First Homeschool Convention Trip Tips

At the end of April, my husband and I had the wonderful opportunity to attend our first homeschooling convention.  Back in October I heard about Great Homeschool Conventions and found out that in Cincinnati Dr. Ben Carson was going to be speaking.  It was an experience I didn't want to pass up!

While utterly overwhelming at times, our experience was absolutely fantastic.  I highly recommend the GHC to anyone.  It was like a wonderful marriage and parenting conference through the lens of homeschool, though not always the focus.

Here are a few takeaways I wish I had known before my first homeschool convention.

1)  Wear comfortable shoes!  With the massive exhibit hall with concrete floors, walking to food establishments, and even the walk between meeting halls, comfortable shoes are a must.  I tried a cute pair of sandals one morning but quickly went back to my new go to comfy shoes- my Skecher Go Walks.

2)  Wear Comfortable Clothing!  I was not really sure what to wear to an event like this.  While you do have a wide range of clothing from the religious perspective, the general rule of thumb is go comfy and modest.  Sitting in chairs, walking a lot, and changes in temperature from varying rooms requires layers and easy clothing.  I found wearing a modest pair of capris (it was quite warm), nicer plain t, and a scarf were perfect for most areas.

3)  Look more at session leader descriptions instead of session titles:  I preplanned my sessions based more on session titles.  I wish I had paid more attention to the biographies of the speakers as I missed out on some key sessions because I didn't think the title meshed with my purpose.

4)  Look beyond academics.  I went to 1, count it one, purely academic session (and it ended up being my least favorite).  The others were more geared towards parenting and marriage.  I had not planned it that way, but that is what ended up enriching my time the most.  I left empowered, encouraged, and uplifted as a parent and wife which I believe will transcend into my teaching.

5) Be open about Curriculums.  I found that I gleaned a lot from talking to booths of curriculum or programs even if it was just to get a solid "not for me" in my head about the option.  That is just as confidence boosting as a "yes" in my mind.  I also learned about some options to keep in mind for the future when my kids are older or more multi level learning compatible.  I had some fantastic conversations from very passionate people that were enriching (even if I didn't end up being 'sold' on their product)

6)  Schedule breaks.  Sessions are great and can be tempting, but schedule meals, downtime, and even hall shopping or you will find yourself rushed, hungry, and so tired you can't even pay attention to any of the other sessions.

7)  Only buy if you are sure.  So much money could be so quickly spent on all of the wonderful educational and toy materials offered.  Only buy if you are sure you want to use it.  I knew exactly what I wanted for math and kindergarten programs so it made sense to buy to save on shipping costs (some booths offered small convention discounts as well as free shipping).  If you aren't sure on pricing comparison (especially on things like manipulatives) come back after you've done a price check back at your hotel room or on your smart phone.

8)  Bring Your Spouse.  My husband had a fantastic time.  He wasn't too sure about the whole homeschool convention as the idea of learning about writing strategies and building math fact fluency isn't his cup of tea.  We were so blessed to experience some of these great speakers together, talk about how to apply them in our marriage and general parenting, and just spend time together.  The couple sessions we separated were not nearly as fun as the ones we went to together.

9) Ask Others.  Two of our favorite sessions ended up by being referred to the speaker through stranger we met at convention (one eating at a shared table at lunch time in the hall the other in another session).  Use other attenders as resources.  Ask if they had any favorites as you wait in line at the gumbo station or stand on the escalator.  If nothing else, it may help you decide if you want to purchase the cd of the session.

10) Pack Extra Grace.  There will be long lines at lunch time.  There will be busy check out counters at your favorite booths.  There will be pushy sales people.  There will be crying babies in a session you are trying desperately to hear.  There will be packed full meeting rooms.  There will be sugar hyped children wielding swords.  Shower it all with grace.  Empty the expectations of perfection and go forward with the understanding that sometimes things don't always go as planned.  Remember you've had those days as a parent as well.  Grace abound will change your attitude and may make their day.

*Bonus #11, Meeting Dr. Carson and hearing him speak was pretty awesome!

Weekly Wrap Up: New Adventures and Back to Basics

 It has been a wonderful week of sunshine, outdoor play, and lessons at home.  I have been blessed by the fact that Izzy has not said anything about missing school, wishing she were there instead, or really even talked about public school.  In fact, in our prayer time, one of her praises was that she got to be home for school.  It has been so wonderful to walk her through simple problem solvings of life.  Helping her process situations and unknowns and providing opportunities for independence has been good for her maturity.  I feel like I know her so much better than I did 3 months ago!

Here is a quick glimpse into our week! 

In Bible, we began the story of Moses.  We weaved baskets out of construction paper (inspired by this site) and then made babies out of a baby sock, cotton balls, and rubber bands.  The girls have been playing with them all week.  Lili has declared hers is a girl, so I guess we still have some remediation lessons ahead!  We moved onto the burning bush and then did the 10 plagues.  I was inspired by this craft (KidsBibleDebJackson used artist palettes to depict each plague) but instead of circles I divided wedges into our paper plate so they had more room to draw.  I also then wrote on the back of each plate what the plague was.  Our verse has been Psalm 24:1 so we are focusing the stories on the idea that God desires to rescue his children because they belong to him- and that includes us!

This week in writing with our awesome WriteShop Primary we did a imaginative narrative on outer space with a focus on using a spelling dictionary.  I used the opportunity to read books and watch a couple shows on outer space and imaginative trips there.  Izzy enjoyed the cross study so I think units will someday be in our future.  She published her writing by placing it into a cardboard tube rocket.  I have also instituted more free write or prompt writing time.  She needs more practice beyond the guided writing of just putting her thoughts on paper.  No more than 5-7 sentences and 15 minutes, but its enough to keep her skills up beyond the skill or topic of the lesson in WriteShop.

In math we started CLE 200 officially and completed light unit 1.  Izzy has enjoyed it so far and did very well on the review lessons.  Today (Friday) we did our first lesson in light unit 2 and she did ok.  We will need more time for math than in past weeks since there is more material to get through.  One way I have found to make it easier (for the spiraled content) is do some of the problems myself and she has to check my work. I sometimes get them wrong :)  Little does she realize she is still doing the problems when she 'grades' my answers.

Our "back to basics" was the focus of reading this week.  We finished our first light unit in CLE reading 200 and overall I'm just not convinced its the direction we need this year.  Izzy needed more focus on reading comprehension- pulling out main idea, supporting details, the 5 W's, etc of what she reads and be able to concisely express them.  So we have been working through pages in this book by Carson-Dellosa and other free resources I've found online.  It is helping, but we still have a long way to go.  Suggestions?

Art was fun- our last color lesson for awhile as I will work back and talk about lines.  We did page 44 in How to Teach Art to Children.  We talked about warm and cool colors.  We found pictures in magazines to make collages.  It was fun to get out of our paint rut.

Lastly, our new adventure of the week was lapbooking!  Izzy is traveling with her dad and some other family to a children's home we support in Bangladesh in November.  So, together we looked at books from the library about Bangladesh to learn some of the culture and features.  The books do paint a rosier picture of Bangladesh than what is actually true, but the idea is there.  The pictures also began to expose her to things she will see while there.  We loved doing this together and I cannot wait to do more.  Not sure if I did it right, but it worked for us.  I used some of the free templates from HomeschoolShare.com that focused on countries.  Feel free to share any resources or suggestions you have about lapbooking!

I've joined in the weekly wrap up linky at weird, unsocialized homeschoolers!

Weekly Wrap Up: Getting into a Groove

We have (almost) completed our third week of homeschooling.  This week's theme was finding our groove.  It was about trying to establish a 'new normal' in our routine, fitting in our fall activities, and focusing on intentional influencing of the hearts and minds of our girls.  Here are a few things we experienced this week:

Our first writing lessons with WriteShop Primary!  This was the curriculum I was most excited about, partly because I was not pleased with the writing pedagogy in public school.  We have done the first 3 lessons (out of 8) and Izzy has done very well.  Her attitude towards writing has already improved.  It requires a lot of hands on from me through guided writing, but I see a boost in her confidence so it is worth it!

Math was focused on reviewing time and learning money.  New common core standards do not introduce money until 3rd grade so this was new for her beyond earning quarters for chores.  We worked on adding money together.  A time and money workbook was a great find from goodwill and dollar store play money were awesome tools to keep learning fun.  We have a few more 'catch up' things to learn (fractions and standard measurement) before we start CLE Math 200.  Common core put her behind the  grade for most curriculums.

Reading was a bust. Really struggling to like our CLE reading.  The stories are ok, and I do appreciate the life lessons. However, the phonic studies are over the top in depth and the story review questions lack application.  Having to fill a lot of my own, which is requiring more time on my part (hard with a 3 year old and 9 month old underfoot).  I have a progeny press book I will be pulling out when we finish this light unit (want to give the CLE a fair shot at the start).  Any other good reading curriculums out there that focus heavily on comprehension?

In Bible explored Noah's ark and Abraham this week making button rainbows as our craft.  We are learning what it means to trust God (memory verse Proverbs 3:4).  Loving all the online resources for color pages and activity sheets for various bible story.  Just google the story and there's a plethora for all ages.

In art last week we did primary color paintings, and today we learned about secondary colors using food coloring and water.  I'm enjoying the easy lessons in How to Teach Art to Children.  Simple, quick, age appropriate, and I can pick activities that suit my kids best for now.

Lucy has done her own learning by figuring out the art of emptying a drawer and climbing the stairs.  At 8.5 months, I'll consider her gifted and talented for now :)

With a great week under our belt- we are off on a surprise 'field trip' to enjoy open gym at our local gymnastics company- For the Kidz.  Meeting some homeschool cousins and jumping around for 2 hours sounds like a recipe for fun!

My favorite school item of the week- The Whiteboard!  Picked up this large beauty at ReStore for Habitat for Humanity for $35.  It has been priceless for math review, guided writing, and letter practice for Liliana.