Homes Offering Positive Education

On the morning of Friday, December 11th, HOPE will host its annual homemade Cookie & Candy Sale at the Omni Center in Council Bluffs.
So dig out your aprons, push up your sleeves and call the whole family together for some good, old-fashioned cookie baking and decorating!
This is our main fundraiser to cover the costs of speakers and supplies for HOPE each year. Please consider participating by baking and decorating as many cute, unique homemade cookies and/or candy as possible and donating them to our annual Cookie Sale. Or perhaps, you’d rather volunteer to work during the sale?
We’ll be taking cookie & candy donations at the December 4th HOPE meeting and freezing them until the Sale. Or, you can bring them to the Omni Center early on December 11th.
Please contact our Cookie Coordinator, Denise Jacobsen for more details by email at denise@the-jacobsens.com.
I love to bake...I love to bake...I love to bake..

2010 HOPE Graduation? Do you have a teen graduating this spring?  In the past, HOPE has helped sponsor graduation ceremonies for HOPE families.  If you are interested in having your graduating teen participate in a HOPE graduation, please contact Kelly Wilson at homeschoolmom@gotsky.com so that we can get interested families connected with each other!

http://www.hopecb.org/e107_files/downloads/hope_open_house_flyer.pdf

HOPE’s annual Homeschool Open House & Resource Fair is tomorrow – Tuesday, August 4^th from 6:30-8:30pm at Salem United Methodist Church!   (SUMC is located at 14955 Somerset Avenue, Council Bluffs)

What a great way to meet other homeschool parents and visit with over 20 representatives offering academic & extra-curricular opportunities for your homeschool family!  See the above download link for the flyer for more details. 

We’re looking forward to seeing you this Tuesday night!   

If you have questions about the Open House or would like to have your academic or extra-curricular opportunity represented at the Homeschool Open House please contact Kelly Wilson at homeschoolmom@gotsky.com or call her at 402-291-3794. 

If you have questions about HOPE (Homes Offering Positive Education) or have problems opening the attached flyer, please contact Beth Wagner at wagnerz@loganet.net or call her at 712-566-9066.

With summer conferences coming up and publishers often offering early discounts it is wise to be prepared. Now is an excellent time to get ready for the next school year. Our April 3rd HOPE meeting is a curriculum share to help you do just that. Everyone is strongly encouraged to bring their favorite curriculum to set out so others can take a look. Why you are particularly pleased with (or disappointed in) a particular curriculum is valuable information that will certainly bless another home-schooling family. This is a wonderful opportunity to investigate a wide variety of curriculum hands-on before you have to get out your checkbook! There will be time to browse through all the materials everyone brings. HOPE will also invite some moms to speak briefly on specific curriculum based on your feedback to Cathy Haldeman at 322-1015 or by email clhald@msn.com. Please contact Cathy ASAP with what curriculum you’re using and what you’d like to learn more about. The doors at SUMC will open at 9:00am on Friday, April 3rd to set out your curriculum prior to the meeting and student co-op classes which begin at 9:30am. Please be a part of the April 3rd HOPE curriculum share—even if you’ve already got your own "ducks in a row" for next year!

HOPE Co-op Spring Semester Begins Jan 9th—9:30am-11:30am! There is something for everyone (PK-Sr High) this spring in the HOPE co-op and the semester fee has been reduced to $10/family! In January we will meet January 9th & 23rd. However, we will return to our normal 1st & 3rd Friday schedule in February. For our PK-2nd graders, we will continue a 2 hour class on both the 1st & 3rd Fridays based on “Five-in-a-Row” style literature unit studies. This simple, hands-on technique allows both adults and children to explore classic children’s stories in unexpected ways. Please contact Beth Wagner at wagnerz©loganet.net if you are interested in helping at or teaching a ses-sion or two. 3rd-4th graders, will enjoy 1 hour of Sign Language with Deaf Missions and 1 hour of Art with Kathy Fleury on the 1st Friday session. On the 3rd Friday session, they’ll have 1 hour of Sign Language with Deaf Missions and 1 hour of Science with Sue Duhachek. 5th-7th graders will be challenged with 1 hour of Sign Language with Deaf Missions and 1 hour of Science with Sue Duhachek on the 1st Friday session. On the 3rd Friday session, they’ll have 1 hour of Sign Language with Deaf Missions and 1 hour of Art with LeaAnn Schnack. The 8th-12th graders will continue their Art class with Penny Christensen on the 1st Fridays and Dissection class with Carol Schramm on the 3rd Fridays. If you would like to sign up your child(ren) in the HOPE co-op Spring semester, please contact Kim Shepherd at 256-7753 or kshepherd8©aol.com. We particularly need volunteer helpers on the 1st Fri-days of the month during our HOPE meetings. If you know of women from your church or family or teens not involved in the co-op that may desire to serve in this way, please contact Marie Hirschler at 256-5295 or marie.hirschler4©gmail.com. 

Teen girls, are you looking for an opportunity to get to know other HOPE girls better?  Would you like to explore how God's Word can impact your life every day?  You are invited to a HOPE Teen Girls Bible Study facilitated by Sondra and Sarah Michaels.  Our single statement of faith for this group is found in Ephesians 2:8-10, and we will start out reading and discussing the book of Ephesians with a focus on appropriating scriptural truths for our daily lives.  There will be minimal homework, less than 30 minutes between each meeting.  We will be meeting at the Council Bluffs Library, 2:30-4:00 pm, on the first and third Monday of each month.  Please contact Sondra or Sarah Michaels at 712-847-0263 or michrsbsb@cox.net with any questions you have.
 

by John Desaulniers, Jr.

Since August 29th, the nation has been riveted to their televisions, radios, and the Internet as we?ve watched the wrath and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina unfold in the Gulf Coast. One question regularly comes up, asked directly or indirectly, concerning those who experienced the onslaught first-hand: Why didn?t they leave?



There is more where this came from ...