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!

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!

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.

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.  

CLICK HERE TO VOLUNTEER

(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.***

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. 

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.

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

Welcome Back

With a new school year upon us, we would like to take a moment to thank everyone for the 2013-14 MLC school year.  It was amazing to see everyone pull together to ensure the success of this co-op.  It's exciting to be coming together once again for another great year!  Welcome back to MLC!

We would also like to welcome our "NEW" MLC members and student members to the group this year!  We have a great group of returning members, all willing to help 'show you the ropes'.  So, please, when joining us for the first time, feel free to ask any of our members for help or advice about the co-op's schedule, navigating the building, etc.  If you ever have any questions, please feel free to contact a founding member in person or by email at MindfulLearningCenter@gmail.com. 

A few important announcements before heading into another great year...

First of all, many of you have been asking about classes/registration for the coming year.  August is the month we reserve each year for finalizing all plans.  We had originally hoped to have some information to you by July after the planning committees met, but we just needed that extra time to get our ducks in a row.  We plan to have online registration up and ready for you on or before August 20th.  That leaves a little over 3 weeks to get registered for classes, which begin on September 12th.

Secondly, in gearing up for next year, we have decided to have returning families re-apply for membership on our website.  So, if you plan to return to MLC for 2014-2015, please CLICK HERE to re-apply for membership. We realize that the information given last year might be the same, but this is the best way to ensure our records are up to date.  Even if you have informed a founding member of your return or plan to teach this year, you must still sign up on the website.  This will guarantee you'll continue to receive our email communication.  After September 12th, we will only send correspondence to those families who have specifically applied for the 2014-2015 school year through the online application form.  All other accounts will be deleted.  

We are excited about the coming months, and with your help, we are sure to have a great year ahead of us.

May 23rd - Hitchcock Nature Center

On May 23rd, MLC members are going to be gathering for outdoor fun at Hitchcock Nature Center.  If you would like to bring a picnic lunch and a blanket, please feel free to do so.  We are meeting from 10-1.  See you there!

If it is raining or unusually muddy, we might change the location of this gathering.  We will post any changes on our website and facebook page.  Let's hope for some sunshine!

Here is some information from their website:

Location:
Hitchcock Nature Center
27792 Ski Hill Loop
Honey Creek, IA 51542
Phone: (712) 545-3283
Directions: From Interstate I-29 take the Crescent exit and travel east to The Old Lincoln Highway. Hitchcock Nature Center is located 5 miles north of Crescent off of The Old Lincoln Highway.

Park Hours: 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Park Admission: $2.00 per vehicle per day or $10.00 annual permit

For more information, please visit the park website.

http://www.pottcoconservation.com/parks-and-habitat-areas/hitchcock-nature-center/

Mom's Night Out - Roja Mexican Grill

Mindful Mom Members will be gathering at Roja Mexican Grill, 1212 Harney Street in Omaha's Old Market at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 12, 2014. The menu can be found here.

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. 

MLC Pre-Summer Party!

Friday, April 25th, MLC is hosting a Pre-Summer Party for our members!  Let's hope the snow is melted in time.  Did I just say that?!#!*  If the weather cooperates we will have both indoor and outdoor activities and end with a picnic on the lawn at St. Paul's.

We will start at 9:30 with opening and a prayer, and begin the fun at 9:45.  Our planned activities will end around 11:30.  You are then invited to bring a sack lunch and picnic on the lawn (weather permitting).  Don't forget to bring a blanket!

Here's what we need to make this party a success...

The members who were present for the planning of this party did a great job putting together many fun activities for the children.  They plan to gather materials, shop for supplies, and organize the activities.  However, on the day of the party, we are in need of some extra hands to help with the fun!  So, if you plan to attend, throw on a pair of tennis shoes, jump in and help with the outdoor activities, assist the little ones with a race, or try your hand at tattooing the kids (temporary tattoos...of course!)

Below you will find a spreadsheet with the schedule of events and areas where we might need some help.  Following this spreadsheet, you will find a helper sign up form.  We would just like to fill in more of the helper positions prior to the party, so we are not scrambling on the morning of the party.

So, if you would like to offer your help, please let us know using the form below!  If all the positions are not filled, we will simply ask those who are in attendance to fill in where needed.

If the weather isn't cooperating, the entire event will be held indoors, including the picnic.  

So, bring a lunch, a blanket and be prepared have some fun!

See you the Friday after Easter...

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter!

Pre-Summer Party
9:30-9:45	Opening Announcements and Prayer
	Nursery Leader	PreK-1st	Person(s) responsible for bringing supplies	Person(s) leading the activity	2nd -12th	Person(s) responsible for bringing supplies	Person(s) leading the activity
9:45-10:30	Amanda	OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES:			INSIDE ACTIVITIES:
	(helper needed)	* Floatie Race	Alissa	Alissa	*Soup Toss Game	Lisa	(helper needed)
		* Balloon Games	Alissa, Brenda	Brenda	*Face Painting	Jo	Jo
		* Egg Race	Molly	(helper needed)	*Temporary Tattoos	Lisa	(helper needed)
		*Ping Pong Ball Toss Game	Lisa	(helper needed)	* Hoop Shoot Competition in Gym	Carissa	(helper needed)
		*Hole in One Golf Game	Lisa	Lisa	*Paper Airplane Contest	Lisa	(helper needed)
10:45-11:30	Brenda	INSIDE ACTIVITIES:			OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES:
	(helper needed)	*Soup Toss Game	Lisa	(helper needed)	* 3 legged race	Amanda	Amanda
		*Face Painting	Jo	Jo	* Balloon Games	Alissa, Brenda	Alissa
		*Temporary Tattoos	Lisa	(helper needed)	*Egg Race	Molly	Molly
		* Hoop Shoot Competition in Gym	Carissa	Carissa	*Ping Pong Ball Toss Game	Lisa	(helper needed)
		*Paper Airplane Contest	Lisa	(helper needed)	*Hole in One Golf Game	Lisa	Lisa
11:30-?	BYO picnic (bring blankets) - MLC provides lemonade & cups & possibly a dessert/cookie					Penny	Penny

Planning for 2014-15 ALREADY?! Yes, we are!!

Dear MLC Members,

We have so enjoyed spending our first year as a co-op group with you all. It has been a rewarding learning experience, and we’d like to thank all of you for your patience and flexibility as we’ve learned our way through this process.

We knew going into the first year that the Founding Members would need to have a plan in place in advance of the first day. Going forward, however, it was always our hope and intent to encourage more input from members and to open up more opportunities for members to take ownership of the group. Recent feedback has told us that many of you are eager for that opportunity, too.  We invite those of you who want to be more involved to become a part of the planning process for next year by joining one of our ‘ALL NEW’ 2014-2015 MLC Planning Committees.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN A COMMITTEE

One Founding Member will be the chairperson for each age group. Each committee will generate class topic ideas for Founding Member approval, will refine the class topics once approved, will line up teachers and/or guest speakers for each class, develop class descriptions for the website, and plan one of the four core field trips. This may sound like a lot, but if the committees stick to an agenda each time they meet, this could easily be accomplished with 1-3 meeting(s).

If you join a planning committee, it does not mean that you will be required to teach. By joining a planning committee, you are simply participating in the conversation. We know that not everyone is able to help in all capacities; rather, we encourage you to offer your ideas, thoughts, and talents in ways that you are comfortable with. With that said, however, we do want to open up teaching opportunities to more of our members, to increase the range of ideas and possibilities that we can offer to our students. If you would like to consider teaching next year, we would encourage you to join a committee. If you do not want to teach, you are still more than welcome to join a committee, and there will still be plenty of other areas where your help will be wanted and needed during the school year.

Please note that for the 2014-2015 MLC Calendar Year, we plan to separate the age groups a little differently, adding another class for the younger grades. We would like to have a separate planning committee for each of the five age groups as follows, plus Fun & Fit:

Nursery & Toddlers   |   Chairperson Brenda Wurdeman

PreK-Kindergarten   |   Chairperson Jenny Trail

1^st-2^nd Grades   |   Chairperson Jo Raymond

3^rd-5^th Grades   |   Chairperson Lisa Orsi

6^th-12^th Grades   |   Chairperson Leah Shannon

Fun & Fit   |   Chairperson Jo Raymond

Please prayerfully consider where your ideas, time, and talents might be used to benefit all of our students in the following year. Thank you for your participation and enthusiasm. We’re excited to see how things develop for next year!

CLICK HERE TO JOIN A COMMITTEE

OR Feel free to sign up Friday morning, April 11^th, where a paper sign-up sheet will be available.

Please sign up before April 16th.

Committees will begin meeting after April 16th.

All planning for 2014-15 Terms 1-4 will be completed by July 2nd.

FOR MORE INFORMATION or TO JOIN, PLEASE VISIT OUR NEW 'COMMITTEES' WEBPAGE.

Mindful Mom's Night Out - Wilson & Washburn

Mindful Mom Members will be gathering at Wilson and Washburn, 1407 Harney Street in Omaha's Old Market at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 14, 2014. The menu can be found here.

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. 

Summer Terms and Swap Shop

Hello! Summer is upon us, and we couldn't be happier, right?! :)

After going through the responses from our recent survey, it seems that some of you are interested in participating in our Summer Term(s). However, we are unsure if we will have enough students consistently to hold regular co-op classes.

Instead, we would like to propose an alternative to classes, allowing us to gather in a more fun and relaxed way throughout the summer.

On our calendar, we will post "Summer Activities" that will be held on certain Fridays between the hours of 10am and 1pm. Each time we meet, we can plan our destination for the next time we get together. We could meet for picnics in the park, go to the zoo together, visit a splash park, take a walk on a trail, have scavenger hunts for the kids, go bowling on a hot day, or come up with other fun ideas! The kids will get to play and enjoy each other in a less structured environment, which I am sure they will enjoy!

There won't be any registration for the Summer Terms and attendance will vary.
If an RSVP is necessary, one will be posted for that activity.
More than likely, though, it will be a 'come if you can' sort of thing!

So, join us May 9th for our first Summer Activity. We will have a Picnic in the Park at Big Lake Park in Council Bluffs. Location, dates, and details can be found on the calendar.

On another note, due to popular demand, we are having a Swap Shop this Friday, April 11th, during co-op classes. 

However, we are changing it up a bit by requiring that you take with you any items you bring that are not swapped.  We think this will eliminate the somewhat chaotic ending to what is otherwise a rather fun and exciting treat!  

You know the saying, "One homeschooler's junk is another homeschooler's fancy new goodies."  Ok, I made that up, but you get the idea...  So, please feel free to share your goodies, but remember to carry out your unwanted items when you leave.