Hello SLOCA Families –
Time for another weekly update, and we have some exciting things to share with you!
We’ve Reached Our Goal!
We are so happy to announce that as of today, we have 20 registered students for this fall. Our goal was 20, and we are thrilled we’ve reached it at this point in the summer. We are confident we’ll keep adding in numbers during the next 6 weeks. Thank you again to all who have joined us and for those that have spread the word to interested families. We are excited!
Welcome!
This week we have seven new families to welcome, including the Ronda’s, the Pock’s, the Olson’s, and the Boughton’s. We’ll share the other family names as we receive permission to do so. There is an air of excitement amongst the families that is contagious, and we truly look forward to being partners with these families this coming year.
Class Distribution
Many are interested in how we will section off the various grade levels. Let us share with you where we’re at with this right now. This could change, as registration continues to add new students. But for now, this is where it stands. . .
We will have one kindergarten class, one first grade class, one class of grades 2-4, and one class grades 5&6. Our fourth grade may be added to the 5 & 6 rather than the 2 & 3 class. That will depend entirely on the students who register. Again our ideal is single grade level classes. There is still space in all classes, but enough to rely upon for sectioning them this way with the exception of kindergarten. We definitely need more students to provide this grade level this year. So far, we have two committed families, and will hold out through August for more kindergarten sign ups. In the meantime, we continue to work with interested and qualified teachers in placing them in the most appropriate grade levels, but we are sure that Barbara Hawkins will be teaching the 5/6 class.
Parent/Director Meetings
One thing that will be occurring over the next few weeks if you have registered with us, or will register with us this year, is a 1/2 hour meeting with the directors of SLOCA, Lisa Lewis and Susie Theule. During this time, we will be working with parents in preparation for the school year making sure questions have been answered, helping parents understand further what to expect, and taking time to ask parents questions that will allow the upcoming year to be successful for all involved. For those families who have already committed for this year, you will soon be receiving an email with dates and times that these meetings will occur. Please don’t stress about this! Meeting ahead of the school year is a common practice for private
schools, and will continue the process of getting to know each other – relationships we will all rely on in the education of our children.
Curriculum Lists, etc.
When a family registers for SLOCA, they receive a complete list of curriculum and required supplies. We are happy to speak with those still considering the school about our curriculum, but are not offering the complete list until registration occurs. Why? We have spent hours working very hard to provide our students with a full, rich, researched curriculum. While we realize curriculum choice is a definite factor in considering whether or not to register a student, we also realize that we want to protect at some level the investment of the families who have joined and of those who have done the research and planning. Again, if you have specific questions, we are happy to discuss our curriculum over the phone.
Once a registered family receives the list, they are free to begin their shopping. We are also working to keep required costs down, and this is reflected in our required curriculum list. Shopping for home schooling supplies can be time consuming and overwhelming. To aid you in this process, one of our moms put together a helpful list of online suppliers, which is listed below. Some materials can be purchased locally (There is a home schooling supply store called The Parable in Paso Robles), which we always support, but many must be special-ordered, and for these, there are plenty of online resources. Here’s the list our mom, Missy Grant, came up with (Thanks, Missy!):
1. Timberdoodle Co www.timberdoodle.com A good resource with good prices.
2. Amazon www.amazon.com A good place to search for all books. You never know until you look.
3. Love to Learn www.lovetolearn.net A good source. They almost always have stock.
4. Christian Books Distributors www.Christianbooks.com They have some of the best prices on the web.
5. Great Home School Books (Sheperds) www.greathomeschoolbooks.com Good pricing. Their site is a little confusing at times but they have a wide variety of curriculum. You need to know what you are looking for, though.
6. Ebay www.ebay.com For those who ebay.
7. Home and School Marketplace (Christian Curriculum Cellar and Eagle’s Nest Educational Supplies) www.hsmarketplace.com, www.cccellar.com
8. Beautiful Feet Books www.BFbooks They are just starting to distribute their materials through other distributors. They have great stuff, but you might be able to find their supplemental reading materials cheaper elsewhere.
9. Rainbow Resource Center, Inc. A southern CA company who handles all the curriculum we need and has free shipping for orders of $150 or more. www.rainbowresource.com
There are many websites to find reading books. Google a search and it will lead you to good prices. The best place to learn of a product is to go to its website (ie) saxon, or Bob Jones University Press,Mcgraw Hill, Houghton Mifflin. You don’t have to buy from the distributor but you can read about the resource and price it.
Finally…
Thanks to all who are working to make this school a reality. For those of you still thinking about the school, we appreciate the difficulty a decision like this can be. For those of you just now considering the school for your child/ren, there is still time to jump aboard! And for those of you naturally gifted at sales, please continue to lead people our way!
And as always, if you’d like to be taken off our email list, just let
us know that through an email and we will gladly remove your name!
Until next week,
Susie Theule and Lisa Lewis
“Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.”
–William Yeats–
