Category Archives: Blog

Honor Society Registration Open

Registration for the Colonial Homeschoolers Pi Chapter of the Eta Sigma Alpha National Home School Honor Society is now open. Our Honor Society focuses on leadership, integrity, networking, community service, and scholarship. Membership is open to any Christian home school student in grades 7-12 who meets the required national test score requirements, exhibits integrity in leadership, and participates in community service and/or church ministry. Please follow the link below for more information about the Colonial Homeschoolers National Honor Society as well as the application and forms needed to join. The application deadline is August 24th. 

http://cbchomeschool.wpengine.com/programs-and-ministries/national-honor-society

Be A Host Family For A Ukrainian Woman This Summer

New Horizons is an organization that matches families in the US with children from Eastern Europe for short term hosting. Several families in Colonial Homeschoolers have participated in this program. I receive word that there is a unique opportunity this year to host the chaperone who travels with the children. If you are interested, please read the information below, and contact Lydia using the number she provided.   Scott Wylie

Hosting a chaperone is like hosting a family member that you really don’t know but want to get to know.  Include them in your family activities, outings etc.  You will be providing them their own room and meals.  They have their own clothing and personal toiletries and will have some spending money to buy their family back home gifts.  You are not required to give them a gift unless you choose to. They will also be provided a cell phone by New Horizons which stays here upon their departure. The host families of the children in the area will be taking them out for the day/afternoon and you can coordinate that amongst yourselves.

The chaperone coming to Raleigh/Durham is from Ukraine and her name is Tetyana and she is 35 years old.  She speaks does not English and wishes to learn. Google translate or any other translation program helps at lot. I speak Ukrainian so if anything comes up you can contact me to translate or discuss.  My number is 770-783-1198.

The hosting period is from June 28th arrival time to August 2nd departure time.  You can host for 1 week or all 5 weeks or number of weeks in between. Communication is the key.

Thank you for your consideration.

Lydia Rollins

Ocean Life Class

Hello, 

I am re-offering the Ocean Life Class for 1-5th graders, on June 18th from 10:00-11:30, providing a snack. We will learn all about ocean life, look at specimens from the sea, play games, and much more! The class will take place at 202 Tecumseh Ct. Raleigh, NC 27607. (I have a Raleigh mailing address, but really live in Cary.) Admission is $10 per student. There are 10 slots available, so send a check payable to Eli Hancock to reserve your spot! You can get a full refund if you cancel three days prior to the class. ( I need to know how many supplies to get.) Also, please let us know wether or not your child has any food allergies or special needs. 

Sincerely, 
Eli Hancock

Homeschool Beginner Band Program

Update: The Homeschool Beginner Band will meet on Tuesday and Thursday from 1-3PM.

Registration for the beginner band is now open! You can register at  http://www.carolinaschoolofmusic.com/  The link to register is on the main page of the Carolina School of Music. If you have any difficulties registering for the homeschool band, please contact Jon Milton at JMilton@colonial.org.

Friends, I am very excited to announce to you that Colonial is launching a beginner band program for homeschool students. This program will be led by Colonial’s Orchestra Director, Jon Milton. There are still many details to work out. We don’t yet know the cost or times. However, I can tell you that this will be a top quality experience for beginner band students. Please note that this is a band program and not an orchestra program. Strings will not be part of what we offer. Instead, we will focus on brass, woodwind and percussion instruments. 

We are not currently enrolling students, but will be soon. I will post more information here, but I wanted to make you aware of this right away. If you have questions, you can reach Jon at jmilton@colonial.org. John has prepared the following Frequently Asked Questions to give you some more details. 


 

FAQ

Why do beginner bands and orchestras practice separately?

  • Strings and woodwind instruments are very different from each other. String players spend a lot of time working on bowing technique while wind players focus on breathing.
  • Wind players in general learn to play in “Flat keys” while string players learn to play in sharp keys.
  • There is no combined teaching method available on the market to use. This is because of the previous reasons.

What made you decide to launch a band program?

  • It is not practical to launch more than one group at a time due to the large amount of preparation time involved with each ensemble. 
  • As the band has the most variety of instruments (brass, woodwinds, and percussion), it would be the best choice to begin with.

Does having a band replace the need for private study?

  • Serious students should study privately. The band teacher cannot replace the direct education from a private instructor. It gives an advantage to a young musician, but plenty of students never study privately. They are also less likely to become as skilled of a musician as one who has studied privately.
  • Every band teacher had a primary instrument they grew up learning. This is the instrument they understand the best. They may know how to play all the instruments and can teach, but they will not have the same level of experience as someone who has specialized in that instrument. In my case, my area of specialization is brass. I can teach the other instruments, but it is not the same as studying with someone who has spent decades playing an instrument.

What is the purpose of a band?

  • Unlike private lessons, a band/orchestra allows students to interact with one another. They learn to play together as an ensemble.

Why did you choose the curriculum you did? (Hal Leonard’s Essential Elements 2000)

  • This curriculum has been widely used. It is innovative, but retains the time-tested approaches to teaching.
  • The books are in three volumes — beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

What is the cost?

  • Public schools employ full-time band directors to educate children. Children going through that program are given a tremendous advantage in that band directors are able to devote 40 hours a week to planning, communications, and teaching. I cannot offer that luxury.
  • To make this work requires greater parental involvement. A meeting with parents prior to the fall semester will let me show parents how they can work with their children to make up for missing time. By choosing a good curriculum that is easy to teach, time commitment can be drastically reduced.
  • Expected costs for the band program include purchase or rental of an instrument, a book ($15.00), and a tuition fee to be determined soon.