Posted by Cindy on July 15, 2008
Well, I’m back from the CHEK Conference in one piece, but with lots of unpacking yet to do. Besides clothing bags, I packed three BIG baskets/boxes full of things for my workshops! I’m a very visual person and like to share visuals with others, too. Sadly, if I had taken everything I’d wanted, I probably could’ve packed six or more big containers. Yes, all for two one-hour workshops! LOL
I don’t know whether it was my heavy containers or the very busy job of chasing a toddler all day Saturday, but my hubby threw his back out and has been out of commission for two days now. Surely it wasn’t my boxes!! 
The workshops went really well. Thanks for those who prayed! A very special thank you goes to Melissa, Nora, Jenny, Anne and Bonnie for being there to support me!!
The first workshop was called “Adding Easy and Creative Touches to Your Homeschool”. Just about everything I talked about I have written a blog post about before. A lot of the ideas focused on learning centers, learning spaces, creative character ideas, living math and creative writing. What I haven’t blogged about before, will surely turn into posts eventually! LOL
The second workshop was called “Creative Nature Study” (I think.) Melissa and I shared this workshop. She spoke about why we should do nature study, shared some of the creative things she’s been doing (which she also shares on her blog), and led the ladies to many wonderful resources. I talked about how to keep a nature journal, what to pack in a nature bag, some creative activities to do in nature and how to start a Creation Club. The time went fast for both of us, so we talked a blue streak! I sure hope we didn’t overwhelm those poor ladies (and one husband)!
Some questions from the workshops have led to a little list of things I will be blogging about soon:
- Creation Club resource books
- Nature study resources for various ages
- Creatively homeschooling older children
- How to say no to some of the lessons in a textbook without worrying that you’ll ruin your children
- Some of my favorite blog tutorials and websites
While I’m at it, here are a few more blog post ideas that have been floating around in my head that will most likely find there way into print before long:
- Homemade mixes
- My MSG story
- Our red food coloring story / why we are a semi-Feingold family
- Planning for the upcoming school year
Now that the nature e-book has been sent to the editors and the CHEK workshops are behind me, I hope to be posting more. With VBS this week and the corn coming on, the posts may still come slowly for a while, but I hope I won’t disappear too long at a time.
Oh yeah. My parents are really cool grandparents. They took the older kids for the weekend and visited the Louisville Slugger factory/museum, the Falls of the Ohio and the Squire Boone Caverns. What makes them really cool, though, is the fact that they willingly dressed up like cows for the Chik-Fil-A promotion. Yes, my children mean that much to them. Truth be told, the kids only had to ask once - I think my parents secretly enjoyed dressing up for free food! :)
Posted by Cindy on January 24, 2008
Mammoth Cave is the most amazing site! As the longest cave system in the world, there are many tours offered to cover miles and miles of underground beauty. We chose the easiest tour because of Eli, but it also happens to be one of the most beautiful tours as well. The Frozen Niagra tour is one of the only “wet” tours, which means you get to see God’s work in action. Stalactites and stalagmites are being formed as you watch. Plus, you get to see the most amazing works of God’s hand, including a huge formation appropriately called the Frozen Niagra that looks as if Niagra Falls has been frozen in rock.
Even as we listened to our tour guide talk about millions of years, we were able to clearly see God’s handiwork through the flood. We were able to quietly explain to our children how the truth of the Bible could be proven in spite of some of the things the tour guide was saying. I actually got brave and asked what sorts of fossils they’ve found in the cave. He said, “Oh, we’ve found many, everything from mollusks to shark’s teeth.” Sharks teeth!?? How can they explain sharks teeth (a salt water animal) being found inside a cave in the middle of Kentucky? Well, we just winked at our children because we all knew the answer.
Can you see the running water over the cave entrance, as well as the frozen water? It was just above freezing outside, but the temperature inside the cave remains a constant 54 degrees all year long.
After a Friday full of caving and swimming at our hotel, Saturday was conference day. CHEK puts on a Leadership Conference every year to encourage and inform the support group leaders in KY. It was a wonderful day! (Especially because Steve took all the kiddos away for bowling and shopping for the entire six hours of the conference!!) Many good speakers, a round table discussion and getting to know new homeschooling friends from around the state = a great time!
I had the opportunity to present a workshop on managing your homeschool group without neglecting your family. Even if you’re not a support group leader, you may find some of the organization principles helpful. Here’s the link to my workshop notes if you’re interested.
For those of you who live in KY, CHEK is updating their website. Over the next few months, you’ll want to check in often to see what’s new. They’re also beginning a monthly newsletter that you can sign up to receive for free – look for the sign up box on the website.
Posted by Cindy on July 16, 2007
What a great weekend! Hubby and I were able to go to the CHEK Convention Friday and Saturday, and boy was it good this year! The speakers were great and the vendor halls were packed.
Ken Ham (from Answers In Genesis and the Creation Museum) and his brother Steve were the keynote speakers. You gotta love Ken Ham! He speaks with confidence and conviction, he gets right to the point, and he speaks about very relevant topics. I don’t ever feel like I’ve wasted my time listening to him, you know what I mean?
Most of the other speakers I had the opportunity to hear were great as well. Nancy Carter from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine spoke on grace in our homeschools. I needed to hear this one!! We can be really tough on ourselves thinking we need to be doing better, doing more, doing school just like the Jones’, or just plain getting weary in the homeschooling process. Her talk was so uplifting and encouraging. She’s a super sweet and very down to earth person. It was a priveledge to meet her!
Tina Burnell spoke on multi-sensory reading and spelling techniques. Just the thing a momma with a struggling reader needs to hear. She packed this hour full of helpful ideas and resources! I may even do a blog soon outlining some of her techniques, web resources and books she recommends.
The last speaker I had the chance to hear was very intriguing! Joanne Calderwood of URtheMom.com taught about the self-teaching method of homeschooling. I brought home a booklet she passed out that I’m working quickly to finish because I’d love to start some of these methods with my 10 year old. She talks about all sorts of advantages to allowing your children to be responsible for their own work. You choose the curriculum, your children take responsibility to get it done with as little intervention by you as possible. I know, it sounds too good to be true, but she explains it in very easy to understand terms. I don’t think I’d want to turn all areas of our homeschool into this sort of learning because we really enjoy family unit studies and they require mom’s attention. But, we will be looking into self-teaching for some subjects, like math and spelling this year.
So many speakers, so little time! Now I’m ready to get the new school year underway!
