Homeschool conventions?

Question

My daugher and I are planning on going to a homeschool convention in Maine next month. I have been homeschooling for about a year and this will be the first convention I have gone to.

Have any of you attended conventions before and how where they?

I know they are going to have some speakers that sound interesting. I am concered how bored my seven year old will get during they day though.

Any thoughts on how to get the most out of this experience? I am looking forward to going, but I do not know what to expect. We are staying the night at a hotel near-by. Hopefully there will be some other kids there as well.

Answer 1

I love homeschooling conventions!  Our children are young so we haven't taken any with us yet, but there are always other children there.

The following is an extensive list of preparing for homeschool conferences/conventions.  

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

Here are some tips for navigating a home school book fair, if there is one as a part of the convention.  I'll be adding a free printable to that page tonight.

http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/...

The more prepared you are, the more fun you will have.  I hope this helps.  Enjoy!

Answer 2

I have attended the Home school convention in Florida for 4 years now. I only took my younger child with me for the Friday night session (from 5ish until 9) to let her walk around with me in the hall. After that I just took my teenager . I know at our convention, the had a children's program you could sign them up for. It looked pretty cool but to much like "day care" for our tastes. She stayed with a family friend for the weekend.

On getting as much out of it as you can, wear good walking shoes, bring a pull behind bag or something to carry stuff in, bring mailing labels (you will be asked for your info many times to sign up for drawing, extra info, ect), if you can, get a copy of the itinerary or a schedule ahead of time. Mark the booths you are interested in and find them in the hall so you don't miss anything. There's probably a ton more I could tell you but my family is waiting me to leave!

Good luck!

Answer 3

Very bored unless they have the childrens program which most of them do. Their are a lot of venders there trying to get you interested in their product. There are also some good speakers that will give you some ideas on how things work and the products they use. I personally haven't found them to be that exciting to me, but heh that is just me. You need to go and find out for yourself.

Answer 4

I have gone to convention for the past few years, and am now a convention rep for a curriculum company.  I love it!

The first year, I brought my son and husband, as we were planning to completely switch curriculums.  I had previously made the time-honored faux pas of buying curriculum (like 2-3 complete sets) without bothering to find out if they actually worked for my son...oy.  That was several hundred dollars down the drain, and a year of tears.  

So when we first went to convention, I brought my son around to the booths and had him handle the curriculum, play with the manipulatives, and ask the reps any questions he could think of.  Then, I brought him away from the booths and asked him honestly what he thought - did he like what he saw?  Did it make sense?  Is it something that he'd really like to do, or was it just kind of "eh..."?  This proved to be a great choice of action.  I found out that things I'd been looking at and drooling over didn't interest him at all, and things that I wouldn't have even looked at really made sense to him.  We ended up finding some great curriculum choices and had a much better school year.  Now, I let him get involved in nearly all of his curriculum choices, and school has been much more productive and cheerful ever since :-)

I brought my hubby along so that he could see what this great new world of homeschooling was about, and so I didn't spend the mortgage payment on "great new things" :-)

Let's see...tips:

-Research before you go.  Find out who will be there and look them up on the web.  Request any free catalogs and go through them before convention.  Talk with your daughter and get her thoughts on what sounds good, what sounds "maybe" and what she has no interest in.  Then, make a list, check it twice, and off you go.

-Wear comfortable shoes...you're going to spend a lot of time on your feet :-)

-Know your budget and stick to it, but allow yourself a little wiggle room.  Prioritize the booths in A-B-C...A, gotta have it, go get it first and stick it in the car.  B, it looks good, spend some time talking with the reps and see what they have that will work for you.  C, maybe stop by if you have time.

-Make sure you know what the convention specials are.  Many companies will run sales that only apply to convention - a percentage off, no tax (they cover the tax), no shipping...this can save you some pretty big bucks in the long run.  Figure these savings in.  If you can save $50-100 by getting it at convention, and you know you're going to use it, get it.

-If you see something you love but you know you're not going to use it over the next year, write it down and save it till next year, or the year after.  Get what you need, and what your daughter will use/will love, but remember that convention happens every year :-)

-Take advantage of the reps' knowledge.  That's what we're there for!  Any questions that you have, no matter how silly they might seem, can turn into a conversation that will give you some excellent ideas.

-If a rep is particularly helpful, buy from them - even if another vendor has the product for $3 less across the auditorium.  The $3 is worth the ideas, service, and followup that you'll get :-)

-Keep snacks and water with you.  It can get a little overwhelming, and very little is worse than being in a crowded, large place with low blood sugar.  There are generally concessions available, but they tend to be expensive and not really on the healthy side.

-Just have fun!  Talk with people, get ideas, take good notes, and get charged up for the next semester/year.

Hope that helps!

Answer 5

I have not. I want to go to one in Chicago this spring. There are all kinds of activities available for the kids at that convention, but I know nothing about the convention you are going to attend. I hope you have a ball!