I love curriculum fairs not only because of the huge array of vendors (which is nice of course and also potentially very expensive) but because the workshops often re-inspire me in my homeschooling ventures.  This was a really good year! 

I attended a workshop on timelines, which we have tried to do in the past but then tend to peter out about two months into the project, but this time I think since the kids are older now it will be kind of like an art project across the curriculum kind of thing I want to chronicle the next three years scrapbook like including history, science, literature and to some extent art and music.

The really exciting part of the expo, for me anyway (the kids weren't particularly enamored), was getting to attend a number of Susan Wise Bauer's workshops.  She is the author of The Well Trained Mind and if you haven't read it and are interested in classical education or even just giving your kids a good, solid education, you need to read it.  So hie thee to a library immediately and check it out!  Also, if ever you have an opportunity to hear her speak, do take advantage.  She is an English professor at the College of William and Mary and you will NOT be bored.  She is concise, witty, and she has been there both as a homeschooler herself and as a homeschooling mom (with four kids including a 17 year old no less!). 

http://susanwisebauer.com/blog/

The first of Bauer's workshops that I attended was kind of an overview of classical education--how I wish I had heard this ten years ago!  All of the information is in the book, but having someone stand in front of you and speak with conviction about the methods and how and why they work is much more convincing then the written word. 

The second and third workshops that I attended were about homeschooling in the logic and rhetoric years.  Rebecca is my only logic age child, but she really is more of a rhetoric and I'll be treating her as such this year to a large extent.  I did want to hear about the how to's for this age however and once again, I wish I could have listened to this when Josh was hitting the fifth grade.  The rhetoric lecture left me highly inspired for our coming years, however, and I also feel better that I let my older dear children kind of begin to specialize.  I was feeling kind of guilty that we hadn't hit all subjects as hard as we could/should, but now I realize that this is a good thing if they develop a specialty. 

The last two workshops covered teaching writing and how to read a book.  The writing talk left me feeling that I really hadn't done enough in this area, but that it wasn't all bad and I can catch them up.  The reading a book lecture was AWESOME and now I really want to go to Susan's seminar this fall!