Inspiring Parents this Wednesday
Students struggle with writing. Parents want help.
This Wednesday, March 4, there are back-to-back writing webcasts. From 1 to 2pm, we feature a simple to use writing strategy for elementary students. Click on this link to learn from former writing trainer and HST, Elvira Burlingame: http://bit.ly/InspiringLink
Then stick around from 2 to 3pm, to get middle to high school writing help from our Student Support Services writing expert, Genieva Davidson and creator of super helpful writing tutorials.
Genieva treated Inspiring Parents in February to an in-depth tour of our school’s writing support site which is a treasure trove of resources. She talked about her tutorial videos and featured some of the site’s highlights. Missed it? Sign up to receive the recording link and resources: http://bit.ly/SignUpWritingResourcesRecordingLink
Field Trip Bookings
If tickets for all family members are not booked, your student ticket may be cancelled and you will be unable to attend the field trip.
PFT Sign Ups
English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC) Membership
You are invited to participate as an active voice in the educational programs of Emergent Bilinguals by becoming a member of the English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC).
As a member of ELAC, you will:
● learn more about the programs offered to Emergent Bilinguals.
● participate in the school’s needs assessment.
● advise the Director and school staff on positive and effective strategies for teaching Emergent Bilinguals.
● provide valuable input on ways to support Emergent Bilinguals.
Our next ELAC meeting is on Thursday, March 5, 2020, at 6:00 pm.
Please fill out this survey to let us know if you will be attending.
CAASPP Testing
Each year, the State of California requires public schools to reach a 95% participation rate for state standardized testing (CAASPP testing, sometimes also referred to as SBAC testing). If a school has less than 95% of its students participate, they are at risk of losing their charter and WASC accreditation. We are not asking our parents to change their homeschool style or “buy-in” to Common Core State Standards. However, we do need your support in ensuring that our students are in attendance at testing and that they do the best they can. Your participation in helping us meet the minimum 95% requirement is one important way you can aid in safeguarding the survival of our charter. Our school is penalized on our performance levels in math and language arts when we do not meet the 95%.
A second way you can help is to make sure your students are familiar with the testing platform. This will give them the best advantage to show what they know. Please utilize this resource of How to Take a Practice Test and Check-Out Designated Supports to walk them through how to navigate the testing portal. We know our homeschool students are smart and we need to make sure they do their best during state testing to demonstrate that our programs are working. Even if a student scores below grade level, our school can benefit academically when students show growth from year to year.
Inspire Charter Services’ Testing Department has created a series of presentations in response to questions and concerns received from our homeschooling families about state standardized testing. I hope you will find these videos, along with the additional supporting resources and articles, to be helpful in alleviating any fears or anxieties your family may be facing with regards to testing. Please take the time to review these Parent Testing Videos and Resources to see if you feel any would be beneficial for your family. We would also appreciate it if you could complete this Parent Testing Video Survey and give us your feedback.
We appreciate the opportunity you have given us to partner with you in your homeschooling journey. We look forward to many more years of supporting the homeschool community and their unique styles of education
Field Trip Tip
1. Log in to www.icsinspirationstation.net and you will see “Hi (your name)” on the top right, with a little drop down arrow next to it. *Tip: if you're on your phone, just turn it horizontally and this will show.
2. Press the arrow and it will offer the option of viewing “My Account.”
3. Click on "My Account" and it will list all of the field trips you have signed up for. This includes all the links to the pages where you signed up, so you can find the lead teacher's name, email address and phone number!
If you missed the Bravewriter webcast
Julie Bogart, creator of BraveWriter shared techniques for how to incorporate writing across the curriculum and ways to make it fun.
If you missed the live webcast, click on this link http://bit.ly/BraveLearnerFreeResources to add your email address and receive Writing Across the Curriculum, Writer's Jungle and High School Writing Help, as well as the Brave Learner Companion Guide.
Parent Testing Resources Website
Academic Video Library
Instructions to access Academic Video Library can be found here.
Below is the newsletter for February and March. We’re excited about hosting some fun Test Prep Parties in March, so check out the ones closest to you and help your child(ren) feel prepared for testing (grades 3rd – 8th). Also, we’re hoping to have as many families as possible fill out >>> THIS <<< short survey about Community Connections, will you please help us out and take 5 minutes of your time to fill it out? Thank you!
February OC Community Connections Newsletter
March OC Community Connections Newsletter
We would like to ask that if you are unable to attend an event that you have RSVP’d for, please cancel your ticket and let the coordinator for that location know. It helps with supplies and planning. Thank you!
If you need any assistance, please reach out to the CC in that area or to our Regional Community Coordinator, Gina Garland: ggarland@inspireschools.org
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101 REASONS WHY HOMESCHOOLING IS HARD…AND WHY IT’S SO WORTH IT ANYWAY
"If you homeschool, you already know homeschooling is hard. If you’re thinking about homeschooling and think it’s not, let me warn you…it is. You’re trying to make the decision whether or not you should take the plunge and make this huge life change of homeschooling. Or you’re trying to figure out if it’s worth it to keep going.
Mama, I don’t have all the answers. But I do know many many reasons why this gig is hard. I made a big list of them and about 95% of these I have experienced firsthand.
But for every single reason that it’s hard, I’ll let you know why I believe it’s worth it anyway. Homeschooling it hard, but it’s a worthy cause. One that I strongly believe we will not regret. I find so much peace there–in the surety I won’t regret this decision.
If you’re on the edge of throwing in the homeschooling towel, I HEAR YOU!! I’ve been there and it’s a tough spot. My hope is that by reading through this massive list, you’ll find the things that are making homeschooling so hard for you and keep going anyway–because it’s worth the work."
Read the rest of the article here.
Family Hike at Laguna Beach
Minimum Age: 12. For questions, call: 949-497-8324 Mon-Fri; 949-923-2235 Sat/Sun. Parking: $3.
Jamboree at the Discovery Cube
Parenting OC returns to the Discovery Cube for its 14th Anniversary Edition of the Kids’ Summer Opportunities Jamboree event. The free event will take place on March 14th, 2020 from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. This is the fifth year Discovery Cube partners with Parenting OC to host the summer-fun planning extravaganza.
“We are excited to once again partner with Discovery Cube OC and the Cube team to present this event,” said Parenting OC publisher Randall Tierney. “There simply is not better venue for the kind of enrichment and fun learning opportunities that we bring to the Jamboree.”
This year, Jamboree will have special guests, games and many new exhibitors featuring family travel destination spots, summer camps, and school information.
Where: Discovery Cube, 2500 N. Main Street, Santa Ana, CA 92705.
When: Saturday, March 14, 2020.
Price: Included with entry to the Cube.
Ladan Rashidi - OC Family Liaison
Shaemanique King - OC Family Liaison
