The Sequoia Breeze

[00:09] Rebecca: Welcome to the Sequoia Breeze Podcast, a breath of fresh air for your homeschool. I am your host, Rebecca La Savio.

[00:16] Thank you for joining me today.

[00:23] Welcome listeners, to a special summer edition of the Sequoia Breeze. I am with Stephanie Slade, who started and continues to organize a homeschool convention in the general Sacramento area.

[00:35] And so we are going to talk about that today and help you understand why that might be important for you to know about. So Stephanie, would you introduce yourself first?

[00:43] Stephanie: Hi everyone,

[00:44] I'm Stephanie Slade. Like Rebecca shared, I have been a homeschool mom for going on seven years and live in the Roseville, Citrus Heights area.

[00:54] I've got two girls and a baby boy and I've been homeschooling for since the beginning, honestly. And, and I don't know anything but this. And so I'm just thankful that I'm here with you guys to, to chat a little bit about my journey, the convention's journey, and how it can help serve you in your journey.

[01:12] Rebecca: And Stephanie, you homeschool with a charter, just not with Sequoia Grove, correct?

[01:16] Stephanie: Correct. I, I am with Cottonwood.

[01:19] Rebecca: When did you start the convention?

[01:21] Stephanie: So it really was like this brainchild that started in 2020 and we had our first event in 2021. So this year will be year four for us.

[01:31] Rebecca: Okay, so let's back up a little bit and in case people are new to the homeschool world or have just sort of talked to friends about curriculum and things and haven't ever explored what is a homeschool convention.

[01:42] Stephanie: So a homeschool convention is really an opportunity and a place for you as a home educator to come and see curriculum in person, talk with the writers and sometimes the writers aren't there.

[01:53] It may be their representatives and also enrichment facilities in the region to really gain opportunity to see, hey, what's going to fit for my family and my children's needs as well as we bring in speakers from all over the US to come in and help equip and encourage parents on their journey.

[02:11] It's really an opportunity for you to like learn and glean from people that are veterans.

[02:16] So people that have been doing this for, you know, 20, 20 plus years, that are now second generation, watching their grandkids be homeschooled, things like that, where we can really give that opportunity for families to learn from, from these well equipped veterans.

[02:30] Rebecca: It's a whole day experience, right. And you've got speakers you can listen to, breakout sessions, but then there's the whole vendor room. Ah.

[02:41] Stephanie: So the Speakers to happen all day long on a. On most, like most of the day. Some events run for multiple days. Our event runs just on Friday and Saturday.

[02:51] Speakers will go all day on Saturday.

[02:53] So In a given 45 minute time frame, you might have six different sessions to pick from. So you would look at the schedule ahead of time, maybe plan your day or maybe you're going to kind of wing it per se and, and show up that day and just decide,

[03:08] hey, I'm feeling this session, I'm going to go sit in on it for a little while.

[03:11] If it's not really a good vibe when I get there, I may jump to this other session midway through. And so there's nothing wrong with doing that. There's a lot of families that will kind of split sessions and cause unfortunately we don't have the ability to repeat them throughout the day.

[03:27] You know, the sessions aren't one in the morning and one in the afternoon of the same session. And so sometimes you're having to pick and choose between sessions that you really want to go to.

[03:35] And so you might want to split your time.

[03:37] And then for the vendor hall that's open all day long for us, so from nine to five and you get to go and chat with all these vendors from all over the U.S.

[03:46] i mean, we have people coming from Florida,

[03:49] Virginia,

[03:50] New York, got people coming from Texas,

[03:53] obviously local brands. I've got some Georgia brands coming. And so it's just really a wonderful opportunity for our region to be served by buy homeschool brands. I mean,

[04:07] up here there isn't really anything like this. The closest event is, is down in Southern California and for a lot of families, that's just not really accessible. Right.

[04:16] And so this brings in people from all over Northern California, but we're seeing people come from, you know, Oregon and Nevada too. And so that part's really exciting to see.

[04:28] Maybe some of the enrichment facilities, you know, that are local to this NorCal region aren't going to really be something that they would utilize. But they're coming to see all the curriculum and hear all the speakers because.

[04:40] Rebecca: You'Re getting some big names as speakers. Like last year you had Nicole the Math Lady, Andrew Poudois, I can't even remember who else.

[04:49] Stephanie: Yeah, Jennifer I know, Amy Hughes. I mean we've had Dorinda, Dorinda Wilson before.

[04:56] Rebecca: Is Nicole the math lady coming back this year?

[04:59] Stephanie: She is.

[05:00] Rebecca: Okay.

[05:00] Stephanie: And then a really great session this year. I'm excited about it. It's how they like infused.

[05:06] Oh my gosh.

[05:07] Right. Last year it was this. I have a video of, of everybody in the keynote room. She has them up in dancing and like,

[05:16] how she was teaching. So I don't remember what exactly it was, but it was something about like, equations and how to teach equations through, like, dance. And I just was like, wow,

[05:24] this makes math fun. This is why we homeschool, is to give them this different perspective in education.

[05:32] Rebecca: So I think going to a convention can really, if you've had a, had a long year or you're going into homeschooling and you're feeling nervous or you're feeling a little burned out,

[05:43] a convention can be a real recharge, right? Like, it can help you get excited with new ideas you hadn't thought about before or remind you why you do this thing or connect you with some new tools that might help you.

[05:58] Would you agree with that?

[05:59] Stephanie: 100%. And one of the goals this year for, for sessions was I really wanted to make sure speakers were giving tangible takeaways. Like, I don't want you to just share your story or share your brand or what you do.

[06:12] Like, we need to send these parents home with tangible how to and next steps. Because some of these families that are attending are brand new to homeschooling or they're just pulling their kids from school and they're like,

[06:26] feet are just stepping in the water and they need to be confident going into this year. And then it's also a great opportunity for us veterans, right, for us to be like, re encouraged.

[06:36] Because let's be real, like, by the end of the year, we're, we're all feeling a little burnout. I don't know any moms that, you know by May and June that don't have a little bit of burnout from the year that like, need to be reinvigorated and reinspired for the coming year.

[06:51] And Carrie DeFrancisco, the one of the keynotes for this year, she's doing a session on Don't I think it. I think it's titled don't do your homeschool without this. And it's all about your why and your mission statement.

[07:03] Like, having that be like the forefront of,

[07:07] you know, why you're homeschooling and making sure you know what that is to really to continue to propel year after year. Because if you don't have that mission statement and that why you can get easily burnt out and you can wanna just maybe make a shift in your education.

[07:23] So I would definitely say it's an opportunity, you know, to come in and get really ignited and on fire for your year.

[07:31] Rebecca: You know, the first time I ever got to go to a convention, it wasn't this one. It was the one in Southern California.

[07:36] I had been homeschooling for years, but I did not have access to that kind of stuff. And I was.

[07:41] I was floored. I was overwhelmed. I was so excited, and I. It just so much to take in, but I just wanted to soak in it. It was so much fun to have access to so many great ideas,

[07:52] to other people's enthusiasm, to be able, you know, to be able to talk to these names I'd seen online,

[07:59] and they're standing there at a table and they'll talk to you.

[08:02] And it was really exciting.

[08:04] The next time I went to a convention, I was new. I had kids starting high school, and I wanted all the high school information. I was just trying to soak up all.

[08:14] Any. Anything that was a talk on high school. That's where I was that year.

[08:18] And then last year when I was at the convention, I was a little more in that burnout phase of like,

[08:26] I need to just soak in some why am I doing this? And some fresh ideas,

[08:33] some new energy, and I. It's. You can come to a convention with no matter kind of where you're at and find,

[08:42] you know, start to narrow down a little bit, like, what is it that I need this year? And focus. Because there's people talking about all different topics.

[08:49] Stephanie: Sure.

[08:50] Yeah. No, most definitely. I think for me, I always tell myself every year, okay, I'm gonna sit in on one session. That's my goal. Because, you know, when you run the event, it's.

[08:58] It's kind of hard to be able to, like, go in and listen. And so I tend to try and catch the keynote. But even with that, you know, like, I'm running around.

[09:08] And so I do think that wherever you are, whether you're burned out, you're looking for high school, you're looking for college and next steps, there's going to be something there for everybody.

[09:20] And, you know, the big thing I want to always encourage people is like, you can take all of these notes,

[09:26] but don't try and implement everything right. Because I think that's one thing when I've been to events that I've not ran is I take all these notes, and I'm like, oh, this is such a good idea.

[09:37] Oh, this. Oh, I want to do this. And I come home and I'm like, I try to bite off more than I can chew, and so less is more, you know, for you guys when you come to something like this, you know, take two or three things and start small,

[09:51] and then you can add those other things in later that you felt really inspired with. But if you try and bite it all off in the beginning,

[09:58] you're going to quickly see that it's going to be too much. And so to start slow,

[10:02] sometimes the.

[10:03] Rebecca: Most valuable stuff you come away with is the people you end up talking that are sitting next to you in a session to.

[10:09] You end up sharing ideas or making a new homeschool friend. It's, it's. It's the community that can. Is. Is a part of it, I think, has a. Is a really valuable piece of the convention as well.

[10:19] Stephanie: Oh, most definitely. So one of the things that our homeschool group does every year,

[10:24] like as an icebreaker, is this game called Four Corners. And I have, like,

[10:28] done it every year at the convention since year two. We basically ask questions and make you get up and move to different corners of the room and meet different people.

[10:40] So whether it's something like you're a veteran, you're six years and older, homeschoolers in this corner. This is your first year homeschooling in this corner. And so you're meeting these moms.

[10:49] Oh, it's your first year. Okay. And then the next question's like, how far did you drive?

[10:54] You know, you're within 20 minutes of here. You drove an hour, and so you're moving to nowhere corners. And then you see this mom. Okay, it's her first year, and she drove an hour too.

[11:03] Oh, my gosh, where do you guys live? And so you get this opportunity to start making these connections with these moms, and then you see them throughout the day and, you know, the, the goal and the hope is that you meet somebody new, that you make a connection with and that you guys can connect post event.

[11:18] And that part is probably one of my favorite parts of the day. And we do that first thing in the morning.

[11:24] Rebecca: And I do want to say, if you're an introvert and you hated the sound of all that, still come, we're not going to like arm wrestle you.

[11:31] Stephanie: You don't have to do it. Some people decide I'm going to go into the vendor hall when they do this,

[11:36] so don't feel like you have to, but it's an opportunity to kind of make those connections without walking up to somebody and being like, hi, I'm so and so, where are you from?

[11:46] Blah, blah, blah, you know, so it gives people that, that Organic opportunity to connect. And, you know, we talk about, like, what's your favorite subject? Or what's your favorite subject to teach if you're a veteran, you know, so it's fun.

[11:57] It's a really great time.

[11:59] Rebecca: So we've sort of woven this into what we've been talking about already. But tell us specifically in about the Northern California Homeschool Convention, the nchc.

[12:09] Stephanie: So NCHC is really. It was created to support Northern California families, obviously by its name, but we keep growing every year and we're seeing families come from outside of the area, which is exciting.

[12:22] We bring in speakers from all over the US we try and bring in a couple of big names every year and then also some local people to speak and veteran moms that are local, which is really, really fun to see those veteran moms kind of step up and, and kind of take on this new,

[12:39] I would say, like, almost identity as a speaker now and not an educator anymore because their kids have, you know, flown out of the nest. So that part's really fun.

[12:48] And then vendors, the vendors are coming from everywhere. I mean, we have big brands like Demi Learning and Matthew C. To Book, Shark to. Right. Start Math to Teaching Textbooks.

[13:01] Rebecca: Apologia Home Moving beyond the Page was there last year.

[13:05] Stephanie: Movie on the Page was there. They're coming back this year. They're doing a session this year too.

[13:09] So the other brand that I'm really excited that's coming this year, so it's Homeworks for Books. They are a distributor of like tons of brands.

[13:21] And so here's some examples.

[13:24] They've got Dimensions in Singapore.

[13:26] They've Got Beautiful Feet, Life of Fred Iew well Trained Mind Press,

[13:32] Bright Ideas Press Master Book, Saxon, Pandea,

[13:37] All About Learning,

[13:39] Berean Builders, Knotgrass, Apologia.

[13:42] So they're going to be coming with like an insane amount of books to be able to share with people. So I'm really excited for them. I would kind of equate them to Rainbow Resources.

[13:55] Rebecca: They're.

[13:55] Stephanie: They're really kind of,

[13:57] I don't want to say like pulling and taking away from Rainbow Resources,

[14:02] but they're definitely the new kid in the, in the market and they have a lot to bring and so I'm excited for that. And then Sequoia Books, they're going to be there.

[14:11] They have huge amount of brands that they represent to. They're a distributor as well for a lot of, a lot of different brands. And so there's going to be there too, right?

[14:21] Who?

[14:22] Iew,

[14:23] Iew? Julie. Julie Walker is going to be speaking on behalf of IEW this year, too. Yeah. So it's going to be really fantastic here. I'm really excited for all the brands that are, that are joining.

[14:33] And, you know, the cool thing is, is, like, they see that this, this market is growing and so they want to come out here, you know, and that part is really cool to see because we are growing.

[14:44] There are so many people that are, you know, whether they're going with a charter or they're a private homeschooler,

[14:50] we're growing in this, in this region of California, and I don't see an end to that anytime soon.

[14:56] And so to see that these brands want to come out and serve you families,

[15:01] it's a fantastic thing and I'm so thankful to be a part of it.

[15:05] Rebecca: That's really cool. The Northern California Homeschool Convention is a day and a half, correct?

[15:11] Stephanie: Correct. So Friday is our family night.

[15:15] That's a night really. It's for exhibitors. We have one person speaking on Friday and that's it. There's no other sessions going to be happening on Friday,

[15:23] Unlike years past where we've had lots of sessions going and the vendors open.

[15:27] Just the one session this year,

[15:29] but new this year that I'm super excited for, which Andrew Poudois from IEW is the one who kind of gotten my ear about doing this, is we're doing a student makers market.

[15:40] So opportunity for these homeschool kids that are entrepreneurs to come in and showcase and sell their. Their items.

[15:51] We're not charging anything for that.

[15:54] It's just a way for us to give back. And we want these kids to showcase what they, what they do and what they love to do.

[15:59] Rebecca: How do they get ahold of you for that?

[16:02] Stephanie: So the applications were available,

[16:04] we could probably take a few more, but I think for the most part, we're pretty full.

[16:09] We've got about 25ish kid vendors, and so it's going to be fantastic. They're going to be out in the lobby and then headed towards the vendor hall. So it'll be lobby through to the vendor hall and then into the vendor hall will be all the vendors.

[16:23] Rebecca: So on Friday night, families can come and shop the kids vendors section and then go back into the other vendor section and just sort of uninterruptedly look through the materials and things that are there instead of worrying about missing a session or not or not.

[16:39] Stephanie: Exactly. I think last year, you know, when we did do sessions, it just was so much and so many moving parts that I really Wanted to scale back,

[16:47] have Friday be just, you know, really showcase the vendors and give them that opportunity. And then Saturday it's session day. And so we start bright and early at 9am Doors open at 8:30 and we go till 5.

[16:59] So it's a long day of sessions. But there's two shopping breaks that there are no sessions that go on, and then also a lunch break. So there's time throughout the day to get back to those vendors.

[17:07] Again,

[17:08] the difference between Friday and Saturday, you know, one thing I want to note is that families and kids are, you know, hopefully attending together on Friday, where Saturday it's really just for you parents to come and be encouraged.

[17:20] Nursing babies are welcome to attend, but we really want to encourage parents to, to kind of come solo so they can take it all in. Because when you've got kids running around, you're not going to be able to listen and really engage in the sessions as much as you would like to when there's,

[17:37] when there's kids, you know, in all of these sessions.

[17:40] So that's the one thing I want to note on too.

[17:42] Rebecca: Are there tickets required for Friday night?

[17:45] Stephanie: So tickets are five bucks for Friday for the whole family.

[17:49] So those are on the website. And then Saturday tickets and Friday tickets are 75.

[17:56] So.

[17:57] And then we've got a discount code just for Sequoia Grove families.

[18:01] Rebecca: I'll put that in the show notes.

[18:03] Stephanie: Okay.

[18:04] Rebecca: When you go and visit the vendor halls, you can buy stuff right there or some of them.

[18:11] Stephanie: Yes.

[18:12] Rebecca: And others you can sort of take notes and maybe place an order with funds.

[18:17] Stephanie: Correct.

[18:19] Some might just have samples. Right. For you to just look at and answer questions.

[18:24] And a lot of times if you stay till the end of the day, a lot of times they give them away. So it's worth staying till the end of the day because they do lots of giveaways at the end of the day.

[18:33] Rebecca: Okay. So they don't want to haul those samples back home with them.

[18:36] Stephanie: No,

[18:37] no. It's too much shipping. It's too much for them to ship back. And so I think Demi is always somebody that likes to give things away.

[18:44] Demi math, you see, and spelling, you see,

[18:48] the right shop is also from Demi Learning. And so they're pretty awesome. They're great people.

[18:55] Rebecca: So some of the names that you've mentioned of both people and curriculum are known religious sources for homeschool materials and information. Is this a religious convention?

[19:06] Stephanie: Nope, we're not a religious convention. We may have some speakers that are faith based and some curriculums that are faith Based, but we've got secular and non secular speakers and curriculum and it's really an event for everybody.

[19:18] We want to be able to serve the whole community as a whole.

[19:22] Rebecca: So just like the homeschool community is varied, the sources and information at the convention are varied as well, for sure.

[19:29] Stephanie: So you can go on the website, which is thenchc us and purchase tickets through that. You can check out our Facebook page which is the nchc or in the show notes, there'll probably be a link that you can utilize as well.

[19:45] Rebecca: And you've mentioned homeschool moms a few times because that's the vast majority of who's doing this. But last year I,

[19:53] I do want to say I was really impressed with the number of dads that I saw there.

[19:58] Stephanie: Right.

[19:59] Every year dads grow. It's so awesome. It's one of kind of the highlights for me because the first year I think there was,

[20:06] you know, four dads or something like that. And then year after year, just more dads keep coming. And that part is really encouraging to see that it's both parents want to be involved in the education process.

[20:18] It's not just on mom, you know, and we'll have sessions for dads too. So we've got a couple of sessions targeted just for dads. So we want to be able to equip them and encourage them too.

[20:29] Rebecca: And some of the dads are actively helping with homeschooling or doing it other are there to support their families and be a part of this decision. The decision making process with the moms.

[20:42] Stephanie: As well,

[20:43] no doubt. Yes. I would definitely say the dads are definitely there looking at the curriculum just as much as the moms are. And that part is really cool to see.

[20:51] And they're having no conversation as they're looking at curriculum. Oh, I like this. I think he'd like this or she'd like this. So that's been fun to see.

[21:00] One thing I want to share before we wrap things is don't forget to stop by the looking library.

[21:05] So that's a curriculum table slash tables where brands that aren't in attendance have shipped us curriculum to sample out to showcase.

[21:17] And last year I think we had like six or eight tables full of additional curriculum for brands that aren't there. And so that's a great place to be able to look at curriculum too.

[21:26] If you don't see them in the vendor hall.

[21:29] Rebecca: That's awesome. Yeah, there's so many, so much to be able to. And one other speaker I noticed is Susan Wise. Bauer coming?

[21:37] Stephanie: Yes,

[21:39] she is.

[21:40] And that's the one that I've been working on for a while, to be honest with you.

[21:44] I mean, Kat, who's like their ad. Main admin person, I think I've been chatting with her for, like, at least probably two years, trying to get Susan to come out.

[21:55] Last year, we couldn't make it work, and then I really, like, pushed hard.

[21:59] How do we make this happen this year? And so she,

[22:03] you know, connected me with Susan. Susan and I chatted, and,

[22:07] yeah, I'm really excited. And her sessions are, like, gonna be rock star sessions. One's on like your kid that basically doesn't ever want to do anything and is challenging to work with.

[22:18] And then one is on,

[22:21] like, looking back in her 30 years of home education,

[22:24] you know, what has she learned the most?

[22:27] Rebecca: And just to clarify, Susan Wise Bauer is the author of the Story of the World books as well as lots.

[22:33] Stephanie: Well trained to mind press. Yeah. Yes. All of her writing and language arts options. Yeah, she's got a plethora of.

[22:40] Rebecca: She's put out, so that's pretty exciting. And I just realized we never said where in Northern California this convention happens.

[22:49] Stephanie: We're just having a great old time over here.

[22:51] So the event happens in Rockland, California.

[22:55] We rent Destiny's Community center. So we're across the street from their actual facilities right next to Harbor Freight. And it's about,

[23:06] I would say, probably 20. 20 or 30,000 square feet, and we take over the whole place. It's so fun.

[23:12] Rebecca: It's. It is really quite the event. It's. If you're a little far away, it's maybe worth an overnight in a hotel because there's. There really is so much encouragement, so much information,

[23:23] so much available out there. And so. And when. If there's are things that you. Books, or whether it's some religious material or things you just want to get your hands on, right Then you can.

[23:36] There's so much that's. You can go home with, or you can make yourself a list of things you want to be able to buy with funds later.

[23:42] Pretty much every year after the convention, there are a bunch of new vendors requested for Sequoia Grove, for sure. So definitely people get excited, and then they want that ven.

[23:56] That person to be a vendor. And so that's happened a lot.

[24:00] So I really. I think the message here that both Stephanie and I have for you is that going to a homeschool convention can be really encouraging,

[24:10] informative,

[24:12] can build your confidence.

[24:13] You can often walk in with a homeschooling conundrum and walk out with some ideas or answers.

[24:20] Stephanie: Most definitely. And I think it's an opportunity to really see that this community is like a thriving community.

[24:25] It's not just we stay in our houses and we educate our children. We are out in the world really educating our kids on everything and anything. And that is the one thing about homeschooling that I'm so thankful for is that no,

[24:42] we get to do it in the world, not just at home.

[24:45] Rebecca: That is a great point because sometimes homeschooling can seem small.

[24:50] It's not,

[24:51] it's. There's so many of us and so going to these events and because like minded people will probably choose some of the same sessions that you choose, you end up really getting a feel for others that are out there that are thinking the way that you think.

[25:06] Stephanie: Oh yeah, I would totally agree with that one.

[25:10] Rebecca: Well, Stephanie, thank you so much for being here today and I hope that families are really encouraged and that people would like to come and join us. At the end of July.

[25:20] What are, oh, what are the dates?

[25:23] We're missing some details.

[25:25] Stephanie: We're so bad. So the dates are July 25 and 26. So it's the last weekend of July right before we start the new year. So it's a great opportunity to like come in,

[25:37] see things, connect with your charter. If you're with a charter,

[25:41] some of them will be there. It's a great place to,

[25:44] to just chat, ask them questions in person.

[25:47] Especially if you're brand new, like you haven't even met with your homeschool teacher yet. Like this is a great opportunity to come and chat with the family liaisons and some of the homeschool teachers will be there too.

[25:57] So I think it's a wonderful opportunity and overall it's just a fun weekend to be around. Like you said, be around like minded people that are going to be doing the same journey and walking the same, the same thing with you.

[26:08] Rebecca: Thank you, Stephanie. We really appreciate it and so much.

[26:11] Stephanie: Rebecca.

[26:12] Rebecca: Oh, are, is there, is there a la end date to be able to buy tickets?

[26:17] Stephanie: No, I think until we sell out they'll be, I think we'll be okay though this year.

[26:21] Rebecca: Okay.

[26:22] Stephanie: Yeah.

[26:23] Rebecca: All right, so I will put the link to your Facebook page and to the website in our show notes, but it's the nhch us and that's where you can buy your tickets as well as the code for Sequoia Grove families.

[26:37] Thank you for that little treat, Stephanie. I appreciate it.

[26:39] Stephanie: Yeah, of course. Thank you guys. So Much for supporting us and being involved every year.

[26:43] Rebecca: In a previous year when I attended the Northern California Homeschool Convention, I had the privilege of talking to a couple of parents and being able to record them to share with you.

[26:55] I think you will enjoy listening to their enthusiasm.

[26:59] Heather: My name is Heather Shaw and something that I found exciting to learn was that it's okay to give myself some grace. It's okay to not have a perfect homeschool day because the perfect homeschool day doesn't exist and never existed.

[27:15] And had I known that four years ago, this would have been a lot smoother.

[27:19] Jill: Hi, I am Jill. Thank you so much for asking. I am very excited about watching my children grow and all the experiences they have every single year and especially this coming year as I'm making it a lot more fun focused for them.

[27:32] So they're a lot more excited to learn and being able to work through challenges that they might have this year and grow among themselves as a family and as individuals.

[27:42] I'm very excited about what's going to happen for the next year. So thank you so much.

[27:47] Rebecca: I also stopped and talked to Brian Keith who was manning the demi learning booth and got to hear from him all about the various products that they were telling families about that day.

[27:59] So here's a quick listen and an example of the type of vendors and booths that you might be able to find at the Northern California Homeschool convention.

[28:08] Brian, what are you talking with parents about today?

[28:11] Brian: Okay, primarily we're known for our math. So demi learning as math, UC spelling, you see, excuse me, write, shop and analytical grammar. But our math is our most well known product.

[28:20] It's been around about 30 years and it's a very tactile hands on visual math program.

[28:25] We're a mastery based approach where we don't have grade levels. We actually master concepts before we move students on. And so you might have a sophomore or junior in high school that doesn't know his fractions.

[28:35] If I give him a 5th grade math book he's checking out, he hates math. I'm dumb, I hate math. If I give him a book that says epsilon, he doesn't know what the heck that means.

[28:43] He's just doing his fractions.

[28:44] So it's kind of cool. So it's a fun way to look at math and all that light. We have analytical grammar, which is kind of, I would say it's kind of an old school approach to grammar.

[28:53] If you guys all remember diagramming sentences, that's one of the few things I remember from high School, we do that quite a bit. Go through all the grammar with that visual aspect with our spelling program.

[29:05] Spelling, you see, if I asked you how to spell the word two,

[29:08] what would you do?

[29:09] So there's only three in the English language and you've got Spanish, you've got Latin, you've got many other variations.

[29:15] So instead of having a vocabulary list, we'll use words in context where we have a paragraph that they'll read that says, we went to the store, we bought two gallons of milk, my brother came along two.

[29:25] And so you're going to see how those words are used properly. Kids will look for vowel patterns, letter patterns, constant blends, vowel chunks, that type of thing in a very visual way with colored pencils or highlighters, that type of thing, and then write.

[29:37] Shop is our new acquisition.

[29:39] It's been around for 20, 20 some years from a gal from here in California. Actually Kim Koutser down by the Ontario Rancho Cucamonga area,

[29:46] retired from that a couple years ago, approached us because she used Matthew C. With her kids, loved what we did and it made perfect sense. It's a very visual, hands on, artistic and crafty version of writing.

[29:57] So K to 12 for most of our programs and just a lot of fun.

[30:01] Rebecca: Are you having a good time today?

[30:02] Brian: Yes, terrific. It's been a great conference. I love it here. I love coming to California. I'm from Pennsylvania,

[30:07] so I love getting out of the humid weather and coming here to your. I know you guys think it's hot today. I think it's gorgeous. I love coming to California.

[30:14] And then my hope and goal is tomorrow. My daughter and I might be skiing across here in Mammoth, so.

[30:18] Rebecca: Oh, they've still got snow, so thank you.

[30:21] Brian: Thank you very much.

[30:22] Rebecca: I also have a privilege of leading a session at the convention this year. I have the privilege of covering the topic of homeschooling with a charter school. So if you're new with us this year, if you have friends who are on the waiting list, and if you're trying to figure out what's going on,

[30:38] I hope you will drop in to my session, say hello, introduce yourself, and I'd love to meet you families. I hope that you will join us at the convention in July.

[30:49] Again, it is the Northern California Homeschool Convention held in Rockland at the Destiny Community center on July 25th and 26th this year, 2025.

[31:02] If you come, please find the Sequoia Grove booth and you will find me there some of the time and other family liaisons as well. We would love to say hi.

[31:13] We'd love to give you a little swag, hear how your year went this past year, what you're looking forward to, what you're what you are learning at the convention. We'd love to talk to you.

[31:22] So come by and say hello. And I hope that you are able to make use of the Northern California Homeschool Convention. And don't forget to to head to the show notes for the Sequoia Grove coupon code as well as links to the website.

[31:38] As always, if you have any questions, I would love to hear from you at podcasts sequoia grove.org thank you for joining me today for the Sequoia Breeze Podcast. I hope it's been a breath of fresh air for your homeschool.

[32:03] I've been your host, Rebecca La Savio.