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Bella
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Am I the only HSer who doesn't go to conferences? 
I suppose I figured once my oldest was nearing middle school age, then I would start making plans to attend a conference. Nope! Still hasn't happened. 
Is it really necessary? Am I just absolutely missing out?
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Bella
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Martha
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I've never been to one in 9 years of homeschooling. 
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Martha
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Natalia
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I have never been to one.I take that back, I remember I went to a Wholehearted Mother Conference about 7 years ago. I don't have anything against them, it is just that to go I have to travel. If they were in my town I would probably go. I think it can be energizing to be with other homeschool moms and to be exposed to speakers and their ideas. The only thing I would approach with caution, if I went to one, would be the vendors hall. Those things are dangerous!
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JodieLyn
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I've never been to one either. I have nothing against the idea of them. But like Natalia, I have to travel and many of them seem to have something against mothers with infants.. and as you can probably figure from my siganture line.. I rarely don't have an infant.
My kids by age 2 will casually wave goodbye to me and stay with someone for hours and hours.. but before then unless it's someone close.. their daddy or now that my sister lives here, their aunt. It just would not work.
And many of the ones I've looked at online just to see.. if the infant is more than 6 months old.. forget it. And since my littles nurse to at least a year and some exclusively past 6 months.. that makes it even more impossible.
And while I understand on the one side that parents are there to learn stuff too.. on the other it's like.. we love homeschooling and keeping our kids with us unless it's during our conference. 
I hope to go to one maybe next year.. up in Washington, there would be 4real ladies to meet and they sound child friendly  so my dh and I could both go and trade off and get to visit etc.
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Lauri B
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We attended our first (and last) homeschool conference in 1994. :)
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Maggie
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Jodie,
Unfortunately, I have found the same thing. I only have a 4 yo and an almost 2 yo...my 4 yo nursed until she was two...and my 2yo son, I think, will be nursing beyond 2.
There was a conference here in FL that I was interested in attending this year, but it said that "we are not able to accommodate children." I don't need anyone to accommodate my children. Just me. :)
It drives me nuts that people see children as a nuisance...especially Catholics. I feel like the "Culture of Death" seeps into things like this--unintentionally, I hope--but when children are viewed as distractions and nuisances, I think that's a bit problematic.
I think parents should be able to make parenting decisions for themselves...and not let a conference administrator make those rules.
So...I probably won't be attending a conference anytime soon, unless it was local...but we don't get too many of those...especially with Catholic, home school families.
Oh well...guess the Lord wants me to lean on Him. :)
A bit of a touchy subject for me, as you can tell. ;)
God Bless,
Maggie
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ElizLeone
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I've never been to one, and I've been homeschooling for eight years. Spring is always such a busy time of year, and I'd rather be putting in our big veggie garden with my husband. :)
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Elizabeth in Wisconsin
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Mary K
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I've never been to a conference and have been homeschooling since 1995.
Mary-NY
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Mackfam
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I'm a social butterfly and I'd LOVE to go to one. But, there aren't any around here...no Catholic ones anyway.  I'd love to visit and meet people...and I'd LOVE the vendor hall! I'm drooling at the thought.
So....I'm holding out for another 4Real conference! I'll make the drive for that one! And, I can't wait!
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folklaur
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I have never been to one.
Oh wait. My DH & I actually put together and ran a small "curriculum fair" that had a few speakers, but, I actually never made it there the day of - I was kinda wiped out from all the set up the day/night prior, plus a few other snafus the day of. So...even including that, I have never actually been to one. We have been homeschooling for 10+ years.
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sewcrazy
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I have been, but I haven't recently. For me the 2 big problems is time and money---I don't have enough of either  I can't afford a weekend "off" in the spring, and I get too tempted by all the shiny books
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LeeAnn
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Bookswithtea
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I used to attend a small Catholic one that was local when we lived in CA, but I haven't been to one in years now. Honestly, I find them overwhelming rather than encouraging, and a lot of the time, the speakers aren't ones that I would be excited to hear. Shopping by catalogue is so much more peaceful to me, and there isn't the baby/toddler issue.
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stacykay
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I love hs conferences! However, I have only been to two in our 10 years of hs'ing. And since 2004, I have missed as our MI hs conference is usually the 3rd weekend of June, and that conflicts with my #6's birthday. This year, it falls smack dab on his 5th bd.
I have purchased the tapes (um, I mean cd's- is my age showing? ,) but it really isn't the same thing as being there. I love perusing ALL the vendor tables!!!!! Plus, our finances haven't really dictated the overnight stay, either.
I don't know why I never thought of this before- if there was someone you really wanted to hear, or a topic that you would find helpful, a check of a few conferences might cover your interests. You can order the "cds" and not have to travel all over, either!
God Bless,
Stacy
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Red Cardigan
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I haven't been. There's a biggish one about an hour's drive from where I live, but it's a busy city, it's more of a bookfair per se, and the materials are mostly not from Catholic vendors. I could see going on the Saturday but the couple friends I have who've been say all the good stuff (science kits) gets bought out on Friday, so not much point.
Just want to say something about those who are frustrated by various child-related policies--it's pretty hard these days for a conference provider to allow young children to be in the rooms; the reason the "nursing infants" exemption is for those six months and younger isn't because the conference organizers don't understand that older children may still nurse, but because children six months and younger are immobile, and thus can't get hurt pinching their fingers on a folding chair, running headlong into a table full of materials, or (worst of all) disappearing into the crowd.
If we didn't live in a lawsuit-happy world, conference organizers wouldn't have to worry about these things. But they do; even if parents signed a twenty-page legal disclaimer saying they accepted all the responsibility for anything that might happen to their young children during the talks or events, etc., it wouldn't be enough (b/c sometimes the space being rented has its own rules about events involving children, such as greater insurance and full criminal background checks on all the speakers and volunteers).
So it's not an intentional desire by Catholic conference providers to deny parents with young children the opportunity to attend; it's just the practical reality that in this day and age, allowing people to bring young children into an environment that has not been made safe for them (specifically and legally, of course; I realize that one's own children may or may not be the "let's play with the folding chair or pull over a display table on ourselves" type) is a risk that few small private organizations can afford to take.
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Jody
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I was just at the Wisconsin Catholic Conference as a vendor (with baby, toddler and pre-schooler in tow) and was just amazed at how wonderfully family oriented it was.
Not only do they have a CHILDREN's ROOM where the littles could do lots of fun activities, games, toys, etc...But they also had a great FAMILY AREA filled with comfy couches, colorful carpets that kids love, and bins of safe fun toys!! It was close to the vending area but nicely separate so my littles never wanted to venture out there. It was fabulous!
Also they had a private NURSING BABY AREA for those babies that prefer quiet.This was stationed in a private hall way with a privacy curtain , couch, diaper changing table and supplies if needed.
There was a tea, coffee, water station on hand as well.
There were lots of families with lots of babies, toddlers, pre-schoolers, all the way up to the teens. It was really a wonderful conference.It was Very family friendly!!
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JennGM
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Having been on both sides of planning and attending homeschool conferences, the "no children except nursing infants" is a helpful policy. So many of my friends view attending a conference as a day or two for rejuvenation, a day for Mom (and Dad) to refuel. The Catholic conference do provide some spiritual boosts, too.
Red Cardigan is so right about the safety issue and law suits. The Conferences are all about family and pro-children -- that's who puts them into business in the first place. We're families schooling at home. But there are times that the children need to be home while Mom and Dad regroup and research.
It's a definite pain if you need to find sitters, no doubt about that. But my personal choice is to leave them at home, in their familiar surroundings, with someone I know and trust, as it's more of a one-on-one. I'm just not as comfortable about activities or childcare on site if I'm not around. It's not that it wouldn't be wonderfully fun and nothing is going to happen, but it adds more stress and worry to me.
I'm blessed to live nearby some good conferences, both secular and Catholic, so I take advantage.
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LeeAnn
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I never thought of other conferences being so unfriendly. Our local conference (PNWCFEC) this last weekend was all in one big room with plenty of toddlers, kids and dads roaming about. It WAS a little loud at times but perhaps in the future we can have two rooms; one for vendors and talking/walking/baby chasing and the other for speakers/baby holding.
I think the benefits of conferences are being encouraged, visiting with friends and seeing all the different products on display. I have gone with a pretty firm idea in mind of what I am doing for the next year, so I didn't buy whole new curricula, but just some fun extras. OTOH, our conference is small and manageable enough that there weren't THAT many temptations, only about 15 vendors, of which some were colleges. The one that always gets my impulse spending going is the Usborne lady, but much less this year than previously!
If you have a firm idea of what you want to do and how you want to accomplish it, and you don't miss the social/vacation aspect of it, then you probably aren't missing anything by not going. If it were not within an hour or two of my home, I wouldn't go either....
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TxTrish
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I love conferences/curriculum fairs and like to attend when I can. My first conference was about 1994 before I had begun homeschooling, but knew I wanted to. I had a 2 & 4 year old at the time. My dear friend and neighbor took me, she had eight children at the time, and had always homeschooled. She was such and angel and it was amazing! All those other homeschoolers, family-centered christian folks in one place. That was back in the day for sure. Nearly all the ladies wore denim jumpers, had long hair, no makeup and it was exactly like the cliche's you hear. And most importantly they were wonderful. Kind, honest, and just lovely ladies one and all. I was hooked. We were living in the DFW area at the time.
Fast-forward, 10 years pregnant with #5 and living in west Texas, after a number of moves with work. My husband and my best friends husband sent us to DFW for mothers day weekend to attend the very same conference alone. They put us up in the Galleria (her hubby travels and has "points") and it was an ooh laa laa marvelous weekend. We went to our favorite thrift stores (you should have seen us dragging our good-will bags into that hotel) and searched out food to cater to my cravings! We had a perfectly lovely 2 days together and returned home refreshed and relaxed. It was the last year I went to a conference.
It isn't something I want to do yearly, especially with the internet the way it is now. I love the excitement of being there at the fair/convention in person, I am a curriculum junkie, a book junkie, and an educational stuff junkie in general - but, I can get get all the support I want and see materials virtually. But, I do love the talks. So, now I have even solved that one with the internet. Last year, for the first time I did Cindy Rushton's Ultimate Homeschool Expo - no crowds, no makeup, and all the talks I want! Yippee! Much easier on my family and on me (I hate to travel) Last year I did the Expo, and will again this year.
My kids were really super - we planned fun activities and got a couple new movies, and fun stuff for the week it was on, easy dinners and it was great. I got to sit in on all the talks I wanted to be "in" on for the chatting/question part, and have listened to the rest at my leisure on the ipod. (Ipod was a mothers day gift after the Expo last year.) Here is a linkfor the Expo: http://www.ultimatehomeschoolexpo.com/
So, my answer to your question.....
I think it is worth attending a conference - they are fun. It is so nifty to be surrounded by people who are aiming for the same thing my family is aiming for - heaven. The ladies are wonderful and sweet, the children who are about are pleasant and by and large polite, it is great.
Necessary? No.
Are you missing out? Yes.
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Bookswithtea
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JennGM wrote:
| So many of my friends view attending a conference as a day or two for rejuvenation, a day for Mom (and Dad) to refuel. The Catholic conference do provide some spiritual boosts, too. |
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When I have the opportunity to attend something like this alone, its a wonderful experience. But I also know what its like to be so excited to attend a conference (esp. as a new homeschooler with lots of littles), and then realize I cannot attend only because my 9 month old is still mostly nursing, and just over that 6 month line. I think sometimes moms feel a little bit sad and then defensive about it...kind of like when someone tells you to use the bathroom to nurse because it makes someone else uncomfortable?
Its hard to know what the right thing is to do. I've never lived anywhere where conferences are like the Wisconsin one mentioned above. That sounds wonderful.
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Willa
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I've never been to one -- I started hsing 15 years ago.
For a long time I had babies and no conferences nearby, and now I figure I made it this far so why change?
Unless I end up going with a friend sometime.... just for the experience.
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Willa
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Does anyone NOT attend HS conferences?
