Illinois has an excellent homeschool conference that happens in early March.  All the information is available on their website and although the early registration has passed, most sections and activities are still open for registration. The details:

11th Annual InHome Conference March 7 - 8, 2008

What Parents Need to Know About Military Recruiting in High Schools

President Bush's NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT grants military recruiters access to students' private ID information without parents even knowing about it. With this access, recruiters can make unsolicited calls and send direct-mail recruitment literature to a young person. Schools that do not comply with this section risk the loss of federal funding.

However, also written into Section 9528 of the Act is the requirement that schools must notify parents and students of their right to "opt-out". Schools are obligated by law to remove a student's name from lists given to military recruiters if that is requested by a parent or student. The burden is on you to fill out and submit the Opt-Out form [maybe?] included in your registration packet. If you need clarification your high school principal or guidance counselor can explain the details.

On Tuesdays, we will have Farm Thyme, which consists of visiting a farm one week and then following up the next week with a classroom component that relates to the farm experience.  On Wednesdays, we will have the Learning Circle, which is a day of 4 classes.  Every semester the cooperative will vote on what these classes are.  However, for the first semester it seemed best to already have things in place.  So, for this fall we will begin with Yoga, World Cooking, Spanish, and leather/bead work.  We will also share sack lunch together, have recess, and end our day with games.

We will be hosting a booth at the Kickapoo Country Fair on July 28, so please feel free to stop by.  I will send out the brochure via email as soon as I have them.  It is so exciting to see this coming together!

A group gathered in early_March to discuss the idea of children learning in a farm setting.  Christine (at loverocks(at-sign)mchsi.com for more info) reported that the first meeting was a great gathering of ideas and visions.  It was also productive.

We made plans to implement our final group vision in the form of a "practice" farm experience before the end of May.  Our vision consists of a two-day learning experience.  One day spent on a working farm doing meaningful chores that hopefully assist the farmer as well as give learning opportunties to the children.  The second day would be group academic focus activities that connect to the activities on the farm. Those in attendance had a focus on the needs of homeschooled children.  We are working to connect with a farm and work from there.

Our next meeting is Wednesday, March 21 at 7:00pm at 234 Center Ave.  Thank you to the Whited-Fords for opening their lovely home for both meetings.

The potential for a local Farm School will be discussed on March 8, 7:00pm, at 234 Center Ave Viroqua. Interested parents are encouraged to attend.

This initial meeting will explore options and gather ideas for organizing a farm school for school aged children. Christine Harrington explained that this idea has emerged from several people and the meeting will be a very preliminary bringing together of ideas, exchanging of visions.