September 2025
Theme: Wonder
Deadline: July 11
November 2025
Theme: Connection
Deadline: September 19
January 2026
Theme: Limits
Deadline: November 7
March 2026
Theme: Foresight
Deadline: January 16
May 2026
Theme: Plan
Deadline: March 20
July 2026
Theme: Beauty
Deadline: May 22
Here's a crash course on getting started with Microsoft 365 (formerly called Microsoft Office).
It should be noted that some solutions for signing a PDF are about putting your actual, visual signature (or something that is good enough to be one) on the file, while others are about adding a digital "signature" in a different sense to the file to show that it was you who signed it. Sometimes one or the other is what's needed and you'll want to make sure you've picked the right one.
On computers
While Adobe Reader might be treated as an industry standard, there are other options.
- Foxit has a free reader with signing capability.
- On macOS, the built-in Preview app, which is the default app for opening a PDF file, has an option add visual signatures and few handy ways to create them that are easier than clicking and dragging with your mouse.
- Open the file
- In the menu bar, go Tools > Annotate > Signature.
- From there you can pick an existing signture, or add a new one with a simple webcam scanning process to digitise one written on paper, or finger-draw one on the laptop trackpad or a connected phone. (This is also where you'd remove existing saved signatures.)
On mobile phones & tablets
Here are a few suggested apps for filling out and signing PDF documents while on the go!
iOS
- pdfFiller
- PDF Expert (a bit more advanced/complicated)
Android:
- DocuSign
- Adobe Scan (thanks Peter!)
The number one thing to remember in the process of buying technology is that you really get what you pay for. That doesn’t necessarily mean that a cheap computer is less powerful or less good, as different brands and product lines within those brands have different priorities.
- WISDOM Information Booklet
- WISDOM High School Information Handbook
- WISDOM Mediated Learning Information Booklet
Ready to enroll? Sign up here. And don't forget to complete and submit your EFT application for direct deposit of funding.
Additional Resources:
What's the difference?
"What's the difference between parent-led and teacher-led? Why do some families get different homeschool funding than others? I hear about 'aligned' or 'blended' or 'school-delivered' or 'teacher-led' or 'parent-led'... are there really that many kinds of home schooling?"
We hear questions like this frequently, and hope that the following information will help you to make an informed decision in your own educational journey. All learning-at-home options in Alberta fall under one of the following categories.
From the eyes of a child, they often see what is directly in front of them, and learn through experience. It is up to us as parents to enlighten our child’s perspective and to educate them about life in both future and present tense. It is important to highlight other cultures within this globe. One year, when my children were in the elementary school years, we met up with friends in our neighborhood and studied different countries. We made this into an educational co-op led by moms. We would meet once a week and read about what other children experienced in their lives. Details such as clothes they wore and games that they played. We also read together and made a dish from the country we were studying. This was a dinner so that the dads could be included too. It was a neat experience on many levels; it helped them to respect these new things through food, games, friendships, and laughter.
I found this Around the World Lesson Plan (posted below) and just love how it breaks down the way in which you could implement any culture. We would often start with studying our own heritage and then move on to our friends’ or neighbors’ heritage.
Often, we fear what we don’t know. When I first did my Special Needs training, I feared not knowing how to interact with a child who had specific needs. But once I was educated and trained, the fear disappeared. Just like another child can dress differently or eat different foods, that can seem strange to our own child until they learn or experience for themselves. Children are so inspiring as they are often very slow to judge someone who is different from them. They may stare at them, but it usually has to do with having a sense of curiosity more than anything else.
Education doesn’t have to be complex, and it doesn’t necessarily have to take up a lot of time. My goal every year is that our sons continue to love learning. And the rationale behind having a lesson plan with a stem activity, fine motor, creative gross motor etc.…. is so that they have a fully enriched learning experience. You could study a country every day or even every week. You could even just study one a month. That is the beauty of home education: it’s whatever works for you, your child, and your family.
Just like the song says, “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black, and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” We are called to love one another. And if we can’t travel the world, then we just need to bring the world to our house.
The WISDOM Family Magazine is a bi-monthly publication, free to WISDOM home schoolers and available for a small subscription fee to non-WISDOM families.
This great resource is full of information, inspiration and ideas. You will find encouraging and uplifting articles, curriculum reviews, success stories, and "how-to's" from homeschooling professionals and veterans.
I love looking at the snow fall ......when I am warm in my house and don’t have anywhere to go. I guess it would be more accurate to say that certain days and certain times I appreciate the snow a lot more than other days. When the kids were younger, we lived in Kelowna. It snowed a lot more than what I was used to and when it snowed, the temperatures were refreshing. Unlike here in Alberta where it feels like it is white for at least 6 months of the year. We started a tradition in our family years ago of drinking hot chocolate and eating timbits on the first day of snow. I would also give my son’s mini marshmallows to eat but before they ate them I would have them count them first. What they thought they were doing was making sure that they were given the same amount of marshmallows. Whether they knew it or not, they were doing Math. Once they mastered counting by 1’s then we worked on counting by 2’s and then 5’s and so on. When a Math pattern is discovered the brain starts to remember information that has been taught to them.That is one of the amazing things about teaching a young brain, they can always learn more!