Fall recap.

The group has been very active this fall partly due to the increase in extra individual arts and craft classes. We are still running the swimming classes at John Rhodes and have expanded to three days a week due to demand. Upcoming in the winter there is also scheduled a gymnastics class.

We unfortunately lost our photographers for back to school photos and are currently looking for someone to replace them for next fall.

We also are looking for a French instructor for those who would like to take that class off their personal schedules. We would like to point out that True North Christian Academy has opened their french class for beginner's 8 and under. As well they would like to invite people to their under 4's music class at the Algoma Conservatory of Music.

We look forward to upcoming events and encourage all members to take part by coming up with events both big and small to keep the kids engaged and making friends throughout the year.

We have been very happy to see the growth of the group this year and look forward to what the New Year brings.

As always if you have any questions about M.E.S.S. you can email them to messfriendsgroup@gmail.com We will try to answer your questions as timely as possible. Thank you!

Another change.

If you are arriving here for the first time I encourage you to look around at the newsletter, links, and resource page. For those of you returning to the website you may notice the background has changed again. This time it's going to stay for awhile. It has been tricky finding the right formatted background to work with all the pages we have. This one not only works but looks inviting as well. And invite you we do. You will notice at the end of this month's newsletter and survey link. Please fill it out so that we can serve everyone in the group better.

Who is M.E.S.S?

M.E.S.S. Moms, Education, Support, and Socialization. A Sault Ste. Marie, Homeschool Group. What we offer. Friendship Support Planned activities Spontaneous activities Monthly newsletter to inform you of all planned activities. No membership fees What we ask of you the members. Be kind and respect others. We may be from different walks of life but we are all walking on the same path of schooling at the moment. It is our hope you will find a few friends along the way to share your experiences with. Have fun ideas? Please share them. No idea is too small. It is with collaboration that small ideas become great ideas. If you have an idea for an activity or event please submit it to the publisher no later then the last weekend of the month for the following month. You are not obligated to partake of all the activities that are scheduled. We all have busy lives and recognize that. We do ask that you attend as regularly as possible to benefit from the group as much as possible.

New Layout...

After much searching I have opted for this simplistic dynamic layout. If anyone has issues with this layout loading or anything else please email.

Changes.

With the coming of the end of December some parents may return their kids to the regular school system. Should you be heading this way it's okay. However we will be doing a roll call on Facebook to make sure we keep our page and members up to date.

Also swimming sign up for the Tuesday swim class is Dec 11th so please be sure to get signed up for the next term if you are interested. J.Lees is still in charge of that group so contact her for further info please.

Deleted.

 Due to lack of use I have deleted the library page.

Attention Members

M.E.S.S. has had a lot of new people join this year which is fantastic. I would like to share with everyone a couple of points. When I started M.E.S.S. a couple of years ago it was originally just to find more social opportunities for all the kids. Classes were great of course but social opportunities for just play weren't always so easily found. So M.E.S.S. was born of a need to find social ties for the kids. It has since evolved to be a full on homeschool group. Which is great!

 It is my hope to see all MESS members jump in with any ideas that you may have and share them with the group. When creating events it's okay to create similar events. Sometimes people can't make a specific date for one event and having another option is helpful. Newsletter articles would also be greatly appreciated. We all have different teaching styles, methodologies, ideas, please share! That's how we grow as homeschoolers and teachers.

As said in previous newsletters my family has asked that I step back and take some down time. So if anyone who is a member would like to post an event for the group I ask that you email all the details.
*Name of event
*Time of event
*cost of event if any
*limited number of attendees?
*if any help would be appreciated?
*venue for event
etc...to messfriendsgroup@gmail.com
I will then happily create a facebook event page for the event. In this way we can keep the facebook page a tad less confusing for all.

Don't be shy about creating events. It can be as simple as setting up a field trip or play date. If you have just wee kids and are looking to make some connections, it's okay to set up an event for just the littles. If you have teens and want just teens to attend that's okay too. The group is here to facilitate everyone who is homeschooling or thinking of homeschooling.

As always remember to invite friends who may be interested!