It’s January: a time of year when most of us have been thinking about our hopes and plans for the new year. As a home educating mom, these hopes and plans carry over to homeschooling as well. The fact that January hits just about in the middle of my homeschool year gets me re-assessing things, too. That means I’m looking for inspiration and ideas that may help me renew my enthusiasm for the rest of this school year — and the ones to come.
{Having a preschooler = many homeschool years ahead of me, y’all!}
Inspiring books and blogs are great for helping refocus, and time in prayer is essential to seek God’s direction for my home and family. But don’t overlook homeschool conventions as a great source of renewed enthusiasm, too!
Wondering why you should attend a homeschool convention? A few of my favorite reasons:
1) Books! Curriculum!
Seriously, do you need anything more than that? Homeschool moms are [often] curriculum junkies. We can talk favorite curricula for hours with a delighted little gleam in our eyes. Conventions offer you a chance to physically touch and see some of the homeschool curricula you’ve been stalking online! You can talk to knowledgeable folks in the vendor booths, and often you’ll be talking to the owner who was/is a homeschool parent themselves!
Bonus: vendors often have great convention-only deals so it’s a great time to purchase!
2) Answers.
Contrary to what some may think, there are no perfect homeschools, just as there are no perfect families. Homeschool conventions offer workshops with practical advice, and if you take the time to chat with other homeschool families (and the aforementioned curriculum vendors), you have a plethora of brains to pick all right there in one spot. You could find answers to problems you may be having in your homeschool, from how to organize books, to how to teach a reluctant learner — and wisdom in parenting from folks who have been there and done that.
3) Fun!
A homeschool convention can seem overwhelming (all those BOOKS), but it can also be great fun (all those BOOKS!). You can bring a homeschooling friend (or several of them!), make it a date/weekend with your husband, or even make it a family thing. Many conventions offer fun activities for the kids while you’re shopping the vendor hall or attending workshops/sessions. GHC has a Teen Track, and even family comedy night!
4) Encouragement.
Whether a brand new homeschooler or an old pro, we can all use a bit of encouragement to remember WHY we’re doing what we’re doing, and fresh ideas about how to do it. For those still just thinking about it, this is a fantastic place to receive the encouragement that you really can do this!
Still not convinced? Visit this page to read what other homeschool moms say are the best reasons to attend a homeschool convention.
*Note: This is a sponsored post. I’m happy to work with GHC to help share about conventions coming up this year!
Thank you for the great post! My girls are three and almost 2 years old and I plan to start homeschooling kindergarten in about a year and a half (the fall of 2015.) I’m wondering if going to homeschool convention this year would be too soon. What are your thoughts?
I think it would be great for planning. And most convention workshops focus even more on parenting than specific homeschool topics, and you can use that at any age!
Great list! We’ve been debating attending the LEAH Homeschool Conference in Rochester, NY this spring. Our oldest is 4 and while we do a bit of homeschooling, we don’t plan on getting intense with it for at least another year {the fall she’ll turn 6} I’m wondering if it would be good for us to go, given that there will be no pressure.