Susan, we need you to organize a homeschool convention that revolves around education & NOT lifestyle choices.

[FaithManor]

Is anyone else with me on this? Because, even though I'm more towards the tail end of our homeschooling - college searches have commenced for two of ours, and the youngest is 8th grade - I'd love to attend a convention in which the total focus is education. Not the benefits of bee pollen, or women shouldn't wear pants, or men should dominate their wives, or girls shouldn't go to college, or your going to hell in a hand basket if you believe in evolution, or dominionism, or .................... you get the picture, just actual homeschooling.

 

I'd help Susan pull it together too. I may be in Michigan, she in Virginia, but I'm pretty certain between phone and internet, I could be very helpful. It could maybe be held somewhere centrally located... Kansas City or wherever.

 

I dream of workshops such as:

 

"How to conduct chem labs with your college bound high schooler?"

"When to choose Conceptual Physics, General Physics, or AP Physics?"

"How to run an ACT study group?"

"What is an apprenticeship and how do you document it for high school credit or college apps?"

"What is a gap year and how to create a meaningful one?"

"How to help a reluctant reader become enthusiastic?"

"Why no one should ever have to teach, much less read, a Hemmingway novel?" :D

"How to implement the new Writing with Ease curriculum?"

"Latin for dummies."

"Finding and implementing online resources for teaching foreign language and documenting and grading for credit."

"How to teach history from one curriculum to multiple children and make the assignments meaningful and appropriate for all."

"What does a science notebook for an elementary aged student really need to look like."

"How to improve fundamental math education and make sure your child is ready for high school."

"Why no one should ever have to teach, must less read, a Hemmingway novel part two - bring on to burn." :smilielol5:

 

You get the picture. Topics that matter. Topics that come up all.the.time. on the general education board, the high school board, etc.

 

Then there would be the optional "sit around and eat chocolate with Susan" sessions in the evenings along with massages! :thumbup:

 

It could be sooooooooooooooooooo good!

 

Faith

[BrookValley.]

Yes, please!

[Luckymama]

I returned refreshed from the Royal Fireworks Press mini curriculum conference two weeks ago. It was an amazing two days filled with discussion. However, I can see myself aging out of the curricular focus as the topics focused on elementary and middle grades. That makes me sad.

 

I would travel serious distance for academic high school topics.

[Kalypso]

What a great idea! That is the type of homeschool convention I would actually be interested in attending.

[bobbeym]

The THSC convention in August covers mostly academic topics but they're in a more general sense.  I would LOVE to attend one focused entirely on high school academics!

[Momof3littles]

I also really enjoyed the RFWP conference. As Luckymama said, it doesn't have much of a high school aged focus, but it was lovely to have an option where the classes revolve around academic content and teaching approaches vs. lifestyle.

 

I personally would LOVE to see more of this. A lot more.

[Danestress]

If I were Susan, my thought would be, "What a fabulous idea for *you* to organize this. Don't be volunteering *me* for the legwork, though."

[GoVanGogh]

The THSC convention in August covers mostly academic topics but they're in a more general sense.  I would LOVE to attend one focused entirely on high school academics!

 

Yeah, but they have Ham speaking this year.

From SWB last year (which was awesome!) to Ham this year.

[brehon]

Yeah, but they have Ham speaking this year.

From SWB last year (which was awesome!) to Ham this year.

 

Really?  Really?!?

 

 

<sigh>

[redsquirrel]

There was an idea about....2 years ago (?) that she could do a series of 'living room conventions'. I volunteered to be a local organizer for one, but the whole thing got put off. SWB felt that her life was such that she couldn't commit to being away from home for long periods of time etc. She did promise to let those of us who were interested in doing the local organization know if it looked feasible in the future.

[Alessandra]

I would LOVE to see more secular curriculum. 

 

Has anyone thought of a convention that would appeal to parents who have children in school, but who do a lot of enrichment? That is a huge market where I am (near NYC). I could see having exhibits from academic enrichment programs and speciality summer camps. Not wanting to take away from homeschooling, but thinking a convention has to pay for itself.

[bobbeym]

Yeah, but they have Ham speaking this year.

From SWB last year (which was awesome!) to Ham this year.

Really?  Really?!?

 

 

<sigh>

 

*Sigh*  I know.  It was great hearing Susan speak last year when we were going into our first year of hsing.  I'm ignoring the fact that Ham will be there and focusing on the other workshops for study habits and struggling students.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Hey, Faith.  I am with you.  I'd be happy to help you organize something!!

[justamouse]

We would stock up on wine. 

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

Oh, yes please!  How about an online "pajamas allowed" conference?!  With all the virtual resources available these days, we should be able to do this.

[Sobeknofret]

I would attend, even if it was on the other side of the country from me.

[Ellie]

I'm organizing a small Catholic convention (it will be our fourth one). None of the workshops are on life-style choices such as courtship.  Also, none of our workshop presenters are authors or sell a product of any kind (our keynote speaker might be, but we have up to 16 workshops on other topics, none of which are presented by authors or sellers of products or whatever--they're all local, experienced homeschoolers).

[Kalmia]

This is exactly what Tom Kemnitz at Royal Fireworks press is trying to do: secular, academic conferences. Currently his is held in Pennsylvania, but I think he wants to offer them in more regions. You might want to contact him, FaithManor, at www.rfwp.com. He is actively trying to develop this. SWB was at the first conference and would be welcomed at next year's conference if she were available. I know he would welcome other non-RFWP speakers as well. He has had trouble getting venues with affordable room rates and rental rates for the lecture halls. If you have a affordable venue in mind, he would probably be interested in hearing about it. He is a wonderful, affable man who is offering this as a much-requested alternative to the "lifestyle" related conferences.

[MomtoCandJ]

I agree with Allessandra about more secular curriculum and afterschooling :) I would love it. Hey Faith, I also live in MI and would love to help plan if you need any :)

[Momof3littles]

This is exactly what Tom Kemnitz at Royal Fireworks press is trying to do: secular, academic conferences. Currently his is held in Pennsylvania, but I think he wants to offer them in more regions. You might want to contact him, FaithManor, at www.rfwp.com. He is actively trying to develop this. SWB was at the first conference and would be welcomed at next year's conference if she were available. I know he would welcome other non-RFWP speakers as well. He has had trouble getting venues with affordable room rates and rental rates for the lecture halls. If you have a affordable venue in mind, he would probably be interested in hearing about it. He is a wonderful, affable man who is offering this as a much-requested alternative to the "lifestyle" related conferences.

And I am so, so thankful to the RFWP people for acknowledging this need and giving us a great option! I missed the first one at Valley Forge, but made it there this year and it was really wonderful.

[Harriet Vane]

Hear, hear! I have long desired exactly this. I want to teach my children well, and I want training to be able to do it. Specific training on academic topics.

[msrift]

Yes, please! I went to a conference this year thinking I could just tune out all of the lifestyle nonsense, but it was much harder than I thought. For instance, a 60 minute talk entitled 'SAT and ACT prep strategies' ended up being 15 minutes on topic and 45 minutes discussing the evils of the secular world.

 

A convention focused on academics (particularly high school) would be a dream come true!

[Parrothead]

I've never been to a homeschool conference. I had no idea they were about lifestyle and pushing a certain type of Christianity. How boorish. I suppose I'm glad I've never gone to one.

 

Faith if you pull this off, I'll try to come.

[Momof3littles]

We talked about this a bit in a thread on general education with respect to "better curriculum" vs. becoming a better teacher, but I'd love to see conferences with a focus on teaching skills. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/479214-becoming-a-better-teacher-vs-using-a-better-curriculum/

 

I'd love to see more conferences that teach actual skills we can use across all ages with our kids. I love curriculum, and some of it has greatly enhanced my ability to teach my kids. But I really would love more strategies that can be applied across all ages. Things like improving socratic dialogue, bringing in more critical thinking into any material you are using, that type of thing. Actual education strategies, iykwim.

 

I really enjoyed Shelagh Gallagher's talk on Concept Development at the RFWP conference for this reason. It was great to attend a talk and learn a specific framework I could apply in multiple subject areas and for various ages of kids, no matter what we are studying. I love building up those tools in my toolbox. Right now my kids are rising 4th, 1st, and a preschooler, so I feel that talks like that give me a lot of bang for the buck. I would like more talks that help me use what I already have on my shelves. I want things that help me add depth, critical thinking, etc.

[G5052]

My schedule is such that I probably couldn't come, but I too wish that there was more focus on academics, and not lifestyle.  It sets a tone for homeschooling at large that I don't like.  I had several friends come back from the HEAV conference, and all they talked about was lifestyle choices.  I didn't hear anything that would have appealed to me at all.  It bugs me that they decided that SWB isn't "Christian" enough, and objected to her talking about getting professional psychological help in some situations.

 

Perhaps some of it is indeed that my focus is on high school, and we're pretty much set in our lifestyle at this point.  That said, I wouldn't have liked the lifestyle focus early on either.  I don't like being beat up for choices that aren't absolutes IMHO.

 

 

[Paula in MS]

The ideal convention for me would be streamed online so that I could watch from my home or with my 10-20 nearest and dearest homeschool friends. :). There are never that many conferences near me that are good. The ones that are decent are in April and May when I just can't get away for that long. The closest thing to a true academic conference near me is a CC parent practicum, but it only explores one topic per year. Their conference topic was Latin a couple of years ago. It truly saved my life. I left understanding totally how the Latin language worked. I would love more conferences with topics like that. A video conference wouldn't leave anyone out and would not tax the speakers. :)

[Mrs Mungo]

I disagree on one point, Faith. Hemingway is one of the easier authors. All of his books can be summed up with, "you will never get what you want, but that is not a reason to give up."

[redsquirrel]

I do need to mention to Faith, that if you start advocating burning books you are just going to attract the very types of speakers/participants you are trying to avoid. They love that stuff.

 

 

 

:lol:

[Teresa in MO]

I think this would be great!  A central location would be good.  Kansas City sounds doable.  Would be willing to help!

[Janie Grace]

I'm so in. The regular conventions are like Christian bookstores... so much Jesus junk, hardly any actual CONTENT. The convention you describe is exactly what I'm looking for!

 

[Dmmetler]

My homeschool group is working on enlarging our yearly "Getting started with homeschooling" meeting with that in mind-we're up to three separate sessions this year, and the goal is to get exactly what is desired up there. We're adding a panel discussion on how homeschooling works for different families at different ages/stages of development, breakout discussions for elementary and high school, curriculum to look through and discuss, plus general local and state legalities/practicalities, local options for classes etc type stuff.

 

It's a work in progress-my goal would be to eventually get something that is big enough that we could afford to have people like SWB to come and speak ;) (some of the other people on the admin board would substitute other names-I'd say we're about evenly divided between unschooling-types and academic types).

 

 

[Rebecca VA]

Janie Grace, I wonder if you realize how extremely offensive your post is.  Are you really saying that Christian-based material is "junk" and lacks content?

[Janie Grace]

Janie Grace, I wonder if you realize how extremely offensive your post is.  Are you really saying that Christian-based material is "junk" and lacks content?

 

No, no, no -- I'm so sorry that was unclear. I'm a Christian and use plenty of Christian-based material. I was comparing it to a Christian bookstore, proportionally...

at the bookstore: Jesus Junk (bumper stickers, journals, magnets, hair clips, etc) = at the convention: organic soaps, bee pollen, long skirts, etc. 

at the book store: small selection of books in the back = at the convention: seemingly small proportion of seminars/booths devoted to real educational issues

 

Does that clarify? 

[Dmmetler]

As far as becoming a better teacher,it's worth it to check into what is being offered for teachers locally. I've really gotten a lot of benefit out of attending teaching workshops, both ones designed for specific programs (Handwriting Without Tears training was invaluable to me-not so much for HWOT (I actually dropped it by the end of 1st grade), but in setting up fine motor activities and developing those skills for my DD) and more general ones (I had a chance to go to the American Classical League's teacher sessions this year-extremely interesting, not only on teaching Latin, but on teaching secondary level subjects in general). For parents of young kids, my local NAEYC chapter has regular workshops on setting up learning environments, making materials for various types of learning, etc-and they're MORE than willing to let parents pay the $20 or whatever and come. And AOSA local chapter workshops are just plain fun-and involve a lot of information not only about teaching music, but about teaching in general (especially grammar stage, rote-type teaching). ECMMA is the same, but for early childhood music/movement.

 

Vendor demos and samples at teaching workshops/conferences are good, too-often the Free sample is just enough to use with one child at home ;).

 

 

[Rebecca VA]

It does, though I cringe at seeing the words "Jesus" and "junk" in the same phrase.  Thanks for clarifying.

[Janie Grace]

It does, though I cringe at seeing the words "Jesus" and "junk" in the same phrase.  Thanks for clarifying.

Oh, sorry. I didn't make it up. It's a commonly used phrase among Christians I know, not intended to imply any disrespect to Jesus Christ, but rather a bit of dismay at how much tacky merchandise bears words/symbols related to Jesus. 

[Rebecca VA]

Time for Jesus to get his whip and clear out the convention hall the way he cleared the Temple of the moneychangers!

[chiguirre]

I agree with the previous posters who suggested an online conference. Currclick just hosted an online convention, so it must be doable.

 

Does anyone have experience with teleconferencing services. How much does it cost to have a "class" for 500-1000 people? It's not terribly expensive for small classes because online schools have mushroomed at reasonable prices, so this might be a good route to take.

[Sahamamama]

Here's my two cents:

 

Put more lectures on CDs or audio downloads, and I'm going to buy those. I cannot attend a convention. I cannot travel to Virginia (or much of anywhere), since my responsibilities are here, at home. My husband travels all the time for work. My work is here, so I stay home.

 

I can't speak for Susan, but I would think that attending homeschool conventions -- of any sort -- could get old after a while. That is, what is the return on investment? Time away from older parents and older children, her husband and the farm, time spent dealing with politics and other keynote speakers (ahem), time away from thinking and writing. Me, I would rather stay home, but that's me.

 

Teaching CDs are like a convention in a box.

 

All week long, as part of my Summer Renewal Plan, I've been listening to Peace Hill Press CDs while doing my regular chores. I can wash the dishes and listen to Jessie Wise talk about "If I Could Do It Over Again." I can make strawberry jam and listen to Susan discuss "Teaching Students to Work Independently." I can chop vegetables for supper and hear Susan's advice on how to teach writing, or how to teach the real child, or the joys of classical education.

 

I have learned quite a bit through listening to these lectures, useful "stuff" that I'm applying in our daily lives and in our homeschool.

 

I agree with Faith, though -- make your lectures about HOW TO TEACH, not lifestyle choices. I don't need no stinkin' lecture on women's roles or bee pollen.

[Hen]

Janie,

 

I got what you meant, I worked in a Christian bookstore during highschool and college. We called all the Sunday School prize stuff "Jesus Junk" and "holy hardware" - plastic junk like combs, whistles, bubbles, cheap plastic cars all slapped with a "Jesus Loves you" label or something like that. I get what you meant, they were throw away items that did not teach anything.

[Forget-Me-Not]

I would totally be in for an online conference and would consider traveling as well. However, SWB has spoken at length on at least one other thread about the sheer logistics involved in building a conference from the ground up. Still, I would consider getting involved in planning for a truly secular, education-focused HS conference.

[Dandelion]

I love this idea!  Would be glad to help make it happen.  I've never attended a homeschooling conference, precisely because all the lifestyle propaganda is such a huge turnoff for me. 

 

 

Oh, yes please!  How about an online "pajamas allowed" conference?!  With all the virtual resources available these days, we should be able to do this.

 

This is a fantastic idea too, and would be relatively easy to set up.  

[hillfarm]

FWIW, I have a degree in PR and have done quite a bit of event management and also a lot of media conferencing. I'd definitely be willing to attend a cyber meeting to see if there would be ways I could help.

 

I would also love to do a how to teach a marine science, or more particularly, marine mammals class. I have a fair amount of experience with that.

 

If someone wanted to make this a "going concern", perhaps it could be arranged to have a cyber vendors' track also. A place where a particular vendor or publisher could display their wares and give cyber tours of them. At a certain price, of course. Possibly that could help defray the cost of developing a cyber event and putting it out there. Then possibly a nominal fee for "attendees" and another nominal fee for a CD/DVD.

 

My dh is a media specialist at the local university and does this type of thing all the time. I will ask him for a ballpark on the cost of doing something like this.

[hillfarm]

Dh says there are a lot of different ways of doing this, and that cost would be dictated by a large number of variables. Apparently the "Volkswagen" model could be done for under $1000, the "Mercedes" version could cost upwards of $30,000. One of the main variables is the number of participants, which dictates the amount of bandwidth required to enable everyone to sign on and watch at once.

 

A poor-man's version could involve a password protected collection of videos put up on a videoconference site (password to be made available to paid subscribers) and an associated thread on the forum which would enable viewers to ask questions. The presenter would record the presentation and an on-site assistant could read the questions to them for answering. A couple of separate forum based Q&A sessions could be scheduled to accommodate everyone. Ultimately it could be recorded onto a CD/DVD and sold.

 

There are certainly many more elegant and better organized ways to go, but with each refinement, the cost goes up. General rates I have seen run around $2000 to $4000. Perhaps it could be done with a small group of higher cost enrollments for the actual conference and then the copy made available for a reduced price. HTH

[chiguirre]

If we started with the cheaper option at around $2000, it would only cost $10 per participant if we get 200 subscribers. That's not prohibitive. How long could the conference be at that rate?

[Carrie12345]

A poor-man's version could involve a password protected collection of videos put up on a videoconference site (password to be made available to paid subscribers) and an associated thread on the forum which would enable viewers to ask questions. The presenter would record the presentation and an on-site assistant could read the questions to them for answering. A couple of separate forum based Q&A sessions could be scheduled to accommodate everyone. Ultimately it could be recorded onto a CD/DVD and sold.

I really want a place to go and people to interact with in person (which is why I love the RFWP conferences), but I've also wondered about something along the lines of a paid YouTube, where individual speakers could profit from sharing their expertise, and sometimes authors/publishers could offer free videos to specifically advertise their products.

 

The other great thing about IRL is there's no risk of saying "Oh, I'll just get to that after I cook dinner, scrub the toilet, walk the dog, and bathe the kids... next year." ;-)

[momma2three]

I would love this!

[Luckymama]

I really want a place to go and people to interact with in person (which is why I love the RFWP conferences), but I've also wondered about something along the lines of a paid YouTube, where individual speakers could profit from sharing their expertise, and sometimes authors/publishers could offer free videos to specifically advertise their products.

 

The other great thing about IRL is there's no risk of saying "Oh, I'll just get to that after I cook dinner, scrub the toilet, walk the dog, and bathe the kids... next year." ;-)

 

There is something to be said for the in-person, unscheduled conversations that happen around sessions at a conference.

[musicianmom]

I'd love to attend a conference to hear SWB, MCT, Julie Bogart, Bernard Nebels, someone from AoPS, some solid experts on foreign language education, 2e issues, the list could go on! I'm not a secular homeschooler, but I have a church home that gives me the support I need to raise my children in my faith!

[wingedradical]

^{Sadly, I think you misunderstand the reason many organizations put on conventions. They are seeking to indoctrinate their children, not educate them.}

 

^{I AM a Christian, btw, but I still feel this way about them.}

 

^{I do agree -- I wish someone would get it together to have a convention  such as you describe and market it as being educational, not lifestyle indoctrination. I think it would fly.}