Please save the date for this special retreat! Registration will open on July 16, 2015, at www.refreshhomeschoolretreat.com.
Join us for a traditional Easter egg hunt as well as spring fun! Bring plastic eggs(with or without goodies inside) and baskets for the egg hunt, and bring a spring treat/drink to share. Teens and older students can help with egg hiding if they prefer. Dads often join us on this day too! Bring kites and sport equipment for free time. Hopefully, we will have beautiful weather, but we will meet rain or shine and hide eggs under the pavilion if needed! For those who haven’t joined us in the past, we do hide tickets in eggs to redeem for prizes after the egg hunt. And here is our normal schedule: 1-1:30pm – Families arrive and drop off eggs at designated area. 1:30-2pm – Teens/Dads hide eggs at a designated location while children play or eat. 2pm – We gather in grade level groupings for the egg hunt, with preschool in front, then grades K-2, and grades 3-6 in back. We usually cross the parking lot with our students to access the egg hunt area. After the egg hunt, students look through their collected eggs for tickets and goodies. Empty eggs can be donated to BHC for use in the next year’s hunt, or you can take your collections home. The tickets are numbered, and students will return to the pavilion with their tickets to claim their prizes. This is a monthly BHC group event, and we hope you will come and meet new friends.
We encourage our families to participate and attend this special offering for families in the Birmingham Metro area. Also, encourage your co-ops, tutors, classes, providers to exhibit. Families who would be willing to share their curriculum choices should register for a table in the Curriculum Share portion. Need to sell curriculum? Looking for low cost curriculum options? There is a Used Curriculum Sale available. More information at http://birminghamhomeschoolfair.com
Please insure your student's participation is secured by February 25th. Essential will be offering onsite administration of the Iowa Assessments™ Form E for grades 3-8 only. Students will need to be at the testing site by 8:45am, and parents/guardians should pick up by noon each day. The $50 administration fee covers the costs of securing all the test forms and results, as well as the administration of the test. All students who are tested must be home educated and currently enrolled in a church school (cover school) in the state of Alabama. Why are you not offering the Stanford 10 or the Aspire? The Stanford 10 is no longer current and will be phasing out next year. The Aspire test is not available to our school at this time. We are offering the Iowa Assessments™ and following the test choice of a majority of private Christian schools in Alabama. What is Iowa Assessments™? Iowa Assessments offers timed standard achievement tests with national norms. Click here for a document which shows the areas tested. REGISTER HERE:
Please insure your student's participation is secured by April 15th. Essential will be offering onsite administration of the Iowa Assessments™ Form E for grades 3-8 only. Students will need to be at the testing site by 8:45am, and parents/guardians should pick up by noon each day. The $50 administration fee covers the costs of securing all the test forms and results, as well as the administration of the test. All students who are tested must be home educated and currently enrolled in a church school (cover school) in the state of Alabama. Why are you not offering the Stanford 10 or the Aspire? The Stanford 10 is no longer current and will be phasing out next year. The Aspire test is not available to our school at this time. We are offering the Iowa Assessments™ and following the test choice of a majority of private Christian schools in Alabama. What is Iowa Assessments™? Iowa Assessments offers timed standard achievement tests with national norms. Click here for a document which shows the areas tested. REGISTER HERE:
Please insure your student's participation is secured by April 15th. Essential will be offering onsite administration of the Iowa Assessments™ Form E for grades 3-8 only. Students will need to be at the testing site by 8:45am, and parents/guardians should pick up by noon each day. The $50 administration fee covers the costs of securing all the test forms and results, as well as the administration of the test. All students who are tested must be home educated and currently enrolled in a church school (cover school) in the state of Alabama. Why are you not offering the Stanford 10 or the Aspire? The Stanford 10 is no longer current and will be phasing out next year. The Aspire test is not available to our school at this time. We are offering the Iowa Assessments™ and following the test choice of a majority of private Christian schools in Alabama. What is Iowa Assessments™? Iowa Assessments offers timed standard achievement tests with national norms. Click here for a document which shows the areas tested. REGISTER HERE:
BHC, along with Essential Church School, offers a kindergarten graduation for all area homeschool families. This special day includes a slideshow of our graduates, a personal recognition by parents, opportunities to share accomplishments through presentations and table displays, and a special cake reception for family and friends. For your graduate to participate, NEEDED NOW Pay the graduation fee and RSVP below with graduate’s full name for diploma and preferred name for cake. Space is limited. Order any needed caps/gowns/tassels by April 1st (check back to click here for options). We encourage all graduates to have a cap and tassel. Our group order helps keep cost low. Order Graduation Supplies Now NEEDED BY MAY 1 Email 3 pictures of your graduate to us by May 1st. Make sure you include at least 1 baby photo. Let us know if your graduate would like to perform or present. (Presentations are limited to 5 minutes) Order any McWane Adventure Hall tickets needed. (Adventure Hall admission is NOT included in graduation) Invite family and friends to join us for this special day! Reserve Your Graduate's Participation HERE Upload Your Graduate's Photos HERE ABOUT THAT DAY Parking is free for graduation attendees. Parking tokens will be available during the reception. Attendees will enter through the Event Center entrance. Adventure Halls are NOT included, but you can secure special group tickets here by May 1st. Plan to arrive 10-15 minutes early to set up your displays. In the past, parents have used presentation boards to display their graduate’s accomplishments. Each graduate will receive about 2 feet of table space. Space will be marked on the tables when you arrive. Please note that helium balloons are not allowed inside McWane. DO NOT CONTACT MCWANE for information about the graduation or group Adventure Hall tickets. They are only providing our event space. They are not handling ANY of the graduation details or group arrangements. All questions should be directed to BHC at info@birminghamhomeschoolers.com. Are you enrolled with Essential Church School? Please use the Coupon Code Essential1516 for a $5 discount on the graduation fee. FAQs What does the graduation fee cover? Event space rental and personalized cake reception What do graduates usually wear? Most graduates wear “church” clothes with a cap, gown, and tassel. We encourage all graduates to have at least a cap/tassel. What do parents normally say at presentation of diploma? We have parents come up with their graduate to present the diploma. Most parents share about the things that make them proud of their graduate, but often it is a simple handoff and hug. Please plan to keep your presentation to 3-5 minutes.
We love this opportunity to honor and celebrate our school graduates. Join us for this formal cap/gown ceremony with reception. Dress code is business/church attire in respect for our graduates. Tickets are required for admission.
Come for encouragement, education, and support! We will discuss homeschool legalities, methods, curriculum, planning, and survival. CLICK HERE for more information.
We highly recommend for our families to attend this convention and support this ministry to Alabama homeschool families. There are children programs, teen programs, helpful workshops, a curriculum exhibit area, a used curriculum sale, and special speakers. CLICK HERE to learn more and register.
