Homeschool Conference

Josh and I were able to attend a homeschooling conference a couple of weeks ago very close to home and it was such a blessing.  My parents came up and took the boys to their house for a couple of nights so we could just focus on the conference.  Thomas was super excited about going to Grandpa's house and didn't really care what we were doing because he knew the world was going to revolve around he and Josiah for a couple of days! 

While we aren't formally homeschooling yet, it was a good chance for us to explore what is out there, especially in terms of curriculum.  If you have never been to a curriculum hall, it is so overwhelming.  Who knew that so many people wrote curriculum for history, science, reading, spelling, writing, etc.?  And it seems like everyone has a different opinion on what they like best!  We are pretty set on wanting to give our children a classical education, so most of our sessions were geared at training our children classically.  We were able to hear Susan Wise Bauer a couple of times, as well as a seminar on helping children learn to read (which I am actually beginning to do now with Thomas!), traveling the Southeast with children, teaching history from a biblical worldview, and Josh went to a seminar from Ken Ham from Answers in Genesis. 

One of the most important realizations we came away with is that we want to make sure to buy curriculum that is in line with our worldview, especially as it relates to history and science.  So many of the history curriculums don't begin with creation and don't incorporate the biblical narrative into history.  Susan Wise Bauer's curriculum The Story of The World is hugely popular among classical homeschoolers, but Josh and I will not use it because she begins with the nomads and not with creation.  We may use it to supplement a primary history text, but it certainly won't be our main history curriculum.  We also want to be careful with science curriculums too, because so many assume evolution and not creation.  While we plan to expose our children to the theory of evolution, they will be much older when they can understand the difference between between fact and fiction.

I almost forgot one of the best parts of the conference: we got to see Tim Hawkins in concert!  And for those of you who know who he is, it was a treat!  We laughed until we cried and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  The best part: it was only $5 for each ticket!  If you don't know who Tim Hawkins is, follow the link or look him up on YouTube.