Thursday evening I attended the greatly anticipated Homeschool Convention solo. The scheduling of this day didn't work out exactly as I had planned, but I did hear a lot I needed to hear. My first session pick was entitled "Overcoming Being Overwhelmed" not the meat and potatoes I was looking for. I think the reality is no one can give you this plan except the Holy Spirit once you slow enough to hear Him and trust enough to believe Him. Believe that He is in control and you really don't have to (and certainly can't) do it all. Then the "refresher coarse" from John Rosemond. I heard John Rosemond speak two years ago and was blown away by the things he says about discipline. What blew me away was not that what he said was new (honestly its pretty much my dad's handbook of tough parenting put into words) it was how far I tend to stray from the basics.
Then came my favorite day of all...
Hesitant of how the day would go, my crew and I headed into the convention center. Our first session was by Linda Hobar, the lady that brings our history to life and allows us to see how the Bible timeline and our "history" timeline are actually one beautiful timeline intermingled. Even though we had talked about who was leading the session Mackenzie looked up from coloring about ten minutes into the great history lesson and said, "Mom! That sounds just like our history lady!"
Then the favorite moment of the day for my girls. This man that enters our home up to three times on any given day came walking around the corner. "Mr. Math!" My girls were giddy as they waited for him to finish speaking with someone so they could say hi. Steve Demme spoke with them for a bit before he moved onto his next speaking session. He asked us to come by his booth so they could visit some more and he could give them a book or CD. I am convinced they will never watch their math lessons the same again.
This next man is more of a behind the scenes guy to my girls. We use a lot of his curriculum but they really haven't seen him much in action. However, we often listen to his voice on CD as he recites a collection of poems that we are working to memorize. He also has "bonus status" because he trained directly under Dr. Suzuki to learn to play the violin. (The same program Sophie has been following for six years on violin, and recently, Haleigh and Mackenzie on piano.)
So with all that "star status" you may think, he has a bit of an odd expression on his face. Yes, that would be because my precious middle child, honest as the day is long, middle as middle can be asks this oh so knowledgeable man, "Can I tell you something?"
"Yes," as he leans in closer to hear what this precious student has to say.
"We listen to this disk of poems, and at first I thought you were a girl!"
He graciously explained he gets that a lot when he answers the phone too. I muttered that we really appreciate all he has done to pave this learning road we are on as I mentally prepare my speach of what is appropriate to say and not to say.
It was a precious meeting none the less.
Finally we soaked in a session by Jim Weiss. He is an amazing story teller who presents history in a way that keeps you on the edge of your seat. This particular session was not a story however, but discussed "Throwing Light on the Dark Side: Good vs. Evil in Contemporary Youth Literature."
It was not exactly the one I would pick for the girls to hear but it was their only opportunity to hear him speak before they wrapped up their time at the conference. As I scribbled notes and passed out the roasted garbanzo beans I was struck by how neat it was that Sophie was so enthralled by all this. She couldn't soak in enough.
After a lap around the exhibit hall and not nearly enough time to see all they wanted to see I made run to get our sweet sitter and drop the girls at home for the rest of the conference. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed having them with me at this event. It was so fun to see that sparkle in their eyes about the people they met, the books about the ancients as they couldn't decide which would be better Egypt or Rome. It all went by so quickly.
The rest of Friday and Saturday I was solo. I found myself focusing more on the parenting sessions and heart issue sessions over the academics. It was a sweet time. Although I attended several of the sessions for cues on raising my girls with a heart focus, the Holy Spirit spoke to me a lot about my own heart as I live out this homeschooling track that God has called us to.
So thankful for such encouragement!
