Part 3: Our First Year Homeschooling--how did it go?
Last year a few of my friends, also homeschoolers, went to Cincinnati to a huge homeschool convention. I chose not to go because I was about to embark on our first year, and I had a feeling the convention would just make me feel even more overwhelmed and inadequate! However, when it came time this year I was all set and ready to go! A) It was a fun weekend away with friends and B) wow! I learned a lot!!
My 3 good friends and I headed down to Cincinnati to be part of the Great Homeschool Conventions that took place in April. Between us there are 11 kids, 10 of which are girls, Ben, our son, being the only boy! Ages range from almost 2 to almost 12!
We stayed in a hotel a block or so from the convention building, had so much fun, and learned so very much. And, as a side note, I'm so glad I didn't go last year! Sessions started at 8:00 a.m. and there were a good 15 sessions held every hour. You could choose anything from parenting classes to curriculum guidance sessions. It was overwhelming how many things you could choose. Since there was so much to choose from we all pretty much went our separate ways and met up for meals, which you had to take the initiative to schedule for yourself as sessions went every hour for 12 hours!
I sat in on some fascinating sessions. One of my favorites was a listening to Michael Gurian talk about the differences of the male and female brain. I went to 2 different sessions on this and could have sat through all of his stuff! After hearing him speak I felt more prepared to parent/teach my daughters and son.
Along with all the sessions was a VERY large and FULL exhibit hall with anything and everything you could ever imagine needing for homeschooling. It was CRAZY!!!!! I want to say it was about a mile long this hall, and I'm not sure that's much of an exaggeration. It was very overwhelming everything that was there. Thankfully, my friends had warned me and suggested not trying to buy anything this first time going. They also suggested having a "plan of attack" and know of a few vendors I would want to see and concentrate on them. I'm so glad for that wisdom! I pretty much almost had a panic attack the first time going through it all. There were so many people and so many stalls to go in and out of and just so much stuff. I can see how you could EASILY spend $1000 without realizing it and that being just on extras!
In any case, I had my few people I wanted to talk to and curriculum I wanted to look through with my HANDS (I'm a visual learner and just seeing online isn't enough for me!). After doing this I was able to better think and process and decide what we should be using next year with Cora. I'm so excited for next year!!!! I feel WAY more prepared and feel like we have a good plan and something that is really going to work for us.
Wanna know what we'll be doing next year? Guess what? You have to come back tomorrow! Tee! Hee!
My 3 good friends and I headed down to Cincinnati to be part of the Great Homeschool Conventions that took place in April. Between us there are 11 kids, 10 of which are girls, Ben, our son, being the only boy! Ages range from almost 2 to almost 12!
We stayed in a hotel a block or so from the convention building, had so much fun, and learned so very much. And, as a side note, I'm so glad I didn't go last year! Sessions started at 8:00 a.m. and there were a good 15 sessions held every hour. You could choose anything from parenting classes to curriculum guidance sessions. It was overwhelming how many things you could choose. Since there was so much to choose from we all pretty much went our separate ways and met up for meals, which you had to take the initiative to schedule for yourself as sessions went every hour for 12 hours!
I sat in on some fascinating sessions. One of my favorites was a listening to Michael Gurian talk about the differences of the male and female brain. I went to 2 different sessions on this and could have sat through all of his stuff! After hearing him speak I felt more prepared to parent/teach my daughters and son.
Along with all the sessions was a VERY large and FULL exhibit hall with anything and everything you could ever imagine needing for homeschooling. It was CRAZY!!!!! I want to say it was about a mile long this hall, and I'm not sure that's much of an exaggeration. It was very overwhelming everything that was there. Thankfully, my friends had warned me and suggested not trying to buy anything this first time going. They also suggested having a "plan of attack" and know of a few vendors I would want to see and concentrate on them. I'm so glad for that wisdom! I pretty much almost had a panic attack the first time going through it all. There were so many people and so many stalls to go in and out of and just so much stuff. I can see how you could EASILY spend $1000 without realizing it and that being just on extras!
In any case, I had my few people I wanted to talk to and curriculum I wanted to look through with my HANDS (I'm a visual learner and just seeing online isn't enough for me!). After doing this I was able to better think and process and decide what we should be using next year with Cora. I'm so excited for next year!!!! I feel WAY more prepared and feel like we have a good plan and something that is really going to work for us.
Wanna know what we'll be doing next year? Guess what? You have to come back tomorrow! Tee! Hee!
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