PATH Activities

This list is a sampling of past PATH activities. Just because something is on this list does not automatically mean that it will be done this year. Ask on the email loop - if nobody has it planned, you can plan it!

• Fitness Day - Based around the Presidential Fitness Challenge. Meet at the park and children compete in six different timed races or events. Usually held beginning of Fall and in Spring. All ages welcome. Pins and patches are available for the kids.
• New and Used Book Sale- meet and sell/swap books and other homeschool-related articles
• Gymnastics - homeschool classes held at local professional gymnastics center
• Skating – The third Friday of each month enjoy skating at Skateland USA from 1:30 –3:00. There is a fee. Great time to meet other families and discuss schooling.
• Kids Newsletter – "KICKS" Kids In Contact with KidS. A newsletter by the kids for the kids. All kids invited to participate or submit things for the newsletter.
• Gymnastics – Once a month at local gym throughout the year. Open gym times also available with that.
• Book-it - Pizza Hut helps promote reading during the school year by giving kids free pizzas coupons if they reach their monthly reading goals. They have a year end party in spring after all goals are complete.
• Bowling – Once a month on the first Friday in the afternoon meet at Pin Station for bowling. No set teams.
• Geography Bee – Usually held in January. Kids compete by answering questions form the National Geographic Bee Guide. Winners move on the Regional competitions.
• Used Book Sale - The largest used book sale in the area. Held in May before the NCHE Book Fair and Conference.
• Spelling Bee – Usually held in February. Kids compete by spelling words from the Charlotte Observer Spelling Bee Booklet. Winners move on the Regional competitions.
• Yearbook – Submit family photos, activity photos, etc. to be placed in a yearbook for all PATH families. Families sell advertisements to help offset the cost of publishing. All are welcome and encouraged to help with the yearbook. My May or June the yearbooks are ready for a yearbook signing party.
• Christmas Play – Join in on helping plan, direct, create, and perform a Christmas Play in December.
• Christmas Talent Showcase- Kids perform on stage for all families attending. Followed by a party with delicious treats.
• Labor Day Get Acquainted Day – All PATH families can enjoy a day meeting fellow homeschoolers, canoe, raft, fish, cook-out, games, etc. to start the new school year.
• Fall Festival – Pie Contest, Brownie Eating Contest, Face Painting, Races, Games held in October.
• Science Fair – Kids of all ages are welcome to enter their project boards for judging or just demonstration. Ribbons are given out. Judges give specifics to help you improve on your project. Winner are encouraged to go to regionals.
• History Fair – Kids of all ages welcome to enter their project boards for judging or just demonstration. Ribbons are given out. Judges give specifics to help you improve on your project. Dress the part if you like.
• Easter Egg Hunt – Join kids at the park to hide and find Easter eggs, play games, and eat treats.
• Gym Day – Neil Clark Recreation Center open their doors to homeschoolers to enjoy the facility on Thursdays and Fridays. Dates vary – please inquire.
• Achievement Night – This is the night for our kids to shine. Take a few minutes in front of us to tell why you are proud of your child. You can give them a certificate, ribbon, hug, etc. Then enjoy yummy snacks and yearbook signing.
• Teen Group – Monthly activities and trips to let teens be together.
• 4H Clubs- Join a homeschool 4H club in your area. Participate in monthly gatherings for projects, presentations, trips, and meetings.
• Winter Workshop – Get motivated for the second half of the school year by spending a day listening to guest speakers on topics of interest to homeschoolers. Curriculum or supply vendors attend. Lunch is served.
• Information Night – One in the summer and one in the winter. This is for new or interested homeschoolers. Question and answer time, how to, getting started, testing, curriculum discussions, etc.
• Community Service – participate in community activities to help teach the kids about helping others. Past events included Meals on Wheels, Adopt a Park, Soup Kitchen, Toys for Tots, Nursing Home performances, etc.
• Hiking/Backpacking – join in on local hikes and weekend trips to education, beautiful, and interesting locations.
• Debate Team – be on a debate team to compete against others schools in the area.
• Father’s Brunch – Dads enjoy meeting other dads one morning while they are served up some delicious foods.
• Homeschool on Parade – Usually in March. Bring your child’s work to be put on display at the Mall for a two week display of PATH homeschool to help community awareness and allow your child some presentation time on things they have made or done.
• Newton Parade – Join in on helping build a float and being in the parade.
• Thanksgiving Festival – Bring a dish and enjoy homeschool families, crafts, storytime for the young kids, etc.
• Home Education Week – Third week in March is the official week the state celebrates home education. Join in on local displays, parties, hosting story time at all the local libraries, etc.
• Art Contest – Compete in PATH art contest in February. Winners will be in the Hickory Art Museum’ Paul Whitener Art Exhibit, then shown at the NCHE Conference in May.
• Odyssey of the Mind – a group of kids work on a National creative thinking and problem solving project.
• Historically Speaking – Kids dress up and portrait people from the past. They can give a small speech or just attend dressed up as demonstration.
• Mom’s Night Out – Once a month moms get out and discuss kids, schooling, or do not discuss kids and schooling, attend a play, movie, dinner, play a game, coffee, music, etc.
• Home Depot Classes – One Saturday a month in the morning attend a free woodworking workshop for all ages. Receive a Home Depot apron and a pin each month to go on the apron.
• Rocket Day – Get Dad and the kids working on building a rocket (available at Toys R US and other local stores). Join all for a great time of firing off the rockets. Usually a picnic is decided to go with it.
• Story Fair – Just like a Science Fair with the project boards but on a particular Book or character the kids enjoy. Kids can dress the part if they like. Ribbons are given out. The kids can do a short speech about what they have read about – optional.
• Boys Club – Middle and Junior High boys meet for games, sports and just hanging out.
• Girls Club – Middle and Junior High girls meet for games, trips, activities, sleepovers, etc.
• Science Center classes – Once a month classes hosted by the Catawba County Science Center on topics that are rotated for different age groups. All ages are covered. There is a fee for materials/supplies.
• Art Museum classes – once a month art classes using different mediums and incorporating the museum and its artwork that’s on display in the class.
• Curriculum Show and Tell – Families come and display the curriculum their family uses for homeschooling to show and tell to other homeschoolers.
• Speech Contest – Join other kids in your age group on stage at the outdoor amphitheater at the park to stand up and do a 1-5 minutes memorized speech. Come to compete or just to watch.
• Prom – Held each year in the spring, homeschoolers and/ or their friends attend on evening of fun, dancing, and entertainment.
• Band – the kids get together on a weekly basis to practice in Hickory.
• Battle of the Books – For 6^th – 8^th graders. They are given a list of books for the year to read. In the spring they compete answering questions about the books they have read, as a team. A monthly team practice date throughout the year and then bimonthly the closer the competition date gets.
• Sports – A variety of different sport is available to homeschoolers. Christian Athletic Association is a community program, YMCA, and the Rec centers. There is a homeschool basketball team that competes, in nearby Statesville there is Golf, Tennis, Soccer, etc. teams in place.
• Chess Club – Kids meet on a regular basis to play chess together.
• Choir – homeschool choir practices weekly during the day. Performances in the past were at the NCHE Conference in Winston Salem, Nursing Homes, etc.
• DARE Essay Contest – The contest is open for 5^th-8^th graders and there is also a separate assignment for high school students. National Society Daughters of the American Revolution – American History Essay Contest. Due by Nov. 1
• Kids Website – Create by homeschool kids – for homeschool kids in the state of North Carolina. Monthly submissions make this website a great hang out for all ages.
• Crawdads Baseball – A date is chosen for all homeschoolers to attend at a discounted price.
• Ice Skating – Go skate in Newton at Ice Castles monthly.
• CPR Class – fellow homeschool moms teaches a once a year CPR Class to any that would like to attend – children welcome
• Library Appreciation Week – Inform us and coordinate families to go to the local libraries with cookies, cakes, treats, and thanks you cards made by the kids for all their help throughout the year.
• Library Awareness Days – Coordinator works with local library to plan bimonthly library activities for the kids to help them learn. Classes include book scavenger hunts, beginner and intermediate computer session.
• Library Bulletin Board – We keep area library updated with homeschool information, brochures, and contact numbers. Each library has a file in which NCHE brochures, PATH info. And homeschooling information is kept updated.
• Quizbowl – Teen kids compete in a team question and answer competition with other teams in the area.
• Testing Coordinator – Compiles and keeps PATH updated on all testing options. Is usually posted in newsletter in February of each year.
• Email chain Coord. – Send out emails on late breaking news or reminders to families who choose to be on list.
• Mom’s email chain Coord. – Sends out other non-homeschool related emails that we feel others would enjoy or be interested in. Families can choose whether or not to be on this email list.
• New Homeschool Buddy – Answers questions to new families interested in homeschooling or just beginning.
• Welcome Committee – a group of people that organize ideas and meetings to help newcomers get involved with the homeschool community.
• Year end Family Picnic – A fun way to get all families together at end of school year. Possible yearbook signing time too.
• CPR Class – Class is hosted to teach life saving procedures.
• Park Days – Once a week a park date is set at a local park. This is for anyone but also focuses on new families to help them get acquainted with other homeschool families. The kids get to meet new friends and the moms get to visit.
• South Mountain Discovery Days – go as a group to work with Rangers on a variety of hands-on projects.
• Recess – Meet at park for non-competitive, structured, fun, team games.
• Drama classes – Attend the Hickory Community Theater homeschool drama classes for fall and spring sessions. Meets weekly mid day for separate age groups. There is a fee. Focus is on a variety of theater related projects, as well as, learning the behind the scenes of the theater. Season session ends with a small presentation to families.
• Special Needs Support Group – Meet with other families that struggle with special learning needs. Having support for children with challenges, from mild to severe, helps give ideas and ways to help your family.
• Spanish Club – Kids met weekly to work as a group learning and communicating in Spanish.
• Pen-pal Program – Have your kids write letters back and forth to their own pen-pal in Mexico.
• Kiddie-Kicks – a soccer program for 4-6 year olds that uses soccer to improve motor skills and enhance character development.
• Operation Christmas Child – The kids go out a collect filled shoe boxes to be sent to needy kids all over the world at Christmas time. Once shoe boxes are collected the kids deliver them up to Boone to the distribution facility. Once there the kids get to tour and help pack the shoe boxes– and find out what country "Their" shoe boxes are going.
• Math Contest – The local college CVCC sponsors a math contest for Catawba and Alexander county students in March. The actual test is a written test and lasts about an hour. Competitions will be held in Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, and Advanced Mathematics.
• Orchestra music – The Homeschool Ensemble meets twice a month working on music to be performed at area events and weddings.
• Boy/Cub Scouts – Homeschool Scouts meet monthly.
• Storytelling Festival – The Catawba County Historical Association schedules an annual festival at Murray’s Mill where the kids get to rotate to different stations to watch and enjoy different styles of storytelling by local and regional performers.
• Kids on Wheels – Kids bring anything with wheels to the Henry Fork Park to ride, ride, ride.
• Entrepreneur Day – Set up like a big craft fair would be, kids plan, make, and sell their "Wares". In the past we have had kids sell soap, baked goods, artwork, jewelry, games to play, nail painting, birdhouses, etc. Some kids even create business cards and have a "sales pitch" ready.
• Poster Contest – The Catawba County Soil and Water Conservation sponsors a poster contest for 5^th and 6^th graders, an essay contest for 6^th graders, a public speaking contest for 7^th and 8^th graders, and an envirothon.
• French/ German lessons – at your home private or group lessons.