This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend my state-wide homeschool convention. It was a time of refreshment, instruction, and challenge (Just picture a very small woman lugging about 150 pounds of books on her back for two days.)
One of my favorite POST-convention activities is to get together with a handful of other homeschool moms for a convention debriefing. In the past, we have gathered in someone's hotel room on the last night of the convention or at a coffee shop a few evenings later to share some of the speaker highlights and our curriculum purchases. This has always been an especially helpful time for those who could not attend the convention themselves.
(This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)
Since most of us already have our CORE curriculum chosen, our grown up show-and-tell time is a chance for us to share many non-CORE materials with each other...learning games, activity kits, and specialty books...the "jazz hands" that enrich the school year.
So, pour yourself a hot cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and let's unpack our shopping bags together!
I'll start...
- A botany press- As I have mentioned before, every summer we work on a summer-long science project. This year, I thought it would be fun to learn about flowers. I'm hoping by calling it a BOTANY press and NOT a FLOWER press, my boys will be on board.
- A pack of ready-to-draw flip books- This was a pack of six flip books that go along with the General Pencil How To Draw Cartoon Flip Books Kit
. I did NOT buy the kit, just the flip books. My oldest son has watched several "how to make a flip book" youtube videos and has spent the last few days creating cartoonish flip books on Pac-man, volcano explosions, balls bouncing...
- Origami paper- my daughter has decided to learn origami folding for her next Independent Project. So, now all she'll need is a few great library books.
- The Body Book (The Lily Series)
- Whether I like it or not, my daughter has reached the TWEEN years, a time of growth and change. Although I have several resources and books to pass along to her to help her navigate this time of physical and emotional changes, I was excited to find this book that uses Scripture to show how all these changes bring great blessing!
- Creative Thinking Journal Topics
- a small pack of story starters to add to our journal jar
- You Can Change the World
vol.1 and 2- This will make for a wonderful addition to our co-op geography club units. We will not only learn about the cultural difference of different peoples of the world, but also how to pray for them and reach them with the truth of the Gospel.
- English from the Roots Up, Vol. 1
- While I don't plan on conducting a full Greek/Latin class next year, I do have a little year-long project in mind to help US ALL better understand the English language. I will use this book as my foundation.
- Animal Bingo- My middle boys love to play educational bingo games together. We had pretty much every kind of bingo game you could possibly think of EXCEPT an animal version. Now we can add that to our ever-growing collection.
Now it's your turn. Did you attend a homeschool convention this year? What did you learn? Buy?
My hubby, Nate, and I went to the Midwest Convention in Ohio. It was HUGE and very encouraging!
ReplyDeleteFrom Kathie Morrissey's Character Session, we bought a DVD that reads the chapters of Proverbs (Picture Proverbs) and has pictures to go along with it. We also bought a character training book (Character Prayer Booklet) that has a verse or two each day, a thought and a prayer. We've been watching a chapter of Proverbs in the mornings, reading through the character book, praying, and discussing what our day is going to look like. It's been such a great way to start our morning!
I bought a Peter and the Wolf CD from the Maestro Classics series. I haven't listened to it yet, but it sounded great when I previewed it at the convention.
Nate also bought two of the Lamplighter books - Teddy's Button and The Brave Heart. We finished both of them. They were great - even the boy(s) listened (which was Nate's plan to get them more interested in chapter books ;) ).
That Picture Proverbs DVD sounds really fun. I need to remember to incorporate more Bible videos to mix it up. So glad you and your husband had such a great time. Some day, I'd love to go to the big convention. I've won tickets a couple of times and have never been able to make it. Too far.
DeleteI don't even know where to begin on the wealth of information I learned at our convention. I have been doing preschool with my youngest for the past year and a half now but this up-coming school year I will be doing Kinder/1st with my 5yr old and Pre-K/Kinder with my 4yr old and potentially doing partial 9th grade with my 15yr old. Since this is happening I took my sister's advice and decided to sign up for our convention. I was able to get Sonlight Science A and B pack for half the cost as it is new, I got a bunch of helpful hint pamphlets from a very seasoned and wise homeschooling mamma, I was able to hear some inspirational messages by Heidi St. John, Renee Ellison, Todd Wilson and another lady whose name escapes me but she is a mother of 10.
ReplyDeleteThe main reminder I needed to hear was "God chose you to be the mother of your children, which means you are the perfect parent for them."
Oh I also got so much practical advice on organization and teaching multiple kids it was spectacular and even though it is called a homeschooling convention everything I heard could and should be heard by non-homeschooling parents as well.
Loved, loved, loved it and can't wait until next year.
Woo-hoo! Sounds like some fantastic sessions. So glad you could go. You'll love Sonlight Science. We did that when my oldest two were in Pre-K through 2nd and loooooooved it!
Delete