Home Educator's Conference

we attended our annual home educator's conference for the first time this year. and by 'we' i mean 'me.' my wonderful husband stayed home with the kids so that i could go and be 'free' to listen and engage.

i wasn't disappointed!

the keynote speaker, Dr. Voddie Bauchum, Jr. was challenging, encouraging and didn't pull any punches. homeschooling has always been what we were going to do. but in the back of my mind, i always thought that if i couldn't hack it, i could send my kids to a private school maybe.

not anymore. i will not even consider that as an option. it will no longer live on the horizon of educational choices for us. no way. i learned so much this saturday about the benefits of homeschooling i am all in!

some other gems i picked up this weekend:

Melanie Young is a mother of 8 who has homeschooled through 7 high-risk pregnancies (read: bedrest for 7 of the 9 months each time). wow! she was funny and had some awesome tips for bulk-cooking and freezer meals. i plan on implementing a few of her suggestions in the upcoming weeks! website: www.YoungandSons.com

Accountable Kids is this awesome chore tracking system. i am so excited to implement it it isn't funny! my two oldest are in love with checklist style chores and to-do's so i know this will go over well with them. i like that it focuses your kids on their successes, but also allows for negative consequences. we say 'NO' so frequently in our house, i often forget the praise! i think this will help me stay on track as well and won't let me slide when i am not on my game.

have you ever checked out Doorposts? this site has amazing tools to help you stay consistent with your discipline, reward your children with blessings and teach scripture through character building. we ordered their new "Put On" chart for our wall that focuses on the Colossians 3:12-14 verses :

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and if one have a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these, put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony."

we use several of their wall posters (Go To The Ant Chart, If-Then chart, Brother-Offended Checklist) to aid in our day-to-day life, and i expect that this new poster will serve us well. i can't wait for it to arrive :)

that is all for now! i plan on putting together our first unit schedule this week. i will post it when i am done. have a great day :)