For those of you who are unschooled on the homeschooling, HEAV stands for the Home Educators Association of Virginia. Each year they have a three day convention at the beginning of June in Richmond. This is a big deal, and in a lot of cases, a family affair. Families from all over the state come to attend the many workshops offered (both for parents and children), to browse and shop the exhibit hall filled with vendors, and nab deals at the used curriculum sale. I was mainly going for the three free workshops they offer for beginning homeschoolers.
I was so delightfully excited and terrified leading up to it. Each day ticked by like a roller coaster slowly ascending the hill leading to the first big drop...click, click, click. I had been warned about the convention by veteran homeschool moms. I knew it would be overwhelming, so I went in with a plan...and a binder.
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| Binder and program from the convention |
I was prepared to be overwhelmed, but one thing blindsided me. After the first session, I was smacked with an intense desire to homeschool Destiny, too.
WHAT?!
I know what you're thinking. No one takes a well-adjusted high school kid in the pre-diploma phase of the International Baccalaureate program and decides to homeschool them AND two other children at the same time.
I thought the same thing.
After the first of three sessions, I ran around desperately looking for friends I knew were attending the seasoned homeschool people workshops.
As luck (aka God) would have it, they were in the room right next door. I spotted one friend from the hallway, navigated hurriedly through pockets of conversing parents, and attacked her in mid-conversation with her friend and fellow attendee. I do mean attacked...arms flapping, half-laughing, almost in tears, and blurting "I need support!!" Luckily, my friend knows me and my dramatic nature well, so she didn't mind too much.
After the workshops I entered the 7th level of hell for the new homeschooler, otherwise known as "the exhibit hall."
I jest...sort of.
The exhibit hall is actually awesome. It's filled with all sorts of vendors; you can see curriculums and ask questions, buy supplies, get college information, and more. For the beginner, though, it's total sensory overload. I'd been prepared for that by friends and knew in advance I would buy nothing. This was a scouting trip only.
It helped that a friend recommended this blog beforehand containing tips on organizing your convention binder. One helpful suggestion was printing out the exhibit map and noting vendors you really want to visit and then putting that in the back of your binder. As you can see, mine is color-coded based upon subjects (the legend is at the bottom, but hard to see).
This was really helpful because, while I wanted to see all the vendors, it gave me direction when I hit sensory overload. I knew exactly where my next stop should be if I wanted to skip to it. I did a great job scouting, too. See?
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| Just a portion of the information I picked up from various exhibit booths. |
Those are just some of the brochures I picked up from different vendors...and this only consists of information from about 1/20 of the exhibitors. It was awesome...and nuts.
As the evening progressed, my thoughts veered more and more toward Destiny's educational destiny (haha), and little discoveries pushed me closer to the edge.
'Oh, they have homeschool OM teams.' (Odyssey of the Mind)
'Oh, they have a Christian Forensics league, and there's a base in Yorktown.'
'Oh, you can take AP classes and/or exams, as well.'
'Oh, there are actually more AP classes available because you're not limited by what the school offers.'
Oh.
Each vendor starts with one basic question..."what ages are you teaching?"
I started by saying "Probably just my 10 and 6 year olds, but I have a 15 year old, as well."
Then I graduated to, "I was thinking of just homeschooling my 1st and 5th graders, but now I'm considering my 10th grader, as well."
And finally, "1st, 5th, and 10th grades."
With each person I talked to I started to feel more like this was something I could (and should) do.
On my drive home from Richmond constantly yanked back tears so I could see the road.
My Destiny. On her way to 10th grade...only 3 years left before college.
What am I thinking?? She's begging me to be homeschooled. She's begging for time with me and her siblings. She's gotten knocked around as collateral damage in two fights already this year, had to step through blood in the hallway afterward, and has seen cockroaches and rats.
WHY WOULDN'T I HOMESCHOOL HER?
I used her IB curriculum as an excuse since I first began considering homeschooling. Now, armed with new information, it felt like the only thing holding me back was my own fear.
I prayed.
I prayed for wisdom for myself and for Josiah...because I was about to go home and unload this on him and toss the ball in his court because I didn't want it anymore.
After hearing the new information, he thought it was a good idea, too.
But what about her dad? Would he be on board.
Yup...after hearing about it, he's on board, too.
But what about Destiny? Maybe she just wanted to homeschool because it wasn't a possibility. Teenagers are experts at wanting something simply because it isn't available.
Nope...Destiny is still totally on board. I made her think about it all day before she made her decision. She came home with her decision firm, her mind made up.
So, unless something huge comes along to change our minds, we will be homeschooling everyone next year, and I'm so excited.
It just didn't feel complete before. How could I start this amazing adventure and leave a member of the family behind?
Now, I'm triple scared, but triple excited!! I know it will be difficult, but I'm ready, and I am so happy my Desilu is coming along for the ride. :)
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