FPEA Homeschool Conference 2013

For the third year in a row, Jonathan and I attended the FPEA Conference at the Gaylord Palms in Orlando. I took all of three pictures the entire time. Every year I come away so encouraged and excited about a new school year. The timing is great since I usually have just finished up our school year and am running low on enthusiasm.

We met for a quick bite outside during Friday’s lunch break.

This year, I attended the following sessions:

Laying Down the Rails with Sonya Shafer; main points: instill good habits, it takes about 2 months to cultivate a new habit

Raising Competent Communicators with Andrew Pudewa; main points: read out loud to your children (and never stop, even when they can read on their own) and have them memorize

How to Apply the Biblical Worldview to Science and History with Catie Frates; main point: creation science matters and shouldn’t be ignored or dismissed

The Busy Homeschool Mom’s Guide to Daytime with Heidi St. John; main points: it’s not a matter of time management, it’s ME management; try to plan for two non-scheduled days a week

Homeschooling: Discovering How and Why it Works with Dr. Jay Wile; main points: research supports the effectiveness of a homeschool education, research debunks the myth that homeschoolers can’t function socially

Gotta Have Games with Rainbow Resources; main point: games can support your educational goals (and I saw Krystle and Denise there, which was honestly the best part!)

The Busy Mom’s Guide to Romance with Heidi St. John; main point: don’t let homeschooling come before your marriage

Dinosaurs and the Bible with Catie Frates; main point: the dinosaur questions our children ask can be answered and fit in with the creation account

Cultivating Tender Love for Your Children with Bev Bradley; main points: your relationship with your children matters more than getting a subject done that day, take time to show your children you love them (a good session, but probably my least favorite of the weekend, but not because of the content)

And I’m Homeschooling, Why? with Catie Frates; main point: Relationships matter (left halfway to get to the next session)

Common Core Thoughts with HSLDA; main point: keep an eye on what’s happening with Common Core, it will impact testing

I was really looking forward to hearing Pudewa, St. John, and Wile and they did not disappoint. They were some of my favorite speakers, although probably my most favorite session was Laying Down the Rails.

We managed to make it through the whole exhibit hall too and picked up a few things, although I still found that most I could order for less at home. Handwriting Without Tears though was significantly less at the convention. It’s fun browsing through all the booths. There is just so much out there! I was also able to firm up what we are going to do for spelling next year. This year we did spelling lists and I feel that we need to do something a little bit different so we’re switching to All About Spelling. I’m starting with Level 1 and hope to get through Level 2 by the end of the year with Rosemary, but we’ll see. If we need to go slower, we will.

It was also fun running into so many people that we knew this year. Our first year, we saw one or two people that we knew. It’s just such a great time of encouragement and time away with Jonathan. I look forward to it every year.

Ben’s Preschool Graduation

On the last day of school, we attended Ben’s preschool graduation. Both sets of grandparents were there to celebrate with Ben. Before heading to the school, we took a few end of the year photos.

When we arrived at school, I dropped Ben off at his classroom while Jonathan and girls went to the chapel to meet up with our parents. I got a bit teary eyed as he walked in the last time. We’ve been dropping off a child at Stepping Stones for the last five years and while I’m looking forward to next year, it felt like the end of a chapter for our family.

For the ceremony, the kids walked in holding hands. He was with his friend, Lucy.

Mrs. Hofstetter welcomed us all

Ben sang all his songs

The kids spelled “C-H-A-R-A-C-T-E-R” as part of one of their songs. He was ready to go with his R.

Ben confidently went up to receive his diploma. We weren’t sure he would actually go up and get it, but we practiced at home. And during the course of practicing, I learned that Ben knows the last name of everyone of his classmates.

Singing God Bless America

After that, we shared a picnic potluck lunch.

Ben & Mrs. Hofstetter – Ben just loved his teacher

We headed to his classroom for one last look. He wanted a few pics with his favorite places.

And we ended up bringing home the boomslang that his class made. It’s now hanging in his room.

The graduate with Grandpa and Grandma Peine

And with Grandpa and Grandma Workmaster

Congratulations, Benjamin! We are so proud of you!

Touch-a-Truck

Tim’s family came to visit in May and we all met up at Touch-a-Truck then headed to our house for some burgers and lots of strawberries from our picking trip the day before.

Free bike helmets…totally worth the trip just for those!

Strawberry Picking and the Splash Park

To celebrate the end of the school year, the girls and I went strawberry picking while Ben enjoyed his water day at school. It was late in the season, but we still came home with eight pounds of strawberries.

We picked Ben up from water day then grabbed a bite to eat at a drive through and headed up to Alachua to meet up with friends.

The kids had a good time splashing and playing at the park.

Charlotte enjoyed ‘watering’ Rosemary.

Debbie and I had a good time catching up while the kids played. I met Debbie through MOPS last year and from the beginning we just hit it off. It’s always fun to catch up.

Last Day of First Grade

Rosemary wrapped up her first grade schoolwork on May 16.

If you walked into our house on any given day over the last nine months or so you may have found a model of the Nile River, a mummified chicken, a sprouting sweet potato, wall ‘paintings,’ clay Greek and Chinese jars, jars of fake blood, piles of papers, scads of crayons, and more library books that we could ever read. It was a full, fast year.

This gal memorized the books of the Bible, Psalm 23, and The Lord’s Prayer (a bit fuzzy on the last one, but we’ll keep practicing them over the summer).

We finished Saxon 2, most of the Ordinary Parents Guide to teaching reading, Explode the Code books 3&4, First Language Lessons-Level 1, Writing with Ease-Level 1, Zaner Bloser Handwriting 1, and Story of the World Volume 1, the Ancients.

We did most of our life science work through our co-op. And went on lots of field trips with them, too.

If you ask her, she’ll tell you that her favorite part of the school day was snack time. If pressed, she’ll tell you that she liked Story of the World, too.

Ready for summer

This summer, we’ll keep up on reading with the library and Barnes and Noble summer reading programs. We’re also doing XtraMath online to keep the math facts that she’s learned. It’s a very light schedule, but will hopefully make the beginning of second grade much easier.

Preschool Olympics

Towards the end of the school year, Ben participated in the Olympics with his classmates. We made sure to finish up our school work so that the girls and I could come and watch.

Ben was the first one to go for his team.

This pic is awful, but he was one good sack jumper.

Waiting in line for his medal

Receiving his gold medal from Ms. Jan.

Another full chip jar–Blueberry picking

The kids’ chip jar had been full for awhile so we needed to have a special family outing to celebrate. Last year I contacted a local blueberry farm about picking but just missed their season. They added me to their e-mail list though so when they opened U-pick this year, I got a note. The timing just worked out so I contacted them for directions then the next day we headed out to pick.

All of the kids were actually pretty good little pickers, even Charlotte.

It was pretty warm that day and we got hot, but I think everyone enjoyed picking the 6 lbs that we came home with. We may even go again with some of the other farms opening now.

Ben’s Mother’s Day Program

The Friday before Mother’s Day, Ben’s preschool class hosted a Mother’s Day program. Jonathan took Charlotte and Rosemary to a chicken farm for the last field trip with our co-op so I was able to head over on my own.

He sang to nicely with his class.

Singing, “Bu-bu-butterfly, fly away” A song or two later I found myself having to wipe tears from my eyes. It was such a sweet program and Ben is just such a sweet boy.