Learning Together as a Family
Somis Home Study 
 

Author’s Fair May 30!

I have ordered the Bare Books and they will be in 5/4/12 if you pre-ordered!

You can order specific sizes or page quantities now-see the great catalog of products and order on your own, at this point.  You do not have to use Bare Books and might wish to creatively publish the books in any format you wish!  They will be amazing!

Author’s Fair, brain storm ideas with your student on what genre/topic to work.  Pick-up a guide packet to help  you with ideas for the writing process and publishing of your book.  Make it fun and memorable!  Looking forward to seeing all of the wonderful books!

8th Grade Promotion

To all of the families of 8th graders, now is the time to begin planning for graduation/promotion.  This notable event in your student's life has traditionally been commemorated with a dinner and ceremony at a local restaurant.  See some pictures from last year’s Hawaiian themed event!  If you are interested in participating please contact Heidi.  Rehearsals, payments, theme and invites will be topics of discussion!  Next step:  High School!

You Should have received an email from Heidi about this event! 
Please RSVP! 

 

 

Show Choir with Ms. Shannon

Our Show Choir will begin March 27th.  This class will be open to all grade levels and we really need some younger members to join!  Students will learn a line-up of songs and choreography to match!  CDs and sheet music will be provided. This program is free and absolutely wonderful!  Classes will run for 11 weeks and culminate in a stage performance in June! 

It is going to be awesome!

Looking Ahead:

*Period 8 Drop-off April 23-27

*Egg Drop May 8, 2012  2:15pm

*Author's Fair May 30th

*End of the Year Dance May 30th

Lakeshore Learning Store Crafts for Kids Workshops-Free!         

May     Dinosaur Discoveries

Digital Resources

The updated list of online digital resources is now available.  See your teacher for details! EdHelper, Enchanted Learning and more!

Checkout our website for more news!

www.somishomestudy.org











































Somis School Carnival Saturday, June 2nd!

Volunteers Needed!

The Somis School Carnival is back and ready for fun!  This year Home Study will be hosting the Face Painting Booth.  IF you can volunteer, please sign-up for a 45 minute session-then enjoy all the other fun, food, raffles and games the carnival has to offer!  Invite your friends and family, all proceeds benefit our programs! Hope to see  you there!

From last month (March 2012)
Thank for such a wonderful and successful Science Fair night.  We had a great time seeing all of the students' projects.  There were so many wonderful projects that really reminded us about the importance of disaster preparedness!  The Moreno family will be able to create their own electricity if needed, along with the Petrys'!  We learned about earthquake epicenters and global warming from the Quezada family, too!  I hope you saw the awesome homemade ketchup at the Flores family booth. 
The students had a great time completing their learning passports to win raffle prize tickets.  The desserts were great and it was so wonderful to see all of the families enjoying their hard work! 

From last month (February 2012)
There are some really great websites to help commemorate Black History Month.  This would be an opportune time to do research reports on black historical figures, such as our president Barack Obama.  Take a trip to Colonel Allensworth State Park in Kern County. Use some of our paid websites such as Brainpop and Enchanted Learning (see your teacher for usernames and passwords).  Check-out these other websites to further your studies:

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/black-history-month/teacher-resources/6602.html

http://www.barackobama.com/splash/two-term-fund
President Obama official webpage

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=583
about Colonel Allensworth State Park

http://www.aawc.com/paa.html
Prominent Black Americans alphabetized!

http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/tp/famousafricanamericans.htm


From last month (January).....
Happy New Year!  2012 is here!
New year, a new and great time to set some goals for the remainder of the year.  We did a lesson with the students in Tuesday classes about making resolutions and goal setting.  Some of their goals required long term planning and I was pleasantly surprised by some of their aspirations.  What a fun and great way to assess their goals and make for a quick writing assignment!

From last month (December)..... 
December 2011
As we wind down the last few weeks of 2011, bookwork can sometimes take a less dominate focus than we intend it to.  With travel, shopping family gatherings and the like taking center stage, it is important to be mindful of working-in essential curriculum and maintaining a daily schedule to keep schooling in the limelight.  During this season, fine arts pretty much takes care of itself:  cooking, crafts, decorating, music appreciation and viewing performances (check out our Winter Concert on 12/12 and Nutcracker 12/14) all count as fine arts.
Design creative language arts lessons by having students send out a family newsletter, write a letter to Santa or send thank you notes for holiday gifts.  Younger students can practice numbers and calendar skills by counting down the weeks until the big day. Study the origins of holidays traditions and local lore can meet state standards for social studies.  There are so many creative ways to meet your curriculum goals during this busy time of year.  Embrace the season and enjoy all it has to offer and the wonderful privilege we undertake as we homeschool our children-the most precious gifts of all!  Happy Holidays! 
Heidi and Staff 

Check out the Field Trips tab for more information on upcoming events and current activities offered.


Discounts Galore
  Heidi has discount tickets available for almost any amusement park in Southern California-advance purchase is required.  Inquire with Heidi for one discount ticket or multiples!  Get discounts from Knotts, Seaworld, Disneyland, Monica Pier, Medieval Times, museums and more!
 
Facebook
  For all the Facebookers out there, just search Somis Home Study and become a fan, or you can view the page through a link from our website!
www.facebook.com/pages/Somis-CA/Somis-Home-Study/139952405368  

Here are the websites that were discussed during Period 2 Parent/Child meeting.....contact me with questions or to list your own favorites online resources for math practice and reinforcement!

Arcademic Skill Builders
Arcade with personalization available.  This is a great site for math games and practice with printable trophy award sheets.  Fun and easy to use for all grade levels.  Check it out for some fun family competition. www.arcademicskillbuilders.com

Khan Academy
Made famous through youtube, this innovative and simple teaching format was originally developed by the founder to help his nieces and nephews that were struggling with math concepts.  Distance being a factor, he began to tutor them over the internet and became a websensation that has evolved into a great resource for the world to access.
www.khanacademy.org

 IXL Math
An awesome site with free daily practice that is aligned with standards and provides lessons for all grade levels.  www.IXL.com


Cool Math For Kids 
This site has it all and is one of the most popular educational web sites out there. There are  games, coloring pages, strategy games, mazes and quizzes. It is a site that is not just for math but also has some fun geography challenges for you and your kids.
www.coolmath-games.com

EdHelper
Comprehensive database of lesson plans in all subjects, thematic units, and worksheets.
www.edhelper.com

Enchanted Learning
 Enchanted Learning is a great resource for worksheets in all subjects, craft ideas, books to make, art and artists.  Check what's new each day!
www.enchantedlearning.com

Scott Foresman Social Studies
  The Digital Path for the Scott Foresman Social Study Series is now available.  Log in and access all
grade level content, planning and teacher resources. Stream video that corresponds to content from the textbooks.  See us for user name and password.
http://ca-hss.com

Math Made Fun
www.localpages.com/content/math-made-fun-online.html

Teach-nology.com
Teach-nology.com offers teachers FREE access to thousands of teacher resources, lesson plans, and rubrics.
www.teach-nology.com

Super Teacher Worksheets
Free math worksheets, printable grammar sheets, multiplication facts practice, creative writing prompts, math word problems, and manuscript printing practice.
www.superteacherworksheets.com

Think like a computer....
This site was suggested by email to us from another classroom teacher.  She said it has been very popular in her classroom and provides links to number sequencing puzzles and hints on how to solve them!  Shout out to you and your students JW!
http://www.barcodediscount.com/articles/think-like-a-computer-a-guide-to-number-sequence-puzzles.htm

Webmath
Webmath is a math-help web site that generates answers to math questions and problems. In addition to the answers, Webmath also shows the student how to arrive at the answer.  It is a great site for definitions of math concepts and solves these problems for you.
www.webmath.com/index.html

A Plus Math
On this site you can time your child on arithmetic problems, print your own custom flashcards or practice facts.
www.aplusmath.com/Flashcards/index.html

Math Playground
Another great site for you and your kids and lots of fun too!
www.mathplayground.com/index.html

Math Playground cont.
The same site from above is also a great place to get worksheets for your students in grades K-5. Money, time, fractions and basic arithmetic worksheets.
www.mathplayground.com/math_worksheets.html

The Math Worksheet Site
One more site for an endless supply of worksheet:
http://themathworksheetsite.com

AAA Math
Customized by grade level and topic, AAA Math features explanations of various mathematical topics, practice problems and fun challenging games.
http://www.AAAmath.com

Figure This
Created by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, this site helps families enjoy math outside school through a series of fun and engaging challenges.
http://www.figurethis.org

Math Cats
Math Cates provides playful explorations of important math concepts through games, crafts and interactive projects.  Includes a magic chalkboard and art gallery.
http://www.mathcats.com