Posted in Beginning the homeschool journey

You know homeschool convention season is upon us when all of the following begin to converge:

1. The sheer volume of posts on any given forum goes up about three-fold, at least, as folks start to think about the next school year or what they intend to look for at their convention.  Posts starting, "Has anyone ever used....?" become the norm.

2. It seems like everyone has something to sell on every forum, list, and board.  (That's because they are cleaning off their shelves in preparation for their upcoming convention.)

3. Nearly every homeschool vendor sends you an e-mail reminding you to "visit their booth" at a convention.

4. You start trying to track down the lists of recommended resources that you've been compiling over the past few months - and are shocked at just how long that list is!

I love conventions, though I've only had the pleasure of attending a few. Our large state and area conventions seem to find important family birthdays are their preferred dates!  (Hmmm...only niece's first birthday or convention - that was a toughie!  OK, not really.)

We are blessed to have a very fine convention in Indianapolis, which is relatively easy for me to attend.  But it's shockingly easy for me to become overwhelmed by the event, even though it's a positive type of overwhelm (assuming that isn't an oxymoron).

There's so much to see, so many great speakers, and so much to accomplish in the vendor hall.  And *all* those people! 

For a highly visual individual, I find it almost too much.  Which is why I make  a point of leaving the building to go somewhere else for lunch - just to change the scenery.

The vendor hall is a big draw for me - and probably for many folks living in the mid-west where we don't have much in the way of brick-and-mortar stores to touch and feel products.

I find that vendor halls require a battle plan.  I usually make a list of specific vendors I want to see, being sure to check out vendors with products I might not need this year, but in the near future. 

I also combat the "cereal aisle syndrome" (you know, too many choices) by coming prepared.

In the weeks preceding a convention, I do indeed pull out those lists I've made of things other folks have recommended.  Hopefully, I've already looked into them some and have a gut feeling as to whether or not these might be useful for us.  If not, I start pruning the lists.

Since we don't follow a set curriculum for history (and we add-in a lot of alternative things to our math and science), I try to generate some sort of topic list of what we might cover in the coming year. 

Then, to this topic list, I note what materials we already own or that I can borrow from the library.  Let's face it, if I know I've got two or three really good options already for, say, the Boston Tea Party, then I'm less likely to get sucked into purchasing another great-but-unneeded book.

Maybe.

Then, I make a list of those creme-de-la-creme recommendations.  The books or products that others have suggested and that are still on my list after researching them on Amazon or another website.  Most of the time, if I can view these in real life at convention, I'll know whether I want them or not. 

Finally, if I'm looking for a program - as I usually do use something specific for science as a spine - I list what I *think* I want to use AND I list another reasonable alternative.

Both times I've gone to a convention looking for a science program, I've come home with something other than what I had initially thought I would use.  In each case, the program I thought I wanted just didn't look like a good fit for my daughter at this age. 

Most recently, I'd intended to use the chemistry portion of a science program that we're currently doing for biology.  But, when I looked at the chemistry books in total, as opposed to just samples online, I realized that it just seemed too heavy for an introductory program in science.

In looking at my alternative choice (and, admittedly, "getting over" its title, which includes both a number and the word "kids") I realized that this was the thorough, yet fun and unintimidating introduction to chemistry that I wanted to use.

Flexibility is key.  And that applies not only to programs, but, if possible, to your convention budget as well.

Even though you might have a shopping list, convention isn't like going to the grocery.  It pays to have a bit extra for those surprise discoveries.  I've seen fun games at convention that we've loved, but never knew existed.  I've picked up great stickers that made an activity "pop" when we did it.  Math manipulatives and science extras are fun to explore and often seem better "in real life" than static images online.

I haven't mentioned speakers or workshops.  Those, of course, are what the "meat" of a convention ought to be and, as such, deserve a seperate post.

Unfortunately, I won't get to our state convention this year.  Another birthday interference - I mean, celebration!  But I'm anxiously awaiting the dates for 2009!