Heart of the Matter Homeschool online Conference

That title is a mouth full! Well I just finished my first online homeschool conference. WOW, it was really great. There are ups and downs to doing it online.

The downside is that if you need to look at curriculum, then you don't have the touchy feely that you have at a conference held at some auditorium. You also are not physically around a whole bunch of other homeschool moms/dads that you can sit and chat with at lunch or in between the seminars. You don't get the exercise of walking around the curriculum floor either. The 2 or 3 days you get away from home and chores are not an option either, kind of like a mini vacation just for you. You do have a lot more interruptions from the kids (I have young ones) and from hubby on the weekend. Seems like even hubby does not understand that this is a seminar. Just because I am home does not mean I am not involved in the speaker. And lastly you don't get to look through gobs and gobs of used curriculum to get that just right bargain you can brag about to your homeschool friends.

Now the upside to doing an online conference is the fact you can look like you just put your finger into a light socket and no one can see you! Yippee!!! No makeup, no hair gel, just plain old you! You can walk out at anytime on the speaker and they will never know. There have been a few times in the past when I have gone to our local CHEA convention and wanted to go to a different speaker, but stayed because I did not want to hurt the feelings of the speaker and be rude to the other people listening. You can burp, toot and make silly comments and not disturb the people around you. You can put out the fires your children are making between themselves and really not miss too much of the speaker. Best of all you can clean your house, fold the laundry, cook the dinner all while listening to the speaker and taking notes!!!

I was really unsure about this whole online conference thing. As a matter of fact I really did not think I was going to go. Now on the other hand I was promoting it top all my homeschool Friends that did not get a chance to go to the CHEA convention in July. I think 2 of my friends did the online conference. Now that I had a chance to participate in it.....I love it. Yea, there are ups and downs to it, but isn't that the same with going to a conference held in Long Beach?!?

I think next year I would love to see Heart of the Matter use a different conference source. They had way too many problems with the microphones going in and out. I still enjoyed it greatly, but it would have been nice to have consistency. Also, I would love to see a speaker or two talking about how to make a few extra bucks on the side while handling homeschooling etc. Or maybe a speaker on home selling, especially in this market. Hey my hubby could have done that one. I have several friends that are in a bind cause of this market. The other thing that would have been nice is a little more hands on stuff. It is a little hard to stare at a screen for an hour and loose your concentration. The speakers that had other things to show us other then their bio screen, I seem to have kept interest in.

My favorite speaker was Amy Pak from Homeschooling in the Woods!!!! She is absolutely the most awesome history person I have ever seen or heard!!!! You really have to check out her website. http://hands-onteachingtips.com/hoh/Hands-On-Screen-1.htm http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/twt/Timelines-Screen-6.htmFirst let me say how much I have always hated history! I was one who had to take history over in high school cause I failed it. Too many darn dates to memorize! But she takes history and brings it to life. Now first let me say...last year we did early American history with Beautiful Feet. I really loved it and it finally made our history come to life and put things in order for me. This year we are starting with world history and taking the 4 year approach to finish world history and then we will go back and re-do American. I can now say I feel that we will have no problem with learning all there is. We are using Veritas Press History and Bible and we will be using several of Amy's add on to enhance our studies. She really knows how to make people enjoy history.

Well, anyway, there is my take on an online conference. I highly recommend doing it again next year. I know I will. But in the same breath I highly recommend doing a conference of any sort. They have a way of reviving your senses and making you feeling like new again. It's just a way of reminding yourself that you are doing the right thing and here are some ways of changing it up so you get out of the homeschooling box. So, next year....everyone...go to the Heart of the Matter online convention!

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10