The Homeschool Conference: Help or Hindrance?

Surely, the homeschool conference is among the most overwhelming experiences you will face as a new homeschooler. As an experienced homeschooler, they are simply over-stimulating; from choosing the most engaging speakers, or those talks most applicable to your homeschool, to becoming disoriented with too much information and getting lost in the Vendor Hall. Be that as it may, I have learned what it takes to enjoy them!

Pros and Cons:
One of the greatest benefits of homeschool conferences are networking with your local homeschool families, making friends and contacts for support. There are always inspirational talks on pretty much every category, and if there's not a speaker, there's a vendor or experienced homeschool families on hand to talk to. Sometimes you can get material at a discount, but at the very least you can buy it there and won't have to pay shipping.
However, I can't really imagine any environment, that I've experienced apart from Disneyland and the like, that is more overwhelming and over-stimulating. There's a lot you can learn, but there's an awful lot you'd be better off not even knowing about! There's simply too much. The only way to do it is to set your expectations ahead of time, maybe even go with a friend who can help you stay on task, but most importantly, have your plan ready.

Yikes, look at all those people!
The lady who took this said it wasn't even half!!

My Experience:
My first 2 homeschool conferences, I probably looked like a deer in the headlights the ENTIRE time. I felt like a deer in the headlights. I was stunned. I'm sure I walked around in a daze. I know that I bumped into people! It was astounding! I never knew there were so many homeschoolers... and it seemed they'd all written their own books and every other one was selling their own curriculum! It all looked so GOOD! My kids were too little (preschool) to realistically get excited about too much, but it was all so new and fascinating. I was wide open, I didn't have any notion of what I was going to do, and I had no books or anything to do it with either... so, I did the logical thing, I went to the conference!

In retrospect:
In my ignorance I did things backwards. I should have figured out what I wanted, and then gone to the conference to fill in the cracks... well, those were the days before everyone and her sister were blogging about homeschool, writing curriculum reviews online and the availability of buying used curriculum online and at amazon wasn't nearly as prolific as it is now. But nowadays, there is no excuse. One must research online. However, one cannot do it all. Before doing anything, sit down and really figure out your kids. Look at yourself, how do you learn, how do you teach? THEN go to work online figuring out what will work for your family. There are websites designed for this very thing. Start there LONG before going to a conference. However, once you know what you want, conferences can be a very enjoyable experience. If you can put your 'blinders' on, tune out most of the noise and stay focused on what your family's necessities are... you'll do fine!

Since those early days, I know our family's style, I've investigated some online, I have my list of books and resources I'd like to look through for a given subject made out ahead of time. I always study the list of speakers in the weeks before the conference to determine between those which will really be a help to me and those that are good but really just added 'noise'. If I can, I like to go to a conference every year. Obviously, living in Peru has prohibited that in the last years, but never fear, there are now online homeschooling conferences! Will we ever escape?

This subject merits a whole page of its own. I'm sure someone has done it somewhere... don't you just love google? ;)

Each of the following are the conferences I've attended over the years:

Heart of the Matter Online
The link to this year's conference: 2009 Parenting and Home Education Conference
 
(I really enjoyed being able to be in my own home and listen to the speakers at my leisure!  You also don't miss any of the speakers... you can listen to ALL the workshops!  The other cool thing is they give you the mp3s for FREE, so that you can listen again later!
This option does not help with the local networking aspect or with cutting down on shipping costs for curriculum, however. )  I posted about my experience HERE.  The price is now a lovely $12.95! 


The Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators
This year's conference: June 5th and 6th at First Federated Church
Des Moines, Iowa


Washington Association of Teaching Christian Homes
They are going to have KEN HAM this year!!! I so, so, SO want to go!
Conference & Family Retreat
August 7-8, 2009


Oregon Christian Home Education Network
June 12 & 13, 2009 Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon

Exploring Creation - Contest

**UPDATED!!** Can you believe it?! I won my choice of these Exploring Creation Notebooks! I'm SO excited! I chose Astronomy since we will do that next... starting in August! YAY! I rarely win contests, but this is the second I've won within a week!!

We use Apologia for Science. They are SUPER! I cannot recommend them highly enough! So kid-friendly, and reverent too. We have used Botany so far, and have the others lined up waiting. Here are some new products Jeannie Fulbright is introducing with a contest:

Apologia is now producing notebooking journals that accompany each of the elementary science books. Both Botany and Astronomy are now available. These journals are beautiful spiral bound notebooks that will save you time and money. You won't have to print and keep up with your child's notebook pages, buy and maintain page protectors, or purchase and compile binders...everything that makes notebooking time-consuming and labor intensive for mom. Also, your child will adore having their own notebooking journal.

• A daily schedule for those who like to have a plan or would like their children to complete the book on their own
  
• Templates for written narrations, the notebooking activities and experiments
  
• Review Questions
  
• Scripture Copywork, with both print and cursive practice
  
• Reading lists and additional activities, projects, experiments for each lesson
  
• An appendix with beautiful, full-color, lapbook-style Miniature Books
  
• Field Trip Sheets to keep a record field trips
  
• A Final Review with fifty questions the students can answer either orally or in writing to show off all they remember and know at the end of the course.
  

See the sample pages here:Botany: and Astronomy:

Jeannie is giving away four Astronomy Notebooking Journals and four Botany Notebooking Journals to bloggers who post about this on their site. Visit her blog to learn more about this contest: www.jeanniesjournal.com

Blessings, and I hope either you or I win!

Amy

Composer Study: Our method

We have Composer Study scheduled once a week, on Wednesdays. At different times, though, throughout the week, it is my goal to have us listen to the term's composer's work, at least once a day... we rarely achieve this, but we always ought to aim high, right?

Wednesdays, which are also our Geography and Artist Study focus day, we take a closer look at AO's term composer. For example, AO had scheduled Liszt for the 2008-2009 winter term. We have just finished reading a mini-biography and have listened enough to his work to be able to recognize some of our favorites of his pieces.

Steps 1 - 3, I get done on a Homeschoolplanning Day at some point long before I need them, as soon as the links are available. I usually do this as part of my planning at the beginning of the year.

Preparation:

1. Check the Ambleside Online Composer Schedule page, for the music selections for the term. Note the selections on paper or in a Notepad file.
   
2. I go to the library and check out some cds containing the composer's works. (Of course, that's what I did when in the US.) I tried to find one cd that had all or most of the term's selections.
   
3. When the library is unaccessible, I look online for free downloads. I usually first google the name of the work... "Mahler: Symphony 1 (Titan) free download" It turned up this link from last.fm which you can mark to listen online & this one from classical archives - you can play a preview online or buy.
4. When I can't find anything free online, I buy mp3 downloads from amazon or walmart. The nice thing is that you can buy ONLY the music you want, but you do have to sometimes buy it in several parts. For the Symphony no.1 I found 4 separate downloads, but for the no.9, I was able to find all four parts in one. Yay! :) However in this case, I opted for buying an entire mp3 album (Mahler: The Essential Orchestral Works), because it had ALL the symphonies I was looking for, for $7.49... less than I could buy them all separately for.
   
   • Mahler: The Essential Orchestral Works
     
     
     
   • Mahler: Symphony 1 (Titan):
     
     
   • Mahler Symphony 9
     
     
   • Bruckner Symphony no.4:
     (these are the same, just by different orchestras... choose between these two - if you're like me, you'll choose by the cover art ;)
     
     
   
   
5. After I've gathered/purchased my term's music selections, I can burn a cd. I haven't done this yet... I just make a file on my computer under 'My Music' with the composer's music in it. For example, I make a new folder, Mahler_Bruckner. But burning a cd would be VERY convenient if we had a stereo! ;)
   

Weekly Study

1. I have a cd case that has all our AO music in it. For some people this is their regular listening... we are not so refined as yet. :) This cd case is accesible to the kids and they are welcome to ask for any music at any time - as long as it doesn't unreasonably distract anyone else. We have a rule that the kids don't handle the cds, to minimize scratching (it still happens inevitably, but it cuts done on the damage!).
2. On Wednesdays, we officially have scheduled Composer Study suring our reading time 10:30-11:30. During this time I put on the music for a little bit and then we read from The World's Great Men of Music Story-Lives of Master Musicians by Harriette Brower or Getting to know the World's Greatest Composers" books by... Mike Venezia, if we have one on the term's composer. We read just a little section to divide it up over the term.
3. As this is one of those 'icing on the cake' studies I do NOT stress if it doesn't happen every week.

Someday Ideas:

1. We do occasionally look up the term selection on YouTube. That's fun. There are a lot of well done informative videos with bio information on the composer with their compositions as background music.
   
2. Sometimes, I look up sites on the internet that are safe for all to peruse.
   
3. I'd love to take the kids to a symphony... someday
   

Our materials:
Recordings of the Composer obtained from internet, library cds or home cd library.
Getting to know the World's Greatest Composers" books by... Mike Venezia.
The World's Great Men of Music Story-Lives of Master Musicians by Harriette Brower
Internet searches on the term's composer.

Composer Study: Links

Link to AO's composer schedule:
Ambleside Online Composer Schedule

Online (free) Books with bio information on many of the composer's lives.
The World's Great Men of Music Story-Lives of Master Musicians by Harriette Brower

Listen Online:
http://www.kcme.org/ One Advisory member's favorite. No ads, wide programming, friendly announcers.

Other related links:
A super complete SQUIDOO page on Charlotte Mason style Composer Study by Jimmie!
Composer timeline figures
Composer Lapbook by Amy Pak from Homeschool in the Woods, music included. I'm very interested in this to use as a supplement. I have not used it yet though.
Free Artist/Composer Notebooking pages - has some coloring pages as well.
Classics for Kids - Very cool interactive site with many activities for kids. There are lesson plans and an interactive composer timeline. They have all their broadcasts archived as well as podcasts on many composers. Interesting.
Composer Study 102 - Higher Up and Further In - a post on Composer study in their homeschool
MFW discussion

Artist Study: Our method

Seeing as I knew NOTHING of art (except for boxes of colored pencils, fat crayola markers, crayons and the like that can be found in every crook and cranny of our house at any given moment), I didn't pick up on this subject until several years into using Ambleside Online.

But I am SO glad we've decided to give it a whirl and have now really started to get the hang of it. The kids enjoy it very much (surprise, surprise), as do I.

Here's what we do. It's a smattering of things I've picked up from here and there, and let me tell you it WORKS for us... hopefully, you will find a little something that will work for you too.
Steps 1 - 3, I get done on a Homeschoolplanning Day at some point long before I need them, as soon as the links are available. I usually do this as part of my planning at the beginning of the year.

Preparation:

1. I download the prints from one of the following places:

• AO Prints - All the AO recommended works for the term's artist in one handy pdf file
• AO_HEO_PictureStudy 8 1/2 x 11- ALL the AO recommended works for all the years, plus extras for the term's artist available in individual pdf files - also has images for timeline figures.
• AO_HEO_PictureStudy 4 x 6 - Same as above, just different size.
• AO Art Schedule page with links to the works on different sites, to download to your computer in jpg file, differing sizes.

(I had to have jpg files in order to get prints at a photo developing place here in Peru... I don't know what the file type requirements are for Kinkos, Office Max and the like. Check with your local photo printer or copy store - ask if they can print on photo paper from pdf, or if it has to be jpg.)

2. I take the files on a zip/thumb/USB drive to the printers and order the files to be printed as 4x6 photos. You can e-mail them to some places, I know of.

3. I write the information I will need on the back of the photos with a photo marking pencil (water soluble pencil) - Artist Name, Year of work, Name of work. This is very handy as I cannot remember who we're studying sometimes from week to week... ;) I'm telling you, I'm that bad!

Weekly Study:

1. I keep the prints accessible, and occasionally they pull them out, or sometimes I do when I notice them and feel like perusing my favorites. I let the kids look at the prints whenever they want to.
2. On Wednesdays, we officially have scheduled Artist Study from 12-12:30 just before lunch. During this time I set out the prints on the table.
3. Week one: If I have any bio info on the artist or the period they fall into or the style of art (boy I'm grasping for the right terms here... I don't know art, yet.) I read it to them... I use A Child's History of Art, or Lives of the Artists - both can be downloaded for free at those links. They can look at the prints while I'm reading. I only read small sections (15 min, or a page or two, depending on the total size of the reading. I kind of mentally divide it up so that I'll have more to read on subsequent weeks.) They then narrate these back.
4. Week two: We do picture study. A) Either I or one of the boys will choose which print they'd like to look at. B) I let them look at the print for about 2 minutes in order to notice as many details that they can memorize in their minds' eye about the painting. C) I take the picture and look at it as one narrates back to me what he remembers about the painting. At the end the other boy tells what he noticed that might be different from what the other said and anything he can add that hasn't been mentioned. Oh they both love this! They are both so competitive, even if I don't allow for any competition, they still try to outdo each other in subtle ways. That's it!
5. Week three and four: We just rotate between the above two steps until the term ends, or we run out of bio info, then we revert to just picture study each week.
   
6. As this is one of those 'icing on the cake' studies I do NOT stress if it doesn't happen every week. The kids like it, so it has been happening more often than not... they remind me. Often they would choose this instead of playing.
7. I have coloring sheets of some of the artist's works that I use as sort of a reward for good behavior kind of activity. If we've run out of bio info, or maybe just for variety, or one of those rare days I feel no stress about mess, I pull out a coloring sheet and they can use whatever medium they want... of course our artistic material box at the moment boasts only of colored pencils, crayons, watercolor paint box, felt tip markers, and water color pencils that we don't know exactly how to use yet... but hey, we're not complaining. I am rarely brave enough for temperas (like once a year rarely if you catch my drift).

Someday Ideas:

1. I think my kids would enjoy attempting their own replicas of the artist's works. Someday we'll branch out to this. We're moving slowly towards the hands-on expression part. We are just beginning to express our artistic talents with our nature journals... one step at a time.
   
2. I would REALLY like to take them to some art museums in the States. Someday.
3. I'd also like to have my favorite prints printed in 8x11, framed and then displayed somewhere in our house... if I had anything on my walls at all, it would be nice! (I have moved AGAIN since I wrote this... but it still reflects my current status!)
4. Of course if we lived in the US, I'd be at the library (every day all day... oh wait, I'd need to go home for meals...) checking out those books that are like coffee table quality... with the really big prints! Oh, sad. No. I will not give in to the temptation to complain...
   

So, there you have it.
Hopefully, you've picked up an idea or two to add to your family's Artist Study.

Please add any unique ideas that you do in the comments section. I always like to hear about what works for you.

Amy



Related Posts:

A Child's History of Art - Hillyer
Artist Study: Caspar David Friedrich
Artist Study: Van Gogh
Artist Study: Links

Artist Study: Van Gogh

The AO advisory team has chosen Van Gogh for this term's artist.
If you'd like to have access to pdf files for printing off your own copies go to: AO Art Prints

please visit vangoghgallery.com
That's my FAVORITE Van Gogh: (I also have it as the background on My Desktop)

I'm sure glad that we are using this curriculum, and this is one of the biggest reasons why! I love the exposure we're getting to some of the world's greatest artists. Not just to study them, but we are learning more appreciation for art in general... our own artistic talents, those of all kinds of people around us, as well as the classics. I love how it expands our world.

Most people have heard of Van Gogh, but I wonder how many people could identify his art? I can confidently say that I could not, previous to our AO artist study experience.

When we do artist study, we don't really worry too much about what period we're studying, or what type of art it is. We are appreciating art. Maybe it should be more appropriately termed picture study. When possible, we study something of the artist's life, but without a library, that is sometimes impossible. We do have Hillyer's A Child's History of Art (do you want it for free too? Go here), so we try to read that during our Artist Study time every other week (we have it scheduled for Wednesdays). Sometimes though, we go online, as we don't have a lot to work with here.

There is an incredible online photomosaic of the same painting above HERE.

And here, you can put it together in an puzzle! How cool is that?!

Links to some awesome coloring sheets to make your own version of a few of Van Gogh's paintings:
Starry Night
Starry Night
Self-Portrait
The Night Cafe
The Chair and the Pipe
Sunflowers

Here are the links to the paintings we're studying this term:
1. The Starry Night, 1889, Museum of Modern Art, New York City
2. The Chair and the Pipe, 1888, National Gallery in London, England
3. The Night Cafe, 1888, Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut
4. Self Portrait as an Artist, 1888, Paris, Arles, St. Remy, Auvers-sur-Oise
OR Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
OR Los Angeles County Museum of Art's LACMA West (maybe part of a traveling exhibit?).
5. The Vase with Sunflowers, 1888, Paris, Arles, St. Remy, Auvers-sur-Oise
6. Bedroom at Arles, 1889, Musee d'Orsay in Paris, France

Fun. fun. fun.

Amy

Nature Study Focus: Insects, Part I

So, the other day when we were doing nature study using Outdoor Hour Challenge for hints, we chose our Nature Study Focus: Insects.

We chose insects partly because we'd been recently inundated by dragonflies because of a flood in our backyard caused by excess rainwater (they lay their eggs there). The other reason being that there are amazing amounts with unending variety of insects found here in the tropical climate of this part of Peru. And then, we were also inspired by our reading of Jack's Insects on the subject, a great book used by Charlotte Mason. So far we're all really enjoying this focus.

We're starting out with:

Insects of the Brook and Pond -

Dragonflies
and
Mosquitoes

Both are plentiful around here. However, you can't exactly tell them to come around only when you want to study them, so we haven't had a close look at either during actual nature study time. Of course, nature study isn't only accomplished in the hour or so we have allotted for it each week. So, when we do see one, we drop everything for a few minutes and take a closer look.

Today, during our nature study hour (we have this scheduled for Mondays), J found a cool beetle. It looks like a combination between a grasshopper (because of its huge back legs) and a stinkbug or box elder bug. It had wings that when lifted revealed a brilliant red body. Its legs are orangey-red also with little black spines (we call them porkies... hahah, it's an inherited term, meaning pokies). We watched it and photographed it, and tried looking it up, but without using the internet, weren't able to come up with much. Here's a picture though:

The lady who helps us a little around the house called it a "chinche" in Spanish.

Spiders are not insects, but this one was interesting nonetheless. I found it crawling on my kitchen counter while I was washing dishes. Its front 2 legs on either side seemed much too long in proportion to its body and back legs with which it walked. When it was blown or swept, it would fling those long legs straight out to either side, and it made itself look somewhat like a flying insect. It was very tiny. Here it is:

Enjoy!

Amy

Rosetta Stone - Latin... CONTEST

We will someday study Latin. If I win this contest, I promise to start studying Latin as soon as we get it. We own Rosetta Stone Spanish, and it's real good! But if I don't win, the person I'd next like to win it would be you, so go enter! It's easy ;)

the blurb ~

Rosetta Stone is the fastest way to learn a language and has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while — and you can WIN the *all new* version 3 Rosetta Stone Homeschool LATIN program… FOR FREE! This is the first year you can get Latin in the brand new Version III update.

This is a $259 program (and believe me it’s worth every penny!)
This is a computer based curriculum and Rosetta Stone will also include a headset with microphone, and a supplementary “Audio Companion” CD so you can practice lessons in the car, on the go, or where-ever! Students participate in life-like conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone incorporates listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary and writing along with speaking and pronunciation lessons. For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program to allow parents to easily enroll up to ten students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, grade completed work (the program grades the work automatically as the students progress- I love that!), and you can view and print reports for transcripts. Homeschooling a lot of kids at your house? This program is designed to enroll and track up to ten students (five users on two computers) and will work for nearly all ages — from beginning readers up to college students.

To win this most excellent Latin program copy these paragraphs and post them in (or as) your next blog post, and/OR link to the contest from your facebook page and/OR email the information to your homeschool support group – Then go to the original page http://Jeneralities.com and leave a comment saying that you’ve posted about, or have linked to, the contest. Please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post. And good luck!

Amy

Nature Study in your own backyard

Grow your OWN tree!

I've always wanted to grow a tree from an avocado pit! Ever since as an adult I learned that you could. It's every kids' dream (or should be) to grow a tree from a seed... and I've never done it...
'til now.

Avocados are SO good - though only one of my kids is smart enough to eat them.
They are SO good for you!
...and it's educational! :)

We're going to do it!

If you want to do it with us, post me a comment - we can compare notes :)

Instructions: Get yourself an avocado. Peel and eat it. Clean the pit, stick 3-4 toothpicks (or in our case nails) strategically about 1/2" into it to hold it over water in a cup (or jar as you can see I did). The idea is to keep the bottom half in water so that it can grow roots and the top (pointy) part out of the water in order to sprout. (I've tried putting the whole thing in, it doesn't work!)
Put in a sunny window. I'll update when I get to the transplant stage...

Links with how-to's:
For kids: Click here
For grown-ups or kids: Click here

Thoughts on Copyright

So, what can a person say that has never been said before?

What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there a thing of which it is said,
"See, this is new"?
It has been already
in the ages before us.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

A discussion of copyright led us to a little bit of research as to what's okay to copy and what's not.

According to US law, anything written "privately and originally" after 1989 is pretty much safely protected whether or not the author has registered a copyright. Legally, you may not copy someone else's stuff and they could come after you, unless you are just commenting on it, making fun of it, teaching it, etc, and then you can only use short and attribuited "quotes" from the original work.

This seems like an amazing piece of legislation to me. Nowadays there is SO much being written and blogged and in other ways communicated, that how can one know or better yet, prove that what one writes is one's very own? I can sit here and type this entry about copyright, but I've just come from several websites explaining copyright. Who's to say that some of what I'm thinking wasn't because of what they wrote... what if what I say sounds a lot like what they said, even though it's been through the mill and spit back out again? Would that be an infringement of copyright? What if someone is thinking the very same thing as I am and writes it on their own blog at this very moment? After all, someone has said, great minds think alike!

Sheesh. I don't get it. How does anyone write anything that hasn't been said or thought of before, and perhaps somewhere written down? Once they do write something, how do they prove to the world that it is original to them... are there any original thoughts?!

We started looking into copyright laws and I ended up perhaps a little foggier than before.

Here's what we did learn though:

1) All copiable (written, digital, photographic, printed, tape recorded, etc) information created after 1989 -1978 according to other sources, is copyrighted unless expressly noted that it is in the public domain.

2) Yes, one may never actually be called to attention by the author themselves or punished by law, but it IS still very much a matter of respect for others and of the law.

3) We should still be creative... but, honestly... not taking advantage of another's creativity, yet learning from it. Always giving full credit where credit is due.

4) Copyrights can expire. 70 years after the death of the author, the copyright expires. (But I remain foggy about whether widows, kids, grandkids, executors can renew?)

Maybe I've brought up a question or two that remain unanswered that have piqued your curiosity... Go for it! Research it for yourself.

A few links to explanations of copyright:

10 Big Myths About Copyright explained
US gov't site for Teachers and Students
Brief intro to Copyright by Brad Templeton
US gov't site on copyright
The Copyright Website

Amy

Eek a Bat!

After we found a bat in our kitchen last night, we all did nature study in great depth and with great interest! We needed to find out if it was a vampire bat!! It seems that we have a bat colony living in the roof over our kitchen (we live in the jungle in Peru). Javen was afraid to go to sleep, not because of the bat, but because he was afraid I would kill it! My policy living here is, I appreciate the role that the yuckies (snakes, spiders, toads, bats, etc) play in bug control; as long as they are performing that role OUTSIDE. They come inside...they will die.

We searched our field guide and online for pictures to compare... today we'll do more research using HONS... hopefully, there's a section on bats?! I haven't looked yet. I was too concerned about the rabies factor ;) But, I must say I know WAY more about bats than I did the day before!

I think it's a black bonnet bat (not a vampire).

From Nature Study

Even though I don't think I could bring myself to kill the thing, I am very much against the idea of encouraging it to live in my roof!

**UPDATED - 5/20/09** The bat did die on its own the following day. We had another bat visitor several days later, whom we did not retain for study, but after a few pictures, immediately released to his outdoor happiness. Though he too seemed sick and did not fly off, but squobbled. We are hoping not to have any more surprise guests of this nature any time soon. :)


Amy
Tarapoto, Peru


Links to bat pages online:

Oh my word! Did you know there were ever so many bats?! Order Chiroptera
Keeping bats out is harder than it seems it would be... Bat Conservation tips
This page has a mini bio on the black bonnet bat - Mammals of Iwokrama