Question Four:

What are the age ranges of your children?

• 9 mo. - 17 yrs. (six children)
• six children 8 and under
• 10 and 13
• 15, 18, 21, 22
• 15-19
• 7-24 (eight children)
• 18 mo. - 12 yrs.
• 17 and 22
• 1 yr. - 17 yrs. (seven children)
• 10-24
• 9-15 (three children)
• 2-13 (four children)
• 17, 18, 20, 23
• 2, 4, 6
• 5 and 12
• 15 and 19
• 11 and 13
• 4-15
• 9, 11, 13, 16
• 12-25
• 12 and 17
• 1-15
• 8 and 11
• 4, 5, 7
• 4, 5, 8
• 12-23
• 16-24
• 4 and 14
• 2-13
• 10 and 13

Isn’t that the greatest title ever? When I was at the CHEC homeschool conference in Denver, that was one of the workshops that caught my eye. Not to mention that it was being presented by Andrew Pudewa, one of my favorite conference speakers. So, Noelle graciously agreed to man the booth while I attended the workshop on Saturday afternoon. The large room was overflowing with conference-goers, most of whom were probably looking for some practical help for their own in-house fort-builders! I’m sure they were not disappointed.

Here’s the outline from the workshop:

I. Profound Neuro-physiological Differences Between Boys and Girls

II. Implications for the Classroom

III. The Science (and Art) of Motivation

IV. The Two Secret Weapons

I didn’t get a copy of the recording at the convention, but I just checked on-line at the recording company website and you can download the mp3 of this workshop for only $4.00. No shipping; plus then you can listen to it right away! Anyone who teaches children, whether homeschooling or otherwise, will find insightful nuggets that provide greater understanding and prompt thoughtful consideration in planning lessons. I know this will be a great help to me in my teaching!

There were definitely a couple of common themes running through the responses to question three:

What is your biggest fear or concern about homeschooling?

• Them not learning enough.
• Government taking away the freedom to do it.
• It becoming illegal.
• I’m not a consistent person; not disciplined enough to make it work.
• Children aren’t prepared to give an answer to those who ask them for the hope that is within them.
• Doing it in our own strength and failing.
• That homeschooling will be compromised or taken away.
• None.
• Not doing enough; children won’t be able to get a job.
• The influx of charter schools will turn people away from the Lord and cause families to sell out.
• That homeschooling will become a be-all-end-all; desire for children to have a love for people in the world, but not an attraction to the things of the world.
• Don’t know.
• That the kids will be ruined.
• That I’ll fail, miss the boat.
• That we won’t be able to teach what our children need to know.
• That our daughter won’t get what she needs for college.
• High school.
• That we won’t teach enough.
• Daughter doesn’t want to homeschool, and I don’t know what to do.
• None.
• None.
• Going to jail for homeschooling.
• We won’t cover everything that they need to know.
• Good so far…no fears.
• That I’ll go crazy and take them with me.
• That I’ll forget something.
• That the government will do away with it.
• That the laws will change, or that we won’t do it well enough.
• That we won’t effectively protect children from being conformed to the world.
• Totally mess up the academics and leave gaps in their education.

More than any of the others, this question prompted some heart-to-heart discussions. I was able to share some of the things that our family learned in the process of homeschooling, and from my perspective now as a homeschool graduate looking back on my years as a homeschool student. I trust that the Lord orchestrated these conversations and used them to encourage and bless each of us.

The second question of my survey was:

What is the number one reason you homeschool?

• Don’t like public school.
• Gospel.
• Christian worldview.
• Didn’t think school was doing a good job.
• Sees a lot of reasons and advantages to homeschool (response from the retired public school teacher).
• Transmit our faith.
• God. The influence of God in education.
• God. Teach kids about God.
• Godly character.
• Impact future generations - raise children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
• Education; couldn’t imagine separating education from spiritual emphasis.
• To have the heart of my children and point them to God.
• Build character.
• Instill Christian values.
• The heart; to keep our kids’ heart.
• So that our family will be close and we can give them a Christian education.
• Want the best for our kids.
• Raise godly men to go fight.
• Religion.
• Opportunity to instill faith.
• It is spiritually better because they are taught the truth.
• God’s calling.
• Biblical worldview and character training.
• Worldview.
• Spend more time with our kids.
• Don’t like the public schools (used to teach at community college and didn’t like what he was seeing).
• Worldview reasons; biblical perspective; protect from public school.
• Thought she was supposed to do it.
• Passing on the faith; educated the right way.
• Character.
• It’s the right way to do it.

This is the question that I started with, and the one that usually took people a few minutes to figure out!

How many years have you been homeschooling?

• 7
• 4 (2nd generation homeschool family)
• 9-10
• off and on for 5 years
• not a homeschooler; retired public school teacher (taught high school social studies for 31 years)
• 15
• 20
• 8
• 22
• 12
• 20
• 12
• 6
• 15
• will be starting in the fall
• 7
• 2
• 1
• 13
• 11
• 10
• 8
• 2
• 8
• 2
• 9
• 12
• 11
• 20
• 12
• 11

At the recent CHEC homeschool conference, one of the days I conducted a brief 4-question survey to gather some more information about homeschool families. Here are the four questions I asked:

1. How many years have you been homeschooling?

2. What is the number one reason you homeschool?

3. What is your biggest fear or concern about homeschooling?

4. What are the age ranges of your children?

Each day this week I’ll post the conglomeration of answers that I received for one of the questions. I suspect the answers are pretty typical of the demographics of most homeschool conferences across the country. It was interesting to me that regardless of the length of time families had been homeschooling or the age ranges of their children, the reasons and concerns about homeschooling still tended to be pretty similar. You’ll be able to catch a glimpse of the specific responses this week.

This weekend, I am thrilled to be attending my first ever out-of-state homeschool conference! I’ve wanted to for years, and with the recent release of Pajama School, this year seemed like the right time. So Noelle and I left Derby Wednesday morning and arrived at the home of some friends by early evening. Here’s a recap of our first day in pictures:

This is the view we woke up to this morning. Glorious, isn’t it?!

Noelle puts the finishing touches on our table display. You have to be creative when you only have one book to sell!

We had a few hours this afternoon once we finished setting up until the vendor hall opened, so I looked over the workshop schedule and picked a few from the very extensive and interesting list of possibilities. The first one we attended was a panel session with James and Stacy McDonald, Vicki Lewis, and “Little Bear” Wheeler on “Preparing Daughters for Marriage.” There were a variety of thoughts and ideas presented, but the overall theme seemed to rest on the importance of parents, especially fathers, gaining and protecting the hearts of their daughters.

Next we joined the crowd in a packed room to hear “Little Bear” Wheeler’s session: “Warning! Public Schools aren’t for Christians.” This is his last conference, since he has decided to retire from his evangelism ministry and devote his time to pastoring a church. This message was given without any notes, and was very heartfelt and moving. “Little Bear” referenced Psalm 14:1, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” and drew the application that because our schools have removed God, children who are in the government-run school system are being educated by fools. He also shared that he believes that our current administration will outlaw homeschooling within the next four years, and exhorted us to be prepared for the attacks that will come.

The view from our corner booth right before the exhibit hall opened this evening. There are a lot of great vendors with a wealth of wonderful books and other materials. I’ve started making my mental list and will be doing my part to keep them in business. I’ve already had a great time meeting other vendors and talking with conference attendees as they stop by the booth, and look forward to more of that in the next two days. Whether we break even or not, I trust this will be a helpful learning experience and that the Lord will bring blessing as He so chooses.

Ali Hooper, of the Homeschool Bliss blog, has written a sweet review of Pajama School, and is hosting a giveaway. Just check out the rules on her post and enter to win your own copy of Pajama School! The drawing will take place on Friday, June 5th at Noon (EST).

Laura Lowe, one of my piano teacher blog friends, is hosting a giveaway for a Composer Activity Pak over on her blog. The Pak is produced by Homeschooling in the Woods, a company known for its Hands-on History Paks. I loved making lap books growing up, and I know many other students enjoy them as well.

This looks like a wonderful educational resource! Just head over to Laura’s blog to enter the giveaway. And if you blog about it on your blog, she’ll give you an extra five entries! The drawing will take place on Monday, June 8.

The following teaching tip is a portion of last week’s Passing the Baton e-newsletter from Jeff Myers. Passing the Baton is an incredible organization that trains and equips leaders to make a lasting impact on the next generation. I have gleaned much wisdom from Dr. Myers over the years through his books and video courses. He is one of the rare communicators who expertly balances philosophical teaching with lots of practical ideas to actually make the information relevant to real life situations. This brief list of points for getting your message across in a memorable way is a helpful guide to keep in mind when planning lessons or preparing for speaking engagements.

The best way to make sure you’re getting your point across in a memorable way is to make each point as concrete as possible. This is done by:

• Defining it
• Explaining it
• Giving an example
• Offering a personal experience
• Developing an analogy
• Quoting an expert’s opinion
• Citing a statistic