(on) The Road (to becoming a) Scholar: Beginning Homeschooling

Showing posts with label Beginning Homeschooling. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Are you going?

Folks, the Minnesota Catholic Home Educator's Conference is coming right up. We are just a month away! And, if you blog, consider checking this out. It's posted by the sweetest blogger in the state. And, I will be there, too. I hope that doesn't keep you from attending :-).

For what it is worth, I will be hosting the next session on homeschooling children with special needs right after the Blogger's Chat.

On Saturday, I will be speaking about Beginning Homeschooling at 11am and making learning fun by using some very easy game ideas at 3pm. You can get more details here, if you like. I hope you can make it.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Summer School Bleg

I'm curious what others are doing during the summer. Do you 1) shut down, do you 2) keep up with math facts and reading, do you 3) do fun stuff like camps and projects OR do you 4) keep going all year round?

This year, we are doing a combination of 2, 3 and 4.

My #2 - My first and third graders are struggling with fact memorization right now. The third grader is definitely a right-brain learner, so memorizing facts is not an easy task for her. We've adapted our method to her needs and we are seeing much progress. One of the things that has helped is Times Alive by City Creek Press. Homeschoolbuyersco-op.org is offering 50% off right now, so we decided to try it. It's been a great help, but she really needs more work. The first grader is just resistant :-). They will also have some assigned reading and read alouds this summer.

My #3 - For fun, I'm hosting a Writing Club for Reluctant Boy Writers, some Engineering Camps and some AHG Badge clinics (Space Explorer, History's Canvas, Our Feathered Friends, Dawn of our Country and Archery). My summer is filling up! We'll also do Catholic VBS, Schoenstatt Camp for Girls, Boy Scouts Camp, our church's family camp and a couple of camping trips with the family.

My #4 - I will be still teaching Latin (Lingua Latina is our chosen curriculum), via Skype to my group of middle-schoolers at least once a week, at their request. One of my young gents will be out of the country and plans to participate, taking his mom's iPad2 to Skype with us while he's gone an entire month. He cracks me up because he was deeply disappointed we were going from 3x a week to 1x a week. Love that love-of-learning!

So here's my bleg - what will you do this summer? Your comments will be helpful for me to share with the group at the Beginning Homeschooling talk at MCHEC. Thanks in advance!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Quick! Before it's too late!

Calling all Catholic Home Educators!!! The Minnesota Catholic Home Education Conference takes place on June 1-2 at the beautiful University of St. Thomas Campus in St. Paul, MN. It's not too late for the discounted registration. Early bird discounts end on May 9th. There will be great speakers, including the keynote, Marcel LeJeune, great vendors and great camaraderie. I love seeing friends, visiting, looking at all the new curriculum and getting a much-needed booster shot of Catholicism.

I hope you can make it. If you do, I hope you can squeeze me in to your schedule. I am giving the Beginning Homeschooling talk at 11am and my favorite talk, This Old School House at 3pm. I hope I see you there!

The Road Scholar

Cathie and her husband are blessed with six children and have home educated them since 2003. Before children, Cathie developed curricula and taught classes for adults around the world on a variety of topics in the computer industry at the corporate and technical school level. She loves to develop curricula, teach homeschool co-op classes and organize book clubs. For five years, she held board positions on a large homeschool support group such as general coordinator, membership coordinator and advisory member.

Workshops, Presentations and Seminars

To arrange a presentation for your homeschool group or convention contact me here.

Topics:

Beginning Homeschooling - Beyond the Basics

Are you new to homeschooling? Where do you start? How do you ensure a very good (not just adequate) homeschooling experience, especially in that important first year? This practical how-to session will help you determine the appropriate first steps on your homeschooling adventure. We'll talk about picking a curriculum, scheduling and strategies for developing an independent child as well as strengthening your family and social relationships.

Get Your Game On!
Using EASY, Almost No-Fuss Games to Help Keep Learning Fun

Kids love games and so much is gained by playing games: learning to taking turns, good sportsmanship, patience and development of relationships. By using games, we can tailor to the needs of the child - not just academically, but socially, too. Come join in the fun yourself and learn how easy it is to put together games for your children—and you don't have to be creative to do it, either! Besides learning how, you will walk away with instructions, tips and resources to make your own games at home.

How to Get Your Kids to See the Light (or Feel it or Hear it)!

Teaching different learning modalities requires different tactics. Learn how to determine which modality your child uses and find ways to present material so that it sticks the first time, especially if it is different than your own learning modality.

This Old Schoolhouse

The school marms and school masters of yesteryear taught several children at different levels and formed many of our favorite American heroes. We will look back at how those school marms ran their one room schools and take some tips on making our school days more successful. We’ll talk about schedules, curriculum, discipline, independence, character development and motivation for the one room school in your home.

Socrates Meets Homeschool Mom

If Socrates could teach you one thing, it would be to use his method (the Socratic Method) for literary analysis. This presentation addresses the fundamentals of literary interpretation from within the accessible world of children’s literature, so even young students can easily identify the language of literary analysis. As they mature they will readily spot these fundamentals in more difficult works, enriching both their understanding of the literature and their appreciation for the author’s handiwork. Learn the aspects of literary analysis and how to help kids appreciate and find the meaning in all the great books they read.

The Motivation Myth

What do sticker charts, time-outs and spelling bees have in common? They are examples of “Carrots and Sticks.” Over the last 40 years, study after study has shown that "Carrots and Sticks" don't work for long term motivation, especially when thought is required in the process. How are you motivating and inspiring your kids to study, do chores and reach goals? Learn about what truly motivates kids, how to mentor them and help them become successful in their endeavors. I will dispel the myths and reveal truths about human motivation and mindset. And here’s a hint. It’s you, not them. I hope you will join me to find out what that means.