Convention Time

This past weekend my daughter and I were here.  The convention is always a great time of encouragement and inspiration.  It helps to give me the needed energy to finish the school year strong.  This year I am so thrilled with all that we have accomplished.  One of our weakest areas is geography.  This year we have completed a couple of different geography books and it has gone well.  This is something that I do with both of the kids at the same time.  Geography is the same all around.  We have had fun with it.

There were some amazing speakers at the convention this year.  I attended many of the sessions and purchased cd's for the ones that I couldn't attend.  One of my favorite speakers was Diane Craft.  She was spectacular.  As I sat there listening to her speak, it seemed like she was describing  my son.  He was diagnosed with amblyopia, lazy eye, when he was in third grade.  It was too late to correct it.  His brain had completely shut that eye off.  We did not know he had lazy eye because his eye looked normal and he had depth perception.  Usually, the pupil will fall to the inside of the eye.  The eye doctor thinks it is amazing that he has depth perception because most kids with amblyopia do not.  This has affected his learning.  Listening to Diane Craft speak was so encouraging.  She shared many techniques and tips to help him to improve his writing, math and reading.  I now have some reading to do to equip me with a better understanding of what is happening while he struggles to learn.  I am excited to have these tools and knowledge to help him.  I would not have known about it without attending the convention.  I am so thankful that I was able to.

Jim Stobaugh was another amazing speaker.  He is very knowledgeable and I wish I could write faster as I was trying to take in everything he had to say.  Our daughter used his British Literature curriculum last year.  It was challenging but the vast amount of classics that he covers was well worth it.  

I usually attend the convention with my daughter.  We have a good time together.  We drive up together of Friday morning, fill up on some Starbucks and then head to the convention.  We are fortunate to have everything we need close to the convention center.  Once we arrive I park in the parking garage and do not have to drive again until we head home.  We enjoy staying together overnight.  She is a great help as I choose the best curriculum.  Last year, she was able to choose most of her own curriculum.  This is her senior year and I will miss her next year.  It won't be the same.

As our daughter heads off to college I feel a bit of sadness.  We have enjoyed homeschooling.  Watching her grow and her accomplishments over the last few years has been exciting.  I am thrilled that she is focused and looking forward to college but will miss her here with us each day.  It will give me more time to focus on our son and his needs.  I am looking forward to it.  Homeschooling is a blessing.  We have our difficult moments but we work through them.  It is such a gift to have the opportunity to do this.