The Taxes are Done!

KidsROCK has always been so very special to me.  The Lord has blessed us with all we have needed to minister to homeschooling families, and for that I am grateful.  I can say in all honesty the money doesn’t matter.  If I had my way, in fact, all activities would be free and we would supply support and enrichment to communities all over the country!

On paper, however, KidsROCK is a failing business.  It wouldn’t be a business at all if it weren’t for our small fundraisers that require a checking account into which we can make deposits to ‘an entity,’ rather than an individual.

One of the blessings of coming up red is that it helps my personal taxes.  The year 2010 was actually the last year in which this little business was legally allowed to fail and still qualify as a business.  Imagine my surprise when I plugged in all the endless numbers and discovered that were were only barely in the red!  That may not sound like much, but it is a huge improvement from years past.

It is neat to see KidsROCK truly become something of its own, made up of the many families who care and contribute.  Maybe it didn’t do my personal finances any good this year, but it blessed my heart to see this fledgling reveal a glimmer of financial possibility.

International Polar Bear Day

Here is a day with challenge built right into it!  Are you ready to strip down to your skivvies and jump into frigid waters?  I don’t know if I am! 

My niece and nephew did this last year.  They got a neat keepsake card with a polar bear on it and their names.  If you listen to them tell it, their words make it sound miserable—freezing, almost passing out, going numb.  But…if you watch them tell the story, you will see ear to ear grins, puffed up chests and a willingness to do it again.

Hmmm…I wonder…

Carnival Day!

How cool is that??  I am afraid I might begin every notable day that way…I will have to run through the posts to verify that.  But it is just so genuine, I am not sure how else to begin!  I mean, Carnival Day!  What else can be said except, ‘how cool is that??’

What will you do to celebrate Carnival Day?  I suppose there may be actual carnivals available in some areas.  It is too cold where I am to consider spending the whole day outside shooting at rubber chickens.  But we might have a little fun inside the house, making up our own little carnival. 

Let’s see, we could throw coins at a target for starters.  Then I can give airplane rides lying on my bed, shooting the kids over my head with my feet (that could count as my PE).  Maybe we will have homemade corn dogs for lunch and then stage a cake walk!

Any other ideas for a home-made carnival?

OH!  Isn’t there a CRUISE line called Carnival?  Yes!!

Membership Renewal Deadline

February 28 is the membership renewal deadline.  If you intend to continue your membership into 2011, please contact a council member to hand in your signed policies and renewal fee of $25. 

If payment is a problem, please communicate that and we will work with you in whatever way possible.  While running KidsROCK does cost money, it is never the focus.  We are far more interested in offering support and enrichment through community—that last word being key!  We never want families to miss out because of finances.

I am looking forward to another fulfilling year with my KidsROCK family!

New Season!

God bless all those working at ArkWebs, our website host company!  Apparently a server crashed, and they have been working diligently to retrieve several sites from backup hard drives.  Our own site had been lost, but it is now up and ready again!  And just in time for the new season’s calendar and March registration! 

Please run on over there to register for what we have planned.  I will give you a run-down for March.

Lego Club continues meeting from 3:00 to 4:15 on Wednesday afternoons.  All attendants have a turn at being leader, which means they open and close in prayer, conduct the share time, and choose and announce the Mission of the day.  Cost for Lego Club is $4 at the beginning of the month or $2 per week.

March 3rd is the first day of the Ladies Bible Study.  We meet every other Thursday evening through March, April and May to discuss the book Train Up a Mom by Vollie Sanders.  I am personally looking forward to this class and am excited for it to begin.  The class is free, but each registrant will need to acquire her own book.

Club PALS begins on March 7th.  We will be studying the character trait of Awareness.  This class is currently closed to registration.

Time to dig out the thinking cap!  Critical Thinking Class takes place on March 18.  The class is geared to kids in 6th grade and up and runs from 3:00pm to 5:00pm.  This is a fun class!  We will be strengthening our critical thinking skills with game-show style play, exploring logic, puzzles and visual problems.   Cost is $2 per student and the class size is limited.

Horse Rides are next on the calendar and this tour is a very special treat.  Join us March 23th at 1 pm to learn about and ride horses!  Cost is $20 per registrant and we need 15 registrants to make this tour work.  This is a terrific time to invite friends and family.  If you aren’t a current member to KidsROCK, but would like to try us out, we would love your company on this tour!

Do you like to play games?  I certainly do, and March 28 is the day the ladies are coming together to do just that!  Please join us for Ladies Game Night at 5 pm.  Just $1 reserves your spot and we hope to see every lady there for an evening of laughter and fun!

The final activity in March is the first day of Drama Club.  Drama Club will be meeting each Tuesday from 2:30-4:30 through May 17th, then performing at the End of Year Show!  Cost is $8 per child and the limited class size is geared to older children with experienced reading skills.

We do have one more special event that requires a March 1 registration.  We are going to see the “Ugly Duckling” play by the California Theater Center performed in Reno on May 18.  The price is $5.25 for each and every person attending.  We have an early registration date so that the best seats possible will be selected for us. 

So that is March!  Pretty exciting things on the docket.  If you have any questions or comments, please email me or reply to this post.

KidsROCK Academy policies state that registration is not final without full payment or payment arrangements.   We have several accepted payment methods, including PayPal.  The registration deadline for all of the above events is March 1st.  If EVER there is a financial need, please do not hesitate to contact us so that we can make the needed arrangements.  We never want people to miss out because of money.

Happy spring!

Website

We have a website with a lot of information.  It is updated regularly and is a pretty good place to go if you ever have questions about KidsROCK and our activities.  But in the last two weeks it has been down a lot.  Most frustrating is that the only way to contact the company is through the back door of our own site—which is down!

So while they figure things out, and I figure things out, please know that we are still available by our many addresses.  I suppose the easiest to remember is info@kidsrockacademy.net.  Never hesitate to contact us; we love hearing from you.

Whew! I am back!

I had not intended to take nearly a month off from blogging, but that is certainly what happened!  How does time fly so swiftly?  I surely do not know. 

My husband was on vacation for the majority of the time, and I enjoyed traveling to see family.  But I have been home for weeks, and still could not get myself to get back to regular posting.  I actually make myself weary when I consider my own deplorable state of self-discipline, so I choose to not dwell.

The one thing I can say in my own defense, and with some excitement, is that I have been meeting with wonderful minds and writing the next session of Club PALS!  What an exciting gift it is to research and write lessons in so many different subjects, gain further skills in various computer programs and work with wonderful people who support and encourage so selflessly.

Now that we are nearly done with the last phase of editing, and most of the supplies shopping is under way, I get to exist in this state of anticipation.  I love praying over the coming session, for the families registered to be involved and for my own home as part of my personal ready-making process.  There are stages in developing Club PALS that range from frantic to mind-numbingly boring.  But this stage is special.  Praying so specifically helps calm and refocus me away from ‘program’ details to the far more important elements of humanity and relationship.  Very fun!

If you are participating in Club PALS, may the Lord bless you with health and peace.  If you are not joining us this time around, I pray blessings on you and your family as well!

World Poetry Day

Man!  How wonderful is this?  Poetry can be so much fun—or so intimidating!  If you have been hesitant to explore the world of poetry with your kids, let today’s celebration be the perfect opportunity to jump on in!

Explore some traditional African story telling styles, where they repeat words and phrases for emphasis.  It becomes melodic and is quite poetic.  Play with nursery rhymes by adding verses or researching their origins. 

Acrostics are easy-to-compose poems that even the youngest can enjoy.  Let them pick a word—like their own names—and come up with descriptive words or phrases beginning with each letter of their names.  Here is my own acrostic!  If I can do it…

h-heart

o-overjoyed

m-mommy time

e-everywhere

s-school

c-children

h-home

o-open minds

0-often laughing

l-love

You can study Haiku—a poem that focuses less on rhyme, more on the rhythm of the syllables and the seasonal imagery.  You can study the Psalms—what better place to go to explore emotion, honesty and self-expression?  Don’t forget Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein.  These poets show humor and imagination—and even made-up words—are all in good standing with poetry.

Most of all, have fun!

Love Your Pet Day

Here is another cool day from my snazzy calendar.  I love my pets everyday, but I am good with giving them a little something extra today to show my appreciation for them. 

My little sis has severe allergies and acute asthma.  That translates into a pet-less childhood.  I had even accepted a pet-less adulthood.  That was before my sister started living with cats and dogs on a regular basis.  When I realized she owned a black lab, I figured I could finally get myself a four-legged creature to love.

I now have two snuggly Beagles and I sure do love them!

First Walk In Space Day

Here is a great opportunity to review some history with the kids!  There are so many aspects that surround celebrating a day like this.  The Space Race, astronomy and rocket science, the heroes, the tragedies, the triumphs. 

Kids with some energy and imagination only need a box or two to invent their own space vehicles.  Older kids might want to explore online what goes in to a space trip.  A little creative writing can break up the language arts routine, as well.

There is even a little something for the conspiracy theorists.  If you have anyone who wonders if we ever landed on the moon, you can watch Mythbusters.  Collection 4 episode 9 is dedicated to examining the several points that doubters use to suggest the moon landing took place right here on Earth. 

Happy celebrating!

Fly a Kite Day

I got this cool calendar with all these fun ‘holidays’ on it.  The special days just tickle me to no end.  Today is Fly A Kite Day.  Isn’t that awesome?  I guess we need to go grab a kid and a kite and have a ball!

Thank your Mailman Day

Did you know today is ‘Thank your mailman day?’  They deliver cards and letters all the time.  Think about dropping a little note in the box just especially for your own letter carrier this week!