Tag: seminar

Alas, The Schoolhouse Expo is all over.  What a terrific final day we had: SO many wonderful speakers and then a big giveaway extravaganza at the very end, and what prizes!  It’s so hard to choose just a few highlights from the final day, but here I go…

• Jennifer Courtney from Classical Conversations shared all about the Classical method of homeschooling.  Since we have a Classical homeschool, this talk was thoroughly enjoyable for me.  She addressed some of the misconceptions about the Classical method, and mentioned that it is about nurturing ALL the parts of the child, and that Classical educators don’t need to curriculum surf, they just need to think.  The Trivium, or three parts that make up a Classical method of education include The Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric.  I love how Jennifer summed these up.  Grammar means input, and once you have mastered the grammar, you can pay attention. The Logic or Dialectic stage means understanding.  The Rhetoric or wisdom stage means passing on knowledge to others.  As Aristotle said: Teaching is the highest form of understanding.
• Diana Waring’s talk was a really high-energy, inspirational session about enjoying learning.  She made that point that we don’t teach children, we help them learn and that education is not something we do TO students.  She talked about two different types of teachers:  the Controller who yells at the student, uses parroted responses, shame, and  one-size-fits-all approach, and the Facilitator who is responsive, honours & enjoys the individual student, leads them to water & lets THEM drink!  Diana reminded us that our children are made by God Himself and that we have to work at ENJOYING our students 🙂
• Zan Tyler of Apologia finished up the Expo with a talk on Biblical Worldview.  In introducing her, it was mentioned that the Tyler family was threatened with jail time when they started homeschooling in South Carolina, and they had to fight to legally homeschool.  I sometimes forget that homeschoolers who came before us had to fight so hard to have homeschooling recognized.  The Tyler family then went on to homeschool for 21 years: K-12.  Zan explained that our Worldview is simply the sum of our beliefs about the world, the big  picture that directs our daily decisions & actions.  Our Worldview brings focus & gives direction.  If we don’t fully understand our worldview ourselves, we need to learn along with our children.  Zan used the example of Daniel in the Bible and how his Biblical foundation saw him through.

If you didn’t get a chance to attend The Schoolhouse Expo this week, you can still purchase The Expo To Go, and listen to the MP3 files when they come out in the next couple of weeks AND get a whole bunch of downloadable freebies.  I’m looking forward to listening to some of my favourite sessions over and over, and am already looking forward to the next Schoolhouse Expo in the fall!