HUB news update--Sept. 7 Labor Day greetings!

Homeschool HUB Weekly News--Sept. 7 Homeschool HUB phone: (269)362-0651 email: homeschoolhub@yahoo.com website: www.hshub.org Editor: Annette Ernsperger The information below is offered to you as a service. Please research and decide for yourself the value to your family. The Homeschool HUB does not endorse any programs or services other than those offered at the Homeschool HUB resource center. Send information to be added to the update no later than the Thursday before the week you want it to appear: homeschoolhub@yahoo.com ON THE CALENDAR: Details for the following events are on the calendar at: www.calendar.yahoo.com/homeschoolhub Sept. 9--Touch football, Oddfellows Park (near Hwy 12 and Bond St in Niles), 2:00 Sept. 11--Homeschool bowling, 1:00, Strikes and Spares, Mishawaka, $5 HERE'S THE BUZZ: 1) Spooky birds contest 2) Labels, labels, labels! 3) Explore-A-Vision 2010 4) Mid-winter home eduacators conference 5) Free videos/software And LAST BUT NOT LEAST: classified ads and links of interest at the end of your weekly news. 1) Enter the "Spooky Birds" Contest! Dear Birding Friend, Halloween is just a few weeks away, so we want to see and hear spooky things about birds! This is the latest environmental challenge from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Celebrate Urban Birds citizen-science project in conjunction with the Encyclopedia of Life website. We call this contest "A Murder of Crows and Other Spooky Bird Tales." (Believe it or not, a large group of crows is called a "murder," but there's nothing really scary about it. Crows are very intelligent, family-oriented birds.) Still, sometimes birds do things that seem pretty spooky and strange. So for this challenge, we want you to take photos, do a painting, write a story or poem, even shoot a video showing crows, pigeons, starlings, an owl, or any kind of bird doing something puzzling or strange to you. Then we can reveal what the behaviors are really all about. There's usually a perfectly natural, non-scary explanation! We've had two other environmental challenges so far this year and have received thousands of great entries. I'm attaching a PDF flier about the challenge you can print for yourself or pass along to others who might want to participate. As always, we have some great prizes, including binoculars from Eagle Optics and Alpen, birdfeeders from YourBirdOasis.com, CDs, books, posters, and more. The first 50 entrants will receive a poster by Pedro Fernandez showing various behaviors of crows, jays, and other birds. We'll post selected images and videos on the Celebrate Urban Birds website. The very best will be included in species account on the website for the Encyclopedia of Life! How do you enter? Email your entry to urbanbirds@cornell.edu. 1. Write "AMOC_YourFirstNameLastName_state" in the subject line. (Use the two-letter abbreviation for the state in which the photo was taken.) 2. Include your name and mailing address in the body of the email. 3. Tell us why you submitted your entry to the Murder of Crows challenge. What's the story behind it? 4. If you are submitting a visual image, please attach it as a .jpg 5. One image per entry, please. 6. Read terms of agreement. 7. If you agree to the terms, send us your entry before October 31! Deadline for entries is Halloween: October 31! Visit the Celebrate Urban Birds website for more information and to read the terms of agreement regarding all entries. Thanks for taking the challenge! Sincerely, Karen Purcell, Project Leader (607) 254-2455 urbanbirds@cornell.edu 2) The Homeschool HUB is continuing to collect Campbell Soup labels, Campbell's Chunky Soup labels, Campbell's Healthy Request labels, Campbell's Select harvest, Franco-American, Pepperidge Farm, Spaghettios, Swanson, V-8 Beverages, V-8 Fusion, Prego Italian Sauces and Campbell's Food Service. Give your labels to any board member or bring them to our homeschool functions. --AND-- We are still accepting Boxtops for education labels. You can find these on: Betty Crocker goods Gold Medal Flour Nestle products Cherrios Cascadian Farm products Chex Cocoa Puffs Cookie Crisp Country Cornflakes Fiber One products Golden Grahams Honey Nut Clusters Lucky Charms Oatmeal Crisps TotalTrix Wheaties Green Giant vegetables Pillsbury Toaster Strudel Totino Pizza olls Hamburger Helper meals Old El Paso Suddenly Salad Yoplait Fruit Flavored shapes Ziploc Kleenex Scott Kotex Poise Depend Hefty Nature Valley Cottonelle Huggies Goodnites Pull Ups Avery School supplies Go to Boxtops for Education.org for more info, and then SAVE SAVE SAVE those labels. Each one nets 10 cents and every 10 cents adds up. You can give them to any HUB board director or bring them to any of our functions that we will be having. Thank-you! 3) Challenging today's young minds to create tomorrow's world! Your students will invent the future. They'll discover new, improved technologies and scientific advancements that will create tomorrow's world. As an ExploraVision coach, you inspire them to make these breakthroughs. Jumpstart your students' imaginations by encouraging them to compete in the ExploraVision Awards competition and integrate the competition into your curriculum. Sponsored by Toshiba and administered by the National Science Teachers Association, the ExploraVision competition gives students in grades K - 12 the chance to create their own visions of the future. It's a challenging but rewarding contest in which student teams select and research a current technology, and then explore what it could be like 20 years from now. Research topics can blend in with your syllabus, enhancing your students' grasp of your material and helping you meet classroom goals. Members of the four first-place teams will each receive a $10,000 U.S. Savings Bond and an expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC to be recognized for their achievements. Four second-place teams will also receive $5,000 savings bonds. Big thinking and big stakes those are great reasons for your students to start imagining the future. Click here to get more information and register your team(s). Become a fan of ExploraVision on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. - The ExploraVision Team 4) After a one year sabbatical Mid-Winter Home Educator's Conference is once again ready to serve you with a wonderful line up of speakers at a brand new venue! We welcome back Sally Clarkson from Whole Heart Ministries along with Steve Demme of Math-U-See, and author Sarah Clarkson. January 29 and 30, 2010 Rush Creek Bible Church in Byron Center, MI. Don't miss the Early Bird price of just $35 per attendee– SEPTEMBER 1ST to OCTOBER 13, 2009! Please visit our web site today for further conference details. Registrations can be made by our secure online account with Paypal or by printing a copy of the registration form and mailing this form with a check. http://www.MidWinterConference.org Doug and Susan Prewitt MWC Coordinators 5) I have some free videos that you might like to have. Here are the titles: Charlotte's Web 2 Count with Maisy How the West Was Fun Passport to Paris Scrabble People The Rescuers The Rescuers Down Under Digimon Beethoven Beethoven's 2nd Beethoven's 4th Play It Smart Kindergarten Cop The Adventures of Mary Kate & Ashley Here Comes Peter Cottontail There Goes a Spaceship There Goes a Police Car Learning About Money Several Corny's Life Lessons videos. They can be picked up at my house in Cassopolis, in Edwardsburg, or any Hub function. If you prefer, you can send a check for shipping and I'll toss it in the mail. You can also arrange to them up with your favorite Hub board member. I can get them to the board member via monthly meeting. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TOTAL RECALL (These items will run until their pertinent information expires) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CLASSIFIEDS Have something for sale, free or trade? Advertise here! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LAST BUT NOT LEAST--LINKS OF INTEREST (links do not imply endorsement): 3-D geometry and math interactives: http://www.learner.org/interactives For kids--USGS earthquakes: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/kids Do you have any favorite websites? Send them to us and we'll share them! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DISCLAIMERS: While the Homeschool HUB believes that these events or opportunities may be of value to home educators, announcements do not constitute an endorsement by the Homeschool HUB, or its Board of Directors. It is the responsibility of individual parents to determine the appropriateness of any event or opportunity for their children. Participation in any event is voluntary and the participant assumes complete responsibility and liability for themselves, their family, anyone accompanying them, and their personal property.