Cincinnati Homeschool Convention

This year, I had the chance to go to the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention. This convention was so GOOD! Last year, 3 of us went to the Chicago convention, and it was weird. This convention seemed to have a better balance of people. Plus, it was humongous!!!! There were SO MANY people there. Like so many that people had to wait in huge lines just to get on the escalator because too many people were on it at once. Woa.

When I came home, someone asked me what was the one thing that stuck out to me this year. My answer was that we need to have more children after a little break. Don't know how much of that was just emotion and how much was revelation, but that's how I felt! I heard so many stories of multi-level homeschooling with older kids working with/entertaining/teaching younger kids. Our kids are pretty close together...uh, 4 kids in 5 years, so I really think that this would benefit our children. We'll see!

I went to all of Amanda Bennett's classes. She talked about getting ready for college (I know, a bit early, right?) and just general tips for homeschooling. She talked about how to fit unit studies in through high school. The main thing I got there was how important it is to teach my children how to love learning and to seek out information for themselves. And that my kids can do unit studies and go to college, too!

I went to a lot of spelling/grammer classes as this seems to be a problem for us. I actually purchased a curriculum and am hoping to use it to improve spelling as well as teach Sammy how to read. It's called All About Spelling found here. First you teach all the phonograms using a flashcard system. Then, use them to read and learn the rules of spelling. At least, I think that's how it works. We haven't started it yet:) But I am excited...plus the author of the program, Maria Rippel is from Eagle River, WI, our favorite vacation spot of all time! It's such a small world:)

I enjoyed a class about time management, though it wasn't what I expected. I received some great advice, not necessarily from the speaker, though he said many good things as well.

I spent hours in the Expo Hall looking at all the vendors. I didn't spend nearly as much as I did during my very first Convention, but I spent plenty. It was so much fun to see all the things available to homeschoolers there. I also LOVED watching people. Homeschooling brings in the widest variety of people-it was amazing!

My friend and I spent 2 nights with my brother that lives close to Cincy. THAT was a blast! Whenever I am around my siblings, I just laugh and laugh. I love it...though it did make it hard to get to early classes when we all went to be around 2am!

I took pages and pages of notes and hope they will be helpful. But I think the main reason I like to go is to get excited, again! It's easy to get burned out...especially when the weather starts to get nice. I love that the convention helps me to stay on task, but also reassures me that ALL the time I spend with my kids will benefit them in years to come, not just the time where we are sitting down doing school work. It was a fabulous weekend!

This week was supposed to be our week off, but I decided to go ahead and school this week and take next week off. We are doing Easter and it is a sweet topic. I love watching my babies build and share their testimonies.

I switched the weeks of school because my sister and 2 brothers are coming into town next week and I plan to be down at my parents for all the action:) So, no school next week, some cleaning and clearing out, and then family from Thursday on. I CAN NOT WAIT!! :)