• Plan ahead by reading about the available workshops and making a note of when it will be held.  If there are two you want to attend at the same time, consider which would be best to attend and get the other on CD.  If you go with a friend or a spouse, you can each attend one and share notes afterwards.
• Have a list of curriculum you want to look over.  Plan on taking the time you need and ask the exhibitors your questions.
• Know your prices.  If you buy at the conference it will save on shipping, but you will want to have some kind of luggage or cart on wheels to save your strength.
• Do you have a budget?  If you do, don’t spend it all at once!  The school year is long and you will probably need something else before the year is out.

Attending the Homeschool Expo is educational and exciting.  The workshops and exhibitors are there for you.  You might also want to consider Homeschooling for Excellence, a one day conference for beginning homeschoolers.

http://www.southeasthomeschoolexpo.com/homeschooling-101

There are times to reevaluate, but do not let your child regularly manipulate you into changing your mind about the day’s lesson plan. If it works once, they’ll try again and a bad habit of complaining has started.

Be encouraged, if this has already started as a pattern in your homeschool you have the power to turn it around. Stand firm for a few days and your children will come to know that you have a NO WHINING HOMESCHOOL ZONE!

Homeschooling 101

Souteast Homeschool Expo, http://www.southeasthomeschoolexpo.com/

Speaker/Affiliation: Kim A. Howe/Moving Beyond the Page

Date and Time: Saturday, July 31st, 2010, 1:45 PM

Description: An orderly and unimaginative homeschool environment can produce pliant, disciplined children. Without creativity, however, we will fail to nurture the problem solvers and innovators of the future. Creativity is much more than being able to draw a pretty picture. In this session, we will look at the importance of creativity and will explore fun and exciting ways to develop a creative homeschool environment. If you homeschool a creative child, we will provide you with some important tools to encourage this creative potential. (Room 117/118)

Speaker/Affiliation: Kyle McManamy/Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc.

Date and Time: Saturday, July 31st, 2010, 1:45 PM

Description: This seminar explains how any parent can help his or her children learn science at the upper levels. By the time a homeschooled student reaches high school, both the student and the parent should be able to learn by reading. Thus, we admonish the parent to learn the subject right along with the student. With both the parent and the student helping each other learn, an upper level science experience can be equally rewarding for both! In order to help the homeschooling parent plan his or her science curriculum, this session provides study timelines for both the science-oriented and the non science-oriented student. In addition, he also discusses the mathematical skills needed in order to maintain the proposed timeline. Finally, the session discusses the curriculum that will make it possible for the homeschooling parent to provide a quality high school science education for his or her children. (Room 104)

Speaker/Affiliation: Jessie McGuire/Bilingual Book

Date and Time: Saturday, July 31st, 2010, 1:45 PM

Description: The speaker will present ideas on how to implement a foreign language program capitalizing on the learners’ interests and without involving a major expenditure of time or money. Valuable online resources for most major languages will be given, as well as fun, engaging and educational projects that can involve the entire family. (Room 112)