Yes, we'll be going. We usually do. We'll be there both days. It's also the cheaper of the big two conventions in this area. (The other one is GHEA's in April down by the airport.) Since you're just starting and we're veterans, our interests in seminars may have little overlap; we're certainly interested in hearing Susan Wise Bauer again plus Jessie Wise. Perhaps we can meet for lunch, and we're sure to cross paths in the vendor hall.

Charla, which seminars do you plan to attend? If you're interested in a classical approach, we highly recommend Susan Wise Bauer's seminars, of course.

Everybody... anyone else going?

For any newbies: be warned. Even though this is typically the smaller of the two big GA conventions, it can be overwhelming to newbies. The choices for curricula are amazingly numerous. Some may try to sell you pretty hard on their curriculum. Others will gladly wait until you approach them with questions. Unfortunately, some are just aggregate-school vendors trying to sucker homeschools into using their cr@p. (School-at-home folks--see below--really fall for this nonsense.) Other curricula was literally homemade by other homeschoolers who created what worked best for them. To help narrow down what is of interest to you, it helps to choose a homeschooling philosophy first.

Most tend to choose "school-at-home" because that's what's familiar, but I think this approach misses the vast majority of the benefits of homeschooling. Unschooling is an odd choice, but appropriate for some types of learners. Unschooling is also a nice way to supplement, too. Still others choose an online method, essentially abandoning their kids to a computer and/or video player--not very interactive at all, but perhaps the best alternative when the teacher-parent is intellectually unable to teach. Don't forget about deschooling, too.

Keep in mind that most every experience in life is a learning opportunity. Take advantage of this (especially during a deschooling period). The grocery store is a field trip. Calculating unit prices can be a math lesson. (Notice how many stores already provide this on their labels? Sad statement, eh?) Changing the oil in the car has many lessons available. All housework does, too. Even a phone call can have lessons of civility, social customs, manners, conversational skills, and even psychological manipulation (for the more advanced students). Don't overlook the immeasurable knowledge (and Godly wisdom, if properly discerned) available in everyday life.

Not mentioned on that page is private tutoring. This is a good option to fill in any gaps in the parents' knowledge, but it should be done under the close, watchful eyes of the parents. Remember, part of the point of homeschooling is to fulfill Scriptures' command to teach our children, and blindly handing them over to others just doesn't cut it.

Of course, we prefer a classical approach. It's heavy in reading, leaning toward a very broad base of knowledge. It acknowledges various stages of mental development, largely linked to the depth of abstract thought. Toddlers, for example, are generally unable to grasp Algebra, because the concepts are too abstract. (By the way, this is why Algebra is such a common stumbling block for many students. It's a huge leap in abstract thought, and most kids just aren't mentally ready--I mean with respect to their brains' physiology.) We have a particularly gifted child, too, so a classical approach works very well. She's able to take in vast amounts of information, handling more abstract thoughts than is normal for her age, covering countless topics. This will give her a huge foundation of knowledge, plus the skills to keep adding to it on her own throughout her life.

Most importantly, keep all education closely tied to Scriptures, in principle and in detail. The Word of God speaks on many topics, so it's easy to connect lessons to the Lord's Word and will. This will habit take whatever knowledge is made available to students and allow the Lord to increasingly implant and cultivate His awesome wisdom in the application of that knowledge.

Keep in mind that there are few rules. You don't need a desk. No hand-raising is necessary. No lines. You don't even need to cover the same subjects on the same days in the same order. No grades or tests are required, especially if you teach to mastery (we do). Class levels (e.g., third grade, fifth grade) are relatively meaningless, really, unless you prefer to cling to a government mentality. Students can work at their own level in every area. Math may be "eighth grade" (as gov't tracks it), while history may be college-level and literature is "twelfth grade". It's all good. You needn't restrict your students to an arbitrary level of curriculum just because of their ages.

Remember the true goals of education. You want to raise a good citizen; i.e., one not willing to be a slave to government but one who can lead government, creating a better tomorrow. You want to raise an obedient servant of the Lord, gleefully submitting to the Lord's will and calling. You want to raise a leader, be it political, organizational, or in discipling others in God's ways. You want to raise your children to one day become parents themselves, hopefully improving over your own track record (how else will society improve?). You want to offer knowledge that can be applied in myriad and unimaginable ways later in life. (Don't fall prey to the sin of utilitarianism.) Finally, you need to entrust your children to the Lord's care, not by abandoning them to trials beyond their ability (e.g., aggregate-schooling in a fallen society), but by refraining from worrying about what the future will hold for them.

The expo was decent, though I'm increasingly disappointed in the idiocy of its organizers. For example, we bought tickets online just about as early as possible, yet they never managed to mail them. (It seems the vast majority pay more by choosing to pay at the door!) They put poor Susan Wise Bauer into a room 2-3 times too small for the crowds she draws. Literally, there was standing room only and not much of that. The Cobb Galleria people also tended to be rather dumb; e.g., finding the sound people on time was a recurring challenge. GHEA's convention (in April, by the airport) is usually better organized. (GHEA membership gets you a discount at their convention, not to mention a discount with HSLDA.)

Other than these organizational matters, it went fairly well. Bauer's seminars were the usual, good stuff. Susan was kind enough to patiently answer any and all questions raised, too. She's a class act all the way--well, except for her enthusiasm for college, but she's a part-time professor, so go figure.

I found a follow-up to Starlight and Time called Starlight and Time and the New Physics. It's by a different author (name escapes me, but not Humphreys) who builds on Humphreys' hypothesis, even going so far as to address some supposed pitfalls (e.g., lack of residual blue-shift). I'm looking forward to poring over it. I also came close to buying a shark, but my wife wasn't too keen on it. My wife did find an excellent book (on the HSLDA table, of course) on the evolution of the Bill of Rights. That will be a good read--depressing in comparison to our fallen society, but educational nevertheless.

Sadly, we also managed to pick up a virus. As a result, Juliana is missing the first day of her dance workshop.

There were some idiots selling stuff there, too. Seems they've found out homeschoolers spend money. The AJC, for example, was trying to sell its cage liners. Boy, they sure picked the wrong market segment! As always, though, there were plenty of "school-at-home" vendors--those purveyors of failed curricula used by aggregate-schoolers, now hawking their cr@p to ignorant homeschoolers. As with most of life's lessons, this too will need to be learned the hard way, I'm afraid.

After the expo, on Sunday, we went to two different dance performances. One was a dance by two dedicated PIMers at a church. The other was a performance by two Christian dance companies from AL & TX, hosted by PIM and GACS. They were very good. Overall, it was a full weekend.