Navigating Homeschool Conventions

My shopping buddy, Stephanie gathering up her
convention purchases!

We are half-way through March which means the homeschool convention season is about to begin (or has begun for some!). Conventions are a great way to get up close and personal with curriculum publishers and the products they offer. Publishers usually offer a discount ranging from 10% or more off your purchase to free shipping on ordered items.Beyond all of the new curriculum for you to look at, most conventions offer break out sessions with encouraging speakers. And let's not forget the satisfaction of walking to your car with your arms loaded with books for the new school year. There really is nothing like being surrounded by your favorite curriculum in a room full of other like minded parents. Conventions really can be a homeschooling dream come true.

They can also be a nightmare. Yes, conventions are a great way to save money and get all of your homeschooling material in one place, but they are also intimidating to first time attendees and even to those of us who have been several times! Going in blind is the surest way to overwhelm yourself with all of the great options offered at conventions. Let me help you prepare for the convention season by giving you a few pointers.

1. Pre-register. In the age of the internet, most conventions have a website with an online registration option. Not only will this save you time when you arrive, but you often get a discounted price on convention tickets when you pre-register. For our local convention that translates into a $10 per ticket savings!

2. Visit the convention website and check out the speaker list. You will want to decide which break out sessions, if any that you want to go to. Most of the bigger conventions last 2 days so knowing which speakers you want to listen to will help you decide which day(s) you want to attend. Remember, these are totally optional. You can skip the speakers all together, but be sure to check out the list because there just might be someone you really want to hear!

3. Visit the convention website and check out the vendor list and the floor layout. I know this sounds silly but you will want to go in with at least some idea of how the floor is laid out. You should also take a moment to mark which vendors you definitely want to visit. It is easy to get lost in the sea of vendor booths if you don't have a plan.

4. Have a budget before you go. Better yet, take cash. Oh, if I could only give you one piece of advice this would be it. I love most of the homeschool publishing companies that I have had contact with, but at convention everything seems to draw me in. Going without a budget is a rookie mistake that will cost you dearly if you tend to be like me and are easily distracted by shiny new books.

5. Know that it is ok to walk away. I hate to put it this way, but sometimes, vendors can get pushy. Think used car salesman. You need to know before you go that you may have to walk away from a vendor who is still trying to sell their product. I found out the hard way that trying to be "polite" can cost you a lot of time.

6. Go with a friend. This is not an absolute must, but it is so much more fun to share the car ride and the convention experience with friends!

Conventions, in my opinion, are a must have experience for homeschoolers and with the right preparation can be an exciting and encouraging experience for you!

Summer Curriculum Choices with Quick Reviews

I went to the Arlington Homeschool Book Fair with a list. I was organized and had a plan. Then I got there, and the plan went out the window. I mean seriously! Do you know how many vendors are at a typical homeschool book fair? It is unreal. I went with the full intention of getting the next level of Abeka. I browsed and picked out my books. Then the lady tells me that they don't keep stock. Now maybe this isn't the best reason to ditch a well researched and thought out curriculum choice, but I did. I walked around the corner and found Rod and Staff. I ended up purchasing the full year of language arts for both the girls.

I'm pretty excited about all of the things we are trying this year so for those of you still deciding here is what we are going with for this "semester":

Language Arts, Spelling and Reading: Rod and Staff

Coming from Abeka I thought we pretty much had intense covered. I was wrong. The 1st grade is starting a bit below where Keira is, but it picks up quickly. Brianna is struggling with her attitude with the new stuff. Not because she doesn't know the work, but more because there is so much of it compared to the Abeka. Each lesson consists of 2 phonics pages and 4 reading. She is thriving on it though and once I get her past the tantrums of having to do the pages, I think she will match very well with it. It gives a good phonemic base and has them reading stories that are very Bible based. Even better is it is reasonably priced.


Latin: Song School Latin

We will actually start this on Monday and do it either once or twice a week. I haven't decided yet. It's very basic, using songs and chants to learn vocabulary. The one thing I am worried about is the apparently huge jump between Song School and Latin for Children Book A. I have heard that they are working on Song School Latin Book 2 though. For the cost, this one is definitely worth exploring.

Bible, Science, History and Social Studies: The Weaver Volume 1

This is every parents dream, especially if you have more than one spread over multiple levels. It literally takes these 4 subjects (also included are Language Arts and Creative Writing. We will are not using the Language arts because I didn't feel it was comprehensive enough. The creative writing we wing by using journals and just writing what is interesting to us), and weaves them together. One just flows into the other. Best of all every child stays on the same topic while Weaver adjusts the difficulty to that level! Here is an example of both ideas. One day your Bible lesson is about the wise and the foolish man. You read the Bible story and talk about how Jesus is our foundation and so on. Then you go outside and collect soil samples. You pour water on them and talk about the result. The younger children then talk about things needed to build a good strong house and then build one out of Legos or what ever. Middle elementary makes a list of materials needed to build a strong building, and upper writes a paragraph on what it takes to build a strong building. Now these are just my examples (though some of these are things we have done with Weaver), but you get the idea. For a more comprehensive review you can visit Christa's Weaver Review Here.

Cursive: TBD

I just haven't found anything I love so at the moment cursive is random bits of copy work.

Art: Artistic Pursuits Book 2

We love this art. It gives us the perfect mix of art appreciation and art instructions. And it's real art. I don't feel like I need to be an artist myself to teach this book. However, I have heard some parents say they prefer more art instruction so be sure to check the book out before you buy!

Lot's of Lapbooks:

Because Weaver is designed to last 9 months and we are stretching it to a year (blog coming soon!) we will be adding in lapbooks as a fun way to supplement. Currclick offers lots of fun and sometimes FREE LAPBOOKS.

One of the great things about homeschooling is getting to start fresh and change up the things that didn't work for you. I am very excited and am looking forward to sharing how everything worked for us!

Peter Enns Unbiblical? Jay Wile Plays Semantics

A new Decalogue has been adopted by the neo-Christians of our day, the first word of which reads "Thou shalt not disagree"; and a new set of Beatitudes too, which begins "Blessed are they that tolerate everything, for they shall not be made accountable for anything. It is now the accepted thing to talk over religious differences in public with the understanding that no one will try to convert another or point out errors in his belief. The purpose of these talks is not to confront truth, but to discover how the followers of other religions think and thus benefit from their views as we hope they will from ours.~A.W. Tozer

By now you know that the dis-invite of Ken Ham to the Great Homeschool Conventions in Cincinnati and Greenville is the talk of the homeschooling world right now. What you may not know is that there are other individuals who are involved in this controversy as well. Dr. Jay Wile formerly of Apologia and Susan Bauer of The Well Trained Mind, have both put themselves into the middle of it. Hopefully, I will have time to do a bit more looking into Susan's stand on the controversial dismissal, but for now I want to share a bit of Dr. Wile's response to it. On Dr. Wile's blog he has yet again voiced his disapproval of Ken Ham's outing of Dr.Peter Enns unbiblical views, but more interesting than the blog is the comments. While Dr. Wile states adamantly that he does not agree with Enns' non-literal interpretation of, well frankly, just about the entire Bible, he seems to be consistently defending him and unwilling to call it like it is, WRONG. If Enns is wrong, that is he is not interpreting scripture correctly, then wouldn't that make his views unbiblical? I mean either you have a correct interpretation or you don't, either you are biblical or you are not. So, my question to Dr. Wile would be, at what point does it become unbiblical? Peter Enns represents a growing and dangerous liberal movement not only within the homeschool circles, but also within evangelical Christianity. The movement has not just led to the "theistic evolutionist" view point, but to much more dangerous ones. A non-literal translation of the Bible undermines the entire authority of the scripture! Starting with Genesis, Ennis has systematically turned the Bible into a book of metaphorical fairy tales.

You cannot expect the Bible -- written in ancient times for ancient eyes -- to enter a modern scientific discussion, and you cannot fault the Bible when it fails to answer our questions. This is not a new insight. Augustine said famously 160 years ago that Christians embarrass themselves when they appeal to the Bible to settle scientific matters (cosmology was the issue he was dealing with). Even if many Christians throughout history did assume that the Bible is scientifically accurate, the problems with that position have been understood for a very long time, long before the modern era. - Peter Enns

Dr. Enns has taken the accuracy of the scriptures and thrown it out as being too old fashioned to be interpreted by science. The problem, Dr. Enns, is that we aren't supposed to be interpreting scripture by science, but the other way around! Secondly, Dr. Ennis has taken the Gospel out of the equation when talking to children. His curriculum tells parents not to tell children of their sin nature:

What should not be emphasized is the child's miserable state of sin and the need for a savior... Fuller lessons concerning sin and grace will come in time, and certainly parents and churches have the responsibility to teach the fullness, of what the Bible has to offer. But most young children simply do not have the emotional or intellectual maturity to grasp the adult concepts in the Bible. ...Do not allow yourself to be convinced that you are somehow shortchanging your children by not addressing adult concepts at such a young age...I believe in God's displeasure with sin. But to introduce children to the God of wrath right at the beginning of their lives, without the requisite biblical foundation and before the years of emotional maturity, can actually distort their view of God. Telling God's Story by Peter Enns

I don't know about yours, but my Bible says that without an understanding of our fallen state we are unable to come to Christ in a repentant state, beg for His forgiveness and become born again. Furthermore, my children are not stupid, and are amazingly perceptive when it comes to the things of God. Not only does this stand as an insult to our children's intelligence, but it is just plain dangerous as they have no hope of salvation without an understanding of sin, God's wrath, judgement and provision. Jesus himself said, "suffer the little children to come unto me"! Finally, while this is certainly not the last of the intolerable teachings of Peter Enns, I will end with this quote:

It is entirely accurate to understand Israel’s kings as messiahs: they were anointed by God to do his work. We need to resist the temptation to think that “messiah” in the Old Testament means the supernatural, second person of the Trinity, who will die for our sins. p83 of Telling God's Story

This, in my opinion, not only qualifies as unbiblical, but as heretical. It simply speaks for itself. So tell me again Dr. Wile, what does one have to teach to be considered unbiblical?

I refuse to link to Peter Enns book. Amazon carries it if you wish to verify my uncited quotes. The free book offered online is missing some of the quotes. If you look in the comment section one of the ladies has kindly linked to a scanned copy of the page that contains the page 83 quote.