Surviving and Thriving a Homeschool Convention

Spring is in the air! For many homeschool families, one of the signs of Spring is attending a homeschool convention–a time where visions can be renewed, cups can be “filled” and new books bought
I wrote this a couple years ago for our local homeschool families and wanted to share it with you—I also welcome your suggestions for making homeschool conventions a great experience.

Homeschool Conventions….What do you think of when you hear the words, “Homeschool convention”? Do visions of vendors dance in your head? Do you grab your pen and notebook, and eagerly begin outlining the workshops you MUST attend? Or do your knees get shaky and your head throb as you consider EVERYTHING that you must do in such a short time? Believe it or not, YOU can do more than survive this year’s convention ~ you can THRIVE! And I want to help you! Whether it is your first convention or your 10th convention, there are things you can do to make this convention your most enjoyable one ever! Don’t believe me? Read on and I will share some “tried and true” methods of thriving at convention!

 First, PRAY! Seek God for which workshops will meet the needs you and your children have currently and will have over the next year. He will show you! He knows the stresses, struggles and successes you will have over the next several months and will direct your path. After praying regarding workshops, pray about curriculum. Ask Him to show you which books and curriculum will meet the needs of your children.

 Second, Prepare ahead of time. As you pray about the workshops and curriculum, jot down what the Lord shows you. Circle the workshops on the brochure and bring it with you to convention. Even though you have “signed up” for workshops at registration, you are not bound to those choices. If you feel that you need a different workshop than the one you signed up for GREAT! Go to the workshop that you need most! Also, begin your curriculum shopping list. I always found it helpful to create 2 lists. One list was the “look at and see if it will work for my children” and the second list was the “Shopping list”. Be sure to take advantage of the online exhibitors list –most conventions offer this as a benefit to the attendees, check their website– to plan your 2 lists. Once your lists are complete (are they ever complete? HA!), you can better plan the order of the vendors you want to visit. When the exhibit hall layout is available, print it and use it to plan your shopping experience. Much like grocery shopping, exhibit hall shopping can be an extremely pleasurable experience if you have a game plan. Make time at the vendor hall to visit each booth, talk to the vendors, ask YOUR questions about their programs/curriculum and look through the books! Is this program truly the BEST ONE for your son/daughter? There is nothing like looking through the books, talking to the vendors and seeking your spouse’s input to help you decide!

While we are still considering “the plan”, I encourage you to plan what you will wear for the 2 day convention. Think COMFORTABLE! Wear comfortable walking shoes (tennis shoes are wonderful!), and clothes that are comfortable for all day wear…whether it is shopping or sitting in workshops (or both!). Also, be sure to grab a sweater or jacket, as the convention hall temperature may fluctuate. Make child care arrangements. Find a friend or family member that you can trust, who is available to care for your children. We have found that attending the convention as a husband and wife is a wonderful opportunity for both of us to be recharged and our relationship to be revived! Whether we “divide and conquer” at workshops or simply enjoy being together at the workshops, convention is always a great “Date” for us! 

 Now that you have planned ahead, what kind of things can you do on the day of convention that will make it a more pleasurable experience?

 Eat a good breakfast! Coming empty will simply make you sluggish and unable to concentrate on the valuable information available from the speakers and vendors.

 Arrive early! There is nothing more stressful than trying to find a parking place, 2 minutes before the first session!! If at all possible, arrive as soon as possible, after the doors open.  This will give you ample time to receive the convention booklet, find the rooms your workshops are in and visit with friends.

Also, make note of any workshops you would like to hear, but are not able to attend. Most conventions offer audios of the workshops for sale. Manuel and I have found it helpful to purchase audios to bring home, both workshops we missed and also ones we are blessed by. We  often find these are CDs we listen to again and again and again……..(especially in January!!)

Be sure to bring your shopping lists and workshop lists with you. During the shopping times, use your list and the vendor map to navigate your shopping experience.

Also be sure to take advantage of the “coat and bag check”. Most conventions offer coat check as a  donation based service. It is  invaluable for helping lighten your load! Mentally and physically! No sore shoulders and you won’t be making yourself crazy, wondering where you left your latest purchase!

But mostly, RELAX and enjoy yourself!! This is one special time each year that you, as a homeschool Mom and Dad can be encouraged and exhorted to the high call of home-education!

 May God bless you as you seek to obey Him in the high calling of home-education

~~Deanne Crawford~~

a brief testimony of our homeschool journey…

Manuel and I first heard the phrase “Lifestyle of Learning” 10 years ago. We had been homeschooling our daughter, Amanda, for one year (1st grade) and had already begun to feel burnout. I was daily dealing with tears (both hers and MINE!) as we sat in our kitchen, filling out pages after pages of worksheets, while the sun was shining and the yard was calling our name!

 As we finished our first year, a very dear friend handed us the book “The Relaxed Homeschooler” by Mary Hood. I LOVED the ideas that Mary presented, but was not able to get a handle on “relaxed homeschooling”…the entire concept created a great deal of brain “cramps” in my Type A personality! And not only mine!! My dear 1st grade daughter was also driven by externals and had lost the fun and love of learning. She actually had me buy a dinner bell, so that I could ring it when she was to switch from Math to her History workbook!

Shortly after reading the Relaxed Homeschooler, I was introduced to the idea of a “Lifestyle of Learning”! What an AHA!! Moment…Through the teachings of Marilyn Howshall, Cindy Rushton, Sally Clarkson and Barb Shelton, I began to get a vision for creating a learning environment in our  home and for making every event a learning event~but even more important than that, I began to recognize that academics was not the only reason to home educate. Academics were essentially the icing on the cake, discipling my children in the ways of the Lord was the CAKE!  Have you ever tried to frost a cake, without having baked it first? That is what I was doing in our home. I was trying to frost my cake (do academics) without training their character (baking the cake!).

What exactly is a Lifestyle of Learning?

A Lifestyle of learning is actually a term that escapes easy definition. A Lifestyle of Learning has different nuances, within the meaning. By that, I mean, that what a lifestyle of learning looks like in MY home is not what it looks like in Cindy Rushton’s home, Marilyn Howshall’s home or even YOUR home!

A lifestyle of learning is just that. Learning becomes real life–it becomes a natural extension of you and your family.
Wisdom’s Way of Learning (lifestyle of learning) is the phrase coined by Marilyn Howshall. According to her book of the same title, Marilyn defines Wisdom’s way of learning: “Wisdom’s way of learning is about seeking God for His plan for our family.” She goes on to state, “Academic education, as we know, should not be life’s goal for the Christian, rather, the goal should be discipleship to Jesus Christ.” The beautiful part of bringing a lifestyle of learning into your home is that you hear from God for your own family. Your homeschool will not look like anyone else’s! Your learning adventure will be unique to your family, your child and even possibly the season of life you are in.
Cindy Rushton shares in “Homeschooling Digging into all the Options”,
“True education begins with a strong family…..with lots of time to explore and learn on their own….with parents who really KNOW the child….with parents teaching WHO they are and what they know. Yes if we want our children to have a real education, then we must forsake the myths of education and step up to the call to disciple our children each and every day of their life.”

The KEY to a successful Lifestyle of learning is going to God for His plan and direction for our children…..His scope and sequence. Barb Shelton, comments that “God has given each parent an internal scope and sequence.” He has a plan for each of our children, and has given us, as their parents, the perfect scope and sequence for each of our children.

Our children mature at different levels, have different learning styles, different spiritual gifts and different capabilities. By spending time with God for each of our children, we will hear His scope and sequence and follow His plan for our children! In our home, a relationship with Jesus Christ is our #1 priority, followed by “working out our salvation with fear and trembling”. Our children are taught character, respect and what the Bible says about holy living, within the context of their relationship with Jesus Christ.
THEN we focus on academic learning, based on prayerfully seeking God for His direction.

Sound lofty? Yes, I guess it does…but in the day to day living, its really not! It is simply an extension of who we are as parents. Praying for our children, simply takes on a different role. We begin to see God as the ultimate “life coach” for each of our children and seek to work with Him in preparing our children for the role(s) He has for them.

Does a lifestyle of learning mean you  don’t do formal academics?

Absolutely NOT! Academics are still a very real part of our day. However, academics in our home is not “the main thing”. We chose to “master” the curriculum that we use, rather than allowing it to master us. What does that mean exactly? Mastering curriculum in our home, simply means, that we prayerfully decide which curriculum TOOL our child(ren) need for the upcoming year. After purchasing this curriculum, we plan how to use it that best fits our children. Some books are used orally, or only parts of the books are used to help the children master a weak area. We may use all the curriculum, but on a different schedule than the publisher gives. Our use of curriculum is simply a tool to develop in our children, what the Lord gives us for our children.
Manuel and I pray together and separately for our children, for God’s plan for their life, for wisdom to know how to prepare our children for His call on their life. With that in mind, we begin praying about which curriculum to use for each season. In the past 8 years we have been amazed at His faithfulness in answering these simple prayers from a parent’s heart. Not only has He given us direction, but He has also provided the resources. For us, we have found that academics are a simply a tool~ much like a hammer is utilized to build a house, .when it is all said and done, you do not look at the hammer….all eyes are on the house!! Why as parents must we get so overly focused on the hammer??

For our family, a lifestyle of learning has been one of tremendous growth and learning~not only the children but especially for Manuel and me! Marilyn Howshall once stated, that “homeschooling was more about developing the parent’s character than the children’s” and I would absolutely agree with that. Our home is simply an extension of the plan God has for our family. His plan, His purpose, His Scope and Sequence!
Lord, give us grace for the task and joy in the journey~~

Pride in one’s lifestyle

To start my new blog–I decided to repost one of my website’s most popular writings..may it challenge and encourage you today.

As many of you, I have heard various teachings on the issue of pride and our need for humility before God. However, for the past several months, God has been dealing with me in a specific area of pride…an area that He has revealed is not for me alone.

This is very difficult to write, but I truly feel God’s leading. May He be glorified through this meditation!

Several months ago, I purchased a new Bible. As I was seeking a fresh look at Scripture, I bought a “Holman Christian Standard Bible” Although a fresh translation, the HCSB is an “optimal equivalence” which essentially means it translates Scripture literally unless for readability and clarity the thought for thought translation is necessary (at which point a Literal “foot note” is present.)
In my reading, one morning, I was in 1 John. 1 John 2:15-17 states, “Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him because everything that belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride in one’s lifestyle is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away but the one who does God’s will remain forever.”

Like many of you, this verse is quite familiar…it is quoted often times when Homeschoolers get together—simply a reminder of the choices we have made to give up the materialism of our world, in favor of a simpler lifestyle to raise our families in.

As I meditated on this verse, God pierced my heart with the second part of this verse, “the pride in one’s lifestyle is not from the Father, but is from the world.”…

Take a moment and think about this phrase—The pride of one’s lifestyleAs I look around in the homeschool community (online and “real life”), I see that pride is rampant! We have pride in the educational decision we have made; pride in the homeschool academic success stories; and sometimes simply pride in being “opposite” the world ( consider this: “Oh, you have 2 children….well , I have 9 with number 10 on the way. God has really blessed my quiver”)… I beg you to hear my heart –I speak not condemnation. I speak only what God is showing me —

 

Homeschooling is a GOOD thing! But we must never forget it is a GOD thing!
It is good to protect our children and to train them at home, “In the way they should go”; it is good be “in the world and not of it”; it is good to have obedient children who love the Lord”…but we must seek to Preach Christ in our families, in our home, in our Churches, and in our world! Our goal is not and never has been to preach “Homeschooling” or “Classical Education” , a Lifestyle of Learning or even “Family worship”. Yes, home education is a good thing and Family Worship can be a good thing. However, it is not our soul purpose!

What is our soul purpose?

Isaiah 43:6-7 Bring My sons from far away and My daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone called by My name, and created for My glory

1 Corinthians 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God’s glory.

Psalm 96:7-8 Ascribe to the LORD, you families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His Name.

1 Corinthians 6:20 for you were bought at a price, therefore, glorify God with your body.

As I meditated on this, a thought struck me—“God did not save me from sin and death so I could be a homeschool Mom”.Again, I am not demeaning the role of Homeschooling Moms, we have a vital and important God given job. However, being a Homeschool Mom is NOT my soul purpose! My soul purpose in life is to GLORIFY GOD.

 

So, how does one Glorify God?

Oh, how I wish there was a 3 step plan to glorifying God. But beloved, it really is not that simple. Glorifying God is truly a reflection of your heart and your priorities. It is YOU seeking God every morning for His plan for your day. It is YOU turning to Him for every decision that needs made in your home (meals, curriculum, activities) and it is YOU giving Him the praise, honor and glory for those decisions and not simply using Him as the scapegoat (“I appreciate you calling and asking me to ___but as I prayed about it, I don’t feel a peace”) Yes, at times we need to say NO to good activities for the better activity of staying home to disciple our children. But, we must seek God’s face for His plan for our children’s life. By seeking Him for a vision for each of our children, He will give us all we need to educate them at home—for HIS GLORY and not ours, nor the glory of “X” curriculum or “Y” method.

Oh beloved, God tells us in Isaiah 42:8, “I am Yahweh, that is My Name; I will not give My glory to another or My praise to others.”

Let us search our hearts, our minds and even our actions.

Who and/or what is receiving the glory and praise in your home and home-school? Amen.

Psalm 139:23 Amp.
Search me [thoroughly] O’ God and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!