St. Louis Homeschool Expo

I attended the St. Louis Homeschool Expo this past week and it was such a great event. The speakers that I had the privileged of sitting in on were all great!!! I only attended on Friday but some of the points of their messages that stood out to me were:

David Hazell from the "My Father's World" curriculum spoke on 'Homeschooling in the "Real World"'.
1) Transforming Our Family - Are we focusing on the Kingdom or on the fact that society says that our kids have to graduate?
2) What Does the Culture Expect / What are our Distractions - Distractions can be things such as sports, music, social activities, horse lessons, coops, entertainment, toys, technology, travel, career, academic paganism (many kids by age 20 leave Christianity in public school and youth groups)
3) What Does God Expect - Bible reading # 1, direct our children in Godly ways. God gave you the plan to homeschool so you should NOT try to decide WHEN you can get out of it, we should homeschool our children and our children's children. (Deuteronomy 4:8-10)
4) Operating in the Real World (Large and small families, rich and poor, learning styles, busy household, church activities, etc) - Make sure ALL the things you are doing REALLY are God focused and you are NOT just doing them to be doing them.
5) Educate using God's "Real World" For Your Family - God expects US to train or disciple our children spiritually and academically. (Test are given to people to fail, don't give a test if you know your child can pass it) Prepare your children with REAL WORLD skills = Homemaking, communication, budgeting, cleaning, etc.
STOP TRYING TO BE LIKE YOUR FRIENDS - Ask God HOW He wants you to teach your kids His Plan.

The next speaker was an organizing professional named Jean (sorry, I forgot her last name :) Let's Get Organized! But How?
Begin with an organizing prayer: Lord, help me pick only one thing to change for now.
Your home equals CHAOS or PEACE; CHAOS = Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome; PEACE = Please Enter A Calm Environment
1) Minimize STUFF to maximize space - Acknowledge that God made us "Keepers of the Home" (Titus 2:5) Do at least the Flylady's 27 Fling Boogie by picking a room, drawer or cabinet, putting some "boogie" music on, grabbing a trash bag and placing 27 items in it for either the trash or a yard sale. Here are the things to KEEP - 1) if you need it, 2) if it brings you joy, 3) if it has sentimental value.
2) There is a place for everything and everything should be in it's place. Think like a professional and the way the grocery stores line up like items together. Invest in CLEAR plastic storage boxes.
3) Organize your FAMILY with chore & menu charts, plan your errands so you're not running out so much all over.
4) Organize YOURSELF - a. with personal goals (SMART = Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely)an example of this would be:
a.1)I want to loose weight because my jeans aren't fitting right, this is a good goal but there is no time attached to it.
a.2) I want to lose 50 pounds - there is no time attached to this
a.3) I want to lose 50 pounds in 3 months - now there is time attached to this but this doesn't really SOUND achievable
a.4) I want to exercise, change my eating habits and lose 10 pounds in the next 3 months - this is a Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely goal
b. Get a support network - does your church support homeschooling?, join a coop, website/email loops, or local support groups
c. Be honest about HOW you need to recharge your batteries and then DO IT!!! b.1) Alone time, b.2) Pampering, b.3) Social Time - One of these 3 ways should work for you.
5) Organize your HOMESCHOOL - a. goals for each child (academically, physically, spiritually. b. curriculum - it's your helper, NOT your master! c. all books in one place d. keep 3x5 memory jogger cards of what you already have or of what you need

The last 2 workshops I attended were so great and I am SO thankful for the St. Louis Homeschool Expo for having Dianne Craft there. I won't go into all of her stuff since I blogged about it a few posts before this but one thing that I will point out that she mentioned is our kids aren't getting enough fish oil - if you remember in Jesus' time they ate fish, fruits, vegetables and bread - Dianne recommends that your child be taking 500mg DHA of Fish Oil everyday and she said Lethecin oil is helpful for the visual right brain child. I am going to also add acidophilus to my daughters diet. We will begin the figure 8 writing stuff in September.