Thrift Schooling

The 2016 Home Educators Association of Virginia 's Homeschool Convention is only a little over two months away! If you are anything like me, you probably have been eyeing the convention website to get an idea of which speakers will be sharing this year. One speaker that I'm really looking forward to is Kirk Martin, from Celebrate Calm . He travels all over the country training parents, teachers and educators. He presents practical strategies that you can use to help children deal with conflict and emotion. His presentations provide practical and concrete advice. His son, Casey, oftentimes joins him in his challenging yet fun presentations and will be joining him this June. To get you even more excited about convention this year, I had the opportunity to interview Kirk Martin! Check out my interview below and be sure to check out his sessions either at the bottom of this post or on the convention website! ...

Foundations is a program that is a part of the Logic of English curriculum by Denise Eide. The Foundations books are a complete language arts curriculum for children ages 4-7 and are divided into levels, A, B, C and D. Essentials is a spelling, reading and grammar course for ages eight and older (or can be used with an advanced seven year old).  Two years ago, I reviewed Foundations Level A and the year before that, Essentials . When I received Level B I thought it would be way to easy for my seven year old. I was certain that he would fly right through and know everything inside and out. I was wrong.  Level B is exactly where he needs to be right now. Even though he is reading at a second grade level, there are still some times that he misses some basic rules. For example, the silent E. He learned this back in kindergarten and I thought he had mastered it. The problem is, when he is reading a word in context he most oftentimes can figure it out. Reading the word...

Click Here to Enlarge 2016 Virginia Homeschool Convention Greater Richmond Convention Center June 9-11, 2016 $79/ family ($69/HEAV Members) Three years ago I attended my first Home Educators of Virginia Convention and was blown away. I felt like a kid at summer camp. It was refreshing, informative and life changing. Last year I attended as well, but not as an attendee. I worked in a booth helping one of the speakers. This was invigorating in a different way. I wasn't able to attend the seminars or visit the vendors but I still met amazing people and was able to share some of my experiences with homeschooling families from the other side of the table. Whether you go to glean or serve, you will be blessed.  During one of my breaks last year, I was able to sneak away to the Used Curriculum Sale . After I was in the room for a few minutes one of the volunteers stood up with mic in hand and began to pray. He sincerely prayed that those who came to the sale would b...

We hit up a local public library recently. I made the mistake of letting my kids roam free and pick out some books to check-out on their own. Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking. I don't give my kids free reign on the internet. Saying, "hey, go ahead and peruse all you want and visit any site that you think you'd might like!" I don't let them just pick out any TV show that they want to watch. Why in the world would I think that books in a government funded facility would be any different? At first glance I was so proud of the choices that they made. My fourth grader is presently learning about our state of Virginia in history. He chose a few books a few young adult books about Virginia. My second grader was drawn to nature and shark books. Every single book that my daughter chose had to do with horses. All non-fiction. One was an encyclopedia of horses while another was a picture book stating basic facts about different breeds and horse care.  T...