Homeschool Conference was GREAT!

So the conference that Lisa and I went to was so wonderful - I had such a great time and it was very inspiring! It was also very cool being around so many other people who homeschool. There were three big buildings set up with all the vendors and it was a lot of fun walking through and looking at everything. It was a bit overwhelming and there was so much that I wanted to buy but I stayed focused and just got the one thing that I went there for, which was a math curriculum. I went to two different seminars on two different math programs and finally decided on the one I wanted. I got her the Math-U-See curriculum. I was not planning on starting it until this fall but we already did our first lesson yesterday and it is a lot of fun and Brenna seems to like it. Some of the stuff is very easy and Brenna already knows it, so I think we will be finished with it rather quickly. The thing that I really like about this curriculum is that it is not based on grade-level. There are four different books and it is up to the child and how fast they catch on as to when you move to the next. So this first one might take us six months or so to finish but the next one might take over a year. It's all about mastering the concepts, not necessarily memorization or being at this topic at the time. I did want to look for a handwriting curriculum as well but I think I can handle that one on my own this year without workbooks and stuff.
I also got something else that is rather interesting. Brenna has been really into recycling lately and Lisa and I came across these composting kits with worms. It is so neat and such a great science lesson. You can read more about it here if you want to. So now we have about 100 pet worms (which will double within a couple months) in this bin and we feed them our organic trash and later I will have wonderful soil to feed my plants. We'll write more about it later and included pictures as well.

So I think homeschool conferences are going to become part of my yearly "must-do's". I got so much information and heard quite a few inspiring speakers. And like I said in my last post, it is nice being able to see all of the curriculum and pick it up and flip through it since there are so many to choose from. As Brenna gets older I'll start incorporating more and more curriculum and the conferences are such a wonderful way to really get a feel for something.

Homeschool Conference

So I am going to a REAL homeschool conference this weekend with my sister-in-law, Lisa, and I am really looking very forward to it! It's a pretty big one that will have all the curriculum vendors as well as some great speakers. I have been researching the speakers and their topics today, trying to figure out which ones I want to go to. So far the one that I am looking most forward to is "Organization: Time and Home". LOL Those who really know me know exactly HOW much I am looking forward to THAT one. :)
It is going to be awesome to be able to see all the stuff that the vendors have too. It is so different being able to actually LOOK at curriculum instead of just reading about it online or in a book. There are literally hundreds of different types of curriculum to choose from and to me it is a bit overwhelming. I think it will really help me to be able to flip through the books and see what it all entails. I'm not planning on getting too much when it comes to curriculum next year but I am looking into getting something for math as well as writing. I think those will be my two major things for Brenna next year. We'll see what kind of cool things I find though.
Anyways, I will post about my experience when we get back!! It's going to be like Disney World for a homeschool Mom!!! :)

Earrings!!

So Brenna and I were shopping yesterday and out of the blue she starts talking about getting her ears pierced. I have been wanting her to do it for a long time but it was completely up to her as to when she would get it done.
Well after talking about it a lot she finally looked at me with a big smile and said she was ready to get her ears pierced. Of course I haulted my shopping right then and there, checked-out and drove to the mall.
She did great and I am so proud of her! She looks like such a big kid now. :)