s/o s/o crying kids at homeschool conventions

[bethben]

What was the weirdest or just plain out uncomfortable speaker/ homeschool convention you went to?  

 

I remember being enticed by a speaker who I thought was going to talk about a homeschool related topic and it turned into a marriage talk.  I can't remember who they were, but basically, it was a talk on how to keep your marriage strong even when homeschooling.  The wife was one of these do it all type people who was running a business for a curriculum that she developed.  They started talking about how their marriage suffered and now they are much better.  They then proceeded trying to one up each other on the podium about how much better they were acting than their spouse.  Very passive aggressive.  I remember wanting to yell out, "You have a lot more work to do on this marriage thing!!!!  Maybe you shouldn't be talking about this in public yet!!!"  It was very uncomfortable sitting in the audience watching them have a passive aggressive fight on stage for 45 minutes.

[Mom22ns]

For me it was a seminar that was supposed to be on preparing a transcript. The speaker said transcripts are easy, showed a sample and talked about it for maybe 5 min, then admitted she just put that in the title because everyone shows up for it. I don't remember what she talked about for the rest of the hour, but it had nothing to do with transcripts and I was totally annoyed.

[Guest]

There was one I went to and the information was actually very interesting, but the speaker o-ver e-nun-ci-a-ted every single syllable in every word. It was very clipped, very fake, and so distracting. It reminded me of the tricks we used to practice in speech and debate to make us better speakers, but we weren't actually supposed to use them IN the debate. It's like she didn't get the memo. She's very popular though, so maybe I'm just picky. 

[OneStepAtATime]

Speaker who was supposed to talk about resources for helping homeschooling kids that struggle and especially kids with dyslexia.  

 

She had no idea what she was talking about, when people asked her questions she couldn't answer them, she knew far less than I did (and I was just starting on our journey with dyslexia since DD had only been diagnosed a few months prior), and her list of resources was out of date by years.  She got irritated when people asked for more details or more current information and acted like she had done us all a favor just by trying to cover the topic.  Turns out she doesn't have any kids that struggle, she doesn't know anyone with kids that have LDs (I bet she does but she doesn't realize it), and she was only covering the topic because she was one of the organizers and she decided that someone should cover this topic.  She tossed together the resources at the last minute and apparently didn't expect that many to show up.  There were actually quite a few.  I ended up staying an extra half hour after she left trying to help other parents like me who were desperate for answers/help/reassurance/resources.  I didn't know much but I knew enough to at least point others in the direction of better answers.  It was really irritating and a bit demoralizing.

[Jess4879]

I went to a talk given by a local author -- he speaks at a LOT of our homeschool gatherings.  He was supposed to be giving a talk about how to encourage reluctant writers.  His suggestions were all geared towards boys and getting them to write about pee, poop and farts.  He also went off on several self-promoting tangents about books he had written.  I am sure the distaste was a personal preference on my part, as people rave about him here.  He's done multiple lectures and even classes for the kids....we won't ever be in attendance...but there you have it. LOL

[Tenaj]

 I was in a session with the owner of a popular curriculum who actually came right out and said that if you want to be a successful homeschooler and have smart kids the only way to do that was to use that curriculum.  Then they proceeded to name other curriculums that wouldn't give you same outcome.  I will never go to a session by that person again because of the arrogance they displayed.  It was really bad and there were all these other people in there just smiling and agreeing along with the speaker.  Blah!    I've never been tempted to go to another session by that particular person again even though the curriculum is usually one I consider quite often.

 

 

[Squawky Acres]

We attended a family conference led by a well-known husband/wife/family team, who arrived in a fancy tour bus.  The wife was lovely in person, but the husband was sneering, ignorant, and condescending.  I kept wishing she had left him on the tour bus!  It completely colored my enjoyment of their books, as I realized that she must have heavily edited out his tone in their jointly-authored works.

 

Then, they split up the men to go with the husband, the women to listen to the wife, and the school-aged children to go with their teenagers.  I found it strange to be so split up as a family at a family conference, but I was touched and deeply grateful when my DH came in (completely unprompted) to take the baby out for me so that I could enjoy the rest of the wife's sessions in peace.  He proceeded to walk the halls with the baby for the next two hours.  It turned out that he found the husband so condescending and personally irritating that he was afraid he would say something he regretted, so he thought the baby would be a convenient excuse to sit out for the rest of them.

 

ETA:  Sorry, I should add that my baby was doing just fine looking at picture books and playing with the trains I had brought, and was NOT crying.  I would have promptly brought him out if he had been disturbing the session.

Edited May 24, 2016 by Squawky Acres

[Squawky Acres]

I wonder if we're talking about the same people.

 

It sounds like our experiences were similar, but these speakers weren't in the "classical" camp, so they are probably not the same people.  

[luuknam]

 I was in a session with the owner of a popular curriculum who actually came right out and said that if you want to be a successful homeschooler and have smart kids the only way to do that was to use that curriculum.  Then they proceeded to name other curriculums that wouldn't give you same outcome.  I will never go to a session by that person again because of the arrogance they displayed.  It was really bad and there were all these other people in there just smiling and agreeing along with the speaker.  Blah!    I've never been tempted to go to another session by that particular person again even though the curriculum is usually one I consider quite often.

 

I'm just dying to know who had that much arrogance.

[Rebel Yell]

I'm just dying to know who had that much arrogance.

Me too! PM me?

[bethben]

I'm curious as well.  I can't remember who my people were who had the marital argument during their session.  

[HS Mom in NC]

Well the last time  Mike Smith from HSLDA and I were at the AZ Homeschool Convention at the same time (within the last 8 years or so) he went on and on with stories from back in the 1980s about parents being arrested or threatened with prison and that's why the audience needed to join HSLDA.  Um, no Mike, in the second decade of the 21st century, in one of the least regulated states with the most school choice in the nation, we don't need to join for that reason.  That's a scare tactic, and while it's theoretically possible some federal legislation could come along and cause us problems, you need to address current reasons for joining, not giving us reasons for joining a generation ago. 

Then another couple had a workshop on teaching financial skills to your teens which just turned out to be a parenting class and a not-every-needs-to-go-college talk that had very little to do with actual financial training. 

Then there was the workshop for homeschooling leaders that spent the whole time lamenting the decline of general, in person homeschool support groups and the growth of online and specialized homeschool support groups.  Um, aren't we supposed to meet the needs of homeschoolers and if that has shifted, then don't we need to shift with it?

Then there was homeschooling through high school panel that had 3 couples in it.  One of those couples had a freshman in high school and the others were planning to homeschool through high school, but had no first hand experience on the topic. Were they filling in for panelists who had graduated kids from homeschool high school?  Was there an outbreak of the flu or something?

A friend of mine once complained that she attended a "How to Design Your Own Curriculum" workshop where the subject was loving God and loving your neighbor and the curriculum was Bible verses and service projects.  OK, well that's great and all, but if you're going to do a workshop on designing your own curriculum, you need to pick a subject more universal and academic like um....reading, math, science, history, language, civics, logic, art, etc.
 

[Tsuga]

We attended a family conference led by a well-known husband/wife/family team, who arrived in a fancy tour bus. The wife was lovely in person, but the husband was sneering, ignorant, and condescending. I kept wishing she had left him on the tour bus! It completely colored my enjoyment of their books, as I realized that she must have heavily edited out his tone in their jointly-authored works.

 

Then, they split up the men to go with the husband, the women to listen to the wife, and the school-aged children to go with their teenagers. I found it strange to be so split up as a family at a family conference, but I was touched and deeply grateful when my DH came in (completely unprompted) to take the baby out for me so that I could enjoy the rest of the wife's sessions in peace. He proceeded to walk the halls with the baby for the next two hours. It turned out that he found the husband so condescending and personally irritating that he was afraid he would say something he regretted, so he thought the baby would be a convenient excuse to sit out for the rest of them.

 

ETA: Sorry, I should add that my baby was doing just fine looking at picture books and playing with the trains I had brought, and was NOT crying. I would have promptly brought him out if he had been disturbing the session.

Your husband sounds great.

 

Also, these stories sound dreadful. Sometimes I wonder how people like this even manage to get so successful in life. Do they know people or is that all humanity's got?

[AimeeM]

 I was in a session with the owner of a popular curriculum who actually came right out and said that if you want to be a successful homeschooler and have smart kids the only way to do that was to use that curriculum.  Then they proceeded to name other curriculums that wouldn't give you same outcome.  I will never go to a session by that person again because of the arrogance they displayed.  It was really bad and there were all these other people in there just smiling and agreeing along with the speaker.  Blah!    I've never been tempted to go to another session by that particular person again even though the curriculum is usually one I consider quite often.

Oh, I'm dying to know, too. 

[UCF612]

I'm dying to know who some of these speakers are! I sat through one that got very political, I wasn't expecting that and I didn't agree with most of it so that was awkward.

[bethben]

I figured out mine.  It was the Konos author.  Their seminar was:  "Looking Back: What We Would Change".  It seemed to me that there was still change going on and they needed to look at their present day.  Looking back was doing them no favors at the time.

 

[Excelsior! Academy]

We attended a family conference led by a well-known husband/wife/family team, who arrived in a fancy tour bus.  The wife was lovely in person, but the husband was sneering, ignorant, and condescending.  I kept wishing she had left him on the tour bus!  It completely colored my enjoyment of their books, as I realized that she must have heavily edited out his tone in their jointly-authored works.

 

Then, they split up the men to go with the husband, the women to listen to the wife, and the school-aged children to go with their teenagers.  I found it strange to be so split up as a family at a family conference, but I was touched and deeply grateful when my DH came in (completely unprompted) to take the baby out for me so that I could enjoy the rest of the wife's sessions in peace.  He proceeded to walk the halls with the baby for the next two hours.  It turned out that he found the husband so condescending and personally irritating that he was afraid he would say something he regretted, so he thought the baby would be a convenient excuse to sit out for the rest of them.

 

ETA:  Sorry, I should add that my baby was doing just fine looking at picture books and playing with the trains I had brought, and was NOT crying.  I would have promptly brought him out if he had been disturbing the session.

 

 

I think I have been to the same conference.  My opinion is very much like yours!!

 

The family in question still has an active blog.  Is that correct?

[Squawky Acres]

I think I have been to the same conference.  My opinion is very much like yours!!

 

The family in question still has an active blog.  Is that correct?

 

Yes - they do have a blog, and still seem to be active.  The name for their site is a chapter of the New Testament.

[bethben]

Yes - they do have a blog, and still seem to be active.  The name for their site is a chapter of the New Testament.

 

I figured it out...I too went to a seminar of theirs and remember thinking she had the submissive wife doormat feel to her until she spoke and then you knew she was the one with the ideas.  I saw them speak together which was also awkward because the husband was clearly the head of the house yet she was the one behind the whole thing.  Never did use their stuff - too structured.

[Michelle My Bell]

I hosted a semi-large conference by the submissive wife and arrogant dad  mentioned above at the church my now exhusband was a pastor at years ago. We had never heard them speak but I did enjoy their blog at the time which was mostly moderated by their daughter. We almost got kicked out of our church for the "legalistic" ideas that were presented. I really had no idea they were going to act the way they did and I regretted it greatly.

 

[Renai]

Is it against the rules to name these people? I am not good at reading between the lines at all.

 

 

 

Says the person who has nothing to contribute, but has been following this thread...:D

[J-rap]

It was the first line of the first convention I ever attended.  The keynote speaker got on the stage and said something like, "It feels so good to finally be in a room full of just Republicans again!"

 

I'm not a Republican, so there's that.  But then I also thought, way to go turning homeschooling into a political group, buddy!  I actually never went to a convention again after that.  (That was really the only one our state had to offer.)

Edited May 31, 2016 by J-rap

[Huntera]

The B-kins are the most arrogant, self-congratulatory family I have ever met.  As Geoff talked societal revolution, I kept thinking how much he looks like Lenin.

[Squawky Acres]

Is it against the rules to name these people? I am not good at reading between the lines at all.

 

 

 

Says the person who has nothing to contribute, but has been following this thread... :D

 

 

I'm sorry to be cryptic.  I do feel bad calling people out . . . but if it can help another WTM-er avoid a wasted conference day, I am happy to help.  It was the Maxwells I had seen, but I am sure there are other similar submissive wife/arrogant husband couples doing the conference circuit.