VA Homeschool Convention

[Swamptribe]

I want the flip book it looks fun.

OMG, they have a hallucigenia totebag. That's my all time favorite fossil. I mean, nobody knows what the hell that thing is....

[persuas1ve]

I was at HEAV (We will be homeschooling our 8 year old with ADHD and sensory processing disorder).This will be our first homeschool year, and this was our first conference. It was...interesting. We only visited the convention floor--we went to get a hands-on feel for some curricula and were not interested in the seminars (I'm sure we can figure out how to infantalize our daughter and deify our sons on our own.....).

The VF booth was a boys-only booth. The books were all geared towards boys and they had surrounded the area with toy guns (including a really cool cork gun that made a popping sound when "shot"), toy knives, and toy swords. My boys (and everyone other child with a y-chromosome) were drawn to the booth and had to be dragged away...didn't think I should explain right there that we were NOT supporting that world view no matter how cool the toys...

There were a TON of religious curricula--including Rod and Staff, Sonlight, and My Father's World--and my husband and I enjoyed a rousing game of "spot-the-fundies." Honestly, most of the attendees appeared to be fundie-lite, although there were still a good percentage of frumpers etc. Rod and Staff appeared to be staffed by Mennonites, Sonlight and My Father's World by Fundie-lites (Gasp! The women were wearing pants!) The most disturbing thing we encountered was a booth touting the benefits of marksmanship. It's apparently a lost art. The banner with a young girl's face wearing ear-muffs and shooting goggles was disturbing considering the religious context.

Interestingly enough, the best presentation was from a secular math curriculum.

[clibbyjo]

I was at HEAV (We will be homeschooling our 8 year old with ADHD and sensory processing disorder).This will be our first homeschool year, and this was our first conference. It was...interesting. We only visited the convention floor--we went to get a hands-on feel for some curricula and were not interested in the seminars (I'm sure we can figure out how to infantalize our daughter and deify our sons on our own.....).

The VF booth was a boys-only booth. The books were all geared towards boys and they had surrounded the area with toy guns (including a really cool cork gun that made a popping sound when "shot"), toy knives, and toy swords. My boys (and everyone other child with a y-chromosome) were drawn to the booth and had to be dragged away...didn't think I should explain right there that we were NOT supporting that world view no matter how cool the toys...

There were a TON of religious curricula--including Rod and Staff, Sonlight, and My Father's World--and my husband and I enjoyed a rousing game of "spot-the-fundies." Honestly, most of the attendees appeared to be fundie-lite, although there were still a good percentage of frumpers etc. Rod and Staff appeared to be staffed by Mennonites, Sonlight and My Father's World by Fundie-lites (Gasp! The women were wearing pants!) The most disturbing thing we encountered was a booth touting the benefits of marksmanship. It's apparently a lost art. The banner with a young girl's face wearing ear-muffs and shooting goggles was disturbing considering the religious context.

Interestingly enough, the best presentation was from a secular math curriculum.

What math? (I am going to guess math u see which is a Christian company and throws in some religion as I have the fractions curriculum) I am curious to what you bought,as my sister was a vendor and I wonder if you bought her stuff. :dance:

[emmiedahl]

I have never seen any religion in Math U See, but I only have the very first levels. I really liked the conceptual math thing, though. Nice for kids who are too young for the magic that is Teaching Textbooks.

Somewhere I have Bill Gothard's more secular character curriculum, bought at a homeschooling convention. I had never heard of him at the time and a friend really recommended it. It is boring as hell, I could not even make it through a lesson much less my children :)

[persuas1ve]

It was Math U See--and we have decided to go w/ it although I didn't buy it at the convention. The guy who talked to us was amazing--he was able to answer my aerospace engineer husband's math questions effectively. On the other hand, Right Start Math ticked me off. When I asked them to explain their product, I was given to a 14 or 15 year old girl w/ braces who spoke very well but knew nothing! Heck, when we asked her about place value she got confused by her abacus & was totally dumbfounded by my husband's questions. She was really sweet, but hardly a good advertisement for the product.

I had no idea the MUS was Religious.

Here's a question for those more used to these events: is it normal to see so much geared toward boys specifically in the HS world? There was the obvious VF junk, but there were several curricula that appeared to be geared toward boys & a large medieval/fantasy book series (allegorical representations of the Bible from Genesis to Revelations) that was surrounded by swords. I saw boyscouts but no girl scouts...it just seemed very unbalanced.

[ladidah]

Here's a question for those more used to these events: is it normal to see so much geared toward boys specifically in the HS world? There was the obvious VF junk, but there were several curricula that appeared to be geared toward boys & a large medieval/fantasy book series (allegorical representations of the Bible from Genesis to Revelations) that was surrounded by swords. I saw boyscouts but no girl scouts...it just seemed very unbalanced.

I don't know the answer to your specific question, but I do know that many conservative Christians love the Boy Scouts but consider the Girl Scouts "liberals" and "feminists" (both dirty words, of course). You could probably tell accurately how conservative a church is by asking which group meets in its church basement. :roll:

[chaotic life]

For most fundie and even a lot of fundie-lite families, the only education their daughters require is to be able to be a homemaker and homeschool her own children. We first started exiting that world BECAUSE of the trend to completely educationally neglect girls.

When the SAHD movement first showed up on the scene, I genuinely thought no idiot would fall for that. Afterall, most of these women were themselves educated before entering that world. Not only that, the most common way to get a M.R.S. degree is to GO TO COLLEGE. I was wrong. The trend grows every year that girls do not *require* an education. They need to be able to read. Everything else they need to succeed in the life they are being groomed for can be learned at the knee of their mother and not from curriculum and books. Boys must be able to be a breadwinner, and thus they need far more knowledge and ability to think creatively. Girls are supposed to learn how to cook, clean and care for babies. I'm not sure how they expect these girls to then educate their OWN sons down the road. I think they believe that fathers should take over the education of sons once they pass the 3rd grade education that they instill in most of the girls anymore.

[AmyP]

It was Math U See--and we have decided to go w/ it although I didn't buy it at the convention. The guy who talked to us was amazing--he was able to answer my aerospace engineer husband's math questions effectively. On the other hand, Right Start Math ticked me off. When I asked them to explain their product, I was given to a 14 or 15 year old girl w/ braces who spoke very well but knew nothing! Heck, when we asked her about place value she got confused by her abacus & was totally dumbfounded by my husband's questions. She was really sweet, but hardly a good advertisement for the product.

I had no idea the MUS was Religious.

Here's a question for those more used to these events: is it normal to see so much geared toward boys specifically in the HS world? There was the obvious VF junk, but there were several curricula that appeared to be geared toward boys & a large medieval/fantasy book series (allegorical representations of the Bible from Genesis to Revelations) that was surrounded by swords. I saw boyscouts but no girl scouts...it just seemed very unbalanced.

I have math-u-see primer through zeta and I have never heard any religious references. I might not have noticed one way or the other, but I am pretty sure I have never heard one. I recommend the series, btw.

[clibbyjo]

I have math-u-see primer through zeta and I have never heard any religious references. I might not have noticed one way or the other, but I am pretty sure I have never heard one. I recommend the series, btw.

I have only the MUS fractions and it is at least 5 years old but I am certain in the video there was at least 1 religious thing mentioned . I don't remember what, as my kids hated it and I thought it would be like Legos which is why I bought it. The guy you talked to was Steve Demme(sp.) founder of MUS and was an engineer. I would only by MUS used if possible. He is a money grubber and I have inside scoop on him which I cannot reveal without outing myself. Yes, I know many people who love MUS, but he is a total fundie and only cares about money.

[TVR]

We have MUS. We love it, and I have one kid about to start on Algebra II, one who is just finishing up up Zeta. Neither can remember any religious stuff in it. We have always received excellent customer service from MUS.

[starfish]

Crystal Paine was at the conference. She hasn't said too much about it, but last week she spent a lot of time

preparing. She was going to have a booth there, also.

[starfish]

I'm enjoying hearing the discussion on science curriculum. One of the little starfishies has had two very rough sciences classes the past years, and I'd like to help supplement their education somehow.

I'm not sure I have the faintest idea how, but the discussion on this topic has got me thinking......

[GenerationCedarchip]

I don't know the answer to your specific question, but I do know that many conservative Christians love the Boy Scouts but consider the Girl Scouts "liberals" and "feminists" (both dirty words, of course). You could probably tell accurately how conservative a church is by asking which group meets in its church basement. :roll:

Love that rule!

Also, from what I understand Girl Scouts was not there, but American Heritage Girls (aka "Fundie Scouts") was.

[persuas1ve]

I just remembered the other weird thing I noticed at HEAV: ALERT was there. Obviously they had a booth, but they were also stationed at entrances & exits. It was odd to see all these young men dressed in blue fatigues like some teenage paramilitary organization. Considering that there was legitimate event security, it just seemed odd to see these guys stationed around a convention center full of homeschoolers....super dangerous group.

[lovelyinblack]

Oh yeah! I went there once two years ago, it was the first year my parents decided to homeschool. It was an adventure to say the least. We've never been back as my family puts it "there are too many crazy people" :D Although I plan on going next year with a friend. We plan on "defrauding" the boys with tank tops and shorts.

[jenny_islander]

Yes, I get a lot of fundamentalist bleed-through at the annual homeschool book fair, even though it's officially sponsored by Interior Distance Education of Alaska, which is based in the Galena school district. (There have always been a lot of correspondence students in Alaska, but originally they all got mailed the same curriculum from the State. IDEA got rolling on individualized homeschooling early on. Kids all over Alaska are enrolled through IDEA even if their own school district has a similar program because IDEA has such a good reputation and they did it first.) I see a lot of creationist and other fundamentalist-flavored stuff, a lot of "wholesome" "in the world but not of it" games like Rook, and while child-beating books aren't sold openly, books by the same authors that don't explicitly recommend child beating are.

My kids are enrolled through the local school district, which will not pay for any type of religious-flavored materials, but they also maintain a free library that accepts any type of donated materials, including the kind of textbook that advertises "Now with More Bible Verses!" on the cover, only it's about math. But I know homeschool parents who say that this is not enough. Personally I don't want my government endorsing the likes of Dobson and Ezzo and Phillips, thanks.

There is also an annual homeschool convention, but I don't go. The keynote speakers are nobody I've ever heard of, talking about issues that are not even on my radar, and the convention is always held in a church. There is usually some kind of warning buzzword in the flyer, such as "wholesome."