Inspire Charter Schools

Hello Riverside County,

I hope you all have a good day off celebrating Veterans Day.

We want to send a special Thank You to our Veterans who are part of our Inspire Family.

Calling all students!

Inspire's Entrepreneur Fair is on December 12th. Make sure to fill out the survey in this newsletter by December 3rd to reserve your student's spot at the fair.

There will be 3 separate fairs that cover Riverside County:

Riverside, Murrieta, and Palm Springs.

Also, be sure to check out Inspiration Station.

It is filled with so many amazing field trips designed by our HSTs and Liaisons just for you!

Remember! If you or anyone you know has delayed registration for this year, please note enrollment is now closed for the current school year, but families can be placed on the waitlist to see if a spot becomes available.

We know you're looking for those holiday get-togethers! We've got many happening all over Riverside County this month. Keep reading in this week's newsletter to find more details!

In this week's newsletter, we have a 'Curriculum Spotlight' on Torchlight Curriculum.

You'll find the latest information on our new monthly Inspire Special Education Department Newsletter, information sessions, upcoming field trips, events and so much more!

Please reach out anytime and get to know us!

We are so happy to answer all of your questions and guide you through learning about homeschool philosophy, curriculum, and the homeschool lifestyle!

Don't let yourself drown in worry or fear over homeschooling.

If you find yourself there, reach out!

We are hoping to connect with you soon!

Audrey & Candice

Your Riverside County Homeschool Teachers and Family Liaisons are always here for you! Reach out to your HST or Family Liaison for support, advice, and connections with the homeschool community around you!

Look how we've grown since August!

Dear Inspire Parents,

Inspire Special Education Department is excited to share a new project with you – our Monthly Special Education Website and Newsletters. We hope that you find the information presented in our newsletter meaningful and applicable to your needs. We always welcome your feedback and suggestions on topics to cover.

Please enjoy our September and October issues and let us know what you think!

Inspire Special Education Department Newsletter - September 2018

Inspire Special Education Department Newsletter - October 2018

You can also access our Inspire Cares website to support you in your homeschooling journey.

Sincerely,

Anna Lindahl

Statewide Parent Outreach Coordinator

Inspire Charter Schools

Ph: (619) 627-9623

E: annalindahl@inspireschools.org

Dear Inspire Family,

We are working hard on stocking the Corona Lending Library and need your help! If you have any enrichment items, including curriculum, please let your teacher know as soon as possible.

Thank you for all of your help!

Online Subscription Package (OSP)

Did you know you that still have time to opt-in to our wonderful Online Subscription Package? Deadline is Decemeber 31, 2018. Please either opt in or opt out. Contact your HST for more information today! Click on the links below to view each of our one year subscription options!

When you opt-in to the OSP, you must select all 5 of your preferences at one time. You are unable to select 1-2 subscriptions and resubmit the remaining preferences at a later date. The system will prompt you if you do not select the full number of subscriptions available for opting in.

If you have opted-in and haven’t received your login information for any of the following subscriptions, please visit the vendor’s website and use the "Forgot password" option to get access.

IXL: https://www.ixl.com/signin/inspirecs

Learn360: https://learn360.infobase.com

MobyMax (select teacher login): https://www.mobymax.com/signin

Prodigy: https://www.prodigygame.com

Shmoop: https://schools.shmoop.com

Time4Learning (select parent login): https://www.time4learning.com/Login/SingleLogin/CustomerLogin.aspx

Tinker (select parent login): https://www.tynker.com/#/forgot-password

TypingClub: https://ics-osp.typingclub.com/

Topics to be covered in the future:

• UC /CSU Applications
• Common Application
• Community College Applications
• Financial Aid

Make sure you head over to Inspire High School Resource Site for all things High School.

Website: https://sites.google.com/inspireschools.org/highschool/home?authuser=0

Making Salt Dough Maps with your kids is so much fun! It just takes a few ingredients and some paint. Here are the steps below:

Ingredients/supplies:

• flour
• water
• one or two boxes of salt
• a map of your country, enlarged to 11X17
• tape
• a pencil
• a Sharpie marker
• paint
• large piece of cardboard

Step 1:

Place your map on your large piece of cardboard and tape down. Trace the outline of your map by pushing through the paper onto the cardboard.

Step 2:

Take your sharpie and outline what you have traced. There is your template and display board!

Step 3:

Mix equal parts flour and salt together to make the salt dough. Mix just enough water to create a dough that is a Play-doh-like consistency. I usually use the entire box of salt, approximately 3-4 cups.

Set the dough in the middle of the map and start to move it to fit the outline. Use a topographical map to help you depict mountains and valleys, rivers and lakes.

Add toothpicks at this stage to depict places or label parts of the map.

Step 4:

Place the map in the sun to dray for many hours.

Step 5:

Once dry you can paint and label it.

Have fun learning!

-Candice

Mrs. Cynthia Peel is a homeschool mom of four energetic boys, aged from 10-17. She’s been homeschooling since her oldest, who is now in college, started 3rd grade. She has multiple college degrees and has always had a philosophy to never stop learning. She is a member of the Southern California Robotics Society and a self-taught poly-scientist and computer programmer. There isn’t a subject that doesn’t fascinate her. She can get pretty excited and sometimes goofy when she teaches, but the kids seem to like that. She has been known to break out in ‘goosebumps’ during a lesson. She hopes to inspire that same love of learning in the children she teaches. She absolutely loves the amount of information that is so easily and freely accessible online through respected universities and sources like MIT.edu, Stanford, Khan Academy, Teach Engineering, Udemy, and even YouTube.

One of her degrees is in Economics. She has a background in banking and financial services. She has spent 20 years in that industry and has an entrepreneurial heart. Her business background helps her encourage the children to imagine how their inventions and creations could lead them into a new future industry or business of their own, if they choose that path.

Peel’s Maker Studio currently teaches S.T.E.A.M. Workshops at three Yucaipa, CA locations and at Gorman Learning Center. They do accept purchase orders from various charter schools, including Inspire! Their workshops quickly sell out and have waiting lists, so you have to be quick if you want your student to get in. But they are responding to demand and are doing their best to accommodate new students as they are growing. They also have an amazing online Minecraft Space Program that anyone can access through the internet on their personal computer. More information can be found on their website at www.peelsmakerstudio.com and by following them on Facebook.

Website: http://www.peelsmakerstudio.com/
Phone: 909-831-3198
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeelsMakerStudio/

This week we are spotlighting Torchlight Curriculum. A fairly new currciculum that is commonly compared to Build Your Library (BYL) Curriculum. I haven't used either program, but have asked a few fellow homeschoolers for their opinions and read up some research online.

Torchlight is literature-based and covers history, geography, science, arts, philosophy, and reading. The curriculum comes with a week by week schedule, a list of books and materials needed by week, and supplements to extend learning. Torchlight is Socratic and Eclectic. A Socratic approach is more focused on you and your child discovering and exploring new ideas through thoughtful questioning and discussion of great books.

Torchlight is written by a homeschooler and is available as an inexpensive digital purchase. The digital file gives you a schedule to follow which includes many books and supplies you’ll need for projects, and you’re responsible for sourcing all the materials yourself.

A quote from a fellow homeschool mom that uses Torchlight, "This is not a 1 click buy and be done thing. You buy the lesson plan in pdf format from the website, and then source out all of the books yourself, either from Amazon, Thriftbooks, or the Library. That can be somewhat time-consuming but is a positive to some families as they are not forced to buy ALL the books at one time, or all the books if they know they already have some of the titles or know titles are available at their local libraries." Thanks, Tina!

Torchlight uses much more modern children’s literature. I have read that some of the literature is difficult to locate at a decent price or at your library. So some digging for certain books may be on your to-do list.

"Torchlight is an eclectic curriculum; including hands-on learning, game-schooling, car-schooling, media, and bedtime story recommendations to spread out the learning and make it more of a lifestyle. Torchlight supports the Golden Rule, kindness, exploration, questioning, and scientific thinking with a worldly approach full of logic, equality, and empathy; while providing flexibility, allowing you to mold the learning experience to the learner." - SEA Homeschoolers

It sounds like a curriculum that's worth a look.

Website: https://torchlightcurriculum.com/torchlight/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TorchlightCurriculum/?__tn__=K-R&eid=ARDF7w4vrbvyGheTaJhnsmvrsA4NAc3QgUNS0IFqyyUs5nXXDnl0HK_DQtNWXLKUruXHODn2bBkFKZtv&fref=mentions&__xts__[0]=68.ARCoYKhdF0rSJoyVDUXGMFMoacC4b-Jj2OYqR-5lJFzQFUKQv5D5pH9vnhve22jUwuKPEIjgeXL3KlmZw4pYDOAKqxCVcxSULOLa5SrhExaeuNQP12JSrKFu-8qVoa53Wp1e6kFG-94QS7PC5fjx8xCEWE7wKtW3ixeH0Cl3dONVxO-pNNNf-pPFN6rFwfG-ldlo1vGBay7H3flXKAty1lge

Head over to the Smithsonian Learning Lab for access to resources and collections to aid in collecting data and information for your students' research, projects and passions!

Resources:

Millions of Smithsonian digital images, recordings, texts, and videos in history, art and culture, and the sciences.

Collections:

Thousands of examples of resources organized and structured for teaching and learning by educators and subject experts.

Website: https://learninglab.si.edu/

Email: Candicez@Inspireschools.org
Phone: 714-797-1209

Hi everyone! I am a mom of 3 awesome kids ranging in age from 10 to 6 years old. My husband and I are high school sweethearts and have been married for 16 years. Having homeschooled our children over the last 6 years in 3 different states, I've found homeschooling here in California, especially with Inspire Charter, has been a great fit for our homeschool journey. I am grateful for our ability to homeschool so freely and I aspire to assist other families with their own homeschool adventures!

Email: audreye@inspireschools.org
Phone: 951-541-4809

What do you want to hear more about? Drop us an email!

We'd love to answer all of your questions in regards to homeschooling with Inspire

and what the homeschool lifestyle looks like!

Website: https://www.inspireschools.org/
Location: 1740 East Huntington Drive #205, Duarte, CA, USA
Phone: (888) 215-3040