From the Desk of M Giles: Refreshing Rain

A Moment of Reflection - Rain in a Dry Land

Atacama Desert in Chile is known as the driest place on earth. Can you believe it has gone as long as 173 months without a drop of rain!

This area received 0.96 inches of rain in one day in March. Doesn't seem like much, especially if you live on the West Coast), but get this - it was the equivalent of 14 YEARS of rain in one day. 14 Years!

I saw the picture above after the rain and at first thought, "oh that's beautiful".

Then I thought about the spiritual application of this. Can you think of a time in life where you have felt in "desert" mode? (Maybe it's happening right now). Perhaps it was feelings of emptiness, loneliness, sadness, or lack of purpose? The times we're walking through this season it almost seems to much to bear.

But then. A drop of rain comes. A kind word. A smile. A note of encouragement. A resolved conflict. A great day of homeschooling after days of battling.

I hope you're not walking through one of those seasons. If you are, I'm praying that through it all you will be reminded that the "rain" will come.

Around HCOS

First of all Thank you for all of your attention to submitting work samples and signing off on SLP's. It is greatly appreciated (especially since all of us are still settling into fall routines and the busyness of the start up of the year). So Thanks for making my role so much easier!

Last week I introduced the idea of Portfolios. Here is a bit more information this year:

We discussed November 16th as proposed deadline (if this doesn't work for your family, please just let me know and we can work on a time line that work for your family)
Think of this first visit as more of a "show and tell" rather than evaluation. Think of this first visit as a celebration and a chance to see how plans are working out for you.
The focus will be on Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science and Daily Physical Activity (DPA).
Try not to stress about learning outcomes (that's my job), or what I think, but rather gather meaningful samples that you feel best demonstrate your child's learning.

For families living in the lower mainland it's best if we can meet in person, but if that doesn't work, please let me know.

For families living internationally, I love to meet you virtually, but again, if that doesn't work for your family it's not necessary. You can use dropbox, google drive, etc and share samples with me.

Here are the dates, I have available (please note these are in Pacific Time)

Monday - Friday, November 2nd - 16th (anytime after 5 pm)
Weekends, November 7, 8, 14, or 15th - Flexibility on times to meet

So I hope this helps to take some of the pressure that can often come from portfolio time. I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon about a good time to meet with your family.