Fall 2015 Schedule

Check out the News on Next Year tab. A schedule for the upcoming school year has been posted! Details will continue to be added so stay tuned!

REACH Welcomes New Teacher for Expansion into Middle School for 2015—2016

We are happy to welcome Laura Ericson as teacher of our upcoming 7th and 8th Grade Science class. We asked Laura to introduce herself to REACH parents:

“Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.” – William Butler Yeats

To me education is not about the presentation of information for information sake – filling the bucket.  Educators should teach a student: how to learn, how to think for one self, how to pursue an interest – lighting the fire. Filling the bucket does little more than produce test results; but developing the burning desire to learn frees the student from the mentality of the masses.

As students begin to learn independently, all educational information, “truths,” facts, theories, etc. need to be measured and weighed against the Word of God. The Bible and the ability to learn are the tools our students can always take with them; and as they pass from the influence of the educational instruction provided and/or arranged by their parents, these tools will serve them well.

Our goal as parents and educators should be to create students that are able to freely think for themselves, and have the confidence that any subject and/or fact, can and should be tested against God’s word.  These students may be marked by secular society as “brainwashed;” but I believe any student, so guided, is able to resist secular thought; and is thus freer to learn and think for him or herself.

“Apply your mind to instruction and correction, your ears to words of knowledge” – Proverbs 23:12

I have been involved with home schooling for the past 21 years, both with my own children and as an instructor of science & math for other home schooling families.  My children have graduated from high school and college, one is an engineer the other an artist; both have worked or sold work around the world.

God has given me both a gift and a passion for the subjects of math and science. I can never seem to learn enough about these subjects, basically I am a nerd. 

I’m enthusiastic about the subjects of math and science.  I firmly believe that if God did not create the universe, math and science as we use them today, would not be possible.  I hope my enthusiasm and nerdy point of view come across in the presentation of my lessons and labs. My mission is to teach my students; that science and the Word of God can be and should be studied at the same time.

I have also taught math and science at Heritage Christian School (HCS) here in Topeka. I worked at HCS for two years.

Exploring Creation with General Science – Part 1 will be taught this coming school year 2015-2016

Using Apologia Ministries’ Exploring Creation with General Science textbook, 

TOPS cards, Legos, along with videos about volcanoes and dinosaur fossils; we will study the following topics.

History of science

Scientific method

Simple machines

Archeology

Geology

Paleontology:

   Fossils and fossil records

Exploring Creation with General Science – Part 2 will be taught the following school year 2016-2017

Using Apologia Ministries’ Exploring Creation with General Science textbook, 

Janice Van Cleave labs, K’NEX, along with videos about life and many systems of the human body; we will study the following topics.

Classification of life

Energy

Human body

Human body systems

   Digestive

   Nervous

   Circulatory

   Respiratory

   Urinary

   Lymphatic

Teacher Meeting this Tuesday, April 14 

Teachers, remember to meet this Tuesday at noon in the Literature classroom. Thank you!

Classes to Meet in Lower Level April 7.

This coming Tuesday, April 7, classes will meet in the lower level of the church. (The gym is a voting site for the city elections; thus we will not be able to access the rooms on that end of the building.) The nursery will be available as usual upstairs, as well as a parent lounge and optional study hall room off of the main church lobby.

Signs will be posted outside of the rooms and there will be a map on the admin table in the lobby. Please use the main church entrance (under the awning) for this week.

REACH Welcomes New Kindergarten Teacher

We are excited to welcome Billie Manderick as the Kindergarten teacher for this coming school year! Billie is a retired Kindergarten teacher who was missing pouring into the lives of children. She is known for her unique teaching style that meets children where they are at and helps carry them forward. You will appreciate her passion and skills as she works with the students.

Billie will be joining us for lunch this week. Please take advantage of the opportunity to meet her. Preschool parents, this is a great chance to ask her questions and get some ideas about next years class!

Used Curriculum Sale Some information to share: Subject: {Cornerstone Family School} Homeschool Used Curriculum Sale May 19, 2015 (3-7pm) Here is a link for an event page on facebook. This page should be able to be seen by anyone as it is public. You DO NOT need to be on facebook to see this page. Please feel free to share, email or call folks with information. We want to get the word out and have a really GREAT SALE! Thanks! Maureen Mulder  Lori Brewster is the contact for reserving tables. Private message her on facebook or here is her email. lori.brewster@gmail.com ...This will be at her Church, Town and Country Christian Church. https://www.facebook.com/events/1550334531892809/

Calendar Reminders! 

Picture day: March 10. The information we have for this has been posted on the REACH FB site.  We do not have a lot of details, however the photographer should be able to answer all your questions on site. The main thing to know is that you do not need to come at a different time than your first class of the day. Students will be pulled throughout the day to have their picture taken. 
If you forgot to fill out a form, you can do that upon arrival. Depending on how dressed up you plan to be, you might bring a change of clothes especially if your child is in PE class.

Spring Break: March 17. REACH will not meet; have a wonderful break!

Classes to Meet in Lower Level March 3.

This coming Tuesday, March 3 classes will meet in the lower level of the church. (The gym is a voting site for the city elections; thus we will not be able to access the rooms on that end of the building.) The nursery will be available as usual upstairs, as well as a parent lounge and optional study hall room off of the main church lobby.

Signs will be posted outside of the rooms and there will be a map on the admin table in the lobby. Please use the main church entrance (under the awning) for this week.

Teachers, watch for an email with your room assignments. Thank you.

Speech Class Begins March 3

The first of our 8 week courses concluded this past week. Students of the 1st—4th Grade Flat Stanley Literature class enjoyed making Flat Stanley cookies to wrap up this popular class.

Beginning March 3 is Speech Class for the remaining 8 weeks  of the semester. This class is in the same time slot as the Flat Stanley Literature class was (12:30-1:25) and is open to 1st through 6th graders. If you have not already registered but are interested, please send us an email. The class will review some of the things learned last year and continue to  build on those skill sets. Various techniques are used to enhance students speaking skills making this a fun and effective class.