Saturday, May 11, 2019

Why You Should Go to a Homeschool Conference

As I sat at the table at Tuesday night's Lighthouse "Teacher Appreciation Night", asking the other moms when they were finishing their homeschool "year", I was reminded of the many years when the end of our school year was marked by "Conference"!  


                                                                https://www.nche.com/thrive/

I went to my first NCHE homeschool conference in 1994, a few months before we actually started homeschooling. I was eager to start but my husband was very hesitant about the whole idea - however attending Conference, seeing all those families and their kids (and it was a fraction of the number that now attends), seeing all that was available in the vendor fair, and hearing encouragement from the speakers gave him the confidence to give the green light and agree that we should try homeschooling for at least a year. 
For the next 23 years, the NCHE Conference in Winston-Salem was an annual "must do" on our calendar. We considered homeschooling my career, and because we wanted me to be as equipped and informed as possible, attending these workshops was part of my "professional development".  A couple of times we went as a couple for a weekend getaway. A lot of years we all went as a family - with strollers, backpacks, snacks, Odyssey tapes (yes - cassette tapes! ) and coloring books. Other years it was a girls' weekend for me - sharing a hotel room with my homeschool peeps and talking late into the night about curriculum, homeschool philosophies, and parenting challenges after long days at the book fair and workshops.  Later, it was me and my teens who enjoyed a weekend together  - well, we slept in the same room at night and ate meals together - as they attended the Teen track workshops as part of their school requirement for the year while I went through my checklist of workshops and book fair time. ❤


Some years was like drinking from a fire hose, and some years it was dainty sips of refreshment. But I always came home with nuggets of wisdom, encouragement and insight that made me a better teacher and homeschool mama. It was motivation to stay the course. It was conviction to make a change. It was affirmation of my desires  and encouragement for my doubts.
Even today, now that all five of my children are graduated and in their 20's and 30's, I get a thrill of excitement as I read through the list of workshop titles, and I'm tempted to attend Conference for at least one day - or maybe three-  to sit in on some workshops and soak in all those good homeschool vibes. I might browse the vendor hall, and with great restraint choose one or two books to take home for me. And maybe one or two to tuck away for that first grandbaby and future homeschooler on the way.


Do it.  Go to Thrive! or go to another homeschool conference. Invest in yourself and your decision to educate your children. Strive for excellence. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you and direct you.  Don't think you aren't ___ enough and that's why you have to send them out or sign them up for other people to teach.  Sending them out or signing them up could be part of what you do this year, but make that an informed and intentional part of your homeschool, not a desperate move.
Remember that Jesus used one little boy's lunch of a few fish and some bread to feed thousands. Bring Jesus your lunch and watch him multiply it and do a miracle.