Homeschool Convention Show-n-Tell 2014

After a refreshing weekend away with The Hubs at our annual homeschool convention, I came home with two important things. (This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for full details.)

1. A smile on my face.
2. A basket of fun goodies just waiting to be unpacked and enjoyed.

While I tend to be a rather frugal shopper in every other area of my life, I have no desire to penny-pinch when it comes to homeschooling.  Don't get me wrong, I stay within my budget.  I buy gently-used and utilize several free-homeschooling resources whenever possible.  But, I'm also a firm believer that homeschooling is like most areas of life...you usually get what you pay for.

While quantity doesn't usually matter, quality always does.  

This weekend, I was able to find a number of hidden gems that will go a long way to provide a wonderfully-enriching 2014-2015 school year.  While I did order/buy a few "curriculum-y" type items, I'm more excited about the following resources which will enhance and add "jazz hands" to an otherwise ordinary day.

Let me unpack my bags and give you a quick peek at my favorites.

Kits

Bright Lights curriculum

This had to be THE FIND of the weekend.  Every since we went to a Bright Light's conference together last fall, my Sweetie Pea has wanted to begin this discipleship course designed for tween girls. Unfortunately the $90+ price tag was a bit out of our budget.  I was able to snag a nearly-complete girl's course for only $5!  For more info on this fantastic girl's discipleship program or to start a Bright Light's girls club in your area, be sure to visit Bright Lights.

Dinosaur Fossil making/excavating kit

Per my children's request, we will be doing a semester-long dinosaur unit from a Creation perspective. The create-a-fossil-and-then-excavate-it kit I found at Nature's Workshop plus should make for an exciting end to the unit.

A Make-your-own-game kit

I knew that by bringing this simple brown box home from the Miller Pad & Paper Booth, I'd stir up all kinds of creative juices.  My kids have been brainstorming several different ideas for a family-themed game all day.  This little box has the makings of hours of delight-directed, project-based learning!

Books

The Picture Bible

My first grader has long-since outgrown his The Hear Me Read Bible.  So, when I saw a gently-used copy of The Picture Bible, I snatched it right up.  While this comic-book-style Bible won't be one he'll bring to church, it will make for some exciting personal devotions each morning.

Who is God?

I've had my eye on the world-view series by Apologia for the last two years.  This year, I finally took the plunge and bought Who is God?, the first in the trio, for Sweetie Pea.  She will read this independently, but I'm hoping it will create many opportunities for valuable discussion between the two of us.

The Fallacy Detective

One of the Hubs' biggest pet peeves, is watching an entire generation of people ill-equipped to discern truth from error...to reason with logic...to voice his/her opinion in a clear, effective way.  As a Christian ad man, it saddens him to see young people falling prey to the flashy-but-false ideas presented in most ads geared to that demographic.  He has a passion to teach logical reasoning to our kids.  The Fallacy Detective will be a very intentional resource for Sweetie Pea next year.  

Notebooking and Art Supplies

Miller Pad & Paper has always been a bit of a weak-spot for me.  I can't seem to walk away from that booth without an arm-load of supplies.  In my defense, we always get much-use out of everything I buy from there.  This year's haul includes...

• art paper
• construction paper in very specific colors (Why is it that you can buy a bulk pack of construction paper, but kids only ever want to use the same three colors??)
• new blank journals for science (A couple of my kids have been using the same journal for science time since his/her kindergarten year.  By the start of next year, most of them will need an upgrade.)
• a timeline book (We have a timeline that we use as a family that we have been adding to for the past six years.  But, I wanted to get a set of time line pages for my kids to be able to tear out and add to their own personal history notebooks.  So, that's what we will use this one for.  The pages are card stock making them much sturdier than a timeline I could just print off the internet.  My kids will rip out the pages, hole punch them, and add them to their notebooks as needed.)
• a set of new crayon pastels (It became apparent this past school year that one set of pastels just isn't large enough for five people to use at the same time.  It was time to buy a second set.)
• new creative writing journals (I love the fact that all of these journals look almost exactly alike, but they each have a different line-style for different writing abilities.  Because let's face it, a sixth grader doesn't really want to write a story on learning-to-write lines.  But, a kindergartener can't write successfully on college-ruled paper.)

Games

• The Last Word- I'm hoping I'll like this game well enough to add it to my list of best language-based board games.  
• Made for Trade- Three or four years ago, when we studied colonial life, I made a bartering game for my kids.  They used my homemade cards to barter goods and services with friends and family.  Shortly after hand-drawing all the pieces of my homemade game, I learned that there is a REAL game with the exact same premise!  When I saw it for only a few dollars at a used vendor booth, I snatched it up.
• iMagin iff...- CONFESSION:  I bought this one for me.  I played this several years ago at a friend's house and loved it. 
• The Amazeing Labyrinth- I've not played this one before.  But since I've never come across a Ravensburger game I didn't like, I thought it was worth the $12 gamble.  

So, that's it!  That's what snuck home with me after the conference.
Now, if you'll excuse me...I've got to find a few nooks and crannies to shove all this loot into until next fall.

On second thought...anyone up for a quick round of iMagin iff...?