Over the last two weeks I've shared some planning tips for getting the most out of your homeschool convention experience. One week discussing convention speakers and the next discussing the vendor hall. Today, as I get ready to head out to the FPEA Homeschool Convention in just 2 days, I thought I would share some last minute tips and tricks for having the best time possible.
Before the Convention
Be sure you Planned some Breaks and Downtime
Decide on Childcare
Make all your Reservations
order tickets
plan travel
make hotel arrangements if needed
Plan your Speakers
As mentioned before, planning your speakers lets you get the most of your time at the convention. Many of these speakers are nationally renown and you may not get the opportunity to pick their brains again. Plan who you are seeing, what workshops will help you with difficult areas, and even check out some of the vendor demonstrations if you are considering buying curriculum from a particular vendor.
Plan your Must Visit Vendor's List
We've also talked about planning out the vendor hall so that you don't miss any Vendor's you particularly wanted to explore. Remember this is your time to actually handle curriculum and talk with it's makers before committing to a particular resource from the year. This isn't time wasted.
Be sure you Planned some Breaks and Downtime
We didn't specifically address this in the previous two post, but it's important to remember to give yourself some flex time. One year I literally scheduled a speaker from 8 am to 5 pm without a break. Let's just say I was HANGRY when we were done. Even if you need to order a recording of a session, give yourself a lunch. It also helps to have downtime, so that all the speakers and their many great ideas don't run together in your mind, get mixed up, and then don't benefit your homeschool.
Decide on Childcare
Are you taking your children with you, or are you leaving them at home. This is important to consider, because it will affect your schedule and very likely your mood. I have done both. The first year or too, I didn't have a close family member or a dependable baby sitter to leave the kids with, so they came along with me. I had to plan more breaks and down time for them, so I had to choose only the high value speakers for my concerns those years. I also needed to pack their bookbags with things to keep them occupied during speaker sessions (for littles that might look like coloring books, for your bigs that might look more like Nintendo Switch). It also meant that walking through the Vendor Hall was a little more complicated. I have had several years now, being close enough to my in-laws that they have kept the kids at their house for the weekend. Once my parents even drove down for a visit and kept the kids at our house (while the flu was raging too). It makes things run smoother for me, but it also keeps me from getting immediate feedback from the kids. Maybe you opt to go with some girl friends and your husband keeps the kids. This year we are doing a hybrid. The two oldest who will be high schoolers are coming with us. This way they can get a greater say in their curriculum and classes for the upcoming school year. The other four children will stay with the in-laws at their house. That means packing for the littles to go to the grandparents, while planning a few speaker sessions and specific vendors for the older two to check out.
Make all your Reservations
Finally make your reservations. This means ordering tickets ahead of time or making plans to buy them at the door. Often buying ahead gets you early bird discounts, so the sooner you decide to go the cheaper it cost. Make your travel plans a week or so out. When are you leaving the house,? When do you want to be at the convention? Do you need to drop kids off somewhere, or check into a hotel? Which brings us to our last point, make hotel arrangements if needed. When we were in Pennsylvania we lived close enough to the convention to drive in each morning, so this wasn't necessary for us. But, now we live just far enough away that it makes sense to get a hotel for the weekend. Often you may find that hotels fill up close to the convention in the weeks leading up to it. This is another area where reserving earlier will ensure you get a better price at the location you want. Remember if you are coming from a distance, such as Tallahassee to Orlando for the FPEA convention, you are going to need to spend a little more time in travel planning.
During the Convention
Remember to Relax and Enjoy the Convention
Dress Comfortably, especially consider your Shoes
Consider Purchasing any Speaker Recordings that were Especially Helpful
Plan your food and drinks
Bring a Sturdy Bag or Rolling Cart
Make Friends
Remember to Relax and Enjoy the Convention
No matter how much of a mission you are on to find the perfect resource, listen to the speaker who will solve all the problems in your home, or create the perfect homeschool year, make sure you take time to enjoy yourself. (Beside these goals also aren't exactly obtainable.) Be sure to enjoy a nice lunch with your husband. To wander the exhibit hall with your sense of wonder. To have a girls night out with your friends one evening. Homeschooling is a long process, for many of us it is a life long pursuit (or at least it may feel like an eternity). There are plenty of days in the trenches that are difficult, use this time to recharge and enjoy the process.
Dress Comfortably, especially consider your Shoes
I'm not saying you can't look nice, but you aren't there to be seen. You are there to learn and grow and discover, all while making decisions about your next homeschooling year. It is far more important to be dressed comfortably for a day of walking the halls and sitting through speaker sessions than it is to be impeccably dressed. Besides you can bring the nice clothes for a night out and change after convention hours. Shoes are a huge consideration here. Maybe you can walk around in 4 inch heels all day and never break a sweat, I would break a leg. A great pair of tennis shoes helps, you will be walking a massive amount, so be prepared.
Consider Purchasing any Speaker Recordings that were Especially Helpful
Some people prefer to purchase speaker recordings instead of going to hear the speakers, in most instances I would discourage this. You will miss out on the slide shows and other handouts that are often given. There is often context that is missing when you cannot see the speakers or hear the crowd's questions. Not to mention you don't have the opportunity to interact with the speaker yourself. However, the recordings are wonderful if you have two sessions at once that you want to hear, if you need a lunch break, or if the session was especially Helpful. Sometimes this may look like purchasing recordings from your convention's sponsoring group. I have got recordings that I was unable to make from both CHAPP and FPEA. Other times it may look like buying recordings directly from your speakers. I have a cd set from both Todd Wilson, the Family Man and from Kirk, with Celebrate Calm. These are longer recordings that their speaker sessions were based off of that I listen to often.
Plan your food and drinks
Most places in my experience have allowed food and drink in the Speaker Sessions, however some don't. Be sure and know the rules of your conference. However, snacks can tide you over until your next long break, and they are great for keeping kids quiet. A great water bottle (just don't lose it like I did mine last year) is also a necessity. Sometimes when not taking a break till very late, I've brought a Publix sub with me and eaten it around lunch time during a session. Another time, a fellow mom and I packed a picnic lunch in the back of our vans, and had a picnic outside during a break in sessions. Sometimes the convention center or sponsoring organization will either offer meals to buy in advance or a snack and meal stand the day of. However, you choose to handle it, if you are going to make a full day of it, plan out your food and drinks.
Bring a Sturdy Bag or Rolling Cart
Though this one is near the end of my list, it might be the most important item on the list. Bring a sturdy bag or some type of rolling cart. I have brought bags that either got so heavy as to rip or dug into my shoulder when packed full of freebies, pamphlets from different companies, let alone the curriculum and purchases I've made. I've seen tons of creative solutions from milkcrates strapped to an old suitcase handle with wheels, small suitcases, baskets with wheels, a cooler you can pull behind you. Years that I've had baby strollers or a wagon for the littles, they have also hauled the paraphernalia that I've collected. Just don't go empty handed, and remember to regularly go through what you've collected, even if that's just each evening back in your hotel room.
Make Friends
Finally, make friends. There is downtime between sessions, moments in the bathroom line, opportunities to sit down and eat at a table with another homeschool mom. Make the most of these opportunities. There may be a veteran homeschool mom right beside you, who can help you with a question you have. There may be a newbie that you can help assure. There might be your next best friend, or someone who lives near you. There might be someone who can suggest fun field trips on the other side of the state. You'll never know until you strike up a conversation. And who knows, if you are at the FPEA this weekend, it just might be a new blogger like me.
Excellent suggestions! As for how to dress, I would also add: dress in layers! We just attended a convention. Last year, the air conditioning didn't work in one of the buildings where we spent a significant amount of time, so this year, we dressed for it... and were FREEZING because the speakers had been moved to air conditioned spaces. Second day, we were better prepared with layers. (wink!)