Sailing Opportunities for Homeschoolers

If you  have a child in 7th grade or above and they love to sail, they can join the local sailing team at the St. Croix Yacht Club.  The team is open to students in grade 7 and above from all schools, and home schools on the island.  Please contact the St. Croix Yacht Club for specific details at 340-773-9531 or visit their website for more info at www.stcroixyc.com.

If your child in NOT in 7th grade or above,  but are in lower grades - NEVER FEAR!!! They too can sail and take part in Opti Fridays starting in September. This weekly event is open to members and nonmembers of the Yacht Club. There is a fee of $10 for member and $20 for nonmembers, but the class is 2 hours and if your child is 12 or above they can become a member of the yacht club and get the $10 fee. A junior membership cost $150 and then your child can utilize the club for fun sailing events, and other activities. Again, if interested, please contact the club at 340-773-9531.

KG Art classes

Any interest in KG art classes? I have group of 4/5 Kgers that want an art class. Any others out there?

I was thinking of using Cindy Male as she is already set up to teach our older children.

Details:

Classes would be 30 mins once a week and would cost $60 per class for no more than 6 children.  A semester sign up would be required.  

Let me know by replying to this post if you want your child to sign up for the 1st- PreK art classes.

Explore the Pre Hispanic Culture at Buck Island

Did you know people used to LIVE at Buck Island? Did you know there are archeological sites on BuckIsland that date back to Pre Hispanic Native People's? Would you like to see where those sites are, learn how to make some tools that they might have used, and explore some of the lesser known areas of Buck?

YES??

Details:
Monday August 27, 2012 at 8:00 at Green Cay we will go from there to Buck Island for at least 3 - 4 hours.  You need to bring food, water, hiking shoes, safety glasses, and gardening gloves.

What I need from you:
Amount of people in your group - divided by Kids(their ages), and adults.

What we REALLY need:

BOATS. If we can't get enough boats to take us out there from our group, we will not be able to do this. There is a possibility of renting a boat to go out(from MileMark), but then we may pay a fee per head. I will get a cost back to the group, but I think it wouldn't be much.

Also I will send out some reading if you want to go to this that might help you ask great questions to the NPS people.

U of Mimai is offering distance learning to Middle and High School

The University of Miami has started to offer distance learning to Middle and High schoolers. To look into this program go to their website.  They offer everything from AP courses to Language Arts, PE, Foreign Languages, Social Studies, Electives, etc. Their listing is extensive.

Directly from their site:


"The University of Miami Global Academy's course offerings offer our students the most current education using the most current technology. Our courses provide a highly-interactive education using video, audio, simulations, games and real-world activities. Here, Web 2.0 meets Learning 2.0 and students are engaged in learning well beyond simply reading course information.

Since the Global Academy is from the University of Miami, you can be certain that there are strong academic standards behind every class. As you can see from the list on the left, there is a wide variety of courses, including honors and advanced placement (AP) courses, all of which are offered by the semester. With our offerings, it's certain that any student can find the right combination of challenges and interests to make their UMGA high school experience a compelling adventure in learning.

We're online. But with a University of Miami Global Academy education, the human element is always present. In fact, we have a word for it: telepresence. That means that when a student needs a teacher, the teacher is there, ready to work one on one through video conferencing or phone discussions. Our faculty are top educators and, through a strong telepresence, students find that UMGA is both personal and flexible.

Welcome to the Global Academy's source for courses. This is your launch pad to explore a high school education that's right for you.

Because your life is larger than a classroom."

International Student base:

 "UMGA students hail from over 20 countries outside the United States including Argentina, Australia, Bermuda, Bahamas, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Mexico, Monaco, Panama, Poland, Qatar, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and Venezuela."

Looks pretty good to me. Check them out if you are interested.

Coop? Non Profit group? Thoughts....

I have been hearing suggestions from various people that we as home schoolers should either form a coop of sorts or file from non -profit status. What are your thoughts?

The pros that have been presented are this:

1. As a co-op/non profit we can apply for grants for materials and create a sort of lending library where have supplies that the children can use
2. We have access to discounted curriculum rates at many companies
3. buying power
4. our children can take part in mini classes where we as a non profit can pay for experts in the field to teach those classes(ie. Advanced Calculus, AP Literature, Marine Biology, etc)
5. An opportunity to grow the homeschooling community in the islands
6. Some classes like Drama, PE, public speaking are best taught in a larger group setting and we could then be able to do this
7. Age groups where say your kindergarten aged child can learn with other kids in the KG group, 8th graders with 8th grades, cooperative learning.

I know we could figure out how to grow this group if we wanted to, but I am not single handedly going to pursue this if there is no other interest. We would need at least 3 other families that want to do this to make it viable. 

What do you think? Are you interested or not? Why or why not? Let's dialog!