Homeschool Conventions Part 1
Wow, this school year is just running away from me! I could swear that
it is still October. I’ve been getting invitations to book fairs and
making arrangements to attend. This can be a very exciting time of year
for many of us, but it also can be VERY overwhelming.
Most states have fairly large to huge book fairs. I have found that
most new folks end up totally overwhelmed and “fried” long before the
book fair is over. The more seasoned veterans of homeschooling are less
likely to be so overwhelmed, but, face it, it is a long day. Often times
a state book fair is more than one day. They generally schedule workshops
back to back throughout most of the day and evening.
Doesn’t this sound like a great opportunity to see every vendor and
ask every question you ever wanted to know? Actually, that’s the hope,
but the reality is often that there are hundreds to thousands of folks
with the exact same idea as you. Each vendor tries to staff their table
appropriately, but it is not unusual to go to many of the “hot” tables
to find that you can barely take a look at the product, let alone talk
to someone without waiting in line.
I am going to attempt to give you some “insider tips” for walking through
your state book fair in one piece with your sanity and wallet still relatively
in place! The next few weeks we will discuss setting goals, choosing
curriculum and getting the most out of your book fair. Whether or not
you are new to homeschooling, I am hopeful that these newsletters will
better arm you for your next book fair!
This week I want to mention a few things about goal setting. Before
you can see the benefits of a book fair, you need to figure out what
you are hoping to ccomplish there. If you go to a book fair with a plan
to “look around and see what’s out there” curriculum wise without knowing
what you hope to accomplish in your school next year, you are probably
going to “lose it” within the first hours of the book fair. If you have
no idea what kind of school you would “like” to have (our plans should
always be written in pencil), then you will sit through seminar after
seminar and ALL of them will convince you that they are terrific. That’s
because each method of schooling IS terrific for someone. The question
is, which method and what curriculum is ideal for YOU!
So, before you go, have some general ideas in mind. What are the goals
for your school? Do you want to largely work on relationships between
family members this year, then you may want to look for curriculum and
teaching styles that cater more toward “character” training. (Although
that is quite a buzzword lately). If you need to “catch up” on school
or “fill in gaps”, then you may want to lean towards seminars and curriculum
that will encourage you to be more structured. If you know that your
family leans more towards an unschooling approach, then look for great
books that might “trip your child’s trigger”!. I am not saying that you
should never listen anyone else’s opinion, but you should have an idea
of which way you think you are leaning. Otherwise, you may be “sold” on
EVERY teaching method and then come home more confused than when you
originally went!
Book fairs are a great opportunity to meet other homeschoolers, see
curriculum and listen to wonderful seminars. I encourage everyone to
attend their book fairs (both state and local), but I don’t always encourage
folks to BUY curriculum at those book fairs. We’ll talk more about that
after next week in Part 2!
This article was originally published in Homeschooler’s Notebook,
a free newsletter created by veteran homeschooler Lynn Hogan. Sign
up to receive Homeschooler’s Notebook for more great homeschooling resources.
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