For updates and photos of Natalie please go to:
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KiwiSmithFamily/*Pete%2C%2BGenevieve%2Band%2BNatalie/
Genevieve’s baby
December 26, 2008 By 3 Comments
Peter and Genevieve de Deugd together with their parents, Henk and Sue and Craig and Barbara, would like to praise the Lord for the arrival of Natalie Elizabeth born at 9:07pm on Saturday, 20 December 2008 weighing 10 lbs 5! The Lord answered all Pete’s and Genevieve’s prayers for a natural, drug-free labour and also that they would be able to be thankful and joyful in the face of any complications needing medical intervention for which they are very grateful.
After the birth Genevieve was taken to theatre requiring surgery and stabilization due to heavy blood loss (nearly 3ltrs). She spent the night in intensive care and an extended stay in hospital for observation. She is very weak but otherwise recovering steadily and enjoying with Pete the wonders of new parenthood.
As for Natalie, her name is one which honours the birth of our Lord and Pete and Genevieve’s desire for her is that she will honour Him with her whole life. Thus she is also called Elizabeth, “consecrated to the Lord.”
May the Lord God be praised from everlasting to everlasting. His mercies are new every morning. All we have needed His hand has provided. May our mouths always speak of His magnificent goodness!
PS. As much as Pete and Genevieve would love visitors and phone calls, Genevieve’s weakness and need for rest means this should probably be put off for the next few weeks.
(Note from Genevieve’s Mum – Due to the huge blood loss, about 60% of her body’s blood, please let Genevieve rest. She is sleeping most of the time. You can email her or send land mail. She probably wont reply straight away and may take some time to reply.)
Mum fearful of school fines
December 25, 2008 By 2 Comments
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4803156a11.html
Mum fearful of school fines
By REBECCA TODD – The Press | Friday, 26 December 2008
A Christchurch mother is angry at the prospect of having to pay heavy fines because she cannot get her son to go to school.
Under new laws passed by the National-led Government, parents of truants can be fined $300 for the first offence and $3000 for subsequent offences.
They can also be fined $3000 if they fail to enrol their child in school.
In the past, parents could be fined $150 for the first offence and $400 for subsequent offences.
Michelle Chalmers said her 14-year-old son had not been in school for much of this year, but she could not force him to attend.
“We haven’t got any control, but we are being prosecuted,” she said.
“How do you forcibly get them out of bed, into school and keep them there, and even if they are there, how do you make them learn? I just don’t understand what they want us to do.”
Chalmers put much of her son’s problems down to lead poisoning from eating flakes of house paint as a baby. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) before starting school and has behavioural issues that have brought him close to expulsion.
At 14, he was diagnosed as dyslexic, but Chalmers said it was too late by then to make him want to be in school and learn.
“I was dropping him off, seeing him walk in and picking him up at the same place, only to find out later he had been bunking,” she said.
The former Aranui High School student was no longer enrolled at any school, but Chalmers had not been threatened with prosecution despite her son’s prolonged absence.
“There’s nothing I can do to stop it and it’s heartbreaking,” she said.
“I know I’m not the only one out there.”
Linwood College principal Rob Burrough said the move to heavier fines was positive, but cases needed to be looked at individually.
“Part of it is parental issues and part is student problems, so I think a $3000 fine will have some impact, but there needs to be a multi-pronged approach,” he said.
“Some parents have lost control of their children by their own admission, and so this is a burden for them.”
Linwood has been trialling anti-truancy programme Rock On, in which the Ministry of Education, police, Child, Youth and Family and truancy services work with the school and parents to get students back in school.
Canterbury police youth services co-ordinator Senior Sergeant John Robinson said police were working on their third prosecution this year for parents of truants.
“We’ll never prosecute anyone if the child is the issue, only if the parent is the issue,” he said.
Heavier fines sent a message to people that attending school was a priority.
“No parent wants to be held out there having to front up before the court and told they are not a particularly good parent because they can’t get their kids to school,” Robinson said.
HSLDA 2009 Art Competition
December 23, 2008 By Leave a Comment
2009 Guidelines
Submission Dates: January 1 through February 1 2009!
Entries received before January 1 or postmarked after February 1 will be sent back or discarded.
What
Students must submit a piece of artwork which, through the art, answers one of the following questions:
Category 1: What makes a day beautiful?
Category 2: What is true strength?
Category 3: What is worth fighting for?
We try to choose themes that will leave a lot of room for students’ imagination and interpretation. We want students to come up with their own ideas of what best answers the given question, without us dictating the response.
Students do not have to actually include the question or any text by way of answer in their artwork. The question is meant to be the inspiration and theme behind whatever image students decide to portray. Take the questions even further and ask your own and let your imagination run with it! Our judges love it when a student comes up with something they had not thought of before.
Basically, what does the theme make you think of? Then take it from there and be creative. We hope that students will come up with many imaginative ideas to fit the theme.
Of course, your entry must be original and appropriate for public display to our homeschooling audience (which is not meant to limit your creativity or choice of subject; for example, you are free to choose a serious or deep subject, such as suffering). We look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Who
Contest prizes and themes are determined based on the student’s age. If a student falls into Category 1 in age, then he or she must do the Category 1 theme and will be awarded Category 1 prizes. The same applies for categories 2 and 3.
Category 1: Homeschoolers ages 7 to 10 as of January 1, 2009.
Category 2: Homeschoolers ages 11 to 14 as of January 1, 2009.
Category 3: Homeschoolers ages 15 to 19 as of January 1, 2009.
For the purposes of this contest, an eligible student must have been home educated in the past year and received a majority of his or her education in the past year through home education.
Media/Format
- Flat, two-dimensional, artwork less than one-quarter-inch thick, not including mat or frame (drawing, painting, mixed media, etc.)
- Completely original hand-done artwork (no tracing, photography, or computer-generated artwork).
- All work must be matted and/or framed with a simple and lightweight matte or frame and have wire or other hanging hardware attached ready for hanging.
- Maximum size including matting and framing is 48 by 48 inches. There is no minimum size.
- It is highly recommended that you use plexi-glass rather than glass in the framing. We have received damaged artwork before from glass shattering in the mail. HSLDA cannot be held responsible for artwork damaged in the mail.
For those pieces that make it to the final round:
Fee
- $10.00—HSLDA Member Discounted Entry Fee
- $15.00—Regular Entry Fee
Entry
- One entry per person
- Entries must include a completed and signed entry form (attached).
- Entries must include an entry fee (only check or money order).
- Preliminary entries must include an 8-by-10-inch color photograph, 8½-by-11-inch color copy, or 8½-by-11-inch color digital print of the artwork. Preliminary entries will not be returned. Do not send the original artwork—only submissions in one of the above media will be accepted.
- Finalists will be contacted by the contest coordinator and must send in the actual artwork that was presented in the preliminary entry. Finalists will be instructed on how to submit their artwork for the final round.
Mailing
Artwork should be mailed to:
HSLDA
Attn: Art Contest
One Patrick Henry Circle
Purcellville, VA 20132-3197
Timeline
- Preliminary entries must be received between January 1 and February 1, 2009.
- Preliminary judging will take place in mid February.
- Ten finalists in each category will be selected and notified by letter and/or email in early March.
- Final entries from finalists must be received by March 15, 2009.
- Final judging will take place in late March or early April.
- Winners will be notified by letter, and/or email or phone and announced on HSLDA’s contest website and e-lert service by late April, 2009.
- Final entries will be on loan to HSLDA and may be displayed at HSLDA for one year.
Judging
- A panel of judges selected by HSLDA will judge both the preliminary and final rounds.
- Pieces will be judged on originality, creativity, and adherence with the theme.
- The decision of the judges is final.
Prizes for Each Category
| Category | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| First | $100 | $150 | $200 |
| Second | $75 | $100 | $150 |
| Third | $50 | $50 | $100 |
| Honorable Mentions (2) | $25 | $25 | $50 |
Other Information
- Proceeds from the contest will go to the Home School Foundation’s Special Needs Children Fund.
- HSLDA has the right to use reproduction of entered artwork at its discretion.
- All judgments are final and interpretations of the guidelines are at HSLDA’s sole discretion.
Please contact Contest Coordinator Cherise Ryan at contests@hslda.org with any questions.
Call to extend the school day
December 22, 2008 By Leave a Comment
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4800976a11.html
Call to extend the school day
By LANE NICHOLS – The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 23 December 2008
Teachers could be forced to work radical new hours, with the daily routines of thousands of children and parents disrupted, under suggested changes to make the school day longer.
The School Trustees Association, which represents most of the 2700 school boards, wants a national debate on whether schools should open well before 9am and shut much later each day to better cater for pupils’ changing needs.
Education Minister Anne Tolley has welcomed the suggestion, saying there is an “appetite” for fresh ideas to benefit pupils, teachers and principals.
Association general manager Ray Newport said any such changes would require a law change.
He conceded that extending the school day had huge implications for staffing levels, teachers’ hours and the effects on pupils and working parents.
But proposed changes to the education system by both major political parties, and a standoff with secondary teachers over their legally entitled breaks, presented an opportunity to consider whether the traditional school day was the best way to serve children.
“Schools should exist for kids, not for teachers,” Mr Newport said. “What are these kids going to need? Are they going to be able to access school outside the normal school hours?”
Mrs Tolley said teachers and principals had already suggested to her that schools’ opening hours be reviewed. “I welcome that. It’s a big opportunity for education [groups] to devise something that fits around the needs of the students.”
Schools could open for separate morning and afternoon sessions, she said.
Any changes would require widespread consultation.
“Some teachers might find they’re working afternoons rather than working nine to three. That might suit them or might not.
“I sense there is an appetite around the country to discuss some of these ideas.”
The comments come amid a standoff between school boards and principals with secondary teachers over new break requirements, due to come into force in April.
The Post Primary Teachers Association has advised teachers of their rights over breaks, but principals say the union’s hard-line stance would disrupt schools, forcing some to stay open till 4pm.
The School Trustees Association has now issued guidelines to all schools saying teachers’ non-contact time with pupils qualifies as a break sparking an angry response from the teachers’ union.
PPTA president-elect Kate Gainsford said teachers already had heavy workloads.
Non-contact time was essential for marking and lesson preparation and entirely separate from teachers’ legally entitled breaks: “It’s all pre-booked. It’s not people sitting around having a coffee.”
Some schools already had flexible operating hours, with many based around local bus timetables.
Secondary Principals Association president Peter Gall said the key consideration was whether changes could improve the transition from secondary to tertiary education and to work.
Note the poll on this page too:
Should the school day be extended?
Results as at 9:28am. You should be able to keep voting until midnight.
Yes (905 votes, 44.2%)
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No (1141 votes, 55.8%)
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Stuff polls are not scientific and reflect the opinions of only those internet users who have chosen to participate
FINAL RESULTS OF POLL:
Should the school day be extended?
Yes (3639 votes, 42.5%)
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No (4928 votes, 57.5%)
|
Stuff polls are not scientific and reflect the opinions of only those internet users who have chosen to participate
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