homeschooling events

Several people have asked about field trips I plan ---- how I find them, how I come up with the ideas? It gave me the idea to blog about some of the field trip ideas, homeschooling events and ideas so that others can borrow them.

Here is one that I found and it is fantastic.

Toastmasters.

Toastmasters is an international non-profit organization that helps to develop public speaking and leadership skills through practice and feedback. Most cities have local clubs. Some of the local clubs are closed clubs --- in other words they are often set up through a company and are only open to members that work at that company. Others are open clubs.

I googled clubs in my local area and emailed the person listed as the contact person. I actually contacted 4 or 5 of the local clubs. I told them I was a homeschool group and that I was interested in their Youth Leadership classes. One of the local clubs was absolutely thrilled we contacted them. They sponsored our group - paid for the books for our group. And each week for 8 weeks we have at least 2 adult Toastmaster leaders come and teach our students how to speak better in public. They are also taught the 'rules' of running a meeting. They elected officers. The students have to give 3 prepared speeches - 2 in class and one at the end when we host a more formal showcase. Plus, there are opportunities for the students to do impromptu speeches based on table topics. A student is picked each week to come up with table topics for the following week. Also there is a grammarian - this person is responsible to come up with the word of the day. Everyone in the room is encouraged to try to utilize the word of the day in some way. One of the jobs of the grammarian is also to count how many times everyone in the class utilizes ahhhh, uuuummmmm, like, and any other word that is used as a time filler instead of just allowing the silence to be okay.

We meet once a week for 8 weeks and then have one more session that is the final showcase. The students have to run this entire meeting and showcase all they have learned. They are encouraged to send out invitations to grandparents, parents, the pastor of the church, etc. It has really been a great opportunity and the students are learning very needed skills. At one point or another everyone will have an opportunity to speak in front of others - be it a small group or a larger group. It reminds me of Moses - when God sent him to go speak to the Israelites - Moses felt ill prepared and inadequate to speak in front of others. God said he would help but Moses still objected. Finally, God sent Aaron to be the voice. We just never know when God will call upon us to be his ambassador and we should be ready for the opportunity should it arise.

I highly recommend this venture. It has been so worth it and could easily be organized in your own local area. Just contact a local chapter of Toastmasters and ask!