Swap Shop this Friday

 

This Friday, March 27, will be our final Swap Shop of the year.

If you're in the middle of spring cleaning and have unwanted items, this is a good time to share with fellow homeschooling families and free up some space at the same time.

Hope to see you then!

03.20.15 Field Trip: Council Bluffs Recycling Center

Please join us for our Term 4 Field Trip at 1:00 pm this Friday, March 20. We'll be touring the Council Bluffs Recycling Center. Please note that this is a later afternoon time than we normally schedule our field trips.

We will watch a short video that will help us to understand more about what things are recyclable, and then we will be given a tour of the facility and learn how materials are handled and processed. I've talked to people who have taken this tour before, and they have all said that it's a fascinating tour and that they learned a lot that surprised them. We really hope that as many members as possible are able to join us.

The Recycling Center is located at 4441 Gifford Rd in Council Bluffs. To reach the Recycling Center, take the Veterans' Memorial Highway (aka Hwy 92, or the old South Omaha Bridge Road) to the intersection with 24th St. Go south through the intersection, and you will be able to see the Recycling Center about one block ahead of you. The road will curve around to the right to reach the gates. Let the staff at the scale house near the gates know that you're there for the tour, and they'll tell you where to park.  

There is no cost for this tour, but we do ask that you please RSVP by Thursday afternoon, March 19, by 3:00 pm.

PS - If you were at classes last week, we mentioned that we were planning to visit the CB Post Office. Unfortunately, the only staff member at the Post Office who gives tours learned that she must be away from the office this Friday, so they were not able to accommodate us after all. We will try to reschedule a tour with the Post Office at a later date, and are thankful that the Recycling Center staff were able and willing to work us in on such short notice.

02.27.15 Announcements

Thank you to everyone who jumped in and helped this morning. We're very grateful for members who are willing to lend a hand where needed!  There are still a few helper spots that will need to be filled next week, especially 2nd Period PE and some extra help in the nursery. 

We do not meet next week. Our next regular class day is two weeks from today, Friday, March 13. Please check our CALENDAR for more details.

Several students from the 3rd-5th grade science class wanted the directions for the two polymer projects we did this morning. HERE is the recipe for Flubber. This stuff turned out really well, and the texture continues to improve as the afternoon goes on.  The recipe for the bouncing balls is HERE.  These were much less successful. We used white glue. The directions do say that you can use clear glue, but Elmer's Blue Gel glue did NOT work well in the test I did at home. 

Stay warm and stay safe this weekend, everyone. See you in two weeks!

Classes Resume this Friday

Hello, MLC friends!

This is just a quick reminder that Term 4 classes begin this Friday, February 27th, with Opening Announcements at 9:30 am.

The four class dates for Term 4 are spread out over nearly two months, with several breaks for holidays, a field trip, etc. Please take a quick look at our CALENDAR to get familiar with the schedule for the next several weeks. 

Due to several last-minute changes in teaching staff and classes, we have not yet put out a Helper Sign-up Sheet for Term 4. SO, we will need to take care of that on the fly on Friday morning, just before classes begin. We may still have some needs for PE leaders in addition to the other regular helper spots. Please prayerfully consider where you can help out for the final term of the year.

See you Friday!

Arts Center Field Trip Reminder

If you're planning to attend this Friday's field trip to IWCC's Arts Center, and you have not already RSVP'd, please remember to do so.

The original post with full details and RSVP form can be found here. Please RSVP by 2pm tomorrow, Wednesday, February 18 if you plan to come.

We hope to see you there!

Term 3 Field Trip - IWCC Fine Arts Center

Have you ever been to a play at a theater and wondered about the lights, curtains, or set pieces? Have you ever been to a live concert and wondered how the sound system or the backstage areas work? Now's your chance to find out!

Join us at 9:30 am on Friday, February 20, 2015 for a guided tour of the Fine Arts Center at Iowa Western Community College. The tour will include visits to music and technical theater classrooms, the scene shop where large set pieces are constructed, the innovative and modular Black Box Theater, and the main theater and stage including backstage operations areas, lighting systems, fly rail system, sound booth, spotlight system, and more.

Most guests who attend plays or concerts never get to see the behind-the-scenes areas and equipment that make those performances possible. Come learn how a busy, working theater really operates! 

More info about the Arts Center can be found here.  Driving directions to campus are here, and a campus map is available here. Follow Iowa Western Blvd. all the way around to Parking Lot 32 on the map. 

IWCC classes will be in recess for staff development on the day of the field trip, so parking should be plentiful. You can park near the main front entrance to the Fine Arts Center (pictured above), and gather in the main lobby to begin the tour.

There is no charge for parking or for the tour, but we do need to ask that you please use the form below to RSVP by 2 pm on Wednesday, February 18, so that we have a decent head count. We hope to see you then!

Valentine's Day Party - Friday, February 13th

Love is in the air!  

We are having a Valentine's Party for all MLC students (and parents) on February 13th at 9:30 a.m.  Children of all ages are welcome to participate.  There will be scheduled fun activities and social time with snacks provided.  There is no cost to members for this event and all materials and snacks will be provided.  (We will provide gluten free and nut free snack options.)

NOTE: LOCATION CHANGE - The Valentine's Party will be held at the Council Bluffs Public Library, 400 Willow Avenue in Council Bluffs.  We will meet in Room B at 9:30 a.m.

We are asking students ages PreK and up to bring their own Valentine's cards to share with their classmates.  Students will be making a craft box or envelope to store their cards in, so if they want to participate in this activity, they should bring cards to exchange.  Of course, it is not mandatory that a student exchange cards to attend the party.  Each student should bring somewhere around 15-30 cards.

No need to run out and spend a bunch of money on pre-made cards!  Have your students make some homemade cards with stickers, typing paper, construction paper, crayons, etc.  Get crafty!  Just have them sign their names on their cards, but don't address them to any specific student.  

Hope to see you there!

MEMBERS MUST RSVP BELOW TO ATTEND THIS EVENT

01.30.15 Announcements

We're now finished with regular classes for Term 3. Thank you to everyone who helped us make things work, and thank you again for your flexibility as we've juggled quite a few last-minute changes.  

We do not meet again for classes for four more weeks, with our next regular class on Friday, February 27.  Please take a look ahead on the CALENDAR at what is scheduled for the Fridays in February:

• February 6: no MLC events.
• February 13: Valentine's Day party??? - please see below.
• February 20: Term 3 Field Trip.  Details to follow soon.
• February 27: Term 4 classes begin. 

Valentine's Day Party: We're still searching for an alternate venue, but haven't found anything workable yet. If you know of a place where we could hold the party, please let us know ASAP. Another church building might work well. If we don't find something within the next few days, we'll postpone the party and try again on a different date with a different theme.

Term 4: We were planning to have a helper sign-up sheet at classes yesterday, but first we need to do a little juggling and reorganizing of teaching spots, etc. before we know what spots need to be filled.  We'll create an online helper sign-up post here on the website as we get closer to that date. Please be watching for that in the coming weeks, and prayerfully consider where you'd like to serve. As always, we want to say a HUGE thank you to the parents who faithfully serve in various spots within MLC. None of this would be possible without you.

Lastly, we'd ask you to please take a look at the post about our Illness Policy if you missed it last week. This year's cold and flu season has been especially rough, and we know many of our member families have been dealing with sickness. We hope that February will see everyone return to better health, and we look forward to diving back into classes in a month. 

Stay healthy, stay warm, and stay safe!

Illness Policy

In light of the current media attention on the measles outbreak, including some cases relatively local to us, we thought that this might be a good moment to reiterate our illness policy. From the Policies Tab on this site, here is MLC's Illness Policy for your review:

ILLNESS POLICY:If keeping a sick child home, well children may only attend classes if a parent/guardian is present with them. 

Children with the following symptoms should not attend group activities:

1. Fever (within the last 24 hours)
2. Colored mucus (yellow or green runny nose)
3. Diarrhea, vomiting, or nausea
4. Eye drainage, pink eye, or other eye infections
5. Virus or infection (known to be contagious)
6. Rashes (known to be contagious)
7. Head Lice

This list is obviously not all-inclusive; please use your best judgment when deciding whether or not to expose other members to illness.

We would also like to point out that, among our membership, there are differences of opinion and practice regarding vaccinations. We ask that everyone be respectful of other families' rights to make decisions in this area based on their personal convictions, but also be mindful of your family's exposure to or diagnosis of serious illness, and the impact that could have on other co-op families. That impact may extend not only to families who may choose not to vaccinate, but also to other co-op members who may have weak or compromised immune systems due to various health conditions, etc.

If you are aware of a serious infection or exposure to a serious infection within your family, please avoid attending MLC events where you could spread germs. If you discover that you may have unknowingly exposed other co-op members to an illness, and feel comfortable sharing that information as a courtesy to the group, please email MLC and we will pass that info along so that others can be on the alert. We can share the info anonymously if you prefer.

Thank you, and stay healthy.

01.23.15 Announcements

Over the past few weeks, we have had to do a lot of last-minute juggling of classes and teachers. Thank you to everyone for your flexibility and for your willingness to roll with the punches.

Next Friday, January 30, is the final class day of Term 3. Please take a look ahead on the CALENDAR at February, because the next several weeks are an odd mixture of events.

• We're off on February 6th so our members may attend the HOPE meeting if desired.
• February 13th is still listed as our Valentine's Day party. If you missed previous announcements, we recently found out that St. Paul's has another event that day and the building is not available to us. We're trying to find another venue or come up with an alternate plan, and will let you all know as soon as possible what we've worked out.
• Our Term 3 Field Trip is on February 20th. Details to follow soon.
• Term 4 begins on February 27th. Again, we're needing to do a little juggling of teachers and classes because of some unexpected changes. We will have a sign-up sheet for Term 4 helper spots next Friday, January 30, and may need to ask members to lead some additional classes like PE, Legos, etc.

Thanks for your patience while we sort a few of these things out. We're so grateful for everyone's positive attitudes and support. See you next Friday!

PS. Several students in yesterday's 3rd-5th grade science class expressed an interest in doing further reading on the topic. Leah posted several links on the Facebook page. If your student was in that class and wants those links, but you are not on Facebook, just email MLC and we'll get those links to you via email.

01.16.15 Announcements

• We asked for volunteers to plan our Valentine's Day Party on February 13th. Thank you to those who offered to help. HOWEVER - we just learned this afternoon that we have a conflict. St. Paul's building is not available to us that day due to another event being held. We are discussing our options and will update everyone as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience.

• Next week, January 23, is Swap Shop. 

• We've had to do some juggling with classes, teachers, etc. over the last two weeks, so thank you to everyone for being flexible and for being willing to pitch in where needed.

See you next Friday!

01.09.15 Announcements

Thanks to everyone who bundled up against the cold and joined us for the start of Term 3! Welcome to a few new and newly returning members!

Just a few CALENDAR reminders to point out: 

• Mom's Night Out is this coming Monday, January 12th. We're planning to go to Omaha's Greek Islands restaurant. More details and an RSVP form to follow soon.
• We meet again for classes next Friday, January 16th.
• We'll be holding Swap Shop in two weeks, on Friday, January 23rd.

Our Valentine's Day Party is also approaching on Friday, February 13th. We'd like to ask for three or four moms to volunteer to plan the party. There is a budget available for treats and decorations. Any interested moms should let one of the Founding Members know that they'd like to participate.

See you next week!

12.12.14 Announcements

CALENDAR reminders for upcoming events:

• There are no remaining events on MLC's calendar for 2014. 
• Term 3 begins on Friday, January 9, 2015.  All four regular class days for Term 3 happen on consecutive Fridays in January, without a break. Please take a close look at our CALENDAR and review those dates.
• We had accidentally missed posting the January 2015 date for Mindful Mom's Night out on the calendar. That's now posted for Monday, January 12. Details on the destination will be posted closer to that date.

TERM 3: There are still several helper spots that need to be filled for Term 3 - thank you to everyone who has already signed up. If you and your family are participating in classes for Term 3, we need to ask that you add your name to the helper list somewhere. You can sign up online using this link under the Members Only tab.

DISMISSAL: We reminded members on Friday that 2nd Hour teachers should bring all kids back to the Fellowship Hall for dismissal. Sometimes we have announcements to share at closing time, and sometimes we don't. Whether we have announcements or not, all students should be dismissed from the Fellowship Hall. This reduces the amount of confusion and excess traffic and noise in the hallways - remember, we're trying to be considerate guests of our hosts, the staff of St. Paul's Church. It is also GREATLY appreciated if every member would take the few seconds to push one or two chairs back under the tables in the hall before leaving. If every member does this, it saves the Founding Members a lot of time during the clean-up chores we do each week.

Thank you to everyone who participated in Terms 1 and 2! We're grateful to our teachers and helpers for creating fun, enriching learning opportunities for our kids, and to the parents who bring their students each week.

The Founding Members would like to wish each of you a blessed holiday season with your loved ones, and we look forward to seeing you again in January!

Term 3 Helper Sign-up

MLC wishes you all have a safe and Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

We have one more co-op class on December 12th, before we break for the holidays.

We would like to have Term 3 helpers assigned soon, so we are ready for January 9th, the first class of Term 3.

Our online sign up sheet has been updated.  You can access it through the MEMBERS page or by using the link below.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO HELP FOR TERM 3

Thank You!

Mindful Mom's Night Out

Mindful Mom Members will be gathering at M's Pub, 422 S 11th St, Omaha, NE at 6:30 pm on Monday, December 8, 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.