Last weekend was my first homeschool convention of the season. I traveled to what I consider my "home" event - the CHEF of LA convention near Baton Rouge. Though the attendance is not high at this event, it is always encouraging to see familiar faces and meet new homeschoolers who are just beginning their journey.

Mike Farris of Home School Legal Defense Association was a keynote speaker this year. Though the graduation of my youngest son finished my years as an active homeschooler, I still like to stay abreast of what is happening in the community, so I purchased the recordings of his sessions. He opened with a "Past, Present and Future" view of homeschooling which I found very interesting! The homeschooling movement has reached the 30-year mark, and it is obvious that God has intervened repeatedly to open doors and clear the path. However, lest we become complacent in our assumption that our rights to homeschool will continue, I encourage you to beware. There are still many individuals and groups who seek to quietly take those rights away. Stay alert to what is going on outside your homeschool walls ... the enemy is prowling ...

While a wide variety of informative sessions were being held, my assistant, Sherrie, and I spoke with veteran and prospective homeschoolers about their options. For those of us who grew up with a classroom education, textbooks and related materials seem to be the norm for education; but there is so very much more available. I think back to the various travels that my boys experienced through the pages of biographies, classics and historical fiction, immersed in the lives and thoughts of the characters in the books; and I would not want to return to the surface-skimming pages of a textbook. One episode in particular has stuck in my memory for some 14 years ...

In our first year of using Sonlight, my 5th grader had read a biography of Orville and Wilbur Wright, and his Language Arts assignment was to pretend that he was their mother, Mrs. Wright, and write a letter to her grandchildren relating a story from their father's childhood. The idea was for my son to review all the accounts he had read of the Wright brothers' adventures and select one to narrate in an informal letter format. However, my son informed me that he couldn't complete the assignment. "Why not?" I asked. "Because the Wright brothers were bachelors all their lives, and they didn't have children for her to write to!" was his reply. I was momentarily dumbfounded. I had not grasped that level of detail about their lives from the textbook that I had read as a child. I knew that they flew the first plane at Kitty Hawk, NC, in the early 1900s, but I did not know that their father owned a bicycle shop and their childhood exposure to mechanical things had sparked their inventive minds. This was a clear illustration of the level of comprehension and retention that a child experiences from real books as opposed to textbooks.

What are your stories? Did you have a Sonlight "aha" moment? I would love for you to share with us all ...

Kelly

The Coupons Are Coming!

Have you made plans to attend a homeschool convention this spring or summer? I would recommend that you consider it. Homeschool conventions can provide a number of benefits for you, whether you attend by yourself or with a friend as a mom's weekend away, or you go with your husband and focus on working together to set a plan for the next school year.

Convention organizers work to line up speakers and workshop sessions that will provide encouragement and guidance for you as you embark on new stages of homeschooling. The vendor hall offers the opportunity to view materials that you may be considering using with your children.

Granted, you may already be settled in the curriculum that suits your family perfectly, and you prefer not to be confused by a wide array of different options; but if your curriculum of choice is Sonlight Curriculum, then visiting the vendor hall at your homeschool convention will not only let you see what's coming next ... you will also leave the Sonlight booth with a $15 coupon to apply to your order of $50 or more. This is the first time such an offer has been available. And that's not all ... if you place your order with Sonlight by Sunday night after the convention, and include a note in the comment box to the effect of "rush processing per [your Consultant's name]" then Sonlight will process and ship your order on Monday at no additional cost to you. That means that you will have your order before the end of the week following the convention! How cool is that?

To find out what events will feature Sonlight Curriculum Booths in their vendor halls, go to the Homeschool Convention page and use the map or the calendar listing. If you are in Louisiana, Mississippi, or near Orlando, check the listing in the right margin of this blog to access details about the events that I will attend. Come visit my Sonlight booth - I'd love to talk to you about your experiences with Sonlight, your potential use of Sonlight, and provide you with a Sonlight catalog and your very own coupon.