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http://feastbookstore.com/opencart5/image/cache/data/Spectrum%20Testprep%207-228x228.jpgFamily Educators Alliance of South Texas

M A N N AVolume 29 | I ssue 3 | March 2016

Truth Exhibit A:The HandTea Time

Books worth Reading

– Brain Game – Say yes to Chess

Showers of Blessings

Disabilities Diminished or Eliminated

KeepCalm

and

Do TheMath

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Imagine a fun, family flea market festival where everything is offered FREE of charge… What a blessing!

FEAST BlESSingS BAShMonday, March 21, 10am-12pm in Burwood Hall

What is a Blessings Bash?

This is a FREELY give — FREELY receive event. There will be no exchange of $$, and you are not required to bring anything! Come and find items

for your family and bless others with things you no lon-ger need. You may need to bring bags, boxes, or wag-ons to take items to your car :-)

What treasures can you bring or find?

Bring as many usable items from your home as you can. We would love to display:

• Curriculum • Books • Media • Clothing (No Undergarments Please) • Kitchen & Household Goods • Toys • Baby Equipment • Home Décor • Even Furniture (No Broken Items)

Instructions for the Blessings Bash:

Be here by 9:30am to place your items for the bash in the designated areas. There will be tarps and signs to distribute the items for ease of shopping. Presorting your items before you come makes it easier to distrib-ute to the appropriate areas. Please do not bring any items that are toxic or unable to be donated.

From 10-12pm is when the fun begins! Check out the array of incredible finds brought by home school fam-ilies from all across the San Antonio area. At the end of the Blessings Bash you are welcome to keep any items you brought that are leftover. All remaining items will be given to charitable organizations.

Please note:

This event is for home schoolers from San Antonio and surrounding areas. We all know families in need, and the desire of our hearts is to bless others. Please feel free to invite people you know from your home school or church group, and even friends and relatives! We want this to be a blessing to all and welcome as many as we can. Since items at the sale are offered from Christian generosity, please advise all guests to be considerate and only take what their family can use. Items are not to be taken intentionally to sell, but rath-er with the mindset of kindness, sharing our blessings, frugality, and gratitude.

Due to prior issues, we need some volunteers to watch the area to help it be more secure. If you or your hus-band are available to help, please let us know. Contact Jeanette Watje at, jeanettewatje@outlook.com, for more information.

"...there shall be showers of blessing."Ezekiel 34:26

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It’s Tea Time…Tea is the perfect time

to slow down and take advantage of the most important people

in your life! Join us for a special time to bless and encourage

your daughter over a cup of tea at the Supercharged Second Saturdays

Your Thrift Store FindsThis Supercharged Second Saturday event

is sure to create special memories that you and your daughter will cherish forever.

Click here for more info!

And You’re Invited!

Mother Daughter TeaMarch 12, 10am-1pm

We will have a lovely time of fellowship

and a sweet devotional, followed by a fun and fancy fashion show

featuring thrift store finds on the red carpet.

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Be

Ready

26TH Annual

FeastHome School

ConventionJune 9-11, 2016

!featured speakers

something for all ages

Childrens FairBoys & Girls Ages 6-12

Fair and be edified by our many other workshop speakers.homeschoolfeast.com

Come “shop till you drop” at our extensive Curriculum

CON

VENTION

2016

Be ReadyTeen Staff Leadership TrainingAges 13 – 19

Norman Wakefield

PhillipTelfer

John R.Erickson

Woody Robertson

LyndsayLambertMary

JamesTim

Lambert

BeverlyParrish

JodyHagaman

JenniStalmann

sally may’schuck wagon

challengeTween Girls Ages 10-12

AndrewPudewa

DaveNutting

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The ASVAB Career Exploration ProgramTake the ASVAB at FEAST

Wednesday March 23 at 10am

Stanford Achievement Test

Grades 3 -12Monday and Wednesday

April 25 & 27, 2016 at 8:30am – 1pm. The Cost is $75 per child.

Registration Deadline Monday - March 10, 2016

FEAST is happy to be offering the home school community standardized testing again this year. Testing is not required by the state of Texas for

home schoolers, FEAST offers this as a service only. Space is very limited, and registration will be accepted on a first come/first registered basis.

Verification: Each student testing as a home educated student must be verified by their parent/guardian. This year when you fill out the on-line or in-store registra-tion, you are verifying that the student you are regis-tering is indeed being home schooled.

Register here. No late registrations will be accepted. You will receive a confirmation by email within 2 days after the registration deadline and an email with in-structions 1 week before the testing dates.

THE ASVAB CAREER EXPLORATION PROGRAM is a free career planning and exploration program that combines a multiple aptitude test with an

interest self-assessment and a wide range of career exploration tools. Taking this test can be helpful to vir-tually all students, whether they are planning on im-mediate employment after high school in civilian or military occupations, or further education at a univer-sity, community college, or vocational institution.

The test is open to all students in 10th - 12th grades and recent high school graduates. Students who are considered freshmen are not eligible to participate.

The test will be administered at FEAST Wednesday, March 16, at 10am. Results will be given to students

at the post-test interpretation workshop which will fol-low. Visit www.asvabprogram.com for more informa-tion.

Register here!

Testing study materials available in the FEAST Bookstore!

www.feastbookstore.com

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High School Essay Intensive

Register Here:

A One-Day Seminar for High School Students & Teach-ers, June 9, Thursday, 2016, 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM

Cost: $50.00/participant (accompanying adult, $25.00)

Presented by IEW’s humorous and engaging direc-tor and master teacher Andrew Pudewa, the High School Essay Intensive class provides immediate

experience and inside tips toward high school essay writing, including...

Text analysis: Students will learn to employ strategies required in many college entrance exams or in response to literature prompts, including: how to evaluate the ideas presented; select facts or examples to support an

author’s claims; and identify stylistic or persuasive el-ements, such as word choice or appeals to emotion, which add power to the ideas.

The college applica-tion personal essay: Students will choose the question, create the outline, and pol-ish a final version. Participants will leave with a clear concept of the task their own outline for an actual per-sonal essay several new tricks and techniques to add to their repertoire. Open to all students regardless of their experience with IEW courses or methodology, this seminar also offers tools and tips for general composi-tion skills. Come prepared to write a great deal during this six-hour class.

Operation iCommandEmpower Your Teen to Change the World

May 12-13, 9am - 6pm

Are you ready to change the world? Are you pre-pared to shape the course of American politics, impact your local communities, and change the

culture around you? If so, then Generation Joshua is for you. Gen J will equip you to not only understand the history and founding of America, but also to make an impact in the world today.

The iCommand full day training, with Generation Josh-ua, is designed as an intense for-eign policy crisis simulation. The students act as members of the executive branch of government. They must respond to a variety of developing foreign crises. The students take on roles in the State Depart-

ment, Department of Defense, and national secu-rity organizations attempting to dis-cern wise and true courses of action. An intense look at the powers of the pres-idency in action, and U.S. foreign policy, iCommand provides student with an opportunity to test their own idea of how the U.S. should act on the world stage and see the consequences in real time.

For more information on Generation Joshua go to,www.generationjoshua.org

The Generation Joshua iCommand simulation is limited to 80 students, and will fill up fast, since it is open to Generation Joshua members through-out Texas. The cost is $95 per student and includes lunches and supplies.

REGISTER NOW!

Text Analysis & College Application Essays

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We would like to thank all the men, women, and students who continue to give their time to teach God’s word during our weekly

co-op devotion.

Theme Days:

Have any ideas for the upcoming co-op theme days, sub-mit your fun themes in the co-op office or email Roger and Johanna Davila at davilas@homeschoolfeast.com.

The FEAST Co-op Teacher Feature

Carol Schroeder

Personally traversing the home school trail for over 17 years, Carol Schroeder has a genuine

passion for teaching home school students and has instructed her own children from “kinder to col-lege.” Recently, her daughter grad-uated from college as an electrical/computer science engineer, while

her son is a college sophomore pur-suing a degree in mechanical engi-neering. By degree, Mrs. Schroeder is a Licensed Physical Therapist; by practice, however, she is a homes-chool teacher. Having taught co-op classes for over 7 years, she enjoys instructing math, writing, and high school level science classes. Car-ol has been married to her high school/college sweetheart, Dale for 30 wonderful years. Since leaving her career as a physical therapist,

Carol delights in instructing chil-dren and watching them learn and grow in God’s truths. While contin-ually seeking to impact children’s lives for Christ, she and her family are very involved in their church. They attend Mission Church where they both actively serve in various capacities.

FEAST Co-op Classes with Carol:* Biology I* Biology II* Chemistry* AP Chemistry* IEW Writing

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hathbefore ordained that we should walk in them."

Ephesians 2:10

Go GreenMarch 8 & 10 – Give us your best shot at a look that makes you want to go green!

Sunglasses DayApril 12 &14 –

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FEAST Student Council

Produced from a biblical perspective, and featuring medical, engineering, and other experts like Dr. Randy Guliuzza, Made in His Image will fasci-nate audiences with mind-blowing facts, dazzling imagery, and memorable

illustrations.

Episode 3: Uniquely Human Hands. This episode reveals the purposeful design of human hands and muscles that gives us unique abilities controlled by a sophisti-cated nervous system

Christians of all ages will marvel at the complexity of God’s creation as revealed in Made in His Image. We hope this series will prompt viewers to worship the great-est Designer of all, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A FREE companion young children’s program will also be offered. Younger children are welcome to sit quietly with their older siblings and parents in the main work-shop or they may attend a hands on science class designed especially for them!

Click here to register

February had been a busy month for the FEAST Student Council! On February 11th, the students were given a presentation on basic parliamentary procedure by Doug Rigdon, a homeschool stu-dent. After the basics of creating a motion were taught, they used the

process to create three different kinds of trail mix. This not only helped to reinforce the ideas of parliamen-tary procedure, but it also worked as a team-build-ing exercise.

After the lesson, the Student Council was given a special devotion by Lonnie Phillips on Acts 10. He specifically related it to the purpose of the FEAST Stu-dent Council, along with our walks as Christians.

Thanks so much to both of our speakers!

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

Genesis 1:27

FEAST Science WorkshopMarch 28, 6pm

STW Report

Smoothing the Way offered a wonderful work-shop on “Organizing Your Home” for their Febru-ary meeting! Bookstore offered 20% off for Patri-

ot Pass members and 10% off non-members that day on home school organization books.

There will be no Smoothing the Way or PIERS meeting for March. Don’t miss their last meeting before sum-mer break on Tuesday, April 12.

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FEAST Civics Class

Please join us for a time of learning and fellow-ship at our Civics class on March 16th. Check our Civics page on the FEAST website for up-

dates on our featured speakers. We will have mu-sic and drinks starting at 9:45am. RSVP on the FEAST website and direct any questions to Gale at

hopegale50@gmail.com. We conclude our meet-ing with a complimentary lunch. Entire families are encouraged to attend. No tests or writing required. Please bring a monetary donation to bless FEAST for the use of the room and their staffing assistance during the year. An offering basket will be on the table as you enter the room. Please RSVP by Friday, March 11th, for lunch. Click here to RSVP.

About Our Program

Our FREE Civics class meets each month at FEAST. The FEAST Civics Coordinator, Gale Sayers, spends many months handling arrangements with local and state politicians and government and civic leaders in preparation for our free Civics Classes. Please honor our guests by coming in business casual attire.

Attendance is open to all. Your faithful participation will ensure the success of these events, so please make it a priority on your family’s calendar to be physical-ly present. No writing is required, but personal notes are strongly encouraged. No tests are given. Come out and enjoy a very interactive time with our guests.

Many Thanks to Our February Speakers!

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25 % off Great Science Adventures for grades 2-7!

Introducing Dr. Wile’s NEW science program for grades K-6!

15% off!

Explore the Wonders of Creation series as a family!25% off!

15% off Life of Fred!Makes math fun for grades K-12!

March Book Store FeaturesMath & Science

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Mega STEM Blowout!

Lots of curriculum on SUPER DISCOUNT! 30% off or more!

You never know what you might find!

You can always find the lowest price at FEAST because we Price MatchClick here to read our Price Matching Policy.

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FEAST Chess Class

Studies show that playing chess is so much more than just a fun game; it can boost IQ and also de-velop both sides of the brain. Playing Chess in-

creases creativity, problem solving skills, reading abil-ity, and improves memory and concentration, while also teaching planning and foresight. Chess augments dendrites, the treelike branches that conduct signals from other neural cells into the neurons they are at-tached to; think of them like antennas picking up sig-nals from other brain cells. The more antennas you have and the bigger they are, the more signals you’ll pick up. Even special needs children are showing mea-surable success in these areas.

Scott Lane currently serves as our Athletic Director at FEAST and offers a monthly Creation Science work-shop for families. We are so grateful that he has agreed to invest even more in our great students as our new chess instructor!

Scott has an "A" rating with the United States Chess Federation (USCF) and is rated among the top 5% of players internationally. He played for his high school chess team and also competed on the collegiate lev-el for the Texas A&M chess team. He has competed in over 50 competitive chess tournaments across the southwest United States.

The FEAST Chess Class will meet Mondays from 10am - noon at FEAST, March 21-April 25. Scott will continue the format of two hour chess ses-sions with alternate playing and teaching sessions all levels. Scott will also conclude every chess session with a devotional from God's Word. Chess Class is $125, or $115 for Patriot Pass holders.

Attention Graduates of 2015

Home School Graduations will be hosting their 4th annual graduation ceremony on May 16th. Please contact Donna Faucett or Luis Tellez for more information. You may go to,

www.HomeSchoolGraduations.com

Fill out the contact information block in the website above and you will receive details of this event.

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The Nuts and Bolts of Learning Disabilities

Difficulty or Disability?

In order to adequately assess and address learning difficulties or disabilities, it’s helpful to first under-stand some general concepts before getting into the

specifics of issues and conditions. There is a difference in identifying one as having a learning difficulty versus a learning disability. Anyone can identify a learning dif-ficulty, such as a greater struggle to memorize math facts or learn to read compared to their peers, but a learning disability is more se-vere and has generally gone on for more than six months. To be considered a disabili-ty, it must be diagnosed by a trained professional and be at least two deviations be-low the standards accepted by National education stan-dards. Difficulties observed by yourself or others are im-portant in that these obser-vations may lead to making a decision about diagnostic evaluations. The good news is that learning difficulties or disabilities can be eliminated or greatly diminished with proper methods of remedia-tion and or accommodation. Remediation methods are specialized education and or therapies (physical, occupational or brain trainings) designed to eliminate or diminish the difficulty or dis-ability. On the other hand, accommodations provide methods of allowing a child to work in a way that is best suited to his/her way of learning to achieve their edu-cation. Accommoda-tions are needed when a weakness poses a significant impediment to accomplishing work. They are not a crutch nor meant to give the child “a leg up.” Accom-modations simply level the playing field in systems that are set up for “traditional learners.” Remediation and accommodation often go hand in hand to help al-leviate the disability and its impediments.

Where To Get an EvaluationMy recommendation is to seek thorough neuropsy-chological evaluations from highly credible, reputable and fully licensed specialists such as a clinical neuro-psychologist that specializes in the assessment and treatment of brain injuries and disease. These special-ists usually hold advanced degrees in clinical psychol-ogy. Additionally, I recommend auditory and visual evaluations from an auditory and visual therapist, par-ticularly if there are concerns that your child may have attention difficulties. Visual and auditory evaluations can help rule out attention difficulties and attention difficulties can mask a visual or auditory problem (Dr.

Eides & Eides, The Mislabeled Child).

Paying for these services can be an issue especially if you are underinsured or do not have insurance that covers mental health services. There are other resources worth exploring for assistance with diagnostic evaluations, in-cluding state/government/not-for-profit organizations, medical research centers, and universities with graduation programs in psychology.

Reflecting on recent articles that report home schooling as one of the fastest growing educational methods in the

nation, my observation is that one of the biggest rea-sons for this increase is that parents are removing their children from traditional educational systems in order to address their children’s learning differences that the educational system is currently unable to adequately address. Subsequently, it leads me to this thought: with an increasing number of students reporting learning disabilities, is this really their issue or is this an “issue” that is indicative of a broken system that has failed the student in identifying and embracing their unique learning style? Perhaps we are beginning to accept the reality that people have unique styles of learning and that the approach should not be cookie cutter but in-stead individualized. Diverse learning needs appear to be the norm rather than a difference.

"...disabilities can be eliminated or

greatly diminished..."

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Sports that are in season now... From YourAthletic Director

Spring is just around the corner and our slate of spring sports has already sprung into gear!

Our new golf program has kicked off with programs both for middle school players in the ISAL league, as well as new high school pro-gram. Both programs are getting instruction from our new golf part-

ners at the “First Tee.”

Basketball has concluded for most of our teams, but our boy’s JV1 team will be participating in the National Home School Basketball Tournament March 7-11 in Springfield, Missouri. Please pray for traveling mercies for this group as well as a successful tournament.

Track and Field and baseball have both started their practices for their re-spective seasons. In baseball, FEAST is fielding a boys' varsity team as well as two middle school teams.

As usual, a huge number of students and family members participating in track and field. This is one of our most popular programs.

Mrs. Diane White just reacently agreed to fill the shoes of High School Soc-cer Commissioner for the coming year. Thanks, Mrs. White, for stepping up to the plate and taking this on!

We still need a person to be our middle school soccer commissioner. If we do not find one soon, we will have to cancel our middle school soccer pro-gram in the fall. We would like to avoid that if at all possible. Applicants may call me at 210-861-0454 or email me at AD@homeschoolfeast.com for more information on this important position.

As always there is a wealth of sports opportunities for your kids and families to be a part of, excel at and enjoy at FEAST this spring. We hope your family has found one or more to participate in.

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

Psalm 133:1

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the highcalling of

God in Christ Jesus.”Philippians 3:14

Click to View the Complete Sports Calendar

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The FEAST Patriots High School Soccer team had a great season! The young

men played with passion, skill, and teamwork. With several ex-citing wins and ties, including a 4-4 tie against Cole High School, the team finished in grand style, the Patriots won 3-0 against Atonement with goals scored by Jacob Rodriguez and Kendall McLaren.

Special thanks to all those who have poured into the FEAST soccer program over the years! Congratulations to Coach Dot-zler and the team on a fantastic season!

FEAST PaTriots Soccer

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FEAST Patriots Track and Field

As the latter part of February ar-rives, the FEAST track and field team is making its final prepara-

tions for what is shaping up to be a great year. The high school season will kick off at Medina Valley on Saturday, Febru-ary 20th. The middle school season will come out of the blocks on Friday, Feb-ruary 26th, at Blanco HS. Coaches, fans, and athletes alike look forward to an incredible year of running. “I can’t wait to get into meet season. Trying my best for my team and setting new PR’s are my goals this year, “says Calvin Lindley, a se-nior athlete.

Track tends to bring out the best in athletes. Coaches and training push them to new limits, both physically and mentally. “Learning to hit the wall and keep going is a key strug-gle. You just have to find your own way

past it,” advises Tilden Jones, a junior this year. The coaches manage to get the athletes in shape, despite only practic-ing twice a week, through challenging workouts and strict schedules.

This early in the season, daylight is often a determining factor in workout sched-uling. Track workouts run until sunset, but the training doesn’t stop there. The coaches of FEAST track believe that spir-itual training is a key part of a Christian athlete’s development. Coach Dunn enthusiastically imparts the wisdom of both the Bible and his own heart on the athletes. Victoria Bowden, a senior, ap-

preciates this particular investment into athletes. “These awesome lessons will

last me many years after I hang up my spikes.”

Standing firm on this three-legged stool of Physical Fitness, Mental Toughness,

and Spirituality, the FEAST Patriots look ready to reach new heights in the 2016 season.

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The FEAST Navy Team won the inaugural middle school baseball tournament held at the Missions Baseball Acade-my on Feb 12 and Feb 13 by winning all four of their games.

Great pitching and defense was the highlight for the Navy team as only four runs were scored against them over the whole week-end.

The FEAST Red won their first game of the season over KIPP during the tournament in a 7-1 victory that was also highlight-ed by very good pitching and defense. Their only losses were

against the Navy team and the eventual runner up to the tournament, Knippa.

The season is in full swing with practices throughout the week until our first game scheduled for Feb 29 against SACS. Prior to that, the MS Baseball team will play an, 'Opening Day', game on Feb 23 where both teams will be introduced and the first pitch of the season will be thrown.

We still have a few spots available for MS Baseball. If interested contact the baseball commissioner at, patriots.baseball@yahoo.com.

FEAST Patriots Baseball

Hi Everyone!

Our Feast Golf team is putt, putting right along. The coaches

at the First Tee of Greater San Antonio are wonderful.

Our golfers are learning about the rules of golf, how to swing the club properly and which one to swing. They are also learning about Honesty, Integrity, Sports-

manship, Respect, Confidence, Responsibility, Perseverance, and Courtesy on and off the golf course. Those are the Nine Core Values of the First Tee Program. At this time, our Spring season is closed for registration. But please don't let that stop you from learning about the game of golf. You can contact the First Tee of Greater San Antonio for more information about their Saturday and Sunday classes and you'll be ready for our next golf season! Please keep our team players, coaches, and parents in your thoughts and prayers as we begin our tourna-ment season.

Thank you,Cindy Seward

FEAST Patriots Golf

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FEAST CALENDARWWW.HOMESCHOOLFEAST.COM

MARCH

1-15 Blow-Out Sale in Bookstore12 Supercharged Second Saturday14-18 Spring Break16-18 Bookstore Closed for Spring Break16 Civics Class at FEAST21 Blessings Bash23 ASVAB Testing25 Closed for Good Friday27 Easter Sunday28 Science Workshop

APRIL

9 Second Saturday12 Smoothing the Way12 PIERS20 Civics Class at FEAST25 Science Workshop25 & 27 Stanford Testing28 Co-op Classes End

MAY5 National Day of Prayer8 Mother's Day12 & 13 iCommand30 Memorial Day

Family Educators Alliance of South Texas, 25 Burwood Lane, San Antonio, TX, 78216 • 210-342-4674

The MANNA newsletter is published monthly. To submit ads or upcoming events for publication or to inquire about advertising, please go to www.homeschoolfeast.com FEASTTM reserves the right to refuse any adver-tisements or events deemed inappropriate for our publication. The views expressed in this newsletter do not

necessarily reflect those of FEASTTM. Permission is granted to reprint any portion of this newsletter except where noted, provided proper credit is given.