Before we go any further – If you haven’t already read the “Define Heathen” page of this site, please do so now.  On that page you will learn that this blog is not anti-religious.  This blog was created due to the lack of support resources for families who homeschool from a secular point-of-view.  I (Andrea aka Heathen Mom) intentionally do not discuss my position on religious matters online.

This blog and any future projects will always be a place where homeschoolers of any religious background should feel comfortable talking about homeschooling matters.  Many people who classify themselves as a Heathen Homeschooler consider themselves to be highly religious individuals, but choose to separate religious studies from the general education of their children.  Heathen Homeschoolers come from a wide variety of religious affiliations.  One more time, just to make sure we are clear….. A lack of religion is not a requirement to be considered a Heathen Homeschoolers.

Indulge me for a moment while I write a bit about where we have been and then I will tell you what lies ahead.  I started this blog a few years ago to try to reach out to other homeschooling families.  I wrote on a semi-regular schedule and enjoyed every minute of it.  At that time, I did not have my actual name anywhere on the blog.  This is not because I was ashamed of the name or what I wrote; it was simply because I knew that some homeschoolers in my local area would not like someone writing about secular homeschooling.  Religious issues are one of the main reasons for homeschooling in our area.  In late 2009 I dealt with the first round of problems caused by local homeschoolers. I took a hiatus from blogging to process what was going on in our life offline.  I returned to blogging for a short time and then was faced with yet additional local issues.  This resulted in an even longer hiatus from blogging.  I will not write all the gory details, but it centered around people being offended that I wrote about local groups on a blog with such “an offensive” name.  I sometimes still can’t believe that we lost friends due to the name of my blog – even after the naming process was explained.  It was only recently that I came to peace with the situation and realized that those “friends” were never true friends. This summer I decided it was time to move forward and no longer dwell on past drama.

That catches you up on the history of the blog, so what is ahead for Heathen Homeschoolers?  I’m so glad you asked! I’m looking forward to many things here at Heathen Homeschoolers including:

- Regular posting – That’s right folks, my typing skills will be useful as I write more posts!

- Guest posts from fellow homeschoolers – Details on how you can submit a story for consideration is coming soon

- Twitter Chats – Our first one is scheduled for September 19 at 8 pm(Central)

- Homeschool mom night out for my local readers

- Our facebook page will be utilized more.  Better go “Like” us to stay in the loop

- T-shirts to show your homeschool pride

Long-range plans include ~

- Utilizing other media to share homeschooling ideas

- Mini-conferences leading up to our first full scale conference – To say I’m excited about this would be the understatement of the year!

During my blogging hiatus I slowly regained the confidence that was undermined by those unwilling to look past the name of the site. I hope that Heathen Homeschoolers will continue to attract likeminded families that value academics in their children’s education and be the place where they can find that sense of belonging that we all deserve.

I am currently looking for a small group of individuals to help coordinate a secular homeschooling conference to be held in Missouri.  Conference committee members are expected to help in their assigned roles to prepare for the conference and volunteer during the conference.  Conference committee members do not have to be in my local area.  Meetings will be held using skype and/or other online venues. 

Please email me if you are interested in helping to develop a secular homeschooling conference in Missouri.  Please include the following items in your email:  Name , contact info, why you would like to join the conference committee, any skills you have that would be beneficial to the process and any additional information you would like to add. 

I am looking forward to moving forward with the conference plans.  Having a committee will allow the conference to become a reality faster than if I was doing it alone.  Thank you for considering joining me on this adventure. 

That comment made me think about the possibility of maybe in a galaxy far, far away, I could someday, in the distant future, host such an event.  It also helped to confirm the fact that there are other people like me who have to pick and choose what sessions to attend at area homeschool conferences to steer clear of ones that would be of no use.  In the past few weeks I have been chatting with some other people who have helped to convince me to move forward with the idea.

First step….find out if there are people who want to attend and if so where and when.  Please take a moment to complete the survey at the link below.  The information will help me to determine how much interest there is in a secular homeschool gathering in Missouri and will allow planning to move forward.  Be sure to send your friends a link to this page so they can also complete the survey.  Thanks!

Click here to take survey

]]> http://heathenhomeschoolers.com/2010/secular-homeschool-gathering/feed/ 3 http://heathenhomeschoolers.com/2010/pictures-from-conference/ http://heathenhomeschoolers.com/2010/pictures-from-conference/#comments Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:10:57 +0000 Heathen Mom http://heathenhomeschoolers.com/?p=802

Arriving a day early to go out to Chef Tom Colicchio’s restaurant Craft and attend Wicked was a great idea.  I enjoyed being out on my own that evening.

During the I made some amazing connections that will help me grow to reach my vision for Heathen Homeschoolers.  I met some wonderful bloggers (too many to name here) and some bloggers who were a little too fond of themselves (I’m too nice to mention them here).  Some of the sessions were exactly what I was hoping for while others left me wishing there was more substance to the discussion.

The Scholastic and the City event was wonderful beyond words. I loved meeting the people behind Scholastic and having a chance to see what is coming out this fall.  Just as a side note~I will be blogging about the Chief Educational Officer’s talk regarding the trends in education in the coming weeks.  I met Ms. Frizzle…yup…Magic School Bus owning Ms. Frizzle…other homeschool moms can appreciate the excitement of that moment, lol!

I met Chelsea (after talking through emails for weeks) and Terry from JVC.  The dinner we went to was delicious, but having the time to sit in a small group and just talk during such a crazy conference was priceless.  I would like to thank JVC again for sponsoring my trip to BlogHer10.

My consultation with Tara Gidus was motivating.  I will be writing more about my consultation in my upcoming post about my participation in the Better for BlogHer campaign sponsored by Healthy Choice.

I blog on occasion about crafts for children, but I *heart* crafts.  I enjoy a wide variety of crafts.  Just ask hubby, he will tell you I have craft stuff stashed throughout the house, lol!  I was so excited to be invited to attend the Bloggers’ Night Out hosted by Martha Stewart-Omnimedia.  I had a great discussion with Andrea from Martha Stewart Crafts about projects for children.  I am looking forward to following up with her to learn more.

This was my second year attending BlogHer.  I plan to attend BlogHer11 in San Diego.  I am also looking into the possibility of attending BlogWorld later this year.  I never pictured myself attending blogging conferences, but now I’m searching for new learning opportunities.  My how things change over the years.

I will be posting some pictures from the conference soon!

Disclosure:  JVC paid for my conference ticket, travel, hotel and food allowance.  They also hooked me up with a sweet video camera to record the fun.  I am participating in the Better for BlogHer campaign sponsored by Healthy Choice.  I received coupons for free Healthy Choice meals, free health consultation and monetary compensation in exchange for my participation in the campaign.

Fast forward to last month…I realized we were having one family schedule conflict after another when trying to make the time to go to BlogHer ’10.  I decided to sell my conference ticket so that I could help make our schedule a bit more manageable.  I was sad to miss the event, but felt like it was the correct choice for my family.  I tweeted that I had a ticket for sale and it was sold in about ten minutes. It was official, I was not going to the conference.  I cancelled my hotel and was lucky enough to be able to get a refund for my airfare.  I received an email just a day after the refunds posted to our bank account that would throw our schedules out the window.

I opened an e-mail from Chelsea at JVC that started with “Congratulations!…” I had entered the JVC Power your Passions contest and I had actually won! I couldn’t believe it…JVC was paying for a conference ticket, hotel, airfare, dinner out and a sweet JVC HD Everio GZ-DH620 video camera.

I immediately called James (Heathen Dad) and freaked out.  Of all the lousy luck…I win this prize after we decided I would not be going.  He politely told me I was out of my mind if I was thinking about turning it down.  He said it was a sign that we made the wrong decision and I was to accept the prize.  The family schedule was completely rearranged for the second time in a week and I was once again planning to attend BlogHer ’10.

I just want to say thanks to JVC for sending me to BlogHer!  I will be using my cute new camera to capture some memories of the weekend.  I look forward to sharing the videos after the conference.

As you can guess, I think JVC rocks!  They have some great give aways on their Facebook page.  Be sure to “like” them so you can enter.  Another good way to keep up with what is new with JVC is to follow them on twitter.  Be sure to mention that you read this on my blog

Disclosure:  JVC is sponsoring my trip to BlogHer (ticket, airfare, hotel and dinner) and has provided a video camera for my use.  Any reviews of the camera will not be influenced by the compensation.

Here it is folks – my post about the homeschool conference I attended a few weeks ago.  I have attended this particular conference each year since we made the decision to homeschool.  The reason I have attended each year is simple….it is local.  The conference is hosted by a local homeschool support group.  Each year I must choose my sessions carefully.  I tend to avoid sessions that are religious based since we believe academics and religion should be separate.  I refuse to attend session which advocate “protecting” children from secular points of view.  I think that avoiding topics that will be covered in college courses is a disservice to children. 

The quality of presentations have declined over the past few years.  This year two choices during each time slot were “infomercials”.  You know the – buy my book/program because xyz.  I really don’t like sessions like that.  I enjoy going to conferences to learn about things – not to hear why someone thinks their book is the one I should buy. 

No session really stands out in my mind.  I didn’t leave a room and feel the need to immediately tweet a comment about anything that was discussed.  I think the only time I tweeted after a session was when I decided to leave one early because it had nothing to do with the description.  The keynote speaker spoke about the classical education philosophy.  I did enjoy learning more about why she choose to develop materials using a classical education approach.  I like to learn about different education ideas – even if I’m not a single method kind of girl.    The vendor hall was smaller than years past, but still had a few good deals.  I bought some games, art supplies an books to add to our family library.  Vendor halls at conferences can hold a lot even for those of us who don’t focus on workbooks. 

I have decided that is is time to look out of the immediate area for homeschool conferences to attend next year.  I would love to find one that is for secular homeschoolers or even one that is inclusive, but more welcoming.  So tell me – what conferences should I consider? 

Next time I go to a conference I really want to be excited to share the things I hear.  I don’t want another “so I went to a conference” post.  I want to be able to say Wow – what a conference! 

Last year I wrote a post about getting ready to attend a homeschool conference.  I decided to update that post with some of my newer thoughts on conferences.  So if some of it sounds familiar, don’t think you are losing your mind…..I did write about this before, lol! 

I am once again attending a homeschool conference here in southwest Missouri.  It is not the largest one in the state, but it is the closest.  It is not a secular homeschooling conference, but there is usually sessions I’m interested in.  Please let me know if you know of a great conference geared towards those who homeschool for academic reasons from a secular point-of-view.  I would love to plan a trip or twelve to homeschool conferences for next year. 

If you haven’t ever gone to one before, I encourage you to attend one or ten. Each conference has its strengths and weaknesses, so while you might not find a lot that interests you at conference A, you could have have a ball at conference B.

Here are a few tips to help your conference be more enjoyable

~ Go with a friend or your hubby. I personally have always gone with friends to our local one because there is not a program for children. Heathen Dad is on kid duty while I am at the conference. The kiddos enjoy the extra time with their Daddy and I love having the adult time with other homeschool moms.  There are some conferences that I am considering going to that will have events for children. Woohoo – mini-vacation in the name of homeschooling.

~ Plan a nice lunch. The expo center where our local conference is held does not allow outside food to be brought in. They want you to pay for the overpriced food that they sell. I find it much more enjoyable to just head out of the expo center and go to a nearby restaurant. That way we don’t have to wait in a huge line and we get better food. 

~ Decide which workshops you are attending before you arrive. My program has marks on every page. I cross out the ones that I absolutely have zero interest in attending. I mark the ones that I want to attend or buy the cd of the session. This allows me to go directly to my next room instead of having to decide where to go next. This is great for conferences where seating is not guaranteed.  Reading the descriptions also allows me to figure out which sessions I just need to stay far, far away from, lol! 

~ Print out address labels with your name, address and email. These make signing up for door prizes in the vendor hall much quicker.

~ Take notes. You will attend so many workshops that your notes might be the only way you can remember who said what. I share my notes with my friends who are in different sessions.

~ Bring something to carry your vendor hall purchases. Our local conference allows rolling carts. I am so happy about this! It makes it so easy to carry my loot without breaking my back. Two years I had a bunch of pioneer craft supplies shoved in the outer pockets of my rolling cart. It looked hilarious! Last year I had enough clay to sculpt a life size statue – but hey, the clay was cheaper than I could find online and I didn’t have to pay shipping.  If the conference you are attending doesn’t allow rolling carts, bring a big bag and plan to go dump your loot in your car when it gets too heavy.

~ Speaking of the vendor hall….
I go through the vendor hall the first time without buying anything, ok fine – I try not to buy anything. I take a look at what all the booths are offering. If I see something that I like, I mark the booth on my program and write a note about what I need. I have a clipboard where I take a million notes about things I want to look at again, questions to ask, etc. If the vendor is a little pushy and wanting me to purchase right away, I just tell them that I’m on my look through and I’ll be buying later in the conference. Most are quick to encourage me to come back. If someone continues to be pushy, I won’t return to their booth.

~Make a budget so you know how much you can spend at the conference. We are not a workbook family, but there is still loads to buy for each school year. At the conference I have found lots of great deals on books, games, puzzles, art supplies, science tools, crafts and more.  People are always amazed that a non-prepackaged curriculum/workbook mom like me can find lots to buy.  What can I say, I’m gifted in shopping. 

~ I make sure to plan for impulse buys. I know it sounds silly to plan to overspend, but hey, I know me. I can use up to half of my impulse buy money on each day. This plan to overspend method has worked for me over the years. I have also picked up some really cool things with the extra money.

~ This year we plan to make it a weekend for us moms just like last year.  A few moms are staying at a hotel near the expo center. Last year I enjoyed being able to go out for dinner with the other moms.  It really did make the conference more enjoyable. It will be nice to be able to have a fun weekend again this year.  It is always nice to not have to leave so blasted early each morning.

~ Bring business cards listing the details for Heathen Homeschoolers. Give them to all the homeschoolers you meet that use a secular point of view. Hey – can’t blame a girl for a shameless plug advertising her blog. But seriously, let me know if you want some and I’ll send you a stack.

~ Don’t be afraid to politely excuse yourself from a workshop. Sitting in a workshop that you are not getting anything out of is a waste of your time. As long as you can do it without being rude, I say go ahead and leave. I did this last year and was able to pop in another workshop since it was just a few minutes into the session. My reason for leaving? The speaker completely changed what the workshop was compared to the description. I was not interested in the new topic she was going to discuss.

~ Don’t be surprised if your hubby isn’t as excited about the things you discover at the conference. I have learned that it is best to hit the highlights with my hubby and not try to recreate every workshop for him. I give the information in bite size chunks. This helps him get a taste of what I do in the homeschooling world. Heathen Dad freely admits that he is glad I’m in charge of homeschooling our children instead of him. Smart guy I say  

Heathen Homeschoolers started out as something I wanted to do just for me.  I really didn’t think too much about the geek side of blogging because quite honestly I didn’t know if anyone would ever actually read my blog.  Imagine my surprise when fellow Heathen Homeschoolers starting to visit my blog!  Sitting there at the airport I kept thinking that my blog was just too small to warrant my attendance at such a large event.  Good thing the Heathen family dropped me off – I didn’t have a chance to chicken out of leaving for Chicago.

On the plane to Chicago I had visions of people laughing about my little blog and asking why I was at BlogHer.  When I walking through O’Hare to baggage claim I decided I was insane for agreeing to share a limo with a group of women I had never really met.  I mean come on, I had been reading some of their blogs for awhile.  I considered all of them higher up the blog food chain compared to me.  I found the group of ladies at baggage claim and was welcomed.  I felt like the new kid in school being invited to sit at the “cool kids” table at lunch, lol!

The stretch suv limo was just a great way to kick off my first trip to BlogHer.  We were all able to chat on our way downtown.  I spent more time with some of the limo girls throughout the weekend.

I thought the odds of anyone recognizing my name or blog were slim to none.  I had decided that I would be fine with that because after all I was there to learn and was far from an a-list blog star.  Words cannot express how excited I was when someone was excited to meet Heathen Mom.  We were in the elevator and she said “Hi Andrea” as she read the rest of my name tag.  She then squealed and yelled “OMG you are Heathen Mom.  I love your blog”.  I was so elated that someone really had heard of my blog.  This one moment helped me feel more at ease about the weekend ahead.  For the life of me, I cannot remember the person who helped me stop feeling like I was going to hurl – so thank you to that blogger.

In addition to the parties and meeting other bloggers there was this little thing called a conference going on.  As with all conferences, some sessions were great, some just ok and others that quite frankly sucked.  I think I enjoyed the geek sessions better than a lot of the other workshops that I attended.  Shhhh, don’t tell Heathen Dad or he will think his geekness is rubbing off on me, lol!  Some of the geek sessions helped with with ideas for my site that my readers will notice, other changes will be more behind the scene geek work – but all of changes will be good for Heathen Homeschoolers.   I am going to start doing more with the online community as well.  I can’t wait to implement some of the new geeky changes.

I attended a session about blogging as a homeschoooling tool.  That session is going to be covered in another post later this week.  It was great to meet other homeschool bloggers.  I am looking forward to visiting some new homeschool mom blogs.

So why has it taken me till Thursday to post this?  Well as you know there was a massive internet failure at the cafe I was at yesterday or it would have been posted on Wednesday.  The reason why it has taken so long is because I underestimated the increased amount of time the kids would want after I returned.  This week has been crazy with my son at science camp each morning and my daughter at dance camp each evening.  It seems like every free moment they have wanted to make up for the lost mommy play time.  Things are starting to get back to normal around here so I will have time to blog again.  Good thing, I would have hated to find ways to improve my blog and then never get to implement them, lol.  Summer is great, but I am looking forward to fall so our schedule will slow down just a bit.

LOL

Seriously folks, just wanted to let everyone know that I am flying to Chicago tomorrow to attend BlogHer 09.  This conference will have speakers talking about a wide variety of topics.  I am looking forward to meeting other homeschooling mamas who blog.  Shhhh, don’t tell Heathen Dad, but I am also looking forward to attending some of the geek lab sessions to learn more about the geek side of blogging.

Throughout the weekend I will be tweeting BlogHer related items.  So I apologize in advance for the number of tweets I will be sending this weekend, lol!  I will return to my normal level of tweeting Monday.

Have a great weekend!  Chicago here I come!