9.23.2014

CLASSES CANCELLED for Friday, September 26

Dear MLC Members, 

St. Paul's Church is hosting a funeral and luncheon this Friday, September 26, so we need to CANCEL ALL CLASSES this week.

Instead, we will meet for an optional and informal Park Day at Sunset Park, 1000 16th Avenue, Council Bluffs. Join us at 10:00 am for some unstructured fun. There are bathrooms, picnic tables, playground equipment, basketball courts, etc.

Classes will be rescheduled for Friday, October 17, which would have been our Field Trip for Term 1. We will no longer be holding a scheduled Core Field Trip this term. However, we will plan a supplemental field trip to Vala's Pumpkin Patch on one of the reduced admission days that they offer to homeschool families. We will announce time and date for that trip soon.

Swap Shop is being rescheduled for Friday, October 10th. Reminders will be sent out a few days before that date.

Thanks for your flexibility, everyone. We hope to see you this Friday at Sunset Park!

9.19.2014

09-19-14 Announcements

1. Thanks to everyone for being flexible this morning, as we put some new procedures into place to help things run more smoothly. If you have not had a chance to read through the new procedures, please take a moment to review them HERE.

2. Next Friday, September 26, we'll hold our first Swap Shop of the year. Watch for further details and updates next week.

3. We have one core field trip scheduled per term, for a total of four for the regular school year. More info on those will follow, but you can check dates on our CALENDAR now.

Any member is welcome to plan and schedule a supplemental field trip or outing at any time, other than Friday mornings. There is a very simple form under the FIELD TRIPS tab to make the process easy. Want to schedule a bowling day, a trip to an apple orchard, or a museum visit? Just use that form and see who's available.

4. If you're on Facebook and haven't liked Mindful Learning Centers's FACEBOOK PAGE, we'd invite you to do so. The page wasn't too active last year - we wondered if members might not be sure whether or not they were allowed to post there. The answer is YES! If you see an article that would be of interest to your homeschooling peers, share it! Want to see who's up for a spontaneous trip to the park or the library? Post and see who's around. Have a question that other members might be able to answer - ask away! Our Facebook page is as much your community and your co-op as our weekly classes are.

We just ask that you keep it friendly and respectful - recognizing that while we have much in common as homeschoolers, we also have many differences of opinion - and keep things at least loosely on topic. If you have something homeschool-related, such as curriculum, that you'd like to sell, you may post that, but please do not advertise home-based businesses or other non-homeschool household items for sale. There are other, more appropriate forums for those topics, and we don't want the FB page to become a commercial or a virtual garage sale. Otherwise, feel free to use the page to connect with and stay in touch with other MLC members between classes and events.

That's all for the moment, friends! Watch for more details on Swap Shop later in the week, and we'll see you next Friday!

9.18.2014

New Procedures for Classes



We were so excited to see months of planning and hard work come together for our first week of classes, and we are very thankful to all those who pitched in to help.

We do need to make a few adjustments in order to accommodate the larger numbers of students we have this year, especially in the younger grades. Please look through these before classes tomorrow morning.

CLASSROOMS, ETC.:

1. If at all possible, please take your young children to the restroom before and after co-op classes. Any student who needs to use the restroom can do so when needed, but we won’t be taking scheduled, group restroom breaks. There are three bathrooms near the Fellowship Hall on the lower level, and more near the top of the stairs.

2. The only water fountain is also at the top of the stairs. It takes too long and causes too much commotion in the hallway to have kids use that water fountain after PE classes, so we’ll have paper cups for water in the gym for kids who are in PE.

3. We need to use the coffee/donut room, on the far side of the Fellowship Hall, for a class. Moms who are not helping in a classroom can instead gather in the Heritage Room, which you pass through to get into the Fellowship Hall.

4. We will be using the Fellowship Hall, the kitchen, and the former coffee room for classes, so please keep doors in and around the Fellowship Hall closed as much as possible, and be mindful of noise and disruptions.

5. When using the hallways, please be considerate of classes in session, and especially of the St. Paul’s office staff working upstairs. We know we can’t always keep kiddos quiet when switching classes, but we’d like to try our best to keep disruptions to a minimum.


NURSERY:

1. We have name tags for Nursery aged kids, and also for the PreK-K students. Please pick up name tags for kids in those age groups when you arrive Friday morning.

2. Babies and toddlers should NOT leave the nursery with students or older siblings. Only adults can take babies out of the nursery.

3. We may offer simple snacks such as animal crackers to nursery and PreK-K students. If your child has any food allergies and you have not already informed us, please do so right away using this FORM.


SCHEDULE:

1. With more students, we need to be a bit more orderly about our schedule.  We'd like to get started promptly at 9:30 each week. Punctuality can be difficult with small children, but please try very hard to join us on time for prayer and announcements each week.

2. We also plan to dismiss kids to classes from the Fellowship Hall in a more orderly fashion, since we have so many little ones.

3. We’re going to try to ring the bell twice between each class:
     a. First bell, at 10:35 and 11:35
          3rd-5th and 6th-12th grades switch classes 
          PreK-K and 1st-2nd grades clean up

     b. Second bell, at 10:40 and 11:40
          PreK-K and 1st-2nd grades switch classes

If for some reason we get tied up and can’t get to the bell, please watch the clocks.


9:30 - 9:45 Opening Time 
in Fellowship Hall
9:45-10:35 1st Hour Classes (50 minutes)
10:35 - 10:45 Clean-up / Switch Classes (10 minutes)
10:45 - 11:35 2nd Hour Classes (50 minutes)
11:35 - 11:45 Clean-up / Go to Closing (10 minutes) 
11:45 - 12:00 Closing Time in Fellowship Hall

As always, thank you for your patience and flexibility as we deal with the little things that crop up, and for your willingness to help make MLC a success.



9.17.2014

CO-OP HELPERS NEEDED


If you haven't already, please sign up to help at MLC's Co-op.  All members who attend the co-op are expected to help for one hour each term.  Your assignment will be for the entire term.  We will ask members to sign-up for a new position at the beginning of each term.  


(This information can also be found on our MEMBERS ONLY page for easy access in the future.)

IMPORTANT: Allergy Information

DOES YOUR CHILD HAVE FOOD ALLERGIES, FOOD INTOLERANCES OR FOOD AVOIDANCES?

CLICK HERE TO LET US KNOW

***A link to the Allergy Information Form can also be found on our MEMBERS ONLY page, for easy access in the future.***

9.14.2014

Mindful Moms Night Out

Mindful Mom Members will be gathering at BLUE Sushi Sake Grill in Omaha's Old Market at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, September 15, 2014.

While there is no doubt we love spending time with our children {isn't that why we homeschool?!}, we are looking forward to an evening without potty interruptions, sticky fingers, and sibling quarrels.  With that said, only nursing babies are allowed to join the Moms on this night.  So, get a sitter and come join us for some good old fashioned face time.

Look forward to seeing you there!

If you have any questions about the Mindful Mom's Night Out,
please email us at MindfulLearningCenter@gmail.com

This event is now on our CALENDAR.
This event requires an RSVP.

Please RSVP using the form below. 

9.12.2014

09-12-14 Announcements

We are going to begin posting a weekly recap of pertinent announcements, for those who were absent or were unable to hear the announcements.

1. Thank you to everyone who attended our first day of classes, and thanks to everyone who helped out this morning. We're excited to have a larger number of students this year, and we will be making a few adjustments over the next couple of weeks in order to help things run more smoothly. Thank you in advance for your patience as we smooth out the rough edges.



2. If you have not already done so, please take a moment to fill out a MEMBERSHIP Application and REGISTER your students for classes.



3. MLC will hold Swap Shop again this year. Swap Shop is a FREE, MLC Members-only garage sale, where you can bring useful but unwanted items from home to share with others who might be able to use them. No money changes hands. You do not have to bring something to take something.

We do ask that any items that don’t find new homes go back home with their original owners at the end of the day. In other words, please take your leftovers back home with you.

We are going to hold Swap Shop on the THIRD CLASS DAY OF EACH TERM, so that you know when to expect it. Those dates are already on MLC’s CALENDAR, and we will remind everyone during announcements as we approach those dates.


4. Our first Mindful Mom’s Night Out for the new year is in just a few days, on Monday Sept. 15th. This month's destination will be announced shortly, so watch your inboxes. We hope you can join us for an evening of food and fun!


5. If you’re new to our calendar, we meet most Fridays except major holiday weeks and the first Friday of each month. We skip that first Friday so that members can attend HOPE meetings if they choose. So, we will meet again next Friday, September 19 for classes.

You can view our complete CALENDAR here on the website. If you’re a Google Calendar user, you can request that we share our calendar with you.

9.10.2014

CLASSES BEGIN FRIDAY

Co-op Classes begin this Friday at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Council Bluffs at 9:30 a.m.  

We would like to ask members to arrive at 9 a.m. 
for this first class day. 

We will need the extra time to accept membership dues, familiarize new members with the building, and show teachers where they will be teaching.  We would like any returning members to help answer questions for new members, show them around the facility, and escort them to the fellowship hall for announcements.  We will be welcoming 14 new families (no, fourteen is not a typo :) to our group this year, so we will certainly be counting on returning members to help get them acquainted with our morning routine!  Welcome back to homeschool, everyone! 

{{ It was brought to our attention that the class dates were incorrect on the registration forms.  Sorry for the confusion.  The dates have been removed from the registration forms.  Please refer to our CALENDAR for class dates and times. We are also posting a list of the class dates below.  Hopefully this will make it easy to mark your calendars! }}  

Also, if you are a google user, we would be happy to share our calendar with you.  This way our events will show up in your personal google account calendars.  If you are interested, simply send an email with this request to MindfulLearningCenter@gmail.com 

See you all Friday! 

2014-2015 MLC School Year
Term 1
9/12/2014CO-OP CLASSES
9/19/2014CO-OP CLASSES
9/26/2014CO-OP CLASSES
10/10/2014CO-OP CLASSES
10/17/2014FIELD TRIP / NO CLASSES
Term 2
10/24/2014CO-OP CLASSES
10/31/2014CO-OP CLASSES
11/14/2014FIELD TRIP / NO CLASSES
11/21/2014CO-OP CLASSES
12/12/2014CO-OP CLASSES
Term 3
1/9/2015CO-OP CLASSES
1/16/2015CO-OP CLASSES
1/23/2015CO-OP CLASSES
1/30/2015CO-OP CLASSES
2/13/2015VALENTINES DAY PARTY/ ALL AGES
2/20/2015FIELD TRIP / NO CLASSES
Term 4
2/27/2015CO-OP CLASSES
3/13/2015CO-OP CLASSES
3/20/2015FIELD TRIP / NO CLASSES
3/27/2015CO-OP CLASSES
4/10/2015CO-OP CLASSES
4/17/2015PRE-SUMMER PARTY/ ALL AGES