February/March 2006

Volume 2 - Edition 4 - February/March 2006

Christian Home Educator's Convention Is Almost Here - Register Now!

REGISTER ONLINE now for this exciting, two-day event. It will take place April 21st & 22nd, 2006 in the warm and welcoming city of Kelowna. In addition to our keynote speakers, we will have a wide variety of interesting and informative seminars and workshops. Out keynote speakers will be Susan Wise Bauer, Dr. Jay Wile, and our very own Greg Bitgood. There will be programs running for the duration of CHEC for children and youth, so you can enjoy the convention worry-free. CHEC will also host a number of well known exhibitors. For more information, please visit bcconvention.ca.

It's Almost Re-enrollment Time	HCOS Enrollment
We will be receiving re-enrollments for 2006/2007 in the next week or two. You will be receiving an email asking you to fill out the re-enrolment form on our website. For all of our families presently enrolled, we will guarantee that your students have a spot in our program if you will re-enroll before April 15th. We have already received over 50 new enrollments for next year and plan to hire enough staff to take us to 900 students for next year. We ask that you begin to prayerfully consider your plans for next year and look forward to hearing from you soon.
Our Response to the Ministry Inspection Report and the HCOS Annual Report	Greg Bitgood
Just like last year we have had to go through an External Inspection with the Inspector of Independent Schools. Like last year, our school did very well in the inspection. Here is a copy of our response to the Inspector's Report: 2005InspectionResponse.pdf. It has both the Inspector's commendations of our school, their recommendations and how we have or plan to respond to their recommendations. You can also read this year's HCOS Annual Report for the Kelowna Christian Center Society Annual Meeting coming up on Feb. 2006: 2006HCOSReport.pdf. HCOS operates as a ministry of the KCC Society.

1+1=2? Absolutely

Chris McGrath

Math is a gift from God and by its very nature, enhances our appreciation for God and His irreplaceable and gracious gifts to us. Because all wisdom, knowledge and instruction come from the mouth of God (Proverbs 2:5,6), this simple sum, spoken into existence, can only be fully grasped through an understanding of God.

Math has an absolute nature that reflects the absolute truths of God. A teacher can evaluate work and say that one answer is right and all other answers are wrong, without disagreement from the students . . .

Guest Column: Reversing the "Socialization Question"	Sonlight Newsletter
We thought this post (by Lisa in TX back on October 27, 2000). taken from THE BEAM, Sonlight's ENewsletter might provide a bit of inspiration. A little reversal on the standard "Socialization Question" scenario that we all run into: Two women meet at a playground, where their children are swinging and playing ball. The women are sitting on a bench watching. Eventually, they begin to talk. Read More...
Announcing the 1st Annual Victoria Christian Homeschool Conference
Church of the Nazarene, 4277 Quadra St., Victoria Saturday, March 4, 2006 9:00 am – 2:30 pm Conference Speakers include: Rev. Norman Morrison, Janet Rainbow and Brenda Fawkes (Conference Information Here) For more information email: Laura Ferguson

Internet Site of the Month

Hello HCOS Families,

I have just come across some really cool online math resources. They are an initiative of the Alberta government (Learn Alberta) that focuses on providing engaging online learning resources. I'm really excited to share them with you because from what I have observed ...they are tons of fun! Also, check out Sarah Bennett's article on Supplementing your Math Program.

Math 5 Alive
http://www.learnalberta.ca/Launch.aspx?content=/content/me5l/html/Math5.html

Spy Guys - Grade 6 Math
http://www.learnalberta.ca/Launch.aspx?content=/content/mesg/html/math6web/math6shell.html

Junior High Math Interactives Grades 7-9
http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/mejhm/index.html?launch=true

From Amber Haas, HCOS Teacher

HCOS Chapel	Pastor Dan Knorr
New Time: every Thursday Morning: 10:30am HCOS Chapel

School Dates to Remember

February 15th - begins handing in the second Portfolios and Reimbursement information

Reimbursement Form

Sample Portfolio Checklist

March 13th-24th
Spring Break (Note - if you want to keep on working we encourage you to contact your teacher and make arrangement with them.)

April 20th & 21st Spring Exam Session

April 21st & 22nd
The Christian Home Educator's Convention!

June 30th
HCOS Graduation Ceremony in Kelowna. More details to come.

Resources:

What In the World

All of our families can now take advantage of the Canadian Social Studies current events newsletter entitled "What in the World"

Click here for the January Editions for:
Grades 5-7
Password: vote
Grades 8-11
Password: lake

February Editions:
Grades 5-7
Password: medal
Grades 8-11
Password: harper

Town-to-Town

HCOS has subscribed all of our families in theTown-to-Town (town-to-town.net) Socials Studies Resource that organizes web links to nearly every internet resource for studying in Canadian Civics and Socials.

1. Go to the website by clicking on the picture above.
2. Enter the User Name: HCOS
3. Enter the Password: Onlineschool

Britannica

We have now subscribed all of our students and families with the Encyclopedia Britannica- Online and Student Edition. Please email Suzanne to get your login and password.