Homeschool Convention

Something we look forward to every year is the Midwest Homeschool Convention. Although there was some controversy this year, (you can read about it here), we had a great time regardless and saw lots of uplifting and informative sessions. The boys had a great time (as always) at the Children's Conference and of course, the Tim Hawkins concert Friday night.

I wanted to share my notes with many different people and decided to avoid typing them more than once, I would post them here. WARNING - This will most likely be a long post because I saw 11 sessions! (10 are posted here, the other one was a demonstration on the Institute for Excellence in Writing program that we purchased and will be using for Alex's Jr. High writing course next year.)

I hope something I have shared here helps someone else. I gathered the most encouragement from Todd Wilson - Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe and the most useful information from Julie Bogart - Natural Stages of Writing or one of the 2 High School sessions. Enjoy!!

Jay Wile - How to "Teach" High School at Home

There is a difference between helping the child learn and teaching them. As the child gets older, you stop being the teacher and begin giving them tools to learn by themselves.

Minimum requirements for college prep-high school
4 years English & library research
(Vocabulary using Barron's SAT review book, all phases of writing using library research and grammar)
4 years Math (most colleges only require 3 years, but set your goals high)
(Use Barron's SAT review book for cumulative review tests instead of the ones included with your curriculum)
4 years Science (life, physical and another) 2 courses must have labs
(Video labs don't count for most colleges)
1 year of health/PE - This is more about a healthy lifestyle than a science course
(Nutrition, exercise, sex education)
1 year US History
1 year World History
1 year Geography
(Have student use a newspaper to choose a country and report on significant economics and governments)
1 year Government
(Use the US Constitution or follow a bill through Congress)
1 year Art/Music
(Instrument lessons, 4H can count for this - make sure there is an evaluation process like a recital or 4H fair, etc)
must be familiar with a computer, not just internet (word processing, Excel)
1 year Philosophy/Religion
2 (or more) years SAT/ACT review
(Start this in 9th grade to spread it out. ACT is better - Math, English and Science are tested)
2 (or more) years Foreign Language

Record keeping:
- Make a transcript, record each subject in chronological order with grades and credit earned
- Attachments to transcript - list the text or methodology of each course
- On transcript, make a list of what you require for graduation
- Keep examples of the student's work in a small portfolio - some universities will want to see a sampling of their work
- Keep track of extra curriculars & awards because most college applications ask for this.

Todd Wilson - Lies Homeschool Moms Believe

Everyone's kids are smarter than mine.
Every mom keeps their house clean.
Everyone fixes healthier meals than I do.
Everyone's more spiritual than I am.
Everyone has fun homeschooling.
Everyone's marriage is better than mine.
I'm the only one falling apart or failing.

If I am feeling weighed down by something, it's because I'm believing a lie. How to combat lies:

- Be real - recognize that the snippets of other family's lives are not a real picture of what their lives are really like. Be open and honest with husband and friends and allow them to be real with me. Don't disregard their feelings.
- Believe in the truth
**God gave my children exactly the mother they need!**
God has a plan mapped out for my children and they will become exactly who He wants them to be regardless of what we are doing at home.
- Priorities
1. Relationship with God
2. Relationship with spouse
3. Relationship with child(ren)
4. Homeschooling
5. Meals
6. House keeping
- Let husbands get involved
Let them do it their way and don't correct them when they don't do it our way.
- Take a summer vacation
Children need to experience me as a mother, not always as a teacher and we need to experience them as kids, not just students.

Todd Wilson - Taming the TECH beast

Proverbs 7
Boys are warriors - enjoy video games (I must conquer)
Girls are relational - facebook, social media

1. Don't minimize the problem
2. Remember the goal - the kids will grow up to be parents, so we need to give them tools that will help them toward that goal.
3. Check your own life - Is this something you also are struggling with?
4. Do what you have to do - set limits
5. Replace the virtual with the real - talk to your kids, spend time, play games, etc.
6. Don't let your guard down - be aware of something else that might replace the Tech Beast.

Julie Bogart (with Bravewriter) - Natural Stages of Growth in Writing

**Make homeschooling about "home", not about "school"**

1. Jot it down phase - the child talks and the parent writes down the thoughts.
Listen for opportunities when your child is telling a story, don't ask for a story, then share the story with an audience in front of your child. Show them you are proud. Focus on the child's interest. When something is put in writing, it means it's important. Dictated stories can become copywork.
Types of writing: lists, stories, letters

2. Partnership writing - Parent writes some and the child writes some. As the child tells the story, help them remember what they said when it's time for them to write. This is different when your child is in the public school because a teacher can't determine what was written by the parent and what was written by the child - but in homeschool - you know! This is the most skipped phase. The child's vocabulary and spelling is not developed enough to be able to write by themselves.
Types of writing: descriptions of concrete objects, free writing

3. Faltering ownership phase - child writes first drafts without much help. The best writing is interest-led, something they know a lot about. Stay away from the pressure of writing specific kinds of paragraphs. There will still be lots of spelling errors at this age (usually 4-6 grade at this point)
Types of writing: comic strips, dialogs, journaling

4. Transition to ownership - editing practice on their drafts (spelling errors, punctuation, etc.) Reading and identifying a spelling error is different than spelling things correctly when writing. They need to interact with writing every day - research note, editting, revising, etc.) There should be one writing project per month. Writing is a process - each writing project doesn't have to be polished. Focus on one area with each writing - opening, closing, research, dialog, etc.
Types of writing: rhetorical thinking

5. Eavesdropping on the "great conversation" phase
Take an in - depth look at one topic from multiple perspectives. Learn from an expert in their field and their perspectives.
Types of writing: essay, timed essay, research paper

6. Fluency (adult) - This is a competent, confident adult writer. Even if they don't like to write, they have developed through the phases to know how to get it done.

Tips:
Make revising fun, not just about fixing the spelling, punctuation errors.
Grammar is over-taught. When you are a native speaker of a language, grammar is intuitive. She suggested one year of grammar in elementary, one year in Jr. High and a foreign language in high school. (Foreign languages help with grammar in your native language.)

Hal & Melanie Young - Your Son's Battle for Purity

How does Satan subvert marriage?
- by separating sex and love
- by separating sex and commitment
- by separating sex and childbearing
- by separating sex and union (self-gratification)
- by separating sex from sex (gender)

Boys experience temptation differently - 93% of boys are exposed to pornography by age 18

Building Defenses:
- start early - train them before they ask questions
- Don't freak out about the questions
- Answer their questions honestly
- Teach the entire context (love, marriage, child bearing)
- Teach safety (particularly internet safety, but also caution around people they know)

Fighting temptation:
- leave or change the situation
- pray
- sing to God
- read scripture
- go to an authority for help

Train them to identify and fight the enemy and don't play the part of the victim. Teach them that they have control over their decisions regarding temptation.

Avoid Ambushes
Secrecy is the enemy - encourage everyone to be out in the open with computers
Control the internet - filters, blocks, etc
Remove privacy - accountability software like covenant eyes and have shared passwords

Lead by example
Fathers show them how to fight, Mothers honor true masculinity

Other lines of attack
- modesty in the home
- social networking - watch sidebars and avatars
- advertisements (TV, magazines, internet,...)
- communicate frequently

Discuss courtship rather than dating - Courtship focuses on building a marriage
Rebounding from fall:
- God already knows the sin
- Christ's blood covers all the sins
- Confront the sin in love - expect lies and deception
- Explain the consequences (loss of a job, hurts future spouse, legal dangers)
- Intervene - take away internet access
- Repentance/restoration

Susan Kemmerer - What About Me?

** The real you is how you behave in your circumstances. ** Romans 5:3-5

We are called to be servants: Matt. 20:25-27, 1 Cor. 9:19, Eph. 6:6, 1 Peter 2:16, Romans 6:22, Galatians 5:13

23 ideas to lift your spirit:
1. Don't neglect your devotional live (2 Cor. 12:8-10)
2. Change your expectations - don't lower your standards
3. Change your curriculum (make it more hands on)
4. Exercise
5. Play with the kids
6. Don't compare yourself with others.
7. Be flexible (don't worry about gaps)
8. Take a day off to catch up (benefits of homeschooling)
9. Practice pre-meal pick-ups (5 minutes to clean whatever you can.)
10. Hire a housekeeper
11. Host an evening with friends - resist the urge to clean up!
12. Trade babysitting
13. Pick up your hobby
14. Enjoy breakfast in bed
15. Assign kids to make a formal dinner
16. Enjoy a date night
17. Read a book - make it special
18. Clean house (top to bottom)
19. Take a class
20. Trim your schedule
21. Take a personal retreat
22. Take school outside
23. Take turns planning fellowship nights

Matt Friedeman - Discipleship in the Home

Ex. 19:6 (every home is a school)
3 main objectives of a homeschooling family:
1. Kingdom/Nation - Community Matt 4:18-22
2. Priests - Service/Ministers Matt 4:23-24
3. Holy - Character Matt 5:3-10
If you are going to make a disciple, you need to know what a disciple is.

Make an age 18 list - What character qualities do you want your children to have at age 18?
2 columns - the first lists where we want them to be in these categories:
spirituality, money, sex, Biblical literacy, intellect, evangelism, poor, health, skills
The second column lists what we need to do to help them reach that goal.
Then review it with the child.

Eating as a family at the dinner table has a positive impact on the family - less stress, better grades, less likely to try alcohol or drugs.
Matt's family does the following: read a biography or book, sing hymns, catechism, memorize and OT passage and NT passage, memorize famous quotes/creeds, learn a famous prayer, take turns saying prayers of thanksgiving, adoration and supplication

Age 12 trip
Have 12 men write letters to the child (grandfathers, pastors, coaches, etc) and read them on the trip with the boy
Purchase 12 gifts to give that will teach them something over the next period of their lives. (Ex. work gloves, pocketwatch, American flag, Constitution/Declaration of Independence, books, Bible, etc.)
During the trip - pray for future spouse and talk about courtship vs. dating.

Susan Wise Bauer - Homeschooling the REAL child

Write a description of what a perfect school day should be to you. Do you have unrealistic expectations? Do you have a daily schedule? Do you see forward movement (from 1 year ago)? Don't forget that you child is a human being!

Look beyond the symptoms (argumentative, poky, disorganized, uninterested) to what kind of child you have:
- Purposeful child - wants to do what he wants to do his own way
- Immature child
- Single-minded child - wants to focus on only one subject
- Multi-talented child
- Independent child - wants to be in charge of his own schedule
- Creative child - unfocused

If your child is consistently resisting a particular subject, change the curriculum, even if you like it or it's the top of the line!

Strategies:
- do just a little bit every day on a particular subject
- rewards - do one difficult thing at a time
- drop the difficulty level and increase the time - this gives the child a chance to catch up
- give the child some power (works well with older children)
ex. 2 weeks - do Latin without complaining, and in exchange what do you want me to do for you?
- teach it three different ways (auditory, verbal and hands on)
- use a timer to teach them to not be distracted. This will not speed up the child's natural pace. 1. let the child see the timer (so they have a sense of time passing)
2. do a short amount of time and a small amount of work, gradually increasing
3. have a reward set if it's accomplished, but not a punishment if not. Let the punishment be not getting the reward.
- block scheduling - do an entire week of one subject until that subject is done for the year. This gives the child a sense of accomplishment.
- 10 minute sprints (good for the competitive child and those who like check lists)
- use a checklist - Especially as they get older - this gives them more control over their day and they can see what needs to be done. Often children never see an end to their day. Resist the urge to add more on to the list.
- create your own curriculum or let the child choose what he would like to do.
- you don't have to finish high school in four years!

Inge Cannon - 12 Most Common Transcript Transgressions
www.homeschooltranscripts.com

12. Inattention to graduation date - specify a day, month and year, don't feel obligated to end in May or June

11. Inadequate validation - transcripts must be signed, an affidavit might be necessary

10. Incomplete student information - List on the transcript the student's full name, date of birth, gender, parent's names, SSN (especially if applying for scholarships or financial aid.)

9. Inaccurate GPA calculations
most use a 4 point scale, (A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0)
you can weight grades for AP courses or college courses taken during HS (4 point A becomes a 5 point A), but list AP after the course name on the transcript ONLY if it's an actual AP textbook.
decide between CORE 40 (Indiana uses), and Carnegie Units for credit hours
Report GPA at least to 2 decimals, can go to 3 decimals

8. Improper length - transcripts are an academic resume, not a portfolio
transcripts should not be longer than 2 pages (1 page front and back), You may collect a portfolio so it's ready when (if) asked.

7. Insufficient documentation - keep good records to back up the grades
- prepare a bibliography of resources that go along with the classes (video, seminars, etc.)
- collect letters of recommendations (evaluations from co-op teachers, etc)
- list an addendums that are included with the transcript

6. Imprecise course titles - use clearly understood titles, explain an unusual titles
Use arabic numerals to indicate grade level (English 9), and Roman numerals to indicate course level (Spanish I)

5. Inconsistent evaluation - avoid pass/fail grades (for a GPA, pass = 1 point, fail = 0 points)

4. Inflexible rigidity - balance the recognition that not all classroom time is academically efficient

3. Irrational fear - don't measure homeschooling on how closely you imitate the public school, the diploma we give is a certification of the completion of what OUR SCHOOL requires for graduation

2. Impromptu delivery - Don't wait until the last minute to gather it all together, work on it through the course of the high school career. You could forget important details, not have time for edits, and circumvent creativity.

1. Irresponsible omission - As a homeschool family teaching High School, you owe your child a transcript wither they are planning to enter college or not. No one else can grant graduation status to your child.

Shirley Solis - What Does a Relaxed Day Look Like?

1. Set goals - spiritual, character, physical

2. Have a routine on paper (schedule)
An example of her school:
Everyday to the 3 Rs, reading aloud, history, science, literature and character
Extra subjects added once a week: geography, spelling, art appreciation/art, music appreciation/music, poetry, nature walks, home economics
The 3 Rs are done first thing in the morning along with chores by themselves, have a snack then head to reading area for read aloud time. Read from these areas: Bible, character, classic, science, history
Then add in the extra subject
Then have lunch and done with the school day.