URGENT! Input needed for future Science Workshop(s)

Hello everyone I received this through the 'momvine' as I like to call it and when I emailed her she responded that she has not gotten many responses to this date and would like more input. She is a fellow homeschooler and it is great that she is provided this opportunity to get more science into the hands of homeschoolers! So please respond to the email below her name, even if you are not in the Albuquerque area give her your thoughts anyway as this is from the NM Science Teachers Assoc and you never know if they get a big response they might be willing to help out homeschoolers in other areas. I have been involved in volunteering with this group in the past and they are a wealth of information! Take care and good homeschooling, Tabbi


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Dear NM homeschool parents,

I have been asked to help the New Mexico Science Teachers
Association ( http://www.nmsta.org/) in their mission to improve
science education in New Mexico. I believe this is a very important
mission that homeschoolers should be a part of. One facet of their
mission is to provide professional development opportunities to
science teachers. Many of their activities have been open to
homeschoolers, and they have asked me to plan a workshop (or more
than one!) for homeschool parents. The workshop would be in the
Albuquerque area, and I have some financial support from NMSTA to
cover expenses.

I am thrilled with this opportunity. However, I want to make sure
that I plan a workshop which appeals to other homeschool parents,
and not just me! With that in mind, I would like your input.
Please let me know what would be helpful for you, as a homeschool
parent. I have included some questions – feel free to respond to
any or all of them and to add any additional comments you may have.
Also, please forward this to other NM homeschoolers – I'd like a
response from as large a group as possible.

(The NMSTA website is a good resource for science information,
programs, courses, etc – check it out!)

Looking forward to getting your input,

Anne Marie Malone
kammalone@gmail.com





Questions:

What type of workshop would you come to? Suggested possibilities
include:
- A workshop that deals with content, focusing on one
science topic. Any ideas?
- A workshop on how to start kids in science fair. How is
a project structured? How can parents help their kids through the
process? This could be scheduled before the regional science fair
(March 16-17) so parents could take their kids to the open house and
get a feel for science fair.
- How to teach science, find resources, etc.
- Hands-on workshops with activities you can do with your
kids.

What would make you want to come to a workshop? Free snacks, free
lunch, babysitting, hand-outs. . .

What time might work for you? Weekday evening, Weekday afternoon,
Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon? I'm aware of the schedules
for state-wide chess tournaments, Regional and State science fairs
(and of course ISEF, the International Science & Engineering Fair,
in Albuquerque this May!), and the CAPE convention. Are there any
other events that would draw a large number of homeschoolers which I
should stay away from in scheduling? I'd like to plan something in
the next few months.

What length works for you? Two hours, four hours, something else?

Thanks so much for taking the time to consider and respond to these
questions.