Support for SC Moms and Kids

[jen1134]

As many of you know, I run Delectare Online which hosts discussion groups for kids using MP materials. My husband and I have been talking for awhile about this, and I ran it by a couple of people on FB Messenger, and we'd like to go ahead with a few things to give support to both SC kids AND us moms:

For the Kids:

We'd like to set up a once a month online get-together for the kids to talk about what they're studying, share any academic/therapy triumphs, and have a safe place to talk about their struggles. A place where they can share that they were able to spell "zero" by themselves and know that the other kids get what a big deal that is.

I know a bunch of us have 9-11 year olds so I thought that would be the best place to start this and then we can see where to go from there?

For the Moms:

I want to make sure we don't detract from the forum community or Sodalitas so I was thinking we could meet at specific spots in the year that tend to be more difficult...maybe September, February and May?

We would use the Zoom platform (that we use for Delectare) for both the mom and kid get-togethers and that will allow us all to hear and SEE one another! I'd also like to see if we can time the mom meetings so that sarahandrew can join us from Australia

The get-togethers will be completely free as the platform fees are already covered by the Delectare program. If Delectare was ever to be underfunded, then we might need to revisit that; but it's not a problem for the foreseeable future.

This is uncharted territory, so please let me know what you think!

[sarahandrew]

Re: Support for SC Moms and Kids

Oh my goodness that sounds brilliant!!

Count me in! Thanks for thinking of me with time I know time might not work but if it can, that would be so amazing! I can be up super early or do a super late night, whatever is needed (like I am doing right now up super late with teething baby!)

Thanks Jen and pass on thanks to your hubby too, that is a really generous thing for the two of you to offer to SC mums and kids.

[SPearson]

Re: Support for SC Moms and Kids

Yes, thank you Jen. Looking forward to the quarterly meet-ups. Please, if there are any others who need something more regularly, Jen, would you be okay with that? I'm so techno-challenged so I am not sure how to make it happen other than a multiple-way FaceTime or Skype. I guess I just wanted to be sure that if there were a few of us that could use something more regularly, and if we could pull it off, and if it didn't conflict with what you are doing, Jen, would you be okay with that? What you are doing would need to take precedence, scheduling wise.

Thanks again!

Susan

[sfhargett]

Re: Support for SC Moms and Kids

As many of you know, I run Delectare Online which hosts discussion groups for kids using MP materials. My husband and I have been talking for awhile about this, and I ran it by a couple of people on FB Messenger, and we'd like to go ahead with a few things to give support to both SC kids AND us moms:

For the Kids:

We'd like to set up a once a month online get-together for the kids to talk about what they're studying, share any academic/therapy triumphs, and have a safe place to talk about their struggles. A place where they can share that they were able to spell "zero" by themselves and know that the other kids get what a big deal that is.

I know a bunch of us have 9-11 year olds so I thought that would be the best place to start this and then we can see where to go from there?

For the Moms:

I want to make sure we don't detract from the forum community or Sodalitas so I was thinking we could meet at specific spots in the year that tend to be more difficult...maybe September, February and May?

We would use the Zoom platform (that we use for Delectare) for both the mom and kid get-togethers and that will allow us all to hear and SEE one another! I'd also like to see if we can time the mom meetings so that sarahandrew can join us from Australia

The get-togethers will be completely free as the platform fees are already covered by the Delectare program. If Delectare was ever to be underfunded, then we might need to revisit that; but it's not a problem for the foreseeable future.

This is uncharted territory, so please let me know what you think!

I love this. I have two aged 9-11. We're absolutely in.

[Miah]

Re: Support for SC Moms and Kids

I'm in, but I have no idea on how the Zoom thing works. Also have a boy in the 9-11 range.

[howiecram]

Re: Support for SC Moms and Kids

I have a girl in that range... any other girls?

[EmilyJ]

Re: Support for SC Moms and Kids

I'd be interested, as would my daughter in that age range (she's 9 and about to start SC4). I think it's a great idea!

[howiecram]

Re: Support for SC Moms and Kids

I'd be interested, as would my daughter in that age range (she's 9 and about to start SC4). I think it's a great idea!

My daughter is doing SC4 too!

[EmilyJ]

Re: Support for SC Moms and Kids

My daughter is doing SC4 too!

That's awesome! I'm so excited to be doing an entire program this year with this daughter, and working on getting her excited, too. (The hard part!) I'm excited about the potential of connecting her with other kids doing the same school program.

[sfhargett]

Re: Support for SC Moms and Kids

I have a girl in that range... any other girls?

One of mine is a girl - 9 and doing SC 3.

[jen1134]

Re: Support for SC Moms and Kids

Yes, thank you Jen. Looking forward to the quarterly meet-ups. Please, if there are any others who need something more regularly, Jen, would you be okay with that? I'm so techno-challenged so I am not sure how to make it happen other than a multiple-way FaceTime or Skype. I guess I just wanted to be sure that if there were a few of us that could use something more regularly, and if we could pull it off, and if it didn't conflict with what you are doing, Jen, would you be okay with that? What you are doing would need to take precedence, scheduling wise.

Thanks again!

Susan

I would be fine with attending a more frequent get-together, but I wouldn’t be able to host more than once a quarter. We couldn’t get moderators for two of the Delectare groups this year so we have one or two unused host licenses. If others are open to hosting, they can use those. I would still be there if any trouble came up but I wouldn’t have the hosting pressure all the time (I’m an introvert so that kind of thing weighs on me a bit).

Thoughts?

[Anita]

Re: Support for SC Moms and Kids

I’m going to chime in here with some moderator suggestions and meeting content.

* Welcome/Opening prayer
* Announcement of meeting, date, quarter
* Quick review of past minutes
* 5-minute reflection (can read aloud a favorite article from MP archives — one by Mrs Lowe is almost always inspiring)
* five minutes for general feedback and discussion
* take a poll (show of hands or oral vote) to see who achieved their goals from last meeting
* timed individual discussion — each member has 5-10 minutes to share what they achieved since last meeting and what they hope to accomplish before the next meeting, plus general feedback
* restatement of new goals for each attendee
* Closing prayer/dismissal

Moderator will be in charge of timing minutes and keeping notes. This format (or similar) will enable pretty much anyone to moderate without much trouble. So if Jen moderates one quarter, for example, she can send the minutes to whomever moderates next time, and that person can moderate without missing a beat.
The formal structure also keeps everyone on task and gives everyone a chance to speak and receive feedback without compromising time. Depending on the number of attendees, this would put each meeting at about an hour.

Thoughts?

ETA: this kind of format would enable anyone to attend without worrying what grades their child is in. Each persons allotted minutes would be content and goal specific to that person.

[VAmom]

Re: Support for SC Moms and Kids

May the moms still participate if they don’t have any 9-11 year olds? My oldest is only 8.

[jen1134]

Re: Support for SC Moms and Kids

May the moms still participate if they don’t have any 9-11 year olds? My oldest is only 8.

Definitely!! The only group that would be "restricted" is the kids' one so they can more easily relate to one another.

[SPearson]

Re: Support for SC Moms and Kids

I would be fine with attending a more frequent get-together, but I wouldn’t be able to host more than once a quarter. We couldn’t get moderators for two of the Delectare groups this year so we have one or two unused host licenses. If others are open to hosting, they can use those. I would still be there if any trouble came up but I wouldn’t have the hosting pressure all the time (I’m an introvert so that kind of thing weighs on me a bit).

Thoughts?

Thanks for responding on this, Jen, and THANKS (WOW!) for the offer to use Delectare to do it. Couple things here:

1) We need to know who else besides me would enjoy a monthly meet-up for an hour or so. If I'm the main one really loving the idea, I'll relinquish it as we don't want to work hard to get something off the ground that fizzles out. If there are others interested, I can't imagine we wouldn't all be fine taking turns hosting.

2) Jen, as for the quarterly meet-ups I want to encourage you to consider even having others host those. If it stresses you out or is taxing, then take one of them and have the others distributed.

So, please consider making a response to this thread with a "count me in for quarterly" or "count me in for monthly." And we'll assess after that.

I am so excited about the possibilities of this....and thanks again to our beautiful Jen for her heart and generosity!

SusanP in VA