Home-Based Education

Hello Home Based Education Families:   

The first quarter (Q1) of the 2022 school year has passed and we are into Q2. It is a good idea to track your monthly learning outcomes and keep some samples of work so that the annual summative reporting in mid-June is easier for you to complete. It may act as a good reminder and will show the progress you have made during the year.

Skating times:

Warman Home Center Communiplex (WHCC) replied about skating times for Home Based students. The times PSSD home based education has booked so far are:

Nov 21, Dec 1, and Dec 12^th from 1-3pm.

I will book some more times in January if these times are successful. Please follow the guidelines of the WHCC. Students are required to wear helmets and helmets are recommended for adults but not required.     

Literacy Tip #2          Five Pillars of Reading          Phonemic Awareness 

Phonemic awareness refers to the individual sounds (phonemes) in words. There are 44 phonemes in English which includes the alphabet letters and sounds represented by letter combinations such as /ch/. Individually teaching the phonemes with the varying letter combinations that make those phonemes (ex – ay, ai, a_e) will also prime your readers to write and gives a great approach to sounding out and reading new words.   

Resources and Ideas:  

• Secret Stories
  
  
• Activities you can do at home

For more reading information, go to: https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-topics/phonological-and-phonemic-awareness

All the best to you:    Lorraine Fitzgerald & Ashleigh Hoang: HBE facilitators

Hello Home based educators:

Well the snow really arrived this weekend I hope everyone was safe and warm and enjoyed the snow and the shovelling. 

2023 SHBE convention: 

I checked the SHBE website to see if they were holding a Home based education convention this year and they are so if you are able to attend it may be of interest to you.  To register go to the SHBE website. 

Hello fellow homeschoolers!

Mark February 24 and 25 in your calendar for the 2023 SHBE Homeschool Convention. Plans are in the works for a full-size convention, including keynote speakers, workshops, vendor hall, used books, and lots of socializing.

SHBE has booked the Queensbury Convention Centre in Regina for the 2023 SHBE convention.

  Mental Health Literacy 

I have attached a couple of videos from a Mental Health Literacy & Wellness workshop I attended last week.  PSSD iheld an in-service and the  PSSD counsellors were sharing information with teachers to help them explain or have discussion about mental health literacy with students. Here are two videos. As parents you may wish to watch and share the ideas with your children. Depending on their age they could watch the video with you and have a discussion as a follow-up or as a parent you could watch the videos and choose what to share with your children.

Literacy tip

Daily reading and writing are important for a strong reading foundation. Reading daily to young children can help with language acquisition, communication skills, social skills, and literacy skills. There are five early reading skills that are essential for development. They are:

1) Phonemic awareness – Being able to hear, identify, and play with individual sounds in spoken words.
2) Phonics – Being able to connect the letters of written language with the sounds of spoken language.
3) Vocabulary – The words kids need to know to communicate effectively.
4) Reading comprehension – Being able to understand and get meaning from what has been read.
5) Fluency (oral reading) – Being able to read text accurately and quickly.

“Repetition is the mother of learning, the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment.” (Zig Ziglar)

Think back to when you learned to ride a bike, drive a car or play a new sport. First, you needed to learn the essential skills. Then it was all about practice and more practice until you increased your confidence, improved your speed and became skilled.

The next time your little one asks you to read a book yet again or wants to play the same game over and over, remind yourself that it’s a good thing! It’s good because repetition provides the practice that children need to master new skills. Repetition helps to improve speed, increases confidence, and strengthens the connections in the brain that help children learn.

      (https://www.readingbrightstart.org/articles-for-parents/lets-repetition-important-learning/)
 ReplyForward

Home based education has booked the Communiplex in Warman on most Tuesdays from 1-3pm except for on Holidays and non-school days. Registered students are welcome to use the gym space reserved for us. There is some equipment there and if you ask at the front office they will assist you with that. Please follow all the posted rules and be sure to supervise your student during their time at the Communiplex.

We have send out 2 newsletters this month if you are not receiving the emails with the newsletter please email or call me so I can fix the issue.

lorraine.fitzgerald@spiritsd.ca or 306-683-2830

Students that are registered with PSSD homebased education have gym time available on most Fridays from 10am-12pm at the Martensville Athletic Pavillion

Rules and regulations:

Parents are required to supervise their registered HBE children while at the MAP

indoor shoes are required

no food or glass bottles

no smoking, vaping or use of profanity or abusive language

there is zero tolerance for threats, inappropriate and violent behaviour at the MAP

Here are dates the MAP is available from 10am-12pm for HBE:

Oct 14,28 Nov 4,25 Dec 2,9 Jan 13, Feb 3,10, Mar 3,10,31 April 28, May 5,12,26 June 2,23

There is some equipment there in the storage locker but you may wish to bring some of your own inside gym equipment , please get it approved on arrival. I hope it works for HBE families to use this excellent facility. Lorraine

Hello Home Based Education families:

We are coming to the end of the month when registrations need to be completed. I have 99% of the registrations entered I just need a few more before the end of this month. I have send emails and phoned so please reply if you have gotten a call or email from me recently.

I am sorry I am still unable to send out HBE emails as a group but I will use this Blog to share information till mass email is available. You can always email me indivdually if you have questions. lorraine.fitzgerald@spiritsd.ca

Student Login information: If you would like your student’s login information so that they can access the PSSD website, email me with the student’s names. I will send the login information to you, there are a lot of a very good free sites available to the students under the student / learning resources’ tab.

https://www.spiritsd.ca/students/

Driver training: Remember to call your local school to inquire about driver training dates and to get put on the list .

Enjoy the beautiful Fall weather and email or call if you have an inquiry.

Lorraine Fitzgerald : HBE Facilitator

I have processed all the registrations that I have received by email , mail and in person. If you have not heard from me regarding completion of your registration, please contact me at lorraine.fitzgerald@spiritsd.ca or by phone 306-683-2830. If your child is not returning to Homebased Education, please let me know so I can withdraw them.

I will be sending a mass email to all families once the technology is available. We are excited for our new system update to be complete. Thank you for your patience. If you have questions in the meantime, please reach out to me by email or phone.

Drivers Ed Information:
If your child is turning 15 (or is currently 15 or older) you may register for Drivers Education by connecting with your local school. Please do this as soon as possible as dates are already set for the fall. When do you register please let me know so I can send you your student log in information.

Lorraine Fitzgerald

Hello HBE Families,

Hope you all had a great summer. Its that time of year where the deadline is fast approaching. All your registration forms need to be in by Thursday, September 15, 2022. The forms are all available on the PSSD Homebased Website, or you can email lorraine.fitzgerald@spiritsd.ca and I can send you the forms (Notice of Intent, Funding, and Education Plan). If you are already receiving direct deposit, we do not need a new copy unless your banking information has changed.

If you have a new student never registered before, please do the online registration for that student. Be sure to attach a birth certificate.

Starting in October we will be sending out regular monthly emails so please watch for those in your inbox.

Hope your year is off to a great start,

Lorraine

Open the newsletter by clicking here

click here to open newsletter

Click here for April 8 newsletter