IrresistibleGrace Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 I am planning to attend the MidWest HS Convention in OH at the end of the month, it will be my first. Any tips or advice is appreciated!! Any speakers I HAVE to hear? Is is truly cost effective to buy materials at the convention vs. Amazon, or buying second hand (from these boards :001_smile:)? But I specifically want to know - what is the average price for the CD recordings of the workshops? TIA for any help! I am super excited and don't want to waste my time or money! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 I am planning to attend the MidWest HS Convention in OH at the end of the month, it will be my first. Any tips or advice is appreciated!! Any speakers I HAVE to hear? Is is truly cost effective to buy materials at the convention vs. Amazon, or buying second hand (from these boards :001_smile:)? But I specifically want to know - what is the average price for the CD recordings of the workshops? TIA for any help! I am super excited and don't want to waste my time or money! Yay! This will be my fourth year at Cinci! It is a wonderful conference. Here's a thread that discusses tips/advice for first timers. There are some helpful posts there. Here are a couple of threads about presenters ... one ... two. Here's a thread were several of us are discussing the schedule for Cincinnati in particular. I hate to advise you, it really depends upon your educational philosophy, some of my favorites are SWB, Martin Cothran, Tom Clark, and Christopher Perrin. I'm hoping to add MCT and Buck Holler to that list this year. But my educational philosophy tends to lie on the very Classical side. Purchasing second hand is probably always going to be cheaper than buying new at conference. The plus of going to conference is you can check it out before you buy, not pay shipping, be certain to be able to get it, and have it immediately. A lot of people look there, then buy later. Sometimes you may not be able to find what you're after second hand. I don't remember the price of recordings, they weren't bad, as I recall. I advise you to purchase early, though. The line at the end of the last day is a bear. They'll ship your CDs to you at the end of the conference. I wish they had a download option available :( Most of all, have fun! Your brain will hurt at the end, but it'll be worth it :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrresistibleGrace Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 Thank you so, so much!! I am going now to check out the links :D Anyone else know an estimated price for the CDs? Yay! This will be my fourth year at Cinci! It is a wonderful conference. Here's a thread that discusses tips/advice for first timers. There are some helpful posts there. Here are a couple of threads about presenters ... one ... two. Here's a thread were several of us are discussing the schedule for Cincinnati in particular. I hate to advise you, it really depends upon your educational philosophy, some of my favorites are SWB, Martin Cothran, Tom Clark, and Christopher Perrin. I'm hoping to add MCT and Buck Holler to that list this year. But my educational philosophy tends to lie on the very Classical side. Purchasing second hand is probably always going to be cheaper than buying new at conference. The plus of going to conference is you can check it out before you buy, not pay shipping, be certain to be able to get it, and have it immediately. A lot of people look there, then buy later. Sometimes you may not be able to find what you're after second hand. I don't remember the price of recordings, they weren't bad, as I recall. I advise you to purchase early, though. The line at the end of the last day is a bear. They'll ship your CDs to you at the end of the conference. I wish they had a download option available :( Most of all, have fun! Your brain will hurt at the end, but it'll be worth it :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2boys Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Last year the cd's at this convention sold for $6 each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ELaurie Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 1) Decide which speakers you want to hear in advance. Identify those you are sure you want to hear (SWB is always at the top of my list, along with Jim Weiss, Mark Hamby and a few others), then begin researching other speakers with topics that interest you. Start with the bio sketches on the conference website; follow the links to their blogs or read selections from books they have written on Amazon or elsewhere. I like to print the schedule for the workshops, and mark the workshops I plan to attend, along with alternative workshops that I might decide to attend once get there. (For example, if I hear an excellent presentation by a particular speaker, I might decide to attend a second workshop with the same speaker; if I strike up an interesting conversation with another home schooling parent, or with one of the speakers at a booth in a vendor hall, I can always rearrange my plan.) When there are two speakers I want to hear who are scheduled a the same time, I look to see if I can hear one of them give the same workshop, or a similar workshop at another time. 2) You will find the vendor hall overwhelming. I never buy anything the first day. I spend time familiarizing myself with the vendor hall, collect brochures, and make lists on the first and second day. I go the the conference with a list of purchases in mind (organized by subject and grade level for each of our dc) and I have a general idea of what I want to spend. Once I've collected information about the items available for purchase at the vendor hall, I make my list and check it twice :001_smile: sometimes comparing prices online before purchasing. I find that the vendors usually offer discounts at the conference, especially for "packages" such as SOTW with the activity guide, tests, and student materials - and of course, there are no shipping costs. Unless the difference in the price of purchase from an online site is substantially lower than purchasing at the convention, I like to purchase from the vendors. Many of them make their livelihood by writing and selling high quality materials for the home school market; they travel to the conventions, rent the booths, set up, take things down, and bear all of the associated travel costs themselves. If it weren't for the good folks at PHP and elsewhere, I couldn't do what I do here at home with our dc nearly as well, so I like to support them when I can. Have fun! It's a great conference - and don't forget to watch the board, or check in at the PHP table to see if there are plans afoot to join SWB and some other WTM board members for lunch :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2boys Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 A mom from my local homeschool group wrote some really helpful blog posts about attending conventions. I picked up some good tips, and I am a convention veteran. Here's the link: http://ourbusyhomeschool.blogspot.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blakereese Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 A mom from my local homeschool group wrote some really helpful blog posts about attending conventions. I picked up some good tips, and I am a convention veteran. Here's the link: http://ourbusyhomeschool.blogspot.com/ Thank you for posting that link, it IS helpful. I'm off to make a notebook now! :auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2boys Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Thank you for posting that link, it IS helpful. I'm off to make a notebook now! :auto: You're welcome! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 I've been to Midwest every year, since the first year crammed in tiny stuffy rooms and running across the parking lot in the rain. So first, count your blessings for the luxurious setting. :D I like to take a clipboard and my wallet and some snacks in a shoulder bag. I really, really, really hate the rolling carts/suitcases on wheels when other people have them, so I don't take them myself. There always seems to be one parked in front of whatever I want to look at in the vendor hall, and I end up with bruised shins from people running them into me or vice versa. :glare: Anyway... I keep a list of vendors I want to see on the clipboard, as well as a checklist of what I am looking for, and the schedule highlighted with what I am going to attend. It's crowded and fast-paced, and you don't want to be digging for any info. Don't try to see every vendor. Instead, go through the list and pick out the ones you want to see (you'll know you did it right if you cross off about half of them. ;)) Start with a list of what you need and work backwards, in order to avoid (1.) wasting valuable time and (2.) getting sidetracked by something you didn't really need that seems very cool in the moment (the vendors are salespeople, after all.) I try to chunk out periods of listening and shopping. Running back and forth to the vendor hall every other hour is exhausting, even with escalators. :001_smile: I pick a few speaking slots in a row with little I want to see, and I set that aside each day for (1.) shopping and (2.) sitting down off somewhere to eat hot food and drink something cold. The food wasn't bad last year (the first year was microwaved burgers that they ran out of! :D) and so I snack all day (I walk outside the convention center in order to follow the rules of course ;)) and have one hot meal there. They have LaRosa's pizza, which is a Cincinnati staple, and that icky chili that southern Ohians eat. ;) If you are thinking of using a curriculum, stop by the vendor booth and talk to them for a while. Ask specific questions about your children. Some are there to sell, sell, sell, but you will pick that up quickly. Some will be honest with you, like SWB working the PHP booth and talking me out of buying her writing program for my little guy after successfully using IEW/R&S with my first two. Try not to visit any booth that you want individual attention in right after the person is speaking, as much of the audience will come back and hit their booth ravenously right after hearing them talk. Those people can hurt you! :D Don't sit quietly in the chair waiting for the speaker to begin. Talk to the person near you, ask about their kiddos and homeschool style and then ask who they have seen and would recommend. I have bought some really great CDs based on these recommendations. I'm assuming I'm about out of space, so I'm going to end now and post another about the speakers, though you can read my pre-schedule-posted thoughts in the other posts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 HA! My post wasn't too long, but I had one more than the maximum of eight smilies, so I had to edit that in order to post. :D First, it looks like the higher up the list a talk is, the less likely it is to be a vendor workshop only, so keep that in mind. These people are helpful, whether you buy their stuff or not, and will help you with the formation of your homeschooling plans and abilities: SWB Tom Clark Christopher Perrin Martin Cothran Cindy Wiggers MCT Cheryl Lowe Jan Bloom I recommend them above all other speakers (and I've heard most everyone on the schedule a time or two, except for the new people.) Other than those blanket recommendations, I would ask what you are looking for: parenting/shaping dc, religion, teaching philosophy, specific subject help, etc.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scuff Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Does anyone know if you can order cds after the convention or are they only available to those who attend? I'm seriously tempted to attend. But with the cost to travel there and having a nursing baby who wouldn't be able to nap in that settng, I think my $ would be better spent on a few cds and books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Does anyone know if you can order cds after the convention or are they only available to those who attend? I'm seriously tempted to attend. But with the cost to travel there and having a nursing baby who wouldn't be able to nap in that settng, I think my $ would be better spent on a few cds and books. As far as I know, you'll have to ask someone who is attending to place the order for you for this convention. Smaller conventions have different set up for recordings and are available afterward, but the rules of this one are different. but if SWB is giving her talk Homeschooling the Real (Distractable, Impatient, Argumentative, Unenthusiastic, Non-Book-Loving, Inattentive, Poky, Vague) Child go to that one! It was awesome yesterday in Memphis at Mid South! -crystal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiobrain Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 As far as I know, you'll have to ask someone who is attending to place the order for you for this convention. Smaller conventions have different set up for recordings and are available afterward, but the rules of this one are different. but if SWB is giving her talk Homeschooling the Real (Distractable, Impatient, Argumentative, Unenthusiastic, Non-Book-Loving, Inattentive, Poky, Vague) Child go to that one! It was awesome yesterday in Memphis at Mid South! -crystal ARG!! That's the one I suggested and I CAN'T go to! :cursing: Was that session one that was recorded, or one of the ones that is NOT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 And there's generally at least one really big vendor selling used curriculum in Cincy, so you can find some used things there, too (although not what you might find online).... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrresistibleGrace Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 Wow! So much help from everyone - thank you! Angela in Ohio - thank you for being so specific. I have been thinking about going to Jan Bloom's workshops (books for boys, and books for girls). Do you happen to know if she gives out a list of the books she reccommends? As far as what I'm looking for (regarding speakers), I would say more towards 'teaching philosophy'. This is only my second year to hs so I am still trying to figure out what my teaching style/ philosophy is, what my dc's learning styles are and what curriculums fit our family best. While I could certainly benefit from parenting and 'religion' workshops, that is not what I want to spend my time on at this conv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrresistibleGrace Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 (edited) A mom from my local homeschool group wrote some really helpful blog posts about attending conventions. I picked up some good tips, and I am a convention veteran. Here's the link: http://ourbusyhomeschool.blogspot.com/ Thanks for the link - it's great! ETA - And thanks for the CD price! Edited March 7, 2011 by IrresistibleGrace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Jan Bloom's workshops She does have a handout for those talks (and I agree ... very good), she also sells a book, "Who Should We Then Read" ... and I see there's a second volume. I like Christopher Perrin (lots of good info, sometimes mumbles, his talks this year look great) from Classical Academic Press, Martin Cothran from Memoria Press (great content, engaging speaker), SWB (of course, and posts re her talk on educating the real student are encouraging!), I'm going to try to hit Buck Holler's talks as well. Tom Clark, I enjoyed one of Terri Johnson's talks last year. Cheryl Lowe (Memoria Press). I've seen Sonya Shafer on videos (Simply Charlotte Mason) and she was good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrresistibleGrace Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share Posted March 7, 2011 Thank you again ladydusk! :D You are most helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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