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Thank you SWB for coming to Texas!!

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readwithem

readwithem

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I don’t make it here very often since I retired from homeschooling a few years ago. But I thought I’d share about our weekend at THSC in Houston. My 20 yo dd really wanted to hear SWB and we have lots of friends in Houston; she and I road trip well together, so off we went.

 

Even though I had heard SWB many times previously, it was really good to hear her updated talks and catch up with what’s happening with her kids. My friends (all of whom are younger and newer to hs’ing) LOVED hearing her, many for the first time. After her last talk (on self-education) the woman behind me commented to her friend, "She is such a great speaker!" ;)

 

And meeting Martin Cothran was the icing on my dd’s cake. :)

 

And for those who remember Robin in TX, we ran into her, which was lovely. She doesn't make it here that often, but she is her same bubbly, cheerful, smiley, energetic self!

 

After the conference we went to visit a friend who heard SWB speak for the first time. She had bought WEM and they threw in the first two books (Don Quixote and Pilgrim’s Progress) for free! What a nice touch.

 

THANK YOU so much SWB, for including Texas in your conference schedule this year!! We had a fabulous weekend.

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Juniper

Juniper

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I have a funny story to tell about the conference. I dragged my dh with me on day two, and he really enjoyed SWB's sessions. Afterwards we went to Staples and my son was obnoxiously clamoring for his allowance. I did not want to give it to him, because he had not been doing the two things he was supposed to: Get up with his alarm and complete his new chore checklist.

 

My dh looks at me and says, "Honey, don't you think you are asking him to do two new things at the same time. I don't think Susan would approve." ;)

 

Hubby has a wicked sarcastic sense of humor, so he was throughly enjoying using what he had learned against me. :lol:

 

I had planned on bringing SWB a nice gift, but ds 10 decided to contract some virus and has been running a 104.5 degree temp ever since. ;(

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GoVanGogh

GoVanGogh

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Thank you so much for coming to Texas, SWB!

 

 

I had not attended the Houston conference prior to this as, honestly, who wants to go to Houston in August?! :lol:

But I so wanted to hear SWB speak before she takes a break from conferences. I own all of her audios and love them, but wanted to hear her in person. I am so glad I went, though I am still kicking myself for not being brave enough to speak to her. :tongue_smilie: (She looked so poised and professional! Me? Not so much.)

I was familiar with the lectures (I have listened to the "real child" one a dozen times :lol:), but it was so different to hear them in person.

 

 

SWB, I loved and appreciated your response to the guy that said/asked, "So, I'm a software engineer, raising a software engineer. Does my kid really need this?"

My DH is a software engineer. DS wants to be an engineer, though probably electrical or mechanical. I have moments of wondering the same thing - does my kid really need this? I know the answer is, "Yes." And my DH would even agree, as he has issues with co-workers that cannot write a complete, coherent sentence. But there are days when it is painfully obvious that DS is a future engineer... (Which is why I have listened to your "real child" audio so many times!)

 

Thanks again, Dr. Bauer. It was truly worth bearing the Houston weather and traffic to hear you speak.

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readwithem

readwithem

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I was familiar with the lectures (I have listened to the "real child" one a dozen times :lol:), but it was so different to hear them in person.

 

:iagree: It was so fun to see her facial expressions :)

 

 

SWB, I loved and appreciated your response to the guy that said/asked, "So, I'm a software engineer, raising a software engineer. Does my kid really need this?"

 

Yep. I loved her asking the mom to take the baby out of the room - we were a few rows in front of her and were having a hard time hearing. She was polite, respectful, but to the point.:001_smile:

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readwithem

readwithem

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It was truly wonderful, even though I have heard her several times before and read . . . pretty much everything she has written.

 

yep, I tried to find something I "needed" to buy from her booth to thank them for being there, but I own everything she's written already, sigh... (except for her novels....)

 

Martin Cothran (Memorial Press) said they were there because of SWB - they were on the waiting list for having a booth and PHP went to bat for them.

 

How in the world were there booths about insurance when MP was on the waiting list?:001_huh:

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GoVanGogh

GoVanGogh

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yep, I tried to find something I "needed" to buy from her booth to thank them for being there, but I own everything she's written already, sigh... (except for her novels....)

 

Martin Cothran (Memorial Press) said they were there because of SWB - they were on the waiting list for having a booth and PHP went to bat for them.

 

How in the world were there booths about insurance when MP was on the waiting list?

This was the first conference my husband has attended. He was floored by the insurance booths! And... The booth selling large bags of wheat... And the number of people walking around carrying large bags of wheat! :lol: And MP was on a waiting list?! :001_huh:

I so wanted to buy something from PHP and MP, but realized :001_huh: I own nearly everything. (Well, MP has a few newer products we don't own, but they were for younger or older children.)

 

It was so fun to see her facial expressions :)
Wasn't it?

When she was describing the dreamer child who is mentally off in a valley with a unicorn... I nearly died laughing. That is so my son. Well, the reality is: I have one child who is the dreamer, the rabbit and the turtle... Depends on his day. :tongue_smilie: And - yes - it is painful to watch him put on socks.

Her facial expressions and hand gestures were wonderful to watch. Like I mentioned earlier, I have listened to all her audios so was fairly familiar with the sessions - but seeing her body language as she spoke was fascinating.

 

I loved her asking the mom to take the baby out of the room - we were a few rows in front of her and were having a hard time hearing. She was polite, respectful, but to the point.:001_smile:
There was a post earlier this year (or last year?) about crying babies at another conference. I think it was mentioned then that she should lob tennis balls at the offending mothers. :lol: Maybe it was water balloons. I couldn't remember the specifics of that post, but thinking about it made me giggle.
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bobbeym

bobbeym

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When she was describing the dreamer child who is mentally off in a valley with a unicorn... I nearly died laughing.

:iagree: My DIL was with me and she is my dreamer child. She had so much fun pointing out where my DSes fell into all those categories. :D

 

This was my first homeschool conference but I am so glad I went and so very glad I had the chance to hear SWB speak. She has completely changed my perspective on teaching the high school years and I have so much more confidence in myself. Listening to her also gave me some great insights into DS14 and how we need to proceed to catch him up to pace.

 

I only wish DH could have attended so everyone could have drilled into his head that it's all about matching the curriculum to the learning styles of the child! That is the one area where we clash all the time. :glare:

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GoVanGogh

GoVanGogh

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Could you share her response to this question?
Yes.

Part 1: She said that she would hate to limit a child's potential based off their interests/passions before college age. What if child is leaning towards engineering all their teen years, then decides to do something radically different?

Part 2: It will never hurt a child to know how to read, write, think and communicate well.

(That is to the best of my memory. DH and I were talking about it afterward and that may have clouded some of my memory.)

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Juniper

Juniper

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This was the first conference my husband has attended. He was floored by the insurance booths! And... The booth selling large bags of wheat... And the number of people walking around carrying large bags of wheat! :lol: And MP was on a waiting list?! :001_huh:

I so wanted to buy something from PHP and MP, but realized :001_huh: I own nearly everything. (Well, MP has a few newer products we don't own, but they were for younger or older children.)

 

 

This was my husbands first as well and he was a bit :blink: at the majority of booths.

 

He did have fun opening the guide book thingy to last page where next years speakers were lined up. He leans over and shows it to me and says, "Ooooh, honey aren't you excited!!!!" I will not be attending next year:glare:, but this was nice and I got to hear completely different talks than last year.

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Juniper

Juniper

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Yes.

Part 1: She said that she would hate to limit a child's potential based off their interests/passions before college age. What if child is leaning towards engineering all their teen years, then decides to do something radically different?

Part 2: It will never hurt a child to know how to read, write, think and communicate well.

(That is to the best of my memory. DH and I were talking about it afterward and that may have clouded some of my memory.)

 

I think there was something in there about the unpredictability of life (what if they can't go into that field for some reason?) and it is not going to hurt the child to have what he needs to get a college degree.

Edited by Juniper
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GoVanGogh

GoVanGogh

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Could you share her response to this question?
I just searched for a couple posts that I remembered were somewhat related to this questions:

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=396665&highlight=engineer

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=266755&highlight=engineer

 

He did have fun opening the guide book thingy to last page where next years speakers were lined up. He leans over and shows it to me and says, "Ooooh, honey aren't you excited!!!!" I will not be attending next year:glare:, but this was nice and I got to hear completely different talks than last year.
DH said he wanted to make this conference an annual thing. But I looked at the keynote speakers for next year and said, "Um. No, thanks." :glare: I only went to hear SWB.

 

I think there was something in there about the unpredictability of life (what if they can't go into that field for som reason?) and it is not going to hurt the child to have what he needs to get a college degree.
Yes, the unpredictability of life sounds familiar.

I just looked over my notes, but didn't write anything down for the Q&A part.

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Twigs

Twigs

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Yes.

Part 1: She said that she would hate to limit a child's potential based off their interests/passions before college age. What if child is leaning towards engineering all their teen years, then decides to do something radically different?

Part 2: It will never hurt a child to know how to read, write, think and communicate well.

(That is to the best of my memory. DH and I were talking about it afterward and that may have clouded some of my memory.)

 

I think there was something in there about the unpredictability of life (what if they can't go into that field for some reason?) and it is not going to hurt the child to have what he needs to get a college degree.

 

I just searched for a couple posts that I remembered were somewhat related to this questions:

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=396665&highlight=engineer

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=266755&highlight=engineer

 

DH said he wanted to make this conference an annual thing. But I looked at the keynote speakers for next year and said, "Um. No, thanks." :glare: I only went to hear SWB.

 

Yes, the unpredictability of life sounds familiar.

I just looked over my notes, but didn't write anything down for the Q&A part.

 

Thanks!

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Singingmom

Singingmom

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:iagree:

 

No way would I go next year with the current line up. :001_rolleyes:

 

Would someone mind listing the current line up of speakers for next year? We will be living there in the Woodlands area next year, and I was hoping to attend. I hope it will be worth attending :bigear: .

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