Do you consider conventions to be an important part of your homeschooling?

[momtoamiracle]

We don't have them where I live so I'll probably never get to go to one. It would be interesting, but I'm sure I can still homeschool without ever attending one.

[raceNzanesmom]

Never been. No huge desire to go.

[Micron4]

I went to my first one last year. Everyone told me the exhibit hall would be overwhelming, and it sure was! I was glad I had taken the time to look through the exhibit guide (that they had mailed me weeks before) and visit many of the vendor websites. This helped me narrow down which vendors I *had* to visit.

 

I bought a few of the speaker CD's, and I'm glad I did. I have listened to them several times when I needed encouragement or advice on a topic.

[SnMomof7]

I've never gone and doubt I ever will. In all honesty I'd prefer to spend the convention fee, hotel fee, gas costs etc. on books, not a convention. It would be hundreds of dollars for me to go to our local one.

[Guest]

I went before we started homeschooling to see what they were all about and wasn't super impressed with the cost and the convention as a whole. (I don't care for many of the religious views that the organization and speakers hold.) I went again last year because my friend wanted to make it a girl's weekend and stay at a great hotel. That part was fun, the convention was "eh". So, no, I don't see them as crucial, and I definitely wouldn't use curriculum funds to go to one. I also have access to almost every curriculum imaginable via friends, so that helps.

[Colleen in NS]

I am facing the decision of whether to go up to Conn. to the big conference, and I am debating how necessary going to a conference really is in the big scheme of things...They have really great speakers and I have never been to a big conference before (they cancelled last year's on us :()...

 

Anyhow, I am wondering if going to a conference is worth the loss of homeschooling dollars if you have to stay in a hotel in another state to go to the conference?...Do you feel inspired, motivated, or whatever, enough to make the cost worth it?...I know there is no one best answer for everyone, I am just wondering how others see it since I am not 100% sure how I feel about it...I would really love to go to some of those classes though ;)

 

For me it depends which conference. I had never been to one until 2009 (homeschooling since 2003), when I went to the WTM anniversary conference. And yes, it was worth every penny to me to get there. I found the cheapest hotel, flights, and rental vehicle I could find. We sacrificed to get me there (from Nova Scotia, Canada) - I considered it teacher training time that I had never experienced before, and I was not disappointed. Throughout the weekend, several of us WTM boardies hung out together at different times. After it was over, I went out to a Thai restaurant with one of the ladies, and had the most wonderful conversation. These ladies "got" me - fellow passionate classical schoolers. It was a real boost to my confidence in educating my kids. Sure, the audios came out soon afterwards and I could have bought them instead (I bought them anyway, lol) - but being there with other Moms in the same boat was a huge boost to me. I'm not a curriculum junkie - I went for the professional development and camaraderie.

 

Yes, SWB is teaching 6 classes at this convention...Lots of speakers will be there, including Michael Clay Thompson, Andrew Kern, and Jim Weiss...

 

I got a notice the other day about the workshops SWB is doing - all are excellent. I loved hearing Jim Weiss at the WTM anniv. conf., too - very practical and down to earth man.

 

Darn, I keep wavering back and forth about trying to get myself to the Hartford convention!! My brother even lives near the city, so I'd have a free place to stay!!

[KrissiK]

I've gone to a couple. The seminars.... meh! I could have done a better job teaching them! I enjoyed myself in amongst the vendors. The key note sessions were.... well, some were good, some were not. The best part was meeting up with my best girlfriend and hanging out, making fun of the seminar leaders (I'm sorry, but we did, I guess it's a throwback from when we were in high school and made fun of our teachers :D) and going out to lunch. If I were going to go to a convention now, I'd make sure it was far away from here, get a hotel room, invite my best girlfriend who also homeschools, ditch the convention and go shopping!

[besroma]

I have never been, and lived only an hour away from the largest one in the Southeast!

 

I did have some friends who went mainly to hear the speakers.

[birchbark]

I love going. It is a shot in the arm and the second-most important source of hs-ing info for me after this forum. DH and I always set aside the funds and go together. We travel 2 hrs and stay in a hotwire hotel. It makes a great getaway and time to focus on our goals as a family.

 

I'm also the type who needs to hold curriculum in my hands. I love shopping for curriculum where I can actually hold it and page through. And you can't beat the used book sales. I always find some treasures there.

 

And then there is the social aspect. We live rurally and it is great to run into long-distance, like-minded friends at the conference.

 

I enjoy it enough that I wish there were two a year, not just one. I've been blessed to hear many good speakers there.

[kolamum]

:lol: Too bad there's not an other! I don't have the opportunity to go to these, most people aren't willing to come to my small island. ;)

[Janice in NJ]

I usually left super early in the morning and just drove, so there was no hotel bill. (I went to the one in PA because it was the biggest one around with the most vendors.)

 

I found it very energizing. Just to be away from my kids for a whole day was great. ;)

 

I went to hear as many speakers as I could.

 

I found the whole experience really helped me to re-focus on my personal goals; sometimes my goals aligned with what I was hearing, but often I disagreed with what I was hearing. Either way, the process of engaging with another human being (or many of them) in a non-virtual way really helped me recharge and get my bearings.

 

The homeschooling movement is HUGE. HUGELY huge! The active voices on these boards are really such a tiny, tiny segment of the population You choose to step into conversations on a message board one at a time. You either listen in or you participate. Being at a homeschool convention always reminded me (in a big way!) that classical education is a tiny subset of homeschooling. AND the active voices on these boards are very, very few compared to the total number of voices out there. Just the number of faces in the crowd. Astounding.

 

For example, on the Curriculum Boards, there is a post titled "What's the worst educational/HS item you've every bought?" It has over 65,000 reads. On the boards that's a number. Just digits. In real life (apart from the machines that scan the net gathering data) those are people clicking and reading. Faces. There are 365 replies for that thread. Over 65,000 reads. Who are those people?

 

There are 33,460 members on these boards at the time of this post. That doesn't count the number of people who read but never join. If you sort board members according to the number of posts, the most active member has nearly 25,000 posts. The 1,501st most active member has 541. The 3,001st member has only 156. The 3,346th most active member has 121 posts. (That's the cutoff for the top 10%.) There are a total of 3,734,684 posts so far. If all members exercised an equal voice, there would be 112 posts per person.

 

That says a lot about the shear volume of folks that have little-to-no real presence here. They are here, but they are not.

 

When you go to a convention, they are all there. All of the faces. It's a totally different community experience.

 

It was good for me to go when my kids were little. (Since then I have helped to organize and have worked at conventions. I don't do it anymore, but it was a good thing for me to be involved with at the time.)

 

Peace,

Janice

 

Enjoy your little people

Enjoy your journey

Edited April 18, 2012 by Janice in NJ

[FairyMom]

I'm glad for these warnings. I have been so tempted figuring there might be some aspects I'd like. I suspected otherwise though.

 

You know, if SWB would speak at my local convention, I might consider going back... might. It's two hours away and extremely conservative. None of the materials I am interested in looking through are there anyway, so SWB would be the only reason to go.

[mytwomonkeys]

i've been to one in sacramento. it was really overwhelming, but that's when my daughter was only 4 & it was just too much to take in (especially the curriculum booths). i've not been to another one since. however, i would attend one again if it was close enough. for me, it just isn't something that i feel the need to plan for, arrange hotel accommodations, etc.

[M&M]

I have met some amazing friends at homeschool conferences including some people from this board. By deciding to attend HEAV in Va, I was able to meet a very dear friend and spend some time with SWB, have lunch with Voddie Baucham, and get a chance to really see things I might want to purchase. I was sold on AG by attending the author 's workshop and have picked up some great resources that I would not have know about. I also like to hear speakers that challenge me and helpe to focus on the big picture.

 

I am hoping to go to CT. I am looking forward to seeing SWB, the Sommervilles, and I plan to spend a lot of time at the CIRCE booth. I'm still debating if I will go to ENOCH.

 

Maybe I'll see you there!

[Aspasia]

I just went to my first one and I really loved it. I didn't buy anything from the curriculum fair because the prices weren't any better than online. I did buy a bunch of awesome stuff from the used curriculum fair. I don't think the curriculum fair and whether or not you want to buy anything should be the deciding factor in whether or not you go to a conference. If you don't trust yourself, then just bring cash in the exact amount you're willing to spend. But I thought the speakers were really helpful and there are always great ideas and insights out there that you haven't heard and that may not have made it to your favorite websites yet. Mostly, it was just nice to be around other homeschoolers. It made me feel like less of a freak.

[staceyobu]

I've only been to one, and I feel like it was more of a hindrance than a help. I went when my oldest was four, so it may have been worse since I didn't really know where to start.

 

Basically, I didn't like talking with curriculum vendors who all had the product to sell that would make your child the smartest, best Christian, etc, etc. It seemed sorta difficult to look at things with the constant sales pitch.

 

I also left really confused because some of the main curriculum we looked at (MFW, sonlight, etc) insisted that I start my upcoming k'er with beginning phonics. She tested at a junior high reading level near the beginning of k, so it wasn't helpful advice... but everyone made me feel like skipping her past anything was a mistake. And, I was too new to know who was wrong... me or them.

 

It would probably be more fun to go now, when I'm a bit more confident in where my kids are at and what they need. But, I would see it as going for fun... not vital to anything!

[MerryAtHope]

I didn't answer, because for me it has depended on the year. Some years I didn't need them at all. Some years, I really needed to see some curriculum in person--online samples were not enough. Those times I usually went to local conventions, but did pay to stay in a hotel once (one convention I've been to several times is near my SIL's house, so I take the whole family there & then leave to go to the convention--what a blessing!). A few years I really needed some encouragement and I wanted to hear speakers for various other reasons--to understand more about the author of a curriculum and his or her thought process, to learn more about a certain topic, etc...

 

I wouldn't travel out of state unless the convention was awesome--huge vendor hall, great speakers etc...

 

I always go with a plan of what I want to look at, what I want to purchase, and who I want to hear. I don't go just because the convention exists--make sense? But if I'm going anyway, I might try some speakers I don't know, mixed in with the ones I do know, depending on the topic.

 

HTH some! Merry :-)

[TheAutumnOak]

It sounds like many of you have had bad convention experiences...My local was so so when I went, but the Royal Fireworks Press one I went to last year was amazing!...I was so glad that I went...I guess I am imagining this one in Conn. to be like that but bigger :) ...

 

I am on the fence because I actually went to a very small conference in March where SWB was a speaker, and she taught many classes at the RFWP mini conference I went to last year...I loved her classes and think she is a great speaker...So is Michael Clay Thompson and Jim Weiss (who is such a wonderful man by the way)...Since I have heard these people speak before, I really want to hear them again since a few of the classes they are teaching is different from the ones I have already heard...There are also other people I have never heard that might be great to listen to as well ;)...But then there is the thought in my mind that I have heard these people before...

[mom31257]

I voted that I would go to local, but I wish there had been an other option. If there were no homeschool conferences close to me, I would want to spend money on hotel the years I felt I needed it most, but I probably wouldn't be able to every year. I really, really enjoy homeschool conferences. I feel I leave renewed, challenged, and excited all over again. I've never really had a bad convention experience, and I was at the Greenville conference last year with all the controversy! I love looking at new curricula that I might not have known about. I love getting free shipping on the things I know I want to order. I love the atmosphere and seeing so many others doing what I feel called to do, too.

 

Thankfully we have family spread out in a few states, so I could go stay with them to be able to go to them. I wanted to go to Cincinnati this year, but we have obligations here.

[April Walker]

But I only go every other year or so.

[Heather in OK]

Not a fan.

 

And it depends on who they have speaking. Many of the usual HS convention speakers do not hold beliefs that I do in regards to marriage, family, and/or parenting.

[fractalgal]

I am facing the decision of whether to go up to Conn. to the big conference, and I am debating how necessary going to a conference really is in the big scheme of things...They have really great speakers and I have never been to a big conference before (they cancelled last year's on us :()...

 

Anyhow, I am wondering if going to a conference is worth the loss of homeschooling dollars if you have to stay in a hotel in another state to go to the conference?...Do you feel inspired, motivated, or whatever, enough to make the cost worth it?...I know there is no one best answer for everyone, I am just wondering how others see it since I am not 100% sure how I feel about it...I would really love to go to some of those classes though ;)

 

I do think home school conferences can be motivating with a good speaker, and I do pick up some workbooks at conferences rather than pay for shipping if it turns out to be less expensive that way.

 

It's wise to go with a plan (or possibly a list) of what you need. There will be plenty of wants around to tempt you, and it's easy to overspend.

 

At a cost of $25, the one I attend is worth it to me. I see many of the same people there, and it is nice to visit and see how things are going for them. But I would only go to one if it is local, and not pay to stay the night.

[ScoutTN]

I'd like to go to a big one like GHC, but haven't been able to yet.

I'm sure I would enjoy it and learn some things, but it isn't necessary for our homeschool by any means. I have many homeschooling friends and a community

rich in resources. If I were isolated, it would be more important to me.

[Mommy22alyns]

Yes, SWB is teaching 6 classes at this convention...Lots of speakers will be there, including Michael Clay Thompson, Andrew Kern, and Jim Weiss...

 

 

Well, then, I would GO! If SWB had been at the MidSouth conference, I would have made the drive.

[MrsMe]

Our conventions are extremely uplifting and inspiring. They are a time where mom can have alone time and rejuvinate. I wouldn't miss a homeschool convention unless I was sick. I just feel too rejuvinated after I leave.

 

I would not go to another state on a regular basis, but if there was one close within a reasonable drive I would. Ours is in a city 2 hours away and every year I go.

[ALB]

Having never been, they don't seem immensely important to me. I would like to attend one if the opportunity arose (ie., one on my continent :001_smile:).

[curriculumhoarder]

I've never been. The big one near me is waaay too limited in it's theology and is very expensive, so I've never truly considered going without a free pass. There is a smaller one that is much more open but the drive is long and I've never made it.

 

Would I like to go to a good one? Sure! But, obviously, I don't feel like it's vital or even all that important.