pm Wednesday 31 March: Meet up at Mosgiel Memorial Park.

TERM 2

12:30pm Wednesday 21 April: Meet up at Marlow Park with bike safety talk by Police Education Officer Heather Rei. Bring lunch and bikes.

7:30pm, Tuesday 27 April: Mums' Night Out, Nova Cafe.

12:30pm, Wednesday 19 May: Art Gallery trip - contact Kathrin to book

Remember, if it's raining, our outdoor meet-ups or walks will be cancelled/postponed.

Iceskating and Ice Hockey classes

Coming up to the winter sports season again!

Ice skating classes at Dunedin Ice Stadium - holiday classes and weekly term-time classes available
http://www.dunedinice.com/kiwi_skate.html

Dunedin Ice Hockey Association
http://dunedinicehockey.co.nz/

Trading Post - 22 March 2010

For Sale - New - 2 books in the "My Story" series of NZ history. - $18 for both books

From Stacey:
I recently bought a set of 6 of these books, but already owned two titles so am offering them to anyone else who would like them. Amazon has more info about the books

- "Journey to Tangiwai" by David Hill - about the Tangiwai disaster, 1953, through the eyes of Boy Scout Peter Cotterill. This book was a finalist in the 2004 NZ Post book awards. Insights into Post-war NZ, the baby-boom housing boom etc.
- "Below the Mountains" by Jean Bennett - Building the Milford Rd, 1935-36, The Diary of Amy McDonald. Depression-era NZ, Compulsory work camps, etc.

email or phone me for more info
cheers
Stacey

Weekend Reading - Hands-on learning and internet games

This weekend we head back to Kris at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for the third installment in her series on Hands-on Learning.

"Not all hands-on learning involves craft-type projects or board games. Sometimes, my kids enjoy computer-based learning. That probably isn't what you typically think of when you think of hands-on learning, but it is something that engages kids outside of a textbook and often helps them grasp concepts in different ways. I thought I'd share some of our favorite links with you..."

This week she profiles half a dozen reading and math websites - most of them are free and all of them look good. We've checked out a couple of them at our place this week and I can definitely recommend them. My pre-reader loves Starfall, and my reader is busy accruing points to spend on various prizes at Book Adventure (which is awesome - it even allows the parent to create vouchers for tailor-made prize incentives). The arcade-style maths games are a winner too.

Enjoy!

SHEAF address list

Nicola sent out the latest address list this week. If your details are incorrect, or if you didn't receive it and were expecting to, please contact Nicola directly, or drop us an email at the address you see on the right of the screen.

Health Services

As home educators, our children are entitled to many of the same services as children at schools. Included in these is access to the school dental service, which is accessed through primary and intermediate schools. The clinic phone numbers are in the White Pages, just under the individual school listings - just phone up the clinic and ask for your child to be placed on their register.

Another service is Hearing and Vision testing. All clinics are by appointment only, details are as follows -

• Dunedin Central - Vision, Hearing and Glue Ear. Every Monday morning. Dunedin Public Hospital. Ph 03 476 5800.
• South Dunedin - Hearing and Glue Ear. Approx every 1st Thursday each month. Aurora Health Centre. Ph 03 455 0006.
• Mosgiel - Vision, Hearing and Glue Ear. Every 2nd Friday morning. Mosgiel Health Centre. Ph 03 489 5135.

Children's Choir

From Anna:

The University of Otago College of Education Children’s Choir has just started up again for the year. Classes run from 4 - 5:15pm on Thursdays. There are no auditions, so anyone aged between 7 and 13 is welcome to join. The cost is $25 for the first term and $30 each for remaining terms, or $115 for the whole year. Regular attendance and a commitment to attend arranged performances are expected. Contact Carole Randall on 4794243

Diary Dates - 16 March 2010

As usual, if anyone has any suggestions for trips or activities, or would like to organise anything for our group, please feel free!

Every Monday during term time: Swimsation lessons 11- 12pm, socialising from 12pm onwards. If you are interested in joining the lessons, contact Swimsation at Moana Pool. Otherwise, just turn up!

12:30pm Wednesday 17 March: Intriguing Dunedin Street Walk, blue book, walk 2: Trains and Trams, Mayors and Racecourses. Meet at corner of Rugby St and Royal Cres, St Kilda. No raindate - if it rains, we'll do it next term.

10:50am Friday 19 March: Macraes Gold Mine trip, meet at Macraes Village - contact Claire to book.

9:50am Wednesday 24 March: Macraes Gold Mine trip, meet at Macraes Village - contact Claire to book.

10:50am Friday 26 March: Macraes Gold Mine trip, meet at Macraes Village - contact Claire to book.

12:30pm Wednesday 31 March: Meet up at Mosgiel Memorial Park.

TERM 2

12:30pm Wednesday 21 April: Meet up at Marlow Park with bike safety talk by Police Education Officer Heather Rei. Bring lunch and bikes.

7:30pm, Tuesday 27 April: Mums' Night Out, Nova Cafe.

12:30pm, Wednesday 19 May: Art Gallery trip - contact Kathrin to book.

Remember, if it's raining, our outdoor meet-ups or walks will be cancelled/postponed.

Maori and Foreign Languages site

From Selina-Jane:
www.languageperfect.co.nz now has Latin :) And they are only charging $10 per student for homeschoolers. That gives you access to the site and to all the languages (French, German, Spanish, Italian, Maori, Japanese, Latin & Indonesian) for the whole year. And they have a free trial so you can check it out.

Dunedin Ukulele Club

Kia ora uke-fanatics!

The next session of the DUC is this coming Sunday 21 March.
1 - 2:30 in Room 208 of the King Edward Court (massive old building on Stuart St).
Bring your uke + $2 + a smile
This session is part of the "Open Home" the KEC is hosting as part of the Fringe Festival, so there may be some random people floating about!
Everyone is welcome - bring your friends!
Hope to see you there :)
Justine
www.dunedinukuleleclub.blogspot.com

Autumn Karnival

From Kathrin:

Enjoy a great day out for all ages with entertainment, food and music. Wander around the stalls offering arts, crafts and food for the whole family.

Sunday 28 March, 10.00am, Chingford Park. Free entry.

Meridian Kids Bike Jams

From Kathrin:

The only national mountain bike series for kids aged 5-13 years. It offers wicked short off-road courses, plus skills course and competitions. This event is cool, fun, different, outdoors, and you can do it with your friends. All you need is attitude, a bike and a helmet - give it a go!

Sunday 28 March, 9.15am - 1.00pm. Forrester Park.

Check website for range of fees. www.kidsbikejams.co.nz

Art Gallery trip

Kathrin has organised a trip to the art gallery for our group, on Wednesday 19 May, from 12:30 - 2:30. We'll be looking at landscapes, with a workshop called Peninsula Sunrise. The cost is $2 per child, and the workshop is aimed at Year 1 - 8 students (that's around 5 to 12 year olds). Spaces are definitely limited, so email Kathrin to book

Weekend Reading - crockpot homeschool

Another article from BestHomeschooling.org, this time by Paula Harper-Christiansen.

Crockpot Homeschool - a dozen ingredients for the healthy homeschool

...If homeschooling were the quick, mess-free microwave method where we push a button and the children were educated instantly, we would have missed out on the step-by-step joy of savoring those precious moments that simply happen along the way...

Children’s Library 100th Birthday Party

Dunedin City Library is throwing a HUGE 100th Birthday Party for the Children’s Library on Saturday 13 March, and everyone is invited!

Fun activities and a host of talented children’s authors, illustrators and performers have been sourced from Dunedin and Otago to bring a very special programme that the whole family can enjoy for free!

More info at http://www.dunedinlibraries.com/home/?page=exhibit&item=kidscent

Diary Dates

As usual, if anyone has any suggestions for trips or activities, or would like to organise anything for our group, please feel free!

every Monday during term time: Swimsation lessons 11- 12pm, socialising from 12pm onwards. If you are interested in joining the lessons, contact Swimsation at Moana Pool. Otherwise, just turn up!

12:30pm Wednesday 10 March: Meet up at Chingford Park - bring soccer balls.

12:30pm Wednesday 17 March: Intriguing Dunedin Street Walk, blue book, walk 2: Trains and Trams, Mayors and Racecourses. Meet at corner of Rugby St and Royal Cres, St Kilda. No raindate - if it rains, we'll do it next term.

10:50am Friday 19 March: Macraes Gold Mine trip (the "second" trip), meet at Macraes Village - contact Claire to book.

9:50am Wednesday 24 March: Macraes Gold Mine trip (the "first" trip), meet at Macraes Village - contact Claire to book.

10:50am Friday 26 March: Macraes Gold Mine trip (the "third" trip), meet at Macraes Village - contact Claire to book.

12:30pm Wednesday 31 March: Meet up at Mosgiel Memorial Park.

TERM 2

12:30pm Wednesday 21 April: Meet up at Marlow Park with bike safety talk by Police Education Officer Heather Rei. Bring lunch and bikes. Wet weather venue - Nicola's place

7:30pm, Tuesday 27 April: Mums' Night Out, Nova Cafe.

Remember, if it's raining, our outdoor meet-ups or walks will be cancelled/postponed.

National Standards

Everyone has probably heard about the National Standards that have been brought in this year, for Years 1-8.

Christina Young from the MOE has asked us to let you know that anyone interested can find more information at http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/National-Standards/

From the MOE site: "The standards set clear expectations that students need to meet in reading, writing, and mathematics in the first eight years at school."

Keep in mind, of course, that the National Standards only apply to state schools and do not apply to those of us exempted from school attendance. More info at the NCHENZ website, from which I take the following quote;

Two [NCHENZ] committee members met recently with Associate Minister of Education, Heather Roy. As a result of this meeting several questions were put to the office of the Minister of Education on our behalf. A summary of the meeting and responses from the MOE are given below. Perhaps the most important response from MOE is that the proposed National Standards will not apply to homeschoolers...

Reading Eggs - SHEAF group discount

Michelle A has organised an excellent discount for the Reading Eggs programme for our group. This online programme is aimed at 4 to 8 year olds and you can use a free trial for two weeks before committing to anything, at www.readingeggs.com More info below.

Hi Michelle,

It is great to hear that you wish to use ABC Reading Eggs with your home schooler group. In recognition of your groups’ role representing home-schooled children and their parents; we wish to extend a special rate of $49.95 (including GST) per student to members of the SHEAF group for a 12-month subscription to ABC Reading Eggs online.
The conditions attached to this special rate are:

* This subscription only applies to members of the SHEAF group. Subscriptions will be issued directly onto the parent’s registered online account.
To streamline the subscription process we recommend that you send us a list of your members and we process the payment on an individual basis.
* SHEAF may inform its members of this special offer in its newsletters and emails, provided it clearly specifies that this is a ‘special rate for SHEAF group members only’.
* This option is only available to parents who contact our customer service desk and make payment via visa or MasterCard.
* We have the right to discontinue the offer available to your members at anytime. One month prior notice will be provided.

Should you be interested in this offer please contact me and I will organise for a customer service representative to contact you directly.
Kind Regards,

Sarah Houlahan
Customer Service Officer
Pascal Press

T: 02 8585 4020
F: 02 8585 4001
P.O Box 250
Glebe NSW 2037
E: sarah.houlahan@pascalpress.com.au
www.readingeggs.com | www.exceltestzone.com.au |

If interested, contact the Reading Eggs customer service desk.

Last year Sarah gave a good report of using Reading Eggs with her daughter.

Rocky Shore Guide

The Portobello Aquarium has it's Rocky Shore Guide available to download and print for free from http://www.marine.ac.nz/ - there's one for the northern areas of NZ and one for the southern, and they look like great little resources.

SHEAF address list - update time!

It's about time we updated the SHEAF address list again, so if any of your details have changed since the last update (around a year ago), or you'd like to be added or removed, please let Nicola know by Saturday 13 March.

If you're not currently on the list and would like to receive the newsletter and/or have your contact details on our phone list, please contact SHEAF via the email address on the right.

Weekend Reading - Children teach themselves to read

This week's article is from Psychology Today. It explores unschoolers' accounts of how their children taught themselves to read. By Peter Gray, a research professor of psychology at Boston College.

Some fascinating reading!

Children teach themselves to read


And if you're following the Weird Unsocialised Homeschoolers series on Hands-on-learning (started last week), she has the next post up now - Adapting Generic Games

More Macraes Trips!

This has just come in from Claire. There have been a few people asking to swap from one group to another. It is not easily possible to do this, so please check with Claire before making your plans.

There has been quite a bit of interest in the trips to Macraes Gold Mine so have booked a third trip to the mine on Friday the 26th March at 11am. Adults $10/Children $5
You need to drive to the Macraes village to be there 15 minutes prior to departure. It takes an hour and a half to drive from Dunedin. Please see earlier e-mails for more details about the tour.

Please note the following:
There is no eft-pos there so cash or cheque only. Payment will be direct to the mine on the day. Payment is on a seat basis so if you are taking younger children you will have to pay for them too. If you are taking teenagers and they are still being schooled then they are charged at child rates.
Please bring warm clothing and sensible footwear as weather can be quite changeable.

Cheers
Claire