End of grade testing is right around the corner, April 17-19.  You will be receiving information for registration soon.  For those of you who tested with us last year, we will be following the same schedule as last year.  If you have younger children or children who will not be testing, we will offer a child swap again this year.  Two moms can share responsibilities, taking turns watching all the younger children in your home for 1-2 days of the testing, and at the church, helping in one of the classrooms the other day(s).

We will also offer the option of not serving at all for those who have very young babies, who are nursing frequently, toddlers with separation anxiety, etc.  If you are interested in participating in the child swap this year, please send an email to me so that I may begin pairing you together.

Karen Jackson     our4boys@gmail.com

Sick kid policy – colds can be in lobby with parent (similar to church policy).  Hall monitor will sit with a child for the hour their parent is teaching, but parent needs to find sub for other hour.  (Parent needs to bring something for child to do.)  Please don’t bring kids with fevers or worse symptoms.

Substitutes- If you are going to miss a TEC day, planned or last-minute, please remember to first get your substitutes in place and then email one of the administrators.  On the rare occasion that an illness of a sibling keeps a parent from attending but another student is able, that parent may first arrange for another adult to be temporarily responsible for this student and then notify one of the administrators:  Lisa Strite for nursery – 3rd grade, Joy Sasser for  4th- high school.

Cool weather – Some classes still go outside if the weather is nice. Please have sweaters or coats ready if needed.

The new TEC (Tuesday Enrichment Classes) semester begins this Tuesday, Jan 10th!  (Please check your kids assignments for winter break!! Many of the older year-long classes do have assignments due on the first day of class.)

Please check the calendar for the class semester!!  Although more or less every other week it is not the same 1st and 3rd Tues pattern as last semester, March has an extra week off for a spring break and April has testing week in there as well.  Although we do end April 10th, which feels really early, this is still 7 weeks of class like the fall semester.  Hopefully this will give you extra time at the end of the year to complete your other studies strong.

Snow Days Policy:  We follow the Wake County School closing – for the most part!  Please check the website just incase!! If they happen to close school the night before a threatened storm and then we end up with nothing there is a chance we will still have class.   If we do end up with snow days cancellations we will consider adding a week at the end of the semester in April.

Please look at the calendar of events!  In January there is a Men’s meeting (28th) and a  Mom’s “new to homeschooling” meeting (30th).  Often our husbands aren’t really sure how to support and encourage us in our homeschooling days (especially in the dark days of winter and in the spring planning season.)  Encourage your husbands to attend this breakfast.

Finally, although we are only halfway through this year, it won’t be long until we start planning classes for next year.  We have to look at each year fresh and new and consider what the needs for that year are and what people are willing to teach.  Let me stress, we can only offer what people are willing to teach (some lead teachers would like to rotate out so please don’t think that those spots are filled!)   If there is an interest in new High School level classes, I need someone in that age group to take charge of that and you need to get classes figured out early so we can plan for the space.

Here is the loose planning schedule:

• Feb- leadership meeting.   We are always looking for others to join the leadership team!  This team helps spread out the overall work load and helps make final decisions for the year.  If you are interested in this please contact Joy Sasser!
• March- info gathering (what is wanted, what people may be willing to teach)
• April – final commitments from teachers
• May -final class descriptions due, final schedule posted by May 23 (before NCHE conference) and teachers early registration.
• June-July  open registration

Blessings to all!

Joy Sasser

November 8th**- Fall ladies meeting (suggested fathers night out with the kids to discuss school progress)** new date**

• 20-30 min: Joy Sasser- (Rom. 12:2-8) Delighting in the Diversity: Homeschooling Each Child Uniquely.   ~ This meeting will focus on the biblical/spiritual basis for differences in our children and the practical reality of such diversity and how to navigate through the different learning styles of our children.  All school ages will be discussed as the same questions we have in the grammar years often need to be revisited in the high school years.  The strategies also change as we move from identifying uniqueness to teaching effectively to equipping for independence.
• 30 min table top discussion to encourage one another regarding current teaching challenges.

Substitutes- If you are going to miss a TEC day, planned or last-minute, please remember to get your substitutes in place and then email Lisa Strite if the class is nursery - 3rd grade and Joy Sasser if 4th- high school with who your substitute is.

Cool weather – Some classes still go outside if the weather is nice.  Please have sweaters or coats ready if needed.

• 10 min:  Tom Heck to kick off- Direct folks to the website and review main corporate meetings and agendas
• 10-15 min:  Daniel Baker: Exhortation
• 30-45 min: split off to appropriate tracks

* Track 1- Joy Sasser and other teachers: TEC class orientation for parents
* Track 2- Tom Heck: Considering the high school years for success in college