HSC Conference 2019: Full Schedule

HSC Conference 2019

9:30am PDT

Harry Potter Trivia & Games

Harry Potter fans unite and have fun! We'll have a trivia contest, play a Who Am I guessing game and more.

Speakers

Luke Kee

Luke has been unschooling for nine years, leaving school after second grade. He's passionate about Star Wars, engineering, cars and learning what he wants. He's now studying auto mechanics at community college.

Friday August 9, 2019 9:30am - 10:45am PDT
Fir

Games & Gameschooling

Suggested Age Range Adults, Children, Grandparents, Kids, Teens, Tweens, Young Adults

12:30pm PDT

Stop the STEM Stereotypes: Anyone Can Teach and Enjoy Math!

A deep understanding of math enables success in many interesting STEM careers. But it needn’t be drudgery and repetition: “Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.”

Homeschooling is a great opportunity to protect your students from peer pressure and stereotypes about math and poorly conceived curricula, and instead teach them that mathematics is fun and open to all.

In this workshop, I will introduce you to books and websites you can use with your students from young elementary and beyond. I’ll show you how you can work with larger groups of students to make math more social and fun. We’ll learn to avoid the “tyranny of 100%” and find alternatives to the “race to calculus.”

We’ll role play Socratic teaching methods with the math-phobic parents as students! We’ll even solve some elementary math problems together and learn to model a positive attitude to problem solving (even when we don’t know the solution).

Speakers

Vida John MD

Vida John, M.D. homeschooled her 2 daughters who are now attending Stanford, and now she serves as a math coach and tutor for students preparing for math competitions and using the Art of Problem Solving curriculum. Vida is a former mathlete, and has an undergraduate engineering... Read More →

Friday August 9, 2019 12:30pm - 1:45pm PDT
Fir

Education Theory & Homeschool Methods

Suggested Age Range Adults, Grandparents

2:00pm PDT

Teen Improv Games

One hour of improv games. Improv is a form of acting in which there's no script and no planned scenes. No experience necessary!

Speakers

Remy Foley-Voosen

Friday August 9, 2019 2:00pm - 3:30pm PDT
Fir

Active/Movement

Suggested Age Range Teens

4:00pm PDT

Talking about Race and Racism: A Frank Discussion

The idea of race has a difficult and complex history, especially here in the US.
It has been used for centuries to categorize, reward, and penalize people based on perceived differences.
And despite often being misguidedly defined by skin tone and other physical attributes, race has no genetic basis but this powerful social construction has a tremendous impact on individuals’ lives because it is often employed to establish and maintain privilege and power dynamics.
Even the definitions of race and racism are themselves a product of racism's long and conflicted history in our society.
So with all of that in mind, how does one go about having a dialogue about this important topic?
By coming to this informative and lively discussion!
This talk will discuss Race and Racism and how it impacts us all, especially us as Un/Homeschoolers.
Please come with your questions, concerns and solutions as we navigate this very important topic. All are Welcome.

Speakers

Erika Davis-Pitre

Board President, HSC

Erika Davis-Pitre and her husband Michael have 4 children - one daughter (43) and three sons (39, 37 & 29). They also have two sons-in-law, two daughters-in-law and two grandsons(15 & 7).She and her husband live in San Francisco and Erika became Co-President of HSC four years ago... Read More →

Friday August 9, 2019 4:00pm - 5:45pm PDT
Fir

Diversity Inclusion & Social Justice

Suggested Age Range Adults, Grandparents, Teens, Tweens, Young Adults

11:00am PDT

How To Overcome Opposition

In your homeschooling journey, or as you consider homeschooling, you may have encountered opposition which in some cases was based on a misunderstanding of homeschooling or unfounded ideas about traditional schooling. Wes will explore these misunderstandings and baseless ideas, and will also tell the stories of young people he has worked with who have been very successful in a wide variety of occupational pursuits after very out-of-the-mainstream preparation for the workplace and/or college.

Speakers

Wes Beach

Saturday August 10, 2019 11:00am - 12:15pm PDT
Fir

Education Theory & Homeschool Methods

Suggested Age Range Teens, Young Adults, Adults, Grandparents

3:30pm PDT

Unschool Panel

A Q&A panel about unschooling, from purely "academic" to radical unschooling. Panel members are long-time unschooling parents.

Speakers

Erika Davis-Pitre

Board President, HSC

Saturday August 10, 2019 3:30pm - 4:45pm PDT
Fir

Education Theory & Homeschool Methods

Suggested Age Range Children, Tweens, Teens, Young Adults, Adults, Grandparents

5:00pm PDT

Rock Your Talk: Acting Skills for Speaking and Presenting

Rock Your Talk is an experiential workshop introducing the basics of skills used by actors to communicate more effectively.

Your voice and your information are important and persuasive communication is a critical meta-learning skill — the great news is that it can be learned.

Learn skills developed during and since my years in theater school and later as a professional actor featured in 100+ television, radio, movies, feature film and news pieces.

We won't be focusing on content but rather on the meta-learning skill of Being Heard. Expect a fast-paced, experience and fun exercises intended to ensure that visionary change-makers and leaders can better communicate to get what they need for big impact.

If I can help you rock your message to the world freeing you to DO and MAKE, I'll be thrilled.

Join me to learn the 3 Key skills that will instantly impact your ability to reach people with your message.

Speakers

Lisa Betts-LaCroix

Lisa Betts-LaCroix is a speaker, actor, podcaster and dancer. A champion of radical educational reform, Lisa Betts-LaCroix co-founded of a network of 350+ San Francisco Bay area families who independently educate their children outside of traditional school; the group sets new precedents... Read More →

Saturday August 10, 2019 5:00pm - 6:15pm PDT
Fir

Creative Arts

Suggested Age Range Teens, Young Adults, Adults, Grandparents

9:00pm PDT

Square Dance Hoedown

Come one, come all, come young, come old! Dance with us as we introduce the basic steps of this exciting and vibrant modern tradition. No prior experience necessary. Open to all ages, though parents may want to pair with children under 8 to help ensure a good experience. A Hoedown is a party so come out and party with us!

Speakers

Thomas Allen

Thomas Allen is an engineering manager for a software company in Mountain View. He is also an unschooling dad to two great kiddos, is excited about exploring the world with his family, playing games, and hanging out with good friends. Thomas also enjoys square dancing and has recently... Read More →

Saturday August 10, 2019 9:00pm - 11:00pm PDT
Fir

Active/Movement

Suggested Age Range Children, Tweens, Teens, Young Adults, Adults, Grandparents

9:30am PDT

Unschooling Your Teens -- Is it what you expected?

This talk is for all families who either have teens, will have teens soon and/or have the pleasure of looking back on their children's teenage years.It will be a chance to ask questions, share insights, and find support among other families with unschooling teens. Both parents and teens are welcomed and encouraged to attend.

Speakers

Erika Davis-Pitre

Board President, HSC

Sunday August 11, 2019 9:30am - 10:45am PDT
Fir

Education Theory & Homeschool Methods

Suggested Age Range Tweens, Teens, Young Adults, Adults, Grandparents

11:00am PDT

Writing Transcripts

Wes will show and explain how to write home-grown transcripts showing even the most unconventional “high-school” experiences that will be acceptable to employers, colleges, and universities.

Speakers

Wes Beach

Sunday August 11, 2019 11:00am - 12:15pm PDT
Fir

Careers & College

Suggested Age Range Teens, Young Adults, Adults, Grandparents

12:30pm PDT

Theatrical Lighting Basics

This workshop will teach you how most theaters spend only the last two weeks before opening to prep for lights, and what the likes of tech week are.

Speakers

Carl Eliot Nelson

Carl Nelson is an aspiring lighting designer and lover of the theatrical arts who wants to spread the knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes of the shows we all know and love

Sunday August 11, 2019 12:30pm - 1:45pm PDT
Fir

Creative Arts

Suggested Age Range Teens, Adults, Young Adults, Grandparents

2:00pm PDT

Parenting with Baggage

Many of us are homeschooling because we want somethings different or better for our children than we had. And there are times when we find ourselves running into traffic jams on this road of parenting or the homeschool journey and have no map or GPS to get through.
These jams may be areas where you as a parent are being affected by your own patterns from the past that may not be useful any more. Moving past a traumatic educational system, unhealthy family communication and emotional styles, or any major traumatic event in your life can be even more challenging while parenting.
It is possible to turn trauma into possibility.
Come learn about inter-generational trauma and other types of trauma, how it gets transmitted through generations, and specific ways you and your family can become more resilient.

Speakers

Natasha Morisawa LMFT

Sunday August 11, 2019 2:00pm - 3:15pm PDT
Fir

Parenting

Suggested Age Range Young Adults, Adults, Grandparents

3:30pm PDT

Exit -- Parenting after Homeschooling

You've been homeschooling now for many years and you love it. But your homeschoolers are nearing the end of their time at home.
What's next for you?
This talk is about preparing for your homeschooling exit.
Come and share your success and questions, get and give advice about this stage of the journey and share resources with others who are also at this point too.

Speakers

Erika Davis-Pitre

Board President, HSC

Sunday August 11, 2019 3:30pm - 4:45pm PDT
Fir

Life Transitions & Adulting

Suggested Age Range Young Adults, Adults, Grandparents