November/December 2014

Hello Rocket Cats!

Hope everyone had a great time at our pumpkin carving party, we can make this event our new fall tradition to get us into the Halloween spirit!

Next meeting is Wednesday November 5, 6pm at the lodge.  PLEASE BE IN UNIFORM, we are taking our photo for a Kiniya poster. We will continue with our "formal business meeting"at the start and I really need everyone to be on time, 6pm sharp. I am expecting the kids to take their roles seriously (president, vp, secretary etc) and if we are missing a person they cannot read their part or fulfill their assigned job. From now on the first 15 minutes of our meetings will be formal with kids discussing group business, we will rotate officers so it is important each child gets a turn being president. If your child is a historian, they are allowed to take photos at our meetings and events, they can print up and share photos with fellow members. We will continue through the next few years rotating kids through so everyone gets a feel of what each office is like. Thanks for understanding we need to start on time each meeting.

Wasewagan bead fair is Saturday November 15-16. You should receive info in the mail about what to bring, we will meet at 8am at Mcdonalds by the council for a quick breakfast and be on the road by 8:30. So far we have Art, Chris and myself driving up which will be enough drivers for the number of kids going. 

I have collected dues from Aliyah, Alissa, Natalie, Carly, Conner, Lizzie and Nicolas. Still need dues from Nate M, Nate N, Scott and Emily: dues are $75.00 checks made out to Camp Fire. Please bring a check to the next meeting, November 5.

Kiniya is Thursday November 20 at 7pm (arrive by 6:30 at the flagpole at Shiwaka) Our service project was to donate gently used jackets and coats to charity. Please drop of your coats to Lisa G by Wed Nov 5 at the latest (our next meeting). Remember to BE IN UNIFORM at our next meeting so we can take a photo of all the kids in their uniform with all the collected jackets. 

December meetings are Wed Dec 3 at the lodge and Dec 17 is our cookie exchange Christmas party. 

Belmont shore parade is Saturday Dec 6, more info to come

Starting in January, each child will be responsible for one 30 minute lesson plan for a future meeting. I will hand out a packet of meeting ideas next Wednesday, you and your child will choose your first,second and third choice. Once I assign you a meeting, I will give you the full lesson plan you can use to plan your meeting. Remember, we are working on lesson plans throughout the year on five trails (trail to knowing me, community, future, creativity, environment) Each trail represents a colored bead, each lesson plan earns that bead. When looking over the lesson plans, you can modify them somewhat but you need to get the over all idea across. If you have another idea you would rather do (such as have a special guest come and talk to the kids, teach the kids something or take a field trip) please let me know so we can make sure we have a good balance of topics covered during the year. The kids LOVE special guests and field trips, we haven't had as many as I would like. Discuss with your child what skill they have or talents, something that inspires them and see if you can get a lesson plan that fits. We can be creative.

 I will assign each child a lesson plan and meeting date so you will know exactly how much time you have to plan it. In the past I have had kids cook/bake at their house, special guest Game Warden came and did a talk, one child had a party to celebrate her mexican heritage with a pinada at the park, one child shared her family traditions for birthdays which included making a special bread from the country they were from etc etc... The sky's the limit! Remember you can just follow the chosen lesson plan as well, I will give you guidelines. 

Basically the 30 minute meeting will be 15 minutes lesson (teaching something) 15 minutes craft or activity. This can be modified however you need but this is the basic format. The kids run the meeting, you would be surprised how much the kids LOVE to run their own special meeting. This has been very successful in the past.

Thank you ! I look forward to seeing everyone on Wednesday!