Category Archives: homeschooling conference

Jun 18 2017

SMHEA Homeschool Expo

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Every June, my local homeschool support organization, the Smoky Mountain Home Educators Association, puts on a free mini-convention. There are vendors and local organizations who cater to homeschoolers, like the Knoxville Zoo, the Titanic Museum, and Ripley’s Aquarium. There are seminars, too. I am one of the speakers.

Adriana Zoder, Claiborne and Lana Thornton

With THEA President, Claiborne Thornton, and his wife Lana

This year, I spoke about Preschool and Kindergarten in one seminar. The other one was about different homeschool approaches. Education can be done in a myriad of ways. By the way, you can find the slides of my PowerPoint presentations under the tab called Workshops on this blog. Continue reading »

Jul 2 2015

Thoughtful Thursday Week 27 – Homeschool Conferences

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I have said it before, and I will say it again: homeschooling parents should attend a homeschool conference at least once a year. Sorry for should-ing all over you, but you should. I am not saying you should spend money on transportation, hotels and restaurants to get to one. But if you have a local event, by all means change your schedule, get a second job to pay for the fee, volunteer at the conference for discounts, do whatever it takes and attend.

Adriana Zoder and Susan Wise Bauer at the Appalachian Home Educators Conference in Knoxville, June 2015

With Susan Wise Bauer at the Appalachian Home Educators Conference in Knoxville, June 2015

The reason people don’t attend homeschool conferences is that they don’t think they will get enough value out of them. I know, I know, some of you are saying, “That’s not true. Some actually can’t afford a conference.” I can agree with that only for the extremely poor, but even they make an effort to earn some extra money for something they deem valuable.

Ultimately, it is human nature to choose activity A over activity B because activity B does not offer as much satisfaction or perceived value as activity A. Sure, I understand schedule conflicts. I also understand lack of resources. I even understand the fact that homeschooling parents are afraid of being made to feel inadequate in their efforts by so-called homeschooling experts.  Continue reading »

Feb 27 2014

Appalachian Home Educators Conference

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With homeschool convention season just around the corner, I am very excited to announce the Appalachian Home Educators Conference (AHEC) taking place in Pigeon Forge, TN on June 26-28, 2014. I really wanted to attend a homeschool conference this year, but I did not want to travel three, four, or five hours to get to one.

You can imagine how happy I was when I heard that a local homeschooling mom is organizing AHEC twenty minutes from my home! Not only is it close by, it is also a Charlotte Mason conference, for the most part. I call myself an eclectic homeschooling mom, but Charlotte Mason is one of my preferred methods.

With speakers like Diana Waring, Janice Campbell, Joanne Calderwood, Dr. Jay Wile, and many others, you cannot go wrong.

If you wanted to learn how to use Handwriting Without Tears, you can attend their day-long seminar, which has a separate admission ticket.

The cost to attend the Appalachian Home Educators Conference goes up on March 1, so you have today and tomorrow only to sign up at the early bird price.

You can sign up through the AHEC ad in the menu on the right or you can sign up right here. All these links I am providing are affiliate links. An affiliate link allows me to earn a small percentage of the conference price, while you don’t pay anything extra. Thank you for your support!