Homeschool fair connects parents, students
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on August 22, 2018 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Parents and their children visit with vendors during the second annual Wayne County Homeschool Fair at The Lord's Table Monday. The fair gives parents a way to get connected with area resources.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Avrile Blackwell, 9, plays with one of the tasks at the Lego League table during the second annual Wayne County Homeschool Fair at The Lord's Table Monday.
The Lord's Table Church converted part of its space into the second annual Wayne County Homeschool Fair Monday.
In addition to speakers and vendors, there were opportunities for new and veteran parents to network and learn about resources to help create their own classrooms.
Stefanie Wolfe moved to the area a year ago with the military. Three of her four children will be her students in the fall, she said -- Jacob, 8, Skylar, 11, and Jeremiah, 13.
"This is our first year (homeschooling). We were excited to come because we wanted to see the different things they have for homeschoolers because we're pretty nervous about it, or I am," she said.
Jacob is enthusiastic about the school year starting, he said, especially in the area of science.
"Making potions," he said with a smile.
"He gets to mix chemicals," his mother explained.
Skylar, a sixth-grader who enjoys writing, was interested in booths that might feature programs in that area.
"I'm excited about the different curriculum," she said.
Jeremiah actually had a brief previous homeschool experience when his family lived in Korea, he said.
"It was pretty fun," he said, the highlight being "that my mom was doing it."
Carolyn Hill of the Wayne County Public Library was on hand to share some of the offerings at the various branches of the library.
"We're promoting our Teen Zone and the Goldsboro branch is trying to build our Teen Advisory Board," she said. "And we also have a Prep for Success program, on career readiness and educational preparation as well as preparing for college."
Hill participated in last year's homeschool fair, she said, which seemed to have more parents than students.
"This morning I have had a lot of teen interest," she said. "I think this is a good idea. I think it's grown this year, and it's great because the library gets a lot of participation from homeschoolers.
"They use our library and they come to our programs a lot. We're grateful for that and I'm glad we can help them with that."
Serena Manning is director of Lighthouse Educational Services, a program for end-of-grade tests.
"I homeschool my children and do testing," she said. "Every homeschool has to do some national standardized testing. This is one of our options.
"We explain that test report to the parents."
Another vendor was Barbara Byers, representing the First LEGO League Jr.
"I actually have a group at the library and am starting one at the Steele Library in Mount Olive in September," she said, before explaining the premise of the First LEGO League Jr.
Youth work as teams, she said, building a project based upon a curriculum, materials and challenges.
"This year's theme is Mission Moon, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the landing on the moon," she said.
Five-year-old Calvin Whited was enamored with the concept, holding up his own Lego project.
His parents, Patricia and Kevin Whited, said this is their first time homeschooling.
"We're here to get more information about curriculum and basically the legal responsibilities that we have and make sure we're communicating properly with the public schools," Patricia said. "We really hope to be connecting with the base homeschool group."
The Seymour Johnson Homeschool Group sponsored the fair.
Patricia said she is also looking forward to time the couple will get to spend with their son and being involved in his education.
"It'll be one-on-one instead of 30-on-one," her husband said.
"It's like a new learning experience for us, too," Patricia said.
Amber Brown, 11, who has taken karate lessons for the past three years, was handing out fliers for NiJuKun Shotokan Karate-Do, which has a karate class for homeschoolers.
Her mother, Leonore Brown, also works with students at the karate school.
Connie Williams homeschools her 13-year-old twin boys, Tyler and Cole. She has enjoyed the homeschool fair because of its variety of offerings, she said.
"There are different activities, like sports activities, academic activities, things of interest to them," she said, with an eye toward an individualized approach "because they're twins but they're very different and they have very different interests."
Over the past 18 months she has been taught her sons, she has seen several changes.
"It's more customized as we get to know where their strengths and weaknesses are," she said. "I like that I get more times with my kids and more individual learning, more hands n learning.
"We can customize where their strengths and weaknesses are, and they're not getting let behind."