My first homeschool convention is today!

J

Jengerbread88

New member
I know we were talking about them not too long ago, but for some reason I can't find the thread and search is failing me at the moment (error exists on MY end, not SSD. Lol)

Anyway. Today is my first ever homeschool convention! Wish me luck- I'm so nervous I won't be able to remember everything, or that Zach will have a meltdown at naptime, or whatever. I have paper and pens and everything ready, but some of the classes run during his naptime, and I don't know how he's going to handle being away from home at naptime...

Mom and I are going to different classes most of the day, and Jeffrey will be in his own area with kids his age doing some activities. We're also hoping to look at some curriculum options and see what might work to supplement the things we're doing.

Eek! I'm so nervous/excited!
 
Haha. I am SO losing my mind.

This conference has been on my calendar since January. We registered, double checked the dates, got all of the info, spent last night packing everything Zach would need, really got everything ready...

...we drove an hour and a half up to the conference location. We walked in the door. Nobody. We looked around- nobody. We asked someone who worked there, and they said "Yeah, it's next week. I got here this morning thinking it was today, too, but I double-checked when no one was here and saw that it's definitely next week!"
As we were leaving, someone else said "I came for the conference and apparently it's next week... I have an email right here saying that it's this week, though, so... I don't know what to think."

It made me feel better that I wasn't the only one to drive all that way to a conference that wasn't until next week... but also terrible that I now had to drive an hour and a half back home. :smh:

We were going to just go somewhere else in town, and have an educational field trip day, but we got some bad news about my grandfather's cancer, so we ended up just coming home.

We're taking the day off of school, I think. We're tired, we're dealing with my grandfather's situation... and it's just Friday the 13th luck, I think. So, we're done for now.

I guess next week I'll be able to tell you all about it, Nicole! :P
 
Oh, no! I'm really sorry to hear about your grandfather. :(

But I have been there, done that when it comes to meetings. Ugh. I just was journaling about this for my PL binder. LOL! Funny enough, this all happened on Feb. 13th!

I got up early and I took my husband in to work. We stopped at the car wash (which the baby hated! He cried non-stop!) and then the grocery store--with all four kids. The kids are always hyper at the store, jumping and singing and getting in people's way--it’s so exhausting.

Anyway, we came home and rushed through school because in the afternoon we were going to go to an informational meeting for Classical Conversations, a homeschooling group I had heard about. I was excited because a friend at church just loves it. And I'm a big fan of Classical Education.

So, just before 2:00, we woke my daughter, Penny, up and we drove to the local Christian bookstore. When we got there, we didn’t see anyone who was waiting for anyone else. After 20 minutes, we drove back home. I checked my e-mail only to find that my friend’s 2nd e-mail said the meeting was at 3:00 (the first one had said 2:00). I let my oldest, Katie, decide what she wanted to do. She wanted to drive back. So, back into the car we all go. Gaah!

We finally found the meeting at the bookstore, tucked away in a back room (we almost missed it again!). I tried to listen at the doorway while I wrestled with Benji in the baby carrier. The more I overheard, the more I knew that this was not for us. It wasn’t extracurricular, like I had thought. First, they did math. What?! And they did a different math program from what I do. Then I listened to the science teacher talk about assigning reports with no mention of group experiments (which I had been daydreaming about)! And then they also did history. I don't need any help with those subjects. I have more than enough curriculum that I love and feel confident in. There were a few parents there that asked questions that made me think that they were coming out of the public school system with pre-teens and wanted to use this as a safety net. The more I heard, the more I thought that this is what that was meant to be--a safety net for parents who don't want to go it alone. It was like going to a school every Friday and using the rest of the week to reenforce that... which I wouldn't like because it would totally mess with all the good things I'm already doing. Ugh! That's not at all what I wanted! To top it all off, it would cost us $1,000 a year for my two school aged kids!

It was totally disappointing--especially when I had so much work to do that week. And I had to reschedule a doctor’s appt. just to make the meeting! Thankfully, dinner was already ready in the crock pot. And my husband and I finished school with Katie tonight, which was a lot of fun. But all in all it was a rough day!
 
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Nicole, I also considered CC and nixed it. No way, hosea. Not for us. I'm glad I didn't have to go to a meeting (twice!) to figure it out. My friend told me.

So, what curriculum are you using next year?
 
YepBrook said:
Nicole, I also considered CC and nixed it. No way, hosea. Not for us. I'm glad I didn't have to go to a meeting (twice!) to figure it out. My friend told me.

So, what curriculum are you using next year?
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Ooo! You want my list?!

::runs off excitedly to find it::
 
My curriculum is a bit of an eclectic mish-mash, but I love it. Basically, I like a lot of things about Classical Education, thanks to Susan Wise Bauer. I love SWB's books. And I love Sonlight. But I love a history curriculum called Tapestry of Grace, too (it contains all you need for all three levels in Classical Education). Last year, I found that most stuff in TOG was over my kid's heads, so I'm now using TOG to give us structure in the early years, but I'm mostly reading from Story of the World and using the maps and coloring pages. LOL!

So... if it wasn't for loving TOG, I'd probably be doing 100% Sonlight with some SWB in there for English. But since I have a history curriculum that I love, I pick and choose from Sonlight and make my own. LOL! All my other choices here came from their catalog.

Here's what we will be doing next year:

Katie, 4th Grade:

Math:
Horizons (4 & 5--we just started 4 this year)

English:
First Language Lessons - 4
Writing With Ease - 3
All About Spelling
A Reason for Handwriting
Read-Alouds and other kid fiction from Sonlight

Science:
Sonlight Science D

History:
Story of the World - 3
Tapestry of Grace - Year 3

Joshua, 1st Grade:

Math:
Horizons - 2

English:
First Language Lessons - 1
Writing With Ease - 1
All About Reading - 2
All About Spelling - 2 & 3
Handwriting Without Tears - 1
Read-Alouds and other kid fiction from Sonlight

Science:
Sonlight Science D (without any worksheets)

History:
Story of the World - 3
Tapestry of Grace - Year 3
 
See, I love it that you can piece together your curriculum with a mish mash of books. I wish I had the ability to do that and put together compelling lesson plans, but I know my weaknesses! :p I am a big Charlotte Mason fan and so I'm debating between My Father's World (K) or Heart of Dakota. I have to see the books and hold them in my hands to decide 100%.

I have heard excellent things about Sonlight and their books. I know if we do MFW I will have to supplement the math. I'm leaning towards Singapore math.
 
I was leaning toward Singapore, too. In fact, I have books for 2A sitting right over here, to my right. I need to sell those. LOL! I ordered them and also the books for Horizons 2. I fell in love with Horizons... even though it has some silly illustrations, it's a lot of fun and challenging at the same time. I've come to love it!

Most all the things I use come with really great instructor's guides... so my prep time is so low. I mainly just spend Sunday night looking over what's coming this week, making a note on my calendar for what page we do for what day, and then just dive in on Monday morning. It might sound confusing, but the lesson plans are all there in the books. :D I have to have it that way. LOL! I think that's why I did more SOTW for history than TOG, which required more prep work for me. I figure I'll mess with that when I have a teenager. ;)
 
I need hand-holding. :D Serious hand-holding. Like: "say this..." and "do this exact craft and tie it in with this exact verse..". I am kind of ADHD (not actually diagnosed, but I honestly think I am) and if there isn't a guide that ties everything together all neat and complete I will get so distracted. I love that I can open the guide (MFW) and it tells me everything to do and even what to say. :) Then, if I'm feeling sharp that day I can add in my own stuff and supplement with extra activities or books like Handwriting Without Tears (love those books) or Explode the Code (love phonics). You know? We are also huge library fans, so I love that aspect of it.

I will make a note to look at the Horizons math at the convention. Above all, I kind of need to see the pages. DS will be more attentive to colorful pages and illustrations. He's artsy fartsy and a very visual learner. Right now we are using marshmallows to learn addition and subtraction. He is obviously responding well to that, :p but it's time for something sugar-free. LOL! And, once I choose a method of math I should stick with it.
 
Scripted guides are the best! :wub:

The teacher's guide is one of the things I love most about Horizons, so be sure to look at that--especially for Grades 1 - 3. LOTS of help, lots of ideas.
 
webseitler said:
Scripted guides are the best! :wub:

The teacher's guide is one of the things I love most about Horizons, so be sure to look at that--especially for Grades 1 - 3. LOTS of help, lots of ideas.
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Awesome! :)

Sooo bummed you aren't going to the convention. I just got the program guide in the mail and these workshops and speakers are incredible. Maybe you can plan on going next year? ;) My local homeschooling association adds an FPEA membership in with the yearly fees and so attending the convention for the two of us is only $40 or something.
 
Aww! Well, I am still thinking about it! I just want to be sure that it's a good use of my time and money... since I'd mainly be window shopping. LOL!
 
I envy your ladies curriculum choices... for now, we have been writing our own (nothing like diving in headfirst, right?) but we are planning on looking at some curriculum at the convention, at least to supplement what we're doing on our own. We still have to figure it out...
 
Jengerbread88 said:
I envy your ladies curriculum choices... for now, we have been writing our own (nothing like diving in headfirst, right?) but we are planning on looking at some curriculum at the convention, at least to supplement what we're doing on our own. We still have to figure it out...
Click to expand...

Well, that was me two years ago! Until I realized that math wasn't going well. Then I started my hunt to find something "formal" to use... and now I'm here with a big, long list. LOL!
 
Jennifer... oh, man - at least it wasn't last week... :) sorry to hear about your grandfather...

Nicole/Brook... so exciting to read all the curriculum talk! I'm head buried in trying to figure out what to do for Jake next fall... I, too, want hand holding for the first year until I feel more confident... :D I'm going to totally look up some of the ones you mentioned, Nicole... I've heard of some... I'm leaning toward Saxon line... I think because so far that is the closest to what I had in school and that give me confidence... but math - that is hubby's area - being an engineer, he has taken every math course through college... I just want something that is easy to understand and easy to show kiddo... haha

I wish we lived in a state that was more pumped about homeschooling - there is only ONE coop in my area and it's connected to a church - not a member of the church - not invited. We had to sign up for out homeschooling convention sessions and it was really pulling teeth to find SOMETHING... so much this year is geared toward high school... or there are a repeat from last year... like the how to teach 3-5 year olds - it was a hour of a grandmother talking about what she does with her grandkids... and pretty much going through a book of her's saying what she liked and didn't like of that activity in the book - not useful.
 
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