05/05/08

Welcome to Expanded Horizons - Hillsdale's central location for enriching opportunities. Click the links below to jump directly to that month's information!

December (caring) 2007              January (science) 2008     February (culture) 2008

March (healthy body and mind) 2008

March's Newsletter Included:

Exercise Your Body!        

Chester County Parks and Recreation – www.chesco.org/ccparks Advanced registration is required, so be sure to visit the site early to sign up! Check out the site for a complete list of April events.

CCSPCA Walk for Paws event – May 4^th. More information will be coming, but keep your eye on this date.

Exercise Your Mind – invent!  There are many websites devoted to encouraging student inventors. Some of them even have contests that could get your child on the road actually producing their invention!

United States Patent and Trademark Office – Kids pages   http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids/  This site has fun and interactive ways to learn about trademarks and patents, as well as idea machines to get the creative juices flowing!

National Museum of Education – www.nmoe.org  Are you looking for a contest? Check out this site! They sponsor a monthly contest with prizes in a variety of age groups! They also list a yearly contest for the best use of Bubble Wrap! This year’s contest is over, but you can see the ideas that won to get you revved up for next year.

Help others while you learn about different cultures! The Hagley Museum and Power Up Gambia are celebrating renewable energy sources and African Culture.

Power Up Gambia is a project working toward bringing solar power to poor hospitals in Gambia.

April 20^th from 10-4

Free admission, Hagley Museum and Library entry through Buck Road

 For detailed info please visit www.powerupgambia.org <http://www.powerupgambia.org>  closer to April 20th.

February's Newsletter included:

Celebrate Chinese New Year!

    Chinese New Year celebrations in Philadelphia’s Chinatown are the 10th, 17^th, and 24^th (all Sundays) at noon.  The Year of the Rat is celebrated with a lion dance through the streets of Chinatown.  A Rat Year is said to be a good time to make a fresh start. Firecrackers scare away evil spirits, and the lion dances to bring happiness in for the New Year.  http://www.phillyfunguide.com/event.php?id=17718

Celebrate Irish Culture!

The Chester County Historical Society http://www.cchs-pa.org/index.php honors Irish culture through their music.  Masters of the Celtic Harp Performance on Saturday, March 8^th at 7 PM - Irish harper Grainne Hambly & Scottish harper William Jackson will present their "Two Sides of Celtic" concert on two harps, concertina, bouzouki and tinwhistle. Irishphiladelphia.com says they have "most creative interpretations of Irish and Scottish traditional music you're likely to hear."

Celebrate Many Cultures at the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum!

This issue will be out after the African Culture celebration (Feb 16^th), but there are exhibits at the museum that include Ancient Egypt, Israel, Africa, and Native American cultures. They have upcoming cultural events including:

                http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/events/index.php . 

                March 1^st : A Family Workshop on Southwest Native  American art. You can bead necklaces and paint with sand in the Native American tradition.

                March 29^th: Celebrate Indian Culture with art, music, and food.

January's newsletter included the following information:

Did you love this month’s science night? Science is real – and really fun! Read on to find more ways to encourage your child’s love of science.

The Exploratorium website www.exploratorium.edu has webcasts you can watch for free! They are currently featuring ICE STORIES, which are created by scientists in Antarctica. The webcasts also include archives of cool topics like “Camping on Mars” and “Iron Science Teacher”.  The “Explore” section of their website includes topics like “Sports Science” and “Space Weather”.

Looking for specifics on physics? (Be honest, who isn’t, from time to time?) Visit www.physics.org for a fabulous site. Click on “interact” to find games and demos that illustrate topics like the conservation of momentum and gravity. On the same page you can also discover videos that illustrate Einstein’s ideas and experiments using balloons or straws or eggs. Who knew balloons could be a teaching tool? 

Finally, consider the summer camp program called Camp Invention. www.invent.com/camp/ Camp Invention is being offered in our district this summer. A bright yellow sheet came home with information about this program. All children in the district (going into 2^nd -6^th grade) are eligible to register for this summer program. Students will do hands on science activities, including roller coaster physics and problem solving on Planet Zak. Visit the site for more information about this great opportunity!

December's Newsletter included the following information:

Local Opportunities:

Children Creating Bridges: http://www.childrencreatingbridges.org/ This is a new program in our area. Their mission statement is “to encourage children to be active participants in cultural and educational exchanges with the goal of bringing hope and celebration of diversity to their own communities and throughout the world.”  One of the projects they are currently promoting is “Warm caps for babies”. They are collecting hand made (knitted or crocheted) caps for newborns, who could die without the warmth the caps provide. If you are interested, they also have volunteers who will come out and teach kids how to make the caps! 

Chester County SPCA http://www.ccspca.org/  Most volunteer programs at the SPCA require kids to be at least 18. There is one program, called “Junior Fur Star” that will take students between 10-15 years old. The SPCA is always looking for donations of things you may have around the house! Take a look at their website to see what they currently need.

Online Resources:

Free Rice – http://www.freerice.com/ This website is a great opportunity for learning new vocabulary AND helping others! The program adjusts to your level of vocabulary knowledge, helping you learn new words. (It gets hard enough that it is a challenge even for college students!) For each word you get correct, the organization donates rice to third world nations through the United Nations World Food Program. What a win-win situation!