Answers to your FAQ about summer workshops

How do I register my child?
In short, send us an email. Here's all the details: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9x_RglbiX-FVGRmQjE1Zk52aUE

What workshops are recommended for my child? She's in such and such grade.
Because not all children of the same age read at the same level, choose what works best for your child's reading level and interest.  Our blog post of May 18 provides some guidance as to suggested grades for each workshop.  Specific information as to each workshop can be found on the Summer Calendar, which is available here: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9x_RglbiX-FQlphT2p6UmlDbGs

When do the workshops begin?
June workshops start the first week of June. That's soon! If you are planning to sign up, please register now so we can plan ahead; otherwise, we may not have enough materials for your child. New workshops begin the first week of July.

What specific workshops begin the first week of June?
June 4 - More Than A Book Club - 1st of 4 sessions
June 7 - Sparking Creativity (creative writing) - 1st of 2 sessions; you can attend either or both
June 8 - More Than A Book Club, Shakespeare Style (Magic Treehouse & more) - one 3 hour workshop

I can't get it together by June 4. What specific workshops begin later in June?
June 12 - No Girls Allowed! - 1st of 2 sessions
June 19 - Sparking Creativity - 2nd of 2 sessions; you can attend either or both
Note also that registration is ongoing in June for July workshops.

I cannot get the links to Google docs to work.
Email Jennifer at sparkreadiness@comcast.net and she will send you the two documents as attachments.

What if I want to sign my child up for More Than A Book Club but we are going to be on vacation 1 of the 4 weeks?
Ideally, your child would be able to attend each session. However, in most cases, we can work with your schedule and make some adjustments. Send us an email or call, and we'll figure it out.

Our schedule is too crazy for More Than A Book Club. What options are there for us?
For a creative writing workshop, Sparking Creativity meets twice and you can attend either or both session(s).
Jr. Book Club and Book Club (each for different reading levels/ages) only meets twice in July, but you need to register in June so your child can receive the reading list ahead of time.
If your child likes Magic Treehouse, the Shakespeare Style workshop meets one morning for three hours (June 8).
If you have a son, try No Girls Allowed! which meets twice in June.

When is the 5th Grade TCAP Writing Assessment workshop?
The date is to be determined as Jennifer is trying to work out a location in Bellevue for parents who have requested it. It will likely be in late June or July.

All workshops with the exception of TCAP prep will be held at Firstlight Arts Academy, which is close to Barnes & Noble in Cool Springs.

Register now and see what Spark READiness ignites in your child!

© 2012 Lisa Ehrie, Thirteen Photography.  All rights reserved.

Summer Calendar Now Available!

Spark READiness is excited to announce our summer calendar!  For details, click this link to download the PDF:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9x_RglbiX-FQlphT2p6UmlDbGs

To find out how to register for workshops, click this link:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9x_RglbiX-FVGRmQjE1Zk52aUE

Below is a quick list of workshops for instant gratification but you will want to check the PDF to find out more about each workshop such as content and recommended ages.  If you'd rather have the information emailed to you directly, we'd be glad to do it.

More Than A Book Club
-Session 1: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
June 4, 11, 18, 25 (Mondays) 5:30-7:00 p.m. 
Recommended for rising 3rd-6th grades
$150

-Session 2:  Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan
July 2, 9, 16, 30 (Mondays) 5:30-7:00 p.m. 
Recommended for rising 3rd-6th grades
$150

-Shakespeare Style:  Friday, June 8
Recommended for rising 2nd-4th grades (Magic Treehouse level and above)
9 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. 
$45

-No Girls Allowed!  (all boys)  Tuesdays, June 12 & 26
Recommended for early chapter readers through rising 5th grade
6:00-8:00 p.m. 
$60

Writing
-Sparking Creativity:  Thursday, June 7 & Tuesday, June 19
6:00-8:00 p.m.
$35 for one, $60 for both
Recommended for rising 2nd through 6th grades
-5th Grade TCAP Writing Assessment Workshop - to be announced

Summer Sparks Book Clubs
-Jr. Sparks Book Club:  Tuesdays, July 3 & 10
6:00-8:00 p.m.
Early chapter book readers (usually rising 1st and 2nd grades)
$60

-Summer Sparks Book Club:  Tuesdays, July 17 & 31
Chapter books (usually rising 3rd-6th grades)
6:00-8:00 p.m.
$60

Register now as limited spots are available!

More Than A Book Club

Launch an intergalactic, top-secret spy mission

and discover the dangers of government-mandated conformity.

Discover water that grants immortality,

and decide who should be able to purchase it.

Make and taste "cricket sodas"

while you imagine yourself thousands of miles away in China.

Sit back and listen to great live music,

then think about what the lyrics really mean.

Create a Super-Bowl worthy commercial

and a marketing campaign for the next "must have" product.

Yes--this is learning!  It's all part of More Than A Book Club.  Each of these activities is built from the pages of a great book, such as ALA Notable work Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt or Newbery Medal winner A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.

Prior to each workshop, students read the club's latest pick and choose from a range of projects based on the book.  Each family chooses what works best for their schedule during any given week--some activities are shorter than others.  Then, club members showcase their projects for the group, and the club shares their thoughts and insights about what they've read and done.  Parents receive detailed feedback about their child's work as well.

Designed for children who have the ability and interest in working above grade-level in the areas of reading, writing, and critical thinking, More Than A Book Club stretches minds as kids are exposed to award-winning books.  Participation boosts reading comprehension, facilitates collaborative learning, and helps your child becomes more comfortable and confident making presentations to a group.  Best of all, everyone is encouraged to think deeply, write critically, and speak passionately about books, themselves, and the world.

Locations and Dates Announced This Week!

Be sure to follow our blog by email so you don't miss out.  Limited spots are available to maintain small instructor-student ratios.

"The readiness is all."

Shakespeare's Hamlet tells Horatio:   “If it be now, ‘tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come.  The readiness is all”  (Hamlet, V.ii.192-198).

For those of you non-Shakespeare types, here’s the translation:  Whatever is going to happen will happen at some point. You just have to be prepared.

Spark READiness, by its very name, tells you that we seek to prepare kids.

For what are we preparing them? School work? Of course. Tests? Sure. College admission? Absolutely. But your kids’ futures aren’t just about getting top grades and getting into the best colleges. We know you want them to be more than an A or an SAT score. You want them to be innovators. Creators. Thinkers. Informed, civic-minded contributors. Passionate life-long learners. 

Our workshops are designed to be challenging and fun.  Because, as we all know, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  During normal Spark READiness workshops, it is not unusual for us to listen to music, draw, cast votes, or toss a ball.  Sometimes we’re very quiet. Sometimes we’re quite loud.  But we're never bored!

Are you ready for the sparks to fly?

 

It is the soldier

"Always be patriotic!"  These are my grandfather's emphatic instructions to me, inscribed in a book about American constitutional history he gave to me years ago. 

My grandfather served in the Army from 1948 to 1972.  Both he and my father fought in Vietnam. 

Yesterday I was honored and humbled to stand with friends and neighbors along the procession route to show support and gratitude to the family of Franklin native Spc. Jason Kyle Edens, age 22, who died on April 26, 2012 from wounds sustained in Afghanistan. 

It is the soldier, not the reporter,

Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier,
Who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protestor to burn the flag.
~Father Denis Edward O'Brien M.M. USMC

It was my grandfather who shared this passage with me, and it came to me yesterday as I stood in the hot sun, grateful for the grandfather I was fortunate to have with me for so long and for my dad and his quiet strength.