Sunday, January 24, 2010

Mommy-Teacher Day Out



Yesterday, I had an amazing day connecting with other moms that home school their children. We meet twice a year for what we call a "Mommy-Teacher Day Out."


It's a day set aside to share ideas, show support, inspire each other and make friends.

So yesterday we met at a local country club and had five jam-packed hours of mommy time! It was a rainy day here in southern Indiana, but we were welcomed by a warm blazing fire, refreshments and an amazing view of the golf course!


We had an exciting day planned for the ladies and couldn't wait to get started. Some of the topics we discussed were:




  • How to Make School Fun



  • How to Get Children Motivated to Stay on Track w/Absence of Peer Competition



  • Teaching Challenges with Multiple Children/Grades



  • Different Learning Styles



  • How do Boys and Girls Learn Differently


We started around 10am by welcoming the moms and introduced our guest speaker. Sharron was a librarian for many years and also home schooled her children. She had some incredible information on the importance of reading to our children and shared some ways that you can make your reading more fun and engaging.


Things like making animal sounds and changing the tone in your voice for different characters, using puppets and stopping at points throughout the story to explain what a "new" word means and so forth!


Plus, it's a chance to bond with your child, relax and enjoy them!


The topic of how to make school fun seemed to be one that all of us wanted to learn more about. I brought home some great ideas to implement and I'll be posting later and sharing more detailed info and websites that you too can use!


One of my favorite ideas is using games that you already have to teach.


Example: if you're child is struggling with math facts, you can use flash cards along with a favorite game to make learning fun! Play the game just as it goes, but in order to take his turn he must get the problem(flash card) correct. We've been doing this with spelling words and I have seen my daughter's test scores go up 10-20 points.

We broke for lunch from 11:30-12:30. We enjoyed a pasta bar with baked spaghetti, Alfredo, garlic bread and a salad. During lunch we talked about whatever we wanted. Many of the moms knew each other so it was nice to catch up and rekindle old friendships.

After lunch we had a break out sessions/round table discussions about the following topics:




  • New to Homeschooling & Teaching Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st Grade



  • Home schooling Elementary age children (2-6th)



  • Home schooling Middle School/High School and preparing for the future

It was nice to get a chance to talk with other moms teaching children the same grades and be able to share the challenges we were facing and learning new ideas to try!


We had books for resources all over the tables and flyer's with ideas for conversation starters.

We finished the day by giving away a basket for mom filled with items to pamper! Lotions, candles, hand and feet care products, loofas and ofcourse chocolate!

I'll be posting more detailed information about all the topics we covered over the next few weeks. It was truly a day for learning and inspiration. Can't wait to do it again in July!

Is this something that you think you would benefit from? Are you a home school mom and could you see others in your area putting together an event like this?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!