Cincinnati Homeschool Convention

No one will find this interesting but me. That's ok. I'm not sure anyone is reading this blog except me (and Sweetling, who should probably be doing history. Hello, Sweetling, is your history finished?)

Cincinnati Homeschool Convention is coming this month.

(Hey, Sweetling, if you ARE finished with history, will you find me a short video clip of Strong Sad doing the "it's finally here" ditty?)

And, like a kid in a toystore with a pocket full of Christmas money, I am overwhelmed with cool choices for the workshops.

Here are the options I'm trying to choose between. (Any arbitrary capitalization and misspelling is all me being lazy in my typing and is not reflective of the convention or the speakers.)

Thursday, 3:30
Homeschooling Distractable Kids Who Don't Like School
Teaching Mathematics with Art
Making Geography Memorable

Thursday 6:30
Charlotte Mason and Her Methods
Teaching Reading and Spelling to Kids who Can't Sit Still


Friday 8:30
The Fun Factor--How Active Enjoyment Impacts Learning
Homeschooling the Gifted Learner: Helps, Ideas, and Resources

Friday 10:00
25 Ways to Significantly Cut Your Grocery Bill without Clipping Coupons
What Education is For: The Two Basic Goals of Education
Music, You, and Your Child--Ten Ways to Teach Your Child about Music
SOS--School on a Shoestring
Families Love Exploring the Heart of U.S.History

Friday 11:30
Charlotte Mason and Her Methods
Family Devotions that Blow Up the Box

Friday 1:00
Introducing Writing Strands
Homeschooling Gifted Kids

Friday 2:30
Learning with Living Books
How to Save Western Civilization One Student at a Time
Uh OH! The Fractions are Moving In!

Friday 4:00
Turning Kids on to Writing
Foreign Languages: Where do I start?
Creative Nature Study

Friday 5:30
The Logic of English: A New Way to See Words

Friday 7:00
Learning: A Breath-Taking Adventure
Teaching Math Without a Plan

Saturday 8:30
Exposing the Wizard of Oz--A Christian Guide to Teaching History
Laying Down the Rails
Family Devotions that Blow Up the Box

Saturday 11:30
I'd Throw in the Towel--If only I could find a clean one!
Glimpses of Glory
How to Win Friends and Influence People (why and how to teach rhetoric)
The 10 Greatest Obstacles in Learning a Foreign Language

Saturday 1:00
Learning Styles: Choosing Curriculum to Fit Each Child
The Art and Joy of Storytelling and Reading Aloud
Four-Level Literature
Project-based Learning

Saturday 2:30
Identifying and Avoiding the Trouble Spots in Math

Saturday 4:00
The Key to Education is Relationship
Bullet Proof Writing for Reluctant Writers

Considering there are nearly 20 workshop options running practically every hour, I think I've done wonders to narrow my selections down as far as I have. There is also a Teen Track offering workshops geared to teens which I'm going to let Sweetling read through. She can choose from the Teen Track or from any of the regular workshops.

And because I'm a nerdy dork, or a dorky nerd, here are the descriptions for the workshops I'm considering.

Homeschooling the Real (Distractable, Impatient, Argumentative, Unenthusiastic, Non-Book-Loving, Inattentive, Poky, Vague) Child
High academic achievement (and particular the book-centered kind of achievement recommended by classical educators) often seems designed for one kind of student: the mature, self-directed, disciplined child who loves to read. In this workshop, learn how to deal with the other 90% of students. Includes practical strategies for dealing with roadblocks in the way of academic achievement, as well as time-tested advice for teaching to your child’s strengths while still addressing weaknesses. Susan Wise Bauer, classical educator, college instructor, and author, was home schooled herself and has homeschooled her own four real children, now aged 10-19 (the oldest is now at university).

Teaching Mathematics with Art (or is it Teaching Art with Mathematics)
Can your child’s future really be boiled down to something as simplistic as whether they are right-brained, or left-brained? Surely, as homeschooling parents, we want our children to believe that they are capable of using “both sides” of their brains. In this educational and entertaining workshop, we will explore the natural and logical connections between Mathematics and Art. We will investigate mathematical principles, and see how they are related to, and illustrated by, artistic applications. Likewise, we will explore several artistic concepts, and see how they are based on mathematical ideas. Of course, throughout, the importance
of language and communication will be stressed, as it must play a key role in the understanding of both areas.

Making Geography Memorable (Ashley Strayer Wiggers)
Teaching geography can be overwhelming for teachers and sometimes boring for students. In this workshop, Ashley will offer helpful tips on making geography a memorable, and even fun experience. She will share how to incorporate geography into
everyday life and your other schooling subjects. With hands on activities and practical ideas, your children will start enjoying geography, and learning about the world, we live in!

Charlotte Mason and Her Methods
A practical and encouraging overview of who Charlotte Mason was and the methods used in her approach, including living books, short lessons, fine arts, history, dictation, narration, copywork, poetry, and more.

Teaching Reading and Spelling to Kids who Can’t Sit Still
Do you have a child who can’t sit still and doesn’t like to read? Join us in learning how to engage your active learners in their strongest learning mode -movement. Denise Eide will share her own experiences teaching and parenting her extreme kinesthetic child and two active boys. She will also demonstrate how reading is not only a visual activity but has natural kinesthetic components and how to tap into those to enhance learning for all students.
In this workshop we will:
• Learn active games for teaching reading and spelling.
• Develop a new appreciation of the gifts of kinesthetic learners.
• Discover the image of God revealed in active children.
• Learn how to utilize the kinesthetic gift while strengthening areas of weakness.
Though this workshop will focus on reading and spelling the concepts may be easily applied to other subjects. In addition to learning practical ways to engage your active child, Denise will inspire you in teaching and parenting each of your children in accordance with their unique God-given gifts.

The Fun Factor – How Active Enjoyment Impacts Learning
The research is in! And, the benefits are awesome!! “Fun”, plays an extremely important role in how well children (K-8) learn – and retain what they learn. Come, see and hear pitfalls to be avoided and relevant tips and techniques from experienced educators. Includes reviews of books, and Scripture-based curricula available to enhance the fun and learning!

Homeschooling the Gifted Learner: Helps, Ideas, and Resources
This session offers practical application to teaching gifted children. We will answer questions such as: If you want them tested where do you go to have that done? How do you adjust their curriculum? Where do you find resources to help them? We will introduce and help understand terms such as curriculum compacting, differentiation, and capacity. Concerns such as grade skipping, sibling comparisons, and early college admission will be addressed. This session is a great encouragement and helpful tool to those homeschooling gifted children.


25 Ways to Significantly Cut Your Grocery Bill Without Clipping Coupons
Want to save on groceries but don’t want to mess with clipping coupons? Taught by Crystal Paine, well-known money-saving blogger and author of The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, this workshop covers 25 ways to maximize the mileage of your money at the grocery store--without ever using a coupon!

Music, You, and Your Child – Ten Ways to Teach Your Child About Music
Music is one of the most joyful learning experiences that you can share with your child. Whether you are a novice with little experience or are a serious music lover, Bonnie Ward Simon will offer tips on how to integrate music into your family life and enrich your child’s educational experience.

What Education is For: The two basic goals of education.
Even many experienced teachers don’t know that education has only two basic purposes. Martin Cothran, editor of The Classical Teacher magazine, discusses the twin purposes of education that all homeschool parents need to keep in the
forefront of their minds as they teach their children. He explains how we can benefit from considering how education has done these two things well—and badly—throughout its history, and how we can do them better.

SOS! School on a Shoestring
You can teach your kids for less money than you think you can. More money doesn’t make for a better education - the school systems prove that. For 15 years, Cathy taught her kids for less than $100 per year. The SOS! method works for all learning
styles and follows the classical education model. Let Writing Strands and the SOS! method make your home school a little simpler and a little cheaper.

Families Love Exploring the Heart of U.S. History
How to Plan Easy Field Trips in & around your region of the country and sneak in fun lessons along the way. Through hands-on visuals and lively storytelling, author (and Travel Mom) Michele Zavatsky will take you on an educational journey through a local region of our country. Learn tricks to taking effective hands-on history adventures…on a budget. We’ll compare Forts & Battlefields, cover history from Astronauts to Indians to Explorers, discover natural wonders, learn how to make
things, and best of all, acquire pioneer skills working side-by-side re-enactors. Find out how many sites are ones you would never think of. Learn to create family memories and complete easy lessons on fun day trips from the Mom that “field trips for a living!” (background info: www.KidsLoveTravel.com)

Family Devotions that Blow Up the Box
Parents often struggle with creative ways to teach their kids about God and the principles He’s given us to live by – especially when they have kids at a variety of ages. Often parents see kids that are bored or distracted. Tim will equip you to teach your kids in ways that will hold their attentions…even teens. Tim will share his secrets that are way “ out of the box” and will demo at least 12 object lessons and activities that parent s can use immediately. Practical and powerful…this workshop is very “handson” and “how-to”. It is about equipping parents so they can do the job effectively at home.

Homeschooling Gifted Kids
How is homeschooling a gifted child different than homeschooling other children? How do you meet the needs of your gifted child? How do you keep him challenged? What happens when he’s smarter than you? How will you homeschool him and your other children at the same time? How do you keep him humble while encouraging his gifts? This workshop answers these questions and many more!

Learning with Living Books
Good living books help our children form personal relations and emotional bonds. And those bonds are what make learning stick. Join Sonya for a look at this simple, yet effective, approach to homeschooling. Learn what makes living books “living”, and practice using them in a way that makes learning stick.

How to Save Western Civilization One Student at a Time.
Martin Cothran, editor of The Classical Teacher magazine, discusses the consequences of an education system that has not only given up on the the culture of the Christian West, but is actively undermining it. Why is it important to pass on our culture? What exactly is this culture we need to pass on to our children? What is the role of homeschools in saving Western civilization?

UH, OH! The Fractions Are Moving In! (There goes the neighborhood!)
Since algebraic fractions are a much more complex form than arithmetic fractions, the memorization of the operational techniques generally taught in arithmetic, simply will not hold in Algebra. In this instructional workshop, Tom Clark, founder of VideoText Interactive, and author of “Algebra: A Complete Course”, and “Geometry: A Complete Course”, humorously explains, in detail, the “reasons behind the rules”. Now students can develop a clear, conceptual approach to working with fractions, without a reliance on meaningless shortcuts and tricks, preparing them to be much more successful when working with algebraic relations.

TURNING KIDS ON TO WRITING
Many of us feel inadequate or overwhelmed when it comes to teaching our children how to write. This parent participation session will help you experience the fun side of writing while picking up some ideas for getting started, developing enthusiasm in your children, and teaching composition skills. We will be covering writing skills and resources for beginning writers through high school level. Some of the ideas might be especially useful for older, non-writing students. Come prepared with a pen or pencil and a blank sheet of lined paper.

Creative Nature Study
There is no “right” way to incorporate nature study into your homeschool This workshop will give you a wealth of practical suggestions for adding nature study in a way that suits your family’s homeschool. Understand the importance of studying God’s creation, feel confident (even if you’re a novice), learn how to keep nature journals and learn what to do during nature study no matter where you live.

The Logic of English: A New Way to See Words
Have you always believed English is illogical and inconsistent? In this workshop your understanding of English will be transformed! Award winning author, Denise Eide will reveal phonograms and spelling rules which explain 98% of English words.
No longer will you need to tell your children, “that is an exception,” when they misread or misspell a word.

Learning: A Breath-Taking Adventure
Does that ring true for you? Is learning a breath-taking adventure in your home school, or more of a weary, forced march, plodding through endless subjects? One of the most difficult aspects of homeschooling is breaking away from the model of
education that we grew up with. A desk, a flag and an apple symbolize the "look" of school, while "lecture, drill and test" describe the method of school, the method that left us passive and bored. It's time to enter a whole new world of education; to find a captivating -- breath-taking—way to learn. Join Diana for this refreshing, reviving, and reinvigorating workshop where you will discover the best brain practices in learning, the environment that encourages learning, and the many non-traditional ways students can practice what they are learning. Take a new look at practical, proven, and possible ways to make your home school journey a wondrous
adventure.

Teaching Math Without a Plan? You’ve GOT to be Kidding!
This workshop is designed to help parent-educators understand the scope, the sequence, and the logic of mathematics instruction from pre-school through adult. Join Tom Clark, founder of VideoText Interactive, and author of “Algebra: A Complete
Course”, and “Geometry: A Complete Course”, as he takes you on a sometimes humorous journey, describing all levels of arithmetic and all mathematics courses encountered in high school and college. In addition, considerable attention will be given to identifying the “why” of the study of mathematics with an emphasis on the development of concepts, instead of rote memorization.

Exposing the Wizard of Oz— A Christian's Guide to Teaching History
The essential history crash course for every Christian homeschool parent. Discover insights from Diana's research behind the events of history. Share her wisdom for teaching history. Do you wonder, "Whom do I trust and what do I read to know real
history?" Diana will equip YOU, regardless of your curriculum, to find your way through the challenges. She will lead you to a path you can follow in discovering treasures of history with your family.

Laying Down the Rails
Discover the secret to smooth and easy days: habit training. Learn how to instill good habits, which habits Charlotte Mason encouraged parents to cultivate in their children, and practical tips for cultivating the Top Three.

I’d Throw in the Towel--If Only I Could Find a Clean One
Do you feel like your life is one big chaotic mess of mountains of laundry, dishes, and to-do lists? As an author, business owner, well-known blogger, and homeschooling mom of three young children,Crystal Paine is well-versed in the juggling act that is involved in this thing called “mothering”. In this session, she’ll share practical encouragement and ideas that harried and hurried
young moms can implement to restore balance, peace, and order into their lives.

Glimpses of Glory
Can we fallible and finite human beings see the fingerprints of God in history? Are there examples from various times and various cultures that show the unmistakeable handiwork of the Creator/Redeemer God? Does history have more to teach us
than mere dates, names and places? For an intriguing look at the Story behind the stories, join Diana for this adventure-filled recounting—which could change your life!

The 10 greatest Obstacles in Learning a Foreign Language
This is a presentation of all the reasons (EXCUSES!) that Americans seem unlikely to achieve bilingualism in their homes and homeschools. In a comic format, complete with anecdotes and props, we go through why it’s so hard to teach and learn a
second language and how to overcome these obstacles in immediate and effective ways.

LEARNING STYLES: CHOOSING CURRICULUM TO FIT EACH CHILD
Having problems with uncooperative learners? Do you feel like your curriculum is as much hindrance as help? What about all those publishers who claim to have the best curriculum? How can we sort through all of this to figure out what will really be best for each of our children? Understanding learning styles helps us overcome many of the problems we encounter in home education. In this session we will first identify our own learning styles and those of our children. Then we will discuss methods of teaching to our children’s strengths and overcoming weaknesses using examples from various math programs.

The Art and Joy of Storytelling and Reading Aloud to Children
Who doesn’t like to be read to? And who better to read to children than the people they love and trust most-their parents. This workshop will teach parents to make the very most of their precious read-aloud time with their children. At the heart of each story he tells, Jim Weiss’ renowned ability to make even complex subjects comprehensible and memorable to young children is evident. This delightful and immediately useful workshop will help parents to: become even better readers; more clearly define their children’s listening skills; facilitate the consideration of the freshness, outlook and interpretation of the stories they choose to read; and assist in using ones voice as an instrument with rewarding and dramatic results.

FOUR-LEVEL LITERATURE
This presentation presents the philosophy and strategy of Michael Clay Thompson's cumulative literature program. The core of the program is that students should experience literature as literature, not as a tedium of scholarly assignments. The emphasis is on love of literature, not on grades or units. This goal has inevitable implications for the kinds of evaluation that can be accepted; it particularly means that evaluation is not based on convergent rights and wrongs but on Socratic questions, creative and academic essays, and MLA writing about literature. It also means that scholarship does not interrupt the magic of the reading experience but is postponed until after the reading, in accordance with Coleridge's dictum that there must be a suspension of disbelief during the reading of a great book.

Project-based Learning
Tests are good for students, I don’t doubt that! But, what kind of “test” really helps a child show what they know? What kind of test helps a student think critically and creatively? What kind of test allows a student to use learning styles that meet their needs perfectly and require such skills as organization, presentation and research? Projects! Learn how to turn any teaching lesson, unit or test into a project that will help your children become immersed in their learning – and produce results that your child won’t soon forget.

Identifying and Avoiding the Trouble Spots in Math
Join Tom Clark, founder of VideoText Interactive, and author of “Algebra: A Complete Course”, and “Geometry: A Complete Course”, as he offers an entertaining and educational session designed to help you discover the reasons behind the difficulty, on several of the traditional trouble spots in math. Topics discussed will be determined by the audience, and may include division of fractions and multiplication of decimals (using those mindless rules), long-division, story-problems, positive and negative numbers, and numerous others, all of which seem to indicate that Mathematics is just naturally “difficult”.

The Key to Education is Relationship
Experts in learning tell us that one of the BEST predictors of educational success is having a positive relationship between student and teacher. Translated for homeschooling parents: if we build healthy, happy relationships with our children, they will be able to thrive educationally. It goes far beyond desks and multiplication tables, however. For us, it encompasses every aspect of
life—since our students are learning with us 24/7! Join Diana for an insightful and practical workshop that will give you tools for building and improving these significant relationships.

Bullet Proof Writing for Reluctant Writers – Using the Writing Process to Bullet Proof Your Child’s Compositions
If you’re looking for a simple and easy way to make sure your child produces quality writing, this workshop is for you. Step by step guidance is often what reluctant readers need. Combine that with “chunking” and your reluctant writer is on the road to writing success. In this workshop, Matthew Stephens, former public school teacher and home school father of three, will explain The Writing Process and how it works to produce quality writing.

Help please?