Tag Archives: Torah Home Education Conference

4th Annual Torah Home Education Conference – May 6, 2012

homeschooling,

Before we left the US, a number of people asked me what would happen with the Torah Home Education Conference, which I founded and organized for the last three years.  Initially, I wasn’t sure if I would continue to arrange it from a distance, leave it to others to pick up the ball and run with it if they were interested, or if it would continue at all in my absence.  After a LOT of thought, I decided that the conference had to continue, not as my individual effort, but because others felt there was value and were willing to put in the work to make it happen, and if it there wasn’t enough interest on the part of others, then it would have to fall by the wayside.

And so I’m delighted to say that a group of women have come together to keep it going, and I’m staying very much in a side role.  They have been busy putting together a great day for you!  The 4th Annual Torah Home Education Conference will be held in the Baltimore area on May 6, and the schedule is packed with great speakers and topics that are sure to give just about every current or prospective homeschooler something to think about and be inspired by!

I’m sharing the schedule below, as well as other relevant details.

8:15 – 9 am Registration

9 – 9:10 – Opening remarks

9:15 – 10 am – V’shinantem L’vanecha – Defining Torah Home Education – Mrs. Susan Lapin

10:05 – 10:50 – Parallel workshops:

a) Practical Preschool and Early Education Years – Mrs. Jennifer MacLeod

b) Reaching Bar/bas mitzva – Homeschooling Older Children – Mrs. Shoshana Zohari

10:55 – 11:40 – How to Homeschool, Do Housework, and Prepare for Chagim with a Smile – Mrs. Jennifer Green

b) Gishmei Brocha – Involving Your Family In Money Management – Rabbi Shmuel Simenowitz

11:45 – 12:30 –

a) Integrating Kodesh and Chol, Two Sides of the Same Coin – Mrs. Deborah Beck

b) Focusing in an Age of Digital Distractions – Mrs. Robin Alberg

12:30 – 2:30 – Lunch, Vendor Time, Displays, Facilitated Discussion with Mr. Max Masinter

2:30 – 3:15- Raising Independent Learners – Mrs. Evelyn Krieger

3:20 – 4:05- Veterans Panel with Amanda Keefe, Chana Cox, Susan Lapin, and Rebecca Masinter

4:10 – 4:55 – Advancing the Relationship between Homeschoolers and the Community – Rabbi C. Friedman

5 – 5:15 – Closing remarks

Gila Haor, a special educator, will be available for consultation throughout the day of the conference.  If you’re interested in reserving a slot, be in touch with her at Gila.Haor@gmail.com.

The conference planners are doing everything they can to welcome participants to the Baltimore area and make your stay comfortable.  If you’ll be spending Shabbos in Baltimore prior to the conference, hospitality is being arranged – Tova Brody is taking care of this, and she can be reached at 410-504-7798 or keep.shabbos@earthlink.net.

Child care will be available for your young children during the conference, as well as activities for your older children – specify what your needs are when registering.  Mrs. Alisa Mandel is once again taking care of this (thanks for your continued help, Alisa!), and you can contact her at 410-963-2977.  If you have teenagers who would like to attend the conference, there is no charge, though donations are appreciated.  They will need to registered in advance, though, at http://www.eventbee.com/v/torahhomeeducation.

This is the only conference geared to Orthodox homeschoolers in the entire world – yes, literally!  Every year, people have traveled from all over the US and even Canada to be there, and felt it was worthwhile.  Don’t think that you’re a four hour drive away and it’s not  worth your time.  You just won’t have anywhere else to access this wide a group of Torah home educators any other day in the year, anywhere.

If I sound passionate about it – I am!  I’ve put so many hours into planning this for the last few years because I know, and have continued to see, how important this kind of support is for people.  The current planners share this passion and are putting in so much time and effort to make it a great conference that you will benefit from in multiple ways.  People have told me that being at the conference was a key factor for them choosing to homeschool, continuing to homeschool, and refreshing and reinspiring them when they felt burnt out.

Usually I end off my announcements about the conference with my hope to greet lots of you there in person, and my only regret about this year’s conference is that I won’t be there.  🙁

Avivah

The conference is around the corner!

homeschooling

I haven’t been posting as much as usual since this has been an extraordinarily busy period for me!  Lots of things to write about, but no time to write!  The end of the school year is usually busy since I have all the regular paperwork to document everyone’s work for the past academic year, plus this year has been graduation and planning for next year for ds16 and dd15.  And of course, organizing the Torah Home Education Conference that’s scheduled for this coming Sunday!  After months of planning, it’s hard to believe that it’s finally here.

It looks like we’re going to have a great turn out for the conference!  We have people coming from all over the country – California, Washington, Iowa, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maine, and of course Maryland.  (I might have left out a state or two;  someone else is handling these registration details for me so I’m saying this off the top of my head. )  It looks like a really nice group of people and I’m gratified that so many people are taking the time and making the effort to participate.

We’ve also planned a teen girls get together, and I’m expecting between 12 – 19 girls for that. Then there’s a day camp for boys ages 4 – 10 (14 boys), and a day camp for girls ages 4 – 10, that also has 14 girls signed up.  Well, to be more accurate, there are three more children that I just learned about today but I don’t yet know if they’re boys or girls so they aren’t included in my tally. And then there’s the babysitting services for young children up to age 3.

In addition to helping arrange Shabbos placements for families coming for the entire weekend, I’ve also been busy with details for the communal shalosh seudos planned for Shabbos (Saturday) afternoon for local homeschooling families and those whove come in for the conference early.   I wanted to do this to give people a chance to get to know one another before the conference itself, which will make it that much more enjoyable when they come to the conference already knowing other attendees.

It’s been a lot of details to orchestrate – honestly I never would have done all of these things if I had considered doing all of it from the beginning.  I would have been too overwhelmed with all of it.  But one thing led to another, and it’s worked out!

If you want to come, it’s not too late.  You can register and pay at the door, and enjoy a stimulating day with lots of like-minded parents!  You don’t have to be homeschooling to attend or benefit; if you’re interested in an alternative approach to education, many principles and suggestions can be adapted by a parent of conventionally schooled kids, too!  If your children aren’t yet school age but homeschooling is something you’ve been wondering about, now’s a great time to further explore what is involved and make connections with others.

I invited someone coming in from NY for the weekend to stop by with her kids on Friday to see the ducklings (who are getting huge!).  It occurred to me that other blog readers who will be in the area with their children might also like to see them, also.  So I’m tentatively thinking that Friday for an hour in the mid – late afternoon (probably around 4 – 5) people can stop by with their children for a short visit, if it isn’t raining.

I’m in the middle of a yard renovation, lol, with the new fence almost finished, grass seed that we just planted yesterday, and lots of new raised garden beds we’re in the middle of building.  So my yard is definitely in process right now and I won’t invite anyone in since it’s a busy erev Shabbos and hopefully my kids will be napping or showering/getting dressed at that time. I’m not making this an official conference related offer and won’t be emailing anyone privately; if you read about it here you’re included.

If you want to come by on Friday, email me (avivahwerner AT yahoo dot com) and let me know, and I’ll give you the address and a definite time.  DON’T just show up and assume it will be okay since I’ll be very grumpy if you do. 🙂  If for some reason something unexpected comes up and I have to shift my plans, I’ll let you know that via private email as well.

Avivah