old

[Paisley Hedgehog]

.

[Tess in the Burbs]

I usually go to look at what is new. I rarely do the speakers. I did go to one a few years back to hear SWB and her mom speak. The room was over crowded. I had my kids with me. And I think in hindsight paying $4 online to hear it at my pace in quiet so I could take better notes would have been helpful compared to me being in the back of the room trying to see/hear with people talking all around me...my kids included, ugh.

 

I love to see the new stuff or ask questions of things I am thinking about using but the speaker stuff just never works out and I don't pay for it.

 

I enjoyed it the year I got to hear the speakers...it was refreshing and uplifting and encouraging. but I think sending the dh/kids away for a night of something fun and letting me have hours to listen to bought mp3s at home would have been more beneficial and is my game plan this year. In the future I may go listen to more speakers in person but for now doing it at home is worth $5 a pop :-)

 

I debated this year too....and have decided to sell books at one conference/shop the hall one night and go to the local one for local resources. No speakers. I will look for titles of talks I want to find online. And they are always online. For cheap.

[JVA]

I've been attending them for almost 25 years. There have been times when I thought that I could have given a particular class since I've had similar experience/knowledge! But,I go each year to get my 'shot in the arm', get inspired, see the newest curriculum and hear inspiring speakers. It's worth the effort to go.

[sunflowerlady]

Frankly, I attend simply because I think they are fun.:) Mostly I love looking around the vendor hall at all the cool books and materials. I may listen to a couple of speakers, but usually I skip most of them.

 

Being around lots of other homeschoolers and seeing materials in person is very energizing to me.

[BearWallowSchool]

Frankly, I attend simply because I think they are fun.:) Mostly I love looking around the vendor hall at all the cool books and materials. I may listen to a couple of speakers, but usually I skip most of them.

 

Being around lots of other homeschoolers and seeing materials in person is very energizing to me.

 

:iagree:Everything she said! Except I DO think the speakers are fun. :)

[TXMary2]

I go to look at curriculum, attend the workshops and fellowship with my girlfriends. Last year we got a hotel and stayed the night. We went to dinner and had great fun! I am hoping we will do the same this year.

 

Last year's workshops I attended, Jessie Wise was the headliner. I took pages and pages of notes.

[scubamama]

I go so my dh HAS to watch the kids and THEN he gets an inkling of how tough it is to manage them and teach them......he doesn't do any school, but he is always exhausted and very grateful when I come home.

 

I go to be encouraged and think my own thoughts for a day.

 

I always feel very sympathetic to moms who have their kids with them. I was practrically in tears once watchng a mom of a little baby (6months?) deal with the crying baby, 2 toddlers and a 8 year old try to get to some curriculum without the kids destroying the place. I just felt like she had no support at home for this and she would soon quit. It really affected me.

 

My kids jump on me for "toys" when I get home - I get silly little things. It's fun to hear them say, "Mom's back from the HS conference! What did you get us?!!!!"

 

Michele

 

ds8, dd6, dd 3.5

[arstephia]

I love to go because of all the energy and enthusiasm. Something I need from time to time. I love talking with old and new homeschoolers, looking at material, talking to vendors of products I use - sometimes I get new tips and ideas from them that I appreciate. I like listening to the keynote speakers. I don't enjoy smaller workshops as much - I often feel I could have given the workshop. And maybe someday I will get that chance. Who knows! :D

[Jayne J]

I go to confirm that there actually are other real live hsers in existence. I don't know any hs'ers IRL, and certainly none that are classical. (I did recently meet a "local" gal on the boards--she lives about 30-45 min away and it was breath of fresh air! I haven't actually *met* her though...) There is a smallish group about 45 min. to an hour away, but it is too much to haul kids there and back again. So I end up feeling pretty isolated. Our regional hs conference/curriculum fair reminds me that I am not alone.

[Chris in VA]

I've never been, but I have been to several NAEYC conferences/conventions, and I'd imagine they are similar--workshops/speaker, new materials, old faithful companies...

 

I want to go this year to the one here in VA in June so I can see materials I might use. I don't want to go to the inspiration workshops and don't go to the basic ones. I don't need to hear anything about family togetherness or that sort of thing, b/c I've been "togetherness-ed" to death with therapy for ds.

I only have one at home, so learning how to manage a homeschool home or teach multiple levels just isn't on my radar.

 

I'd also LOVE to meet some of the women from WTM that might show up!

[Mejane]

I attended a few conferences as a vendor for a textbook company. Honestly, I found most of the seminars trite and boring, and there is nothing I learned there that I couldn't have picked up here, by reading a book, or elsewhere in the homeschooling community. I'd have been disappointed had I spent a lot of money to attend.

[specialmama]

I usually go for reasons previously mentioned. Also, there is one vendor at our conference that has dozens of bookshelves of living books, all alphabetized. I usually have a large book list and I can save a pretty penny on shipping by getting them in person. I also find it very refreshing and inspiring.

[Kathleen in VA]

I've only been to our state convention twice, but I loved it. The speakers were wonderful - we've had Gregg Harris, Ken Ham, Doug Philips, Voddie Baucham, Geoff Botkin, Andrew Pudewa, Adam Andrews, and some locals like Ann Miller and Shelley Hendry. I don't agree with a lot of these folks on everything, but I still love to hear them speak about homeschooling. It really does inspire me. I'm getting to the end of my homeschooling career and that means I sometimes feel less than energized about it all - it's great to be around other homeschoolers and get pumped up again.

 

I really enjoy meeting all the curriculum suppliers face to face and looking at the books in person. It's amazing what a difference that makes when deciding on what to use. I'm often surprised by how small and short some of the books are that I was considering - just to say that I'm underwhelmed often. I'm glad I didn't order it from a catalog or online only to get it and heave a disappointed sigh that, once again, something that was "highly recommended" was something I could've written myself, only better. Then again, I have found some things to surprise me in the opposite way. It really is a boon to be able see the stuff in real llfe.

 

And, my kids love going as well. They love the vendor hall (I let them pick something just for fun). One year the lady at the Lamplighter table gave my son a book - she just said, "Here, take this and let me know what you think - I love to give out at least one book each year to someone and you're that someone this year." I can't tell you how thrilled he was.

 

We live about 100 or so miles away from the city where our convention is held. One year I drove back and forth from home - very exhausting. Not only that, I witnessed a horrific car accident on the way home Fri evening - really shook me up!!!! The next time we went we stayed in a hotel overnight. It was a blast and if I go this year we'll try to do that again. It was so much more relaxing. I hate driving on I-95.

 

Anyway, I know what you mean about feeling that you could listen to an mp3 or CD with the speakers, but I'm always glad afterwards that I bothered - it's just a great way to feel the support we don't often get. Being around so many likeminded people is very, very refreshing. There is an element lacking when I just listen to the speakers from a recording than when I'm right there in the room. I can't place my finger on it - but I sure know when it's missing. I do both and they are both beneficial in different ways. Our convention offers a recording of all the speakers for a very reasonable cost the last day of the event and I recommend getting that if you do go. It is nice to be able to listen again to the speakers I heard and to have the opportunity to hear the one's I missed.

[Pink Fairy]

I've only been to one, and I went mainly to browse through the curriculum. I've "attended" other conferences by buying the talks on tape/CD. Every once in a while I pull them out to listen to while I do the dishes or fold the laundry, just for entertainment or when I need ideas and encouragement.

[dani3boys]

I go to look at all of the vendor booths, and also to hear the speakers. I do wish that we could get some good speakers at our conference though. We never get any of the really good ones like SWB.:glare:

[ElizabethB]

I go to see the books. I am very nosy about books and love to see them in person. I even like to look at things I would never use personally! There is something about seeing them and holding them in your hand that is helpful for me.

 

If you want a good collection of speakers, I like the NOVA conference audio, it is $40 and they usually have SWB and other good speakers. I went one year when we lived in VA and have 2 other years worth of CDs.

 

This is the link to order, the speaker list is elsewhere and will get more filled out later as the year progresses.

 

http://www.novaconference.net/index.php/register

[Krista in LA]

Frankly, I attend simply because I think they are fun.:) Mostly I love looking around the vendor hall at all the cool books and materials. I may listen to a couple of speakers, but usually I skip most of them.

 

Being around lots of other homeschoolers and seeing materials in person is very energizing to me.

 

:iagree: Me too.

 

We go to one in Dallas which is about 3 hours away, but fortunately we have friends there so we don't have to pay for a hotel and the kids and dh can hang with them if they don't want to go with me.

[Carol in Cal.]

I have been to three.

Two I attended for the speakers, headlined by SWB. I just wanted to see her in person so much, and I knew that if I did, I would be much clearer on my own direction and have a more complete picture of what I was heading for as a homeschooling parent. Also, I wanted to educate myself on how to homeschool high school, in case I ever decided to do so, and I thought that it was the most efficient way to do that. And at the second one, I hoped to see Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry, Level II, and also Latina Christiana and its attending materials, up close and personal, and I did.

 

The other was a large state Christian conference. I attended mostly to look at specific curricula and decide whether or not to use them--they were far too expensive to buy on speculation, and I had not been able to figure out from the websites whether I wanted them or not. These were the David Quine materials, Rainbow Science, Apologia General and Physical Science, and some advanced math curricula.

 

In each case, I gained things that I didn't anticipate. So each was everything I wanted, and more. For instance, at the third one I ran across the Rod and Staff handbook--it was great, and I didn't even know it existed. At the first, I saw Veritas Press Omnibus, and decided not to use it--very glad I was able to spend so much time looking at it up close and personal. At the third one I also studied Exploration Education, and I was glad to see it clearly. It was great, but we had missed our 'age window' for it, was what I concluded. I also was able to find some resources for high school that allayed my intimidation about that. The speakers at the SWB conferences were even better than I had anticipated, and extraordinarily valuable to my specific situation.

 

One of the bottom lines of all of this is that I am a die hard homeschooler and self-educator. I will NEVER be at the mercy of any educational institution, for either myself or my DD. This is not only due to these conferences, but attending them with the idea of extending that view into high school was really helpful to feeling capable and confident going forward. Although I am not homeschooling high school, I know that I could, and if I decide to switch, I'm ready. That is huge.

[Testimony]

every year. My husband and I go together with the family. We make it a day outing. We really enjoy the time. My husband goes to classes and I go to classes and then we exchange notes at home. We love it.

 

We have learned a lot. I go because it is a great family time for us. It is very encouraging to hear the speakers because they do spur you on to continue along the path you are going. You need inspiration if for nothing else. I get to see some old homeschoolers that I have not seen in a while. That's all!

 

Blessings,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[SonshineLearner]

I'd love to go to a HS conference about HOW to educate classically, instead of WHY we should be afraid of public school. I get it... I understand the spiritual and academic reasons. I don't believe that all or even perhaps most homeschoolers have a better education. I'm not scared of public schools.

I want to home educate because of all the good reasons you can educate your children... with your standards... both spiritually and academically... when you do it yourself. I want to do it because home education works, not to make a statement... or because I can't show my children more than one side to things. Not because I'm scared of a particular person or group of persons... in another social setting.

Rather than hide from darkness, I want to see the light of home education.

I'd love to be at a Classical Education Conference, preferably with a Christian slant.

:)

[DianeW88]

To check out the curriculum. After 16 years of homeschooling, I don't really need to hear the speakers. I know how to do it and what my "style" is. I just go to fondle the books. :lol:

[OnTheBrink]

Frankly, I attend simply because I think they are fun.:) Mostly I love looking around the vendor hall at all the cool books and materials. I may listen to a couple of speakers, but usually I skip most of them.

 

Being around lots of other homeschoolers and seeing materials in person is very energizing to me.

 

This sums up my feelings as well.

 

Most of the speakers, ime, are disappointing, but I do have fun shopping, looking at materials that get talked about here a lot, being around other hs moms. And, it's a get-away for me.

[6packofun]

I go to be surrounded by books and curriculum at good prices. Ahhhhh. I've only gone to one speaker in my years of homeschool conventions and really, I just want to spend my time browsing and buying up what I can. That's what I like about them and I'm willing to drive 5 hours to get to look at things in person to decide what we're going to use for the upcoming school year. Speakers and workshops don't influence my attendance at all.

[Gratia271]

In the past, we have gone to check out curricula options. We likely won't go again, at least anytime soon.

[Mimm]

This is our first year homeschooling, so I haven't been to one since I was a young teenager. There's a local one that I plan to go to for the curriculum fair. It won't cost much because I won't need to travel or stay in a hotel. I looked at the list of speakers and am rather uninspired, but I am looking forward to looking at all the curriculum. Should be fun. I wish I had someone to go with me. I don't have any homeschooling mom friends.

[vettechmomof2]

I like to see the different curriculum choices and browse around in the used book sections as well.

[FaithManor]

When I go, which isn't often, it is to hear SWB or some other classical educator speak. It helps me rev up!

 

But, the real reason is because all of the books are in one place and it is socially acceptable due to the nature of the crowd, to get HIGH off the smell, the feel, the look, etc. I get a sort of glazed over look in my eyes and practically just hand over my purse to vendors!! LOL I stay away most of the time.

 

Faith

[Paintedlady]

I go to be inspired, lifted up & encouraged. And of course to see/feel new curricula as well.

[Sandy in Indy]

I go to convention to:

 

meet other WTMer's, of course.

 

get my annual pep talk.

 

see what's new.

 

look at, handle, peruse books.

 

purchase curriculum and not pay shipping and *maybe* get a discount.

 

have fun.

 

have a weekend without my family. (Sounds terrible, but I enjoy a few days away without them.)

 

spend time with my bf, who always goes with me.