Greater St. Louis Home Educator's Expo

This past weekend, my sister and I attended the Greater St. Louis Home Educator's Expo.  You may remember that we made it our Spring Getaway for the weekend.


While it was nice to have a weekend to ourselves to stay up late laughing and talking, it ended up being a kind of a blah weekend.  Heather and I decided that next year, we will not make the convention part of our weekend away.  We had no time to do things we really wanted to do:  highlight each others hair, go to stores we can't go to with the kids, sleep in late, etc.

As far as the convention goes, there weren't that many speakers or workshops we were interested in.  We did still enjoy the vending hall and bought a few things.

For Abby, I got:

Math U See Alpha

I have been interested in Math U See for 3 years now, but never bought the program.  We do have the blocks that Abby uses with our other math worksheets.  I am really hoping Math U See will help Abby.  She says she hates math and she doesn't have her addition or subtraction facts down yet.  That is why I went with the Alpha.

100 Words Kids Need to Read by 2nd Grade



We finished the 1st grade book several weeks ago, so I will start with this book now.

Kids Love Missouri

Heather and I both bought this book.  It is filled with places we didn't even know existed.  We are looking for some fun trips to take with the kids.  It's amazing how many activities and places you can't find on the internet.  I was able to talk to the author and her and her family traveled to all of these places to write the book.  It is very in depth and written in a homeschool perspective, giving great tips on how to get educational resources.  

Check out the link above, because they have other states available too.

Artistic Pursuits, An Introduction to the Visual Arts

Heather and I plan to share this book.  We would like to get the kids together once per week to do a lesson.  It is for grades K-3.  Abby loves to draw, paint and to do crafts, so I thought this would be really fun for her.  Matthew isn't really into art, but we think he'll like the art history that is included.  Hopefully, it will be a win with both kids!

That is all I purchased at the convention.  However, I am on the lookout for a science curriculum for next year.  I will also order the Heritage Studies, Grade 2 Notebook for Abby.  My very kind sister will let me use her textbook and teacher's manual from this year!

I did find a few products that I found interesting and may look into later.  The first is Truth In Science.  It starts at grade 3 and teaches Worldview.  I looked at it and it was very well written.  Here's an excerpt from their site:

Every day our students are being bombarded from all aspects of the American culture with influences that minimize the authority of the Bible in their thinking. Christian education must make every effort to reconnect true scientific thought with the Biblical worldview. The Truth in Science curriculum provides a fascinating exposure to scientific concepts that also honor our Creator.

Heather and I really thought the concept was awesome.  It is the only curriculum like that available for younger grades.  

Science Shepherd was another cool find.  It's for high school.  The text book has very nice quality pictures and there is also a lab DVD option available.

A Reason For Handwriting, I've heard of this before and was happy to see it in person.  I wanted to purchase it for Abby, but my sister pointed out how tight the letters are.  They are much tighter than other handwriting programs.  Also, Abby doesn't want anything to do with handwriting, so I have to put it into other subjects without making it it's on thing.

Have you been to a homeschool convention?  I'd like to go to one of the bigger conventions next year.  We'll see if that actually happens.