Homeschool Hangouts

Conveniently located near the Marion Homeschool Assistance Program!

 

Reminder: Bloomsbury Farms TOMORROW!

REMINDER: TOMORROW!!! Bloomsberry Farms Field Trip! Open to all homeschoolers regardless of HSAP enrollment!

BLOOMSBURY FARMS
Friday, October 16 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. 

You can come any time between open and close, stay as long as you like inside those times.  Cost is $5 per person ages 3 plus. Younger children are free. You can pay that day at their admission kiosk.  Pig race will be at 1:00 pm. Concessions will most likely be open that day.
Tonya will need to give them a list of names beforehand, so please let her know ASAP if your family plans to attend.  The address is 3260 69th Street, Atkins, IA.

S.T.E.A.M. Art Classes (5 weeks)

 

DKW Gallery is offering art classes!  S.T.E.A.M. Art classes are for the home schooled students whose parent wish for a broader education of art. Sessions are 1 hour. This is a 5-week course beginning Monday, October 5th (see schedule below).  Classes available at our Covid-safe classroom as we sanitize often.

1-hour instruction, at our classroom is available at 10AM, 11:30AM, 1PM, 2:30PM. You are signing up for a total of 5 1-hour classes. Please check the date. (No substitutions)

First class is Monday, October 5th. We ask that you are committed to a minimum of 4 weeks to reserve your space/time.

Classes Dates:

Monday, Oct. 5th

(No class time on Monday, Oct. 12th.)

Monday, Oct. 19th

Monday, Oct. 26th

Monday, Nov. 2nd

Monday, Nov. 9th

Register Here!

Free "Discover Dance" Days @ the Pointe

Have you signed up for Discover Dance Days yet?! It's one of our favorite times of the year!  PSD Dancers, try a new class! New-to-The-Pointe families, come see what we're all about with a free, no-commitment class.

- YPAD Certified Staff who are all also background checked and CPR/First Aid certified
- Safer Studio™ policies for physical distancing, masks in the lobby/hallway, and hand hygiene
- Tech-Enabled Studio™ so parents can view our live-stream and dancers can participate from home any time
- Though classes are modified to be safer during this crazy time, dance class is a piece of normalcy for our kids who need social engagement, physical activity, and creative expression

Come see why The Pointe has so much MORE Than Just Great Dancing for your family.

Sign up today for your chance to give this a try absolutely free!  

www.thepointeschool.com/discover

Homeschool Meetup: Wasserbahn Indoor Waterpark

 

Wednesday, September 23, 10:00 am

Wasserbahn indoor water park located at the Amana exit on I-80.  Come get some PE hours and some socialization! Cost is $5 per person. Bring your own towels.  Food is available from the restaurant on site, the pizza place across the parking lot, or bring your own lunch (cannot be eaten in the pool area). Masks optional.

AirFX Friday Special

Message from AirFX...
"Since schooling for everyone is different this year, we are offering something different for our guests. We are still in our summer hours through Sep 18th. Beginning Friday, Sep 25th, we will be open to homeschoolers, online schoolers or anyone else not in school with an open jump from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. We are offering special pricing during this time. The Jumper Pass will be $7 for 60 min, $10 for 90 min, and $12 for 120 min (our Warrior Pass and Gladiator Pass will not be available during this time). This will be offered every Friday during the school year. We hope this will bring a fun and active ending to everyone's week!”

***Any questions, please contact them directly.***

Niabi Zoo Free Days

Niabi Zoo has dates for free zoo admission.  Please visit their website for further information as well as Covid-19 restrictions.  

Free Admission:

October 20th - 23rd 

October 27th - 30th 

Details Here:  https://www.niabizoo.com/plan-your-visit/hours-pricing/?fbclid=IwAR3fZgC5jrkmCDtwYi_woKcdaa4hT_L_6rvTlaabW_5TOOKyI8WTYQxzB9I

Bloomsberry Farms - Sunflower Fields Field Trip!

You can come any time between open and close, stay as long as you like inside those times. Cost is $5 per person ages 3 plus. Younger children are free. You can pay that day at their admission kiosk. 

Pig race will be at 1:00 pm. Concessions will most likely be open that day.

They need a list of names beforehand, so please email Colleen ASAP to get your name on the list. Pre-payment is not required. This is independent of any homeschool assistance program and is open to all homeschooling families. 

Friday, September 18th from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. 

Bloomsberry Farms (3260 69th Street, Atkins)

Bloomsberry Farms Field Trip!

You can come any time between open and close, stay as long as you like inside those times.  Cost is $5 per person ages 3 plus. Younger children are free. You can pay that day at their admission kiosk.  

Pig race will be at 1:00 pm. Consessions will most likely be open that day.

They need a list of names beforehand, so please email Tonya Mills ASAP to get your name on the list.  Pre-payment is not required.  This is independent of any homeschool assistance program and is open to all homeschooling families.

Friday, October 16 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. 

Bloomsberry Farms (3260 69th Street, Atkins)

MHSAP Brings Andrew Pudewa!

Marion Homeschool Assistance Program will be bringing Andrew Pudewa, who is the genius behind the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), to equip homeschool families in October.  This event is open to all families not just those enrolled through MHSAP.  Below is their post and details regarding the event!  

We are so excited to bring Andrew Pudewa to MHSAP in October to inspire and equip even the most reluctant writer - or writing teacher! Attend in person (if there is still room) or virtually. This opportunity is open to everyone, regardless of whether you are a MHSAP family or not. 

To register, go to: www.tinyurl.com/InspiredWriting2020

Playstation $1 Days for September

Threads Cedar Rapids Opportunities

Copied from owner Rachel Schlager... 

Hello all! I have a business, Threads Cedar Rapids, that can help with your homeschooling, scout programs, etc, as well as be a ton of fun! We teach fabric arts, sewing, arts, crafts, and more.
I am a substitute teacher for Cedar Rapids in English, Language Arts, social studies, as well as have taught ELL and art all over the world for years. I am a graduate of Coe with a major in English and a minor in art, as well as a docent at the local CRMA. I opened up the studio in the hopes it would become an inclusive and safe space art place for the community to thrive creatively. I am an encouraging and optimistic teacher who is passionate about seeing those lightbulbs go off over students heads, of any age.

I spent the months of March, April, and May this year using my studio to make masks for the community. We made and donated over 3000 masks to hospitals, fire departments, EMTs, hospice workers, etc, as well as individuals in the community. Masks were strictly donation as I saw this as my first chance to use my studio for the community, as it was meant to be. I also got to teach volunteers to sew along the way and it was incredibly rewarding.

I see another chance now with homeschooling to allow for community use of my classrooms where I can have up to 4 students 6 ft apart at a time. I have decided to turn my studio into a homeschooling classroom 2 days a week for 6 hours a day, with the rest of the time being regular studio hours, including 'Open Studio Monday' where anyone is welcome to come work on their projects, new or in process.

I am happy to teach parents choice of curriculum, K-12, as well as offer IEPs. I am offering steep discounts if you gather your own 'pod' of 4 students, to be taught in a 3 hour session, morning or afternoon, either once or twice a week. There will be 4 total sessions available per week.

Schedule for homeschooling:

Wednesdays & Fridays 

9:00 am - 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm 

Wed- 9am to 12pm, 1pm to 4pm

Self-Guided Activities at Indian Creek Nature Center

Looking for ways to enjoy the Nature Center outside of programs and events? You can always walk our trails, but if you’d like a little more guidance, check out the self-guided activities found here: https://bit.ly/ICNCTrailMaps

One of our dedicated and generous volunteers, Phil White, created these hikes, games and activities for individuals or families to experience on their own. We hope you enjoy them!

Chemistry & Physics Labs Opportunity

Chemistry and Physics labs will be offered again this year by Carolyn Petersen. Mrs. Petersen has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and has been offering labs from her home (near Edgewood and 42nd Street in Cedar Rapids) for the past four years and at a homeschool co-op before that. Chemistry labs will follow the required text Discovering Design with Chemistry by Dr. Jay Wile. Physics labs will follow the order of subjects in Exploring Creation with Physics (2nd Ed.) by Dr. Jay Wile, but most of the experiments will be modified. 

Students will meet for labs every-other week for 90 minutes, late August through early May. Specific days and times will be determined by consensus in late August after schedules for MHSAP and the high schools are finalized. 

Chemistry lab fees are $100 per semester ($200 total); Physics lab fees are $75 per semester ($150 total). Please contact Mrs. Petersen by July 31 at the latest to place your student on the class list. Students who sign up for Physics labs at MHSAP and who want to consider Mrs. Petersen's labs as a back-up in case the MHSAP labs are full or cancelled are welcome to note that when contacting her.

Students will be expected to complete the homework assignments in the text individually, although many times we will go over similar calculations during the labs. Students are always welcome to email me for help on the homework at no additional charge. I will also answer/advise parents who may find it difficult to grade tests.

If you are interested or have additional questions, please reply to this post or to tutorcarolynp@gmail.com

Coder Dojo Goes Virtual

Tuesdays & Fridays Online 

1:30 - 2:30 PM 

Learn tech skills for 1st - 5th grade!

We are going virtual for now! CoderDojo is a free K-5 STEAM program under NewBoCo K-12 Education that encourages creativity, fosters entrepreneurship, and helps kids learn to code.

Attendees are welcomed at 1:30 pm and will experience virtual “stations” for online coding activities such as Hour of Code, Scratch, and CodeCombat. Virtual sessions will be 1 hour, and will use Zoom. The Zoom link will be sent to registered participants prior to the session. Mentors will get participants started with an introduction and prompt, then students can share their screens if they need help during the session.

Spots are limited so that we can provide adequate support on the content as well as with the Zoom environment. We are excited to provide this support to students during the pandemic, and continue a version of our popular CoderDojo events!

Learn More Here

FREE Mini Art Classes Online

Artwork by Julia Kulish has put together some mini art class videos on YouTube for families to do at home!  She offers homeschool art classes and art camps out of her studio in Center Point, Iowa.  Be sure to check out her website! 

Her Website:  https://www.juliakulish.com/?fbclid=IwAR2IGlmLNUl4yycBzEAs5QFS5Habj_egWJ7a6BCG6qdpgC7ydJjAPs1-7o0

Zetangle:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ao1J8QhHMs&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2pVLcykLedUgatR2cDJSj6yA_-7IdzvHD_a8Of8mAKIA--p7FIz8klcm4

3-D Hands:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a2Hx_EWMxE&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0BNITluZiR1j5UE6mTdG5nRfuGT6z40v_ZkH2oM4GalQ8_diqYIuSlO_c

3-D Hearts:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_ctzWk48_I&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR1XP0B2HTZPzLptIMMoarLBszgWvlizslr79XagliqyglhUBZaKRg0t97I

Finger Print for Lower Elementary:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M333my2frvY&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1j2t6zVeAhPrwZbgaHi4yFcsEEL2pSIgnYrQb-mKLeeMIHsiMIb7p0X3M

Mandalas for Tweens / Teens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XY5eZxrMNU&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0UR7zhEc9VUwYYur2oQCNCEgHUgMi3MH4vI1ZUqgK9TVcd2F9izOjR9bE

Flowers for the Mamas:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR3XcwuERZQ&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR27N-WDb6u_mSV33miJdqGS7q7cQ3W8WwLLzgzc3Jx1O_1X5FDBfR2vBZs

Easter Wreaths:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IkmKNr88RU&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3db3GNPpkyj9Za9ETT9HPrbUz01dyLws1wf4Hd8P4eg-ZOfERrxN7WDaY

Color Wheel & the Human Eye:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27EwVAELsP0&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1Gi21vNTNGNN5ZwaWpv8ZvGvQTh7pSA7fCbe9t3n77jIvWrpjE7UZ9xOo

Poppies & Hand Lettering for the Mamas:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trxmTp27M6U&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR0rDaWvir-zMD1ImUYPLz2NsUu_dW8oRbLK-fWSO7oDpSJFX057-qeCK4U

Ignite the Family Daily Activities

Ignite the Family has been posting (and will continue) daily activities for kids.  Here is just a sample of the most recent one.  

See Them on Facebook

Free STEM Activity Calendar

FREE Pandemic Unit Study

SEA Homeschoolers is offering a free download of this unit study on pandemics.  

Check It Out Here

Free Advertising Curriculum

This website offers free lesson plans and materials to teach children about advertising.  It even has resources for the entire family.  

"From buses to TV to the Web, ads are everywhere, and many target kids ages 8 to 12! Do your students have the critical thinking skills to understand ads, what they're saying, and what they want kids to do?"

Check It Out

Sewing Opportunity

Do you like to sew? Do your children enjoy sewing? Do you have free time on your hands? Consider putting that time and talent to good use helping provide masks for Mercy Hospital!  Mercy Hospital is in need of sewn homemade masks to go over their N95 masks to prolong the use of their N95 masks. Below is a link to the pattern that they prefer. When they receive the masks they are washing and sterilizing them, so no need to wash them yourself. Every mask counts and is very much needed. Drop off your finished masks at the 10th Street Entrance of Mercy Medical Center (701 10th Street SE, Cedar Rapids, 52403).

If you are an at-risk person or are sick, please do not go out.  Instead you can email the coordinator of Days for Girls who is organizing a network of runners for completed projects.  

Here is the pattern: 

https://buttoncounter.com/2018/01/14/facemask-a-picture-tutorial/

Audible Offers Free Stories!

For as long as schools are closed, Audible is offering free stories for kids and teens! Kids everywhere can stream an incredible collection of stories, including titles across six different languages, on their desktop, laptop, phone or tablet. Check it out below!

Listen to Stories

Online Virtual Tours

You may not make it to Paris but that doesn't mean you cannot get a taste of the Musee d'Orsay!  Below are various museums and institutions that have virtual tours online.

Art Institute of Chicago

Boston Children's Museum

Great Wall of China

The Louvre

Musee d'Orsay in Paris

Museum of Modern Art

National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. 

National Museum of Computing

National Museum of the United States Air Force

National Museum of Natural History

National Women's History Museum

Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam

The Vatican (Including Sistine Chapel)

Tokyo National Museum

State Hermitage Museum in Russia 

Want to explore more?  Simply visit the Google Art Project.  Google partnered with more than 60 museums and galleries from around the world to archive and document priceless pieces of art and to provide virtual tours of museums using Google Street View technology.  There are even more museums to tour there!

Free Math Project: "The Camping Trip"

Free math project reinforcing addition and subtraction in a fun way with 10 engaging activities centered around a camping theme!  

Check It Out Here

Regent Admission Index

This information was recently added to the "Other Supports" page.

Regent Admission Index 

Website with a lot of information regarding the three state college universities in Iowa including ACT / SAT score comparisons and a great chart detailing high school course requirement differences for each university. 

>>> Visit Website

SchoolhouseTeachers.com Offers Classes!

This site offers hundreds of quality classes for preschool through high school.  They come as a full year, unit study or one semester and new content is added regularly.  They are self paced with no common core and no textbooks to buy.  It is the curriculum site of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  Classes are no live so you can start any course at any point in time.  

Example of Classes: 

• Foreign language 
• History 
• Geography 
• Language Arts 
• Science 
• Social Studies 
• And many others!

For a limited time, they are offering a special on a 3 month membership
for only $24.97 (one price covers the whole family)!  

Learn More!

4-H Clubs in the Area

Please note that some of these groups may be at capacity and not accepting new members.

Copyworks Educator Discount

The following information has been updated on the local discounts page.  

Copyworks
Cedar Rapids printing shop that offers the following discounts for educators.  Simply stop in and ask for the educator discount card (if you are asked for verification, you can bring in your MHSAP card or you can print this one off)!  
Discount Offers You...

.04 B&W copies, 8.5x11, 20lb white per side

.49 Color Copies, 8.5x11, 24lb white per side

$1.00 per foot lamination (valid only on our 24" 3 mil laminator)

$1.00 Binding, covers extra

Homeschool I.D. Card Printable

When you are looking to use an educator discount, often times they will want some kind of "proof" that you are indeed a homeschooler.  And what "screams" homeschooler than all things laminated?  In all seriousness though, here is an ID card that you can use and personalize to print off and use.  It is recommended to laminate for no other reason than keeping it nice so you don't have to print it often.  

You will notice that there is a place for the school name.  You may not have one - I did not either - but I created one just for this card.  Here are some example ideas that you could use... 

Smith Academy of Excellence 

Smith Institute of Lifelong Learning

Smith School for Children

Smith Academy

Smith Eclectic School for the Gifted

If you plan to use this file, please... 

1. Share it by just sharing the link to this post instead of uploading it to a new source. 
2. Do not sell this to others!  

Download as a JPEG

Download as a PDF

Personalized Reading & Spelling Tutoring