Why You Should Attend a Homeschool Convention

Homeschool convention season is upon us and I am so excited to be back with Great Homeschool Conventions! I’ll have all-new talks to share, exciting new stuff happening in my booth, and I always love seeing the faces of new friends and old ones. It’s always such a great time when I get a chance to talk with other parents of differently-wired kiddos. I know I’ll finish the weekend tired, but fulfilled and with fresh ideas, a renewed passion for educating my own children, with many new friends… and even more memories!

I know why I love attending GHC. You may be wondering, though, why you should.

Homeschooling Convention: More Than Just the Curriculum Fair

You may have found the perfect homeschool curriculum, you may have a strong support system, or you may just want to stay in for the weekend and eat chocolate in the closet at the end of the day when the kids go to bed. Great Homeschool Conventions, though, have so much to offer beyond just shopping for next year’s new curriculum, and you should definitely come to one!

Here’s why:

Perfect Time to Meet Homeschool Leaders

You get to meet me! Okay, more like I get to meet YOU. I have readers from all over and absolutely love getting to put faces and hugs with the names I see so frequently. Come find me in the vendor hall. I always have chocolate in my booth ready to share and listening ears ready to understand. If you’re looking for veteran homeschoolers who can listen and encourage, GHC is a great way to make those connections!

New Homeschool Convention Workshops

I’ve been working diligently to develop new convention workshops that will benefit everyone from new homeschoolers to homeschool families who have been on this journey for a while! Here are the four you can look forward to at Great Homeschool Conventions this year!

Helping your Differently Wired Kids Fall in Love with Reading

I’m excited to host this brand new workshop with Read Aloud Revival guru Sarah Mackenzie! When your kids are differently wired, helping them become thriving and voracious readers doesn’t always go according to plan.

Gifted and twice-exceptional students often read widely and fast—making it difficult to keep them in books that match their social and emotional maturity. Students who struggle with dyslexia may say they hate reading, causing you to worry that they’ll ever fall in love with books.

In this session, you’ll get practical tips and specific book recommendations from Sarah and I to help your differently-wired kids become readers for life!

An Atypical Homeschool: Helping Your Neurodiverse Child Thrive

Homeschooling gifted, twice-exceptional, special needs, or otherwise neurodiverse children? Parenting these kiddos can be a challenge, and homeschooling them is that challenge squared.

On the surface, it seems like homeschooling advanced kids, curious, kids, creative and innovative kids would be a breeze and a pleasure. But, simmering underneath all the fun is a complexity you never anticipated.

There are so many parts of home education that don’t turn out the way you pictured they would, curriculums or styles that don’t fit, people who don’t “get” you or your kids, and so many sleepless nights wondering and worrying what the future holds.

In this session, you’ll get new perspectives and practical tips and leave ready to start thriving in your homeschooling journey and your parenting as soon as you get home.

When Worry Overwhelms: Helping Your Smart & Anxious Child

The strangest thing about anxiety in children, especially neurodiverse children, is that it doesn’t always look like what we think of when we think anxiety. It can look like anger, frustration, perfectionism, depression, introversion, and so much more.

It’s also often BIG when it comes to our littlest ones. Big worries, coupled with a little’s life experiences, works out to kiddos who are overwhelmed and are in a constant battle between flight or fight.

For tweens and teens, it can mean questioning what they’re meant for, doubting what they know about themselves, or lead to negative thought loops and other challenges.

In this session, I’ll share some of the ways anxiety can look in your children and teens, and give you practical tips, book recommendations, and other resources that can help you and your family start moving from the overwhelm into a calmer life for everyone.

Help Strengthen Your Child’s Executive Function Skills and Wire Them for Success

Do you feel frustrated when trying to get your kids to follow through on a task, initiate a new one, make a plan, keep their rooms clean, or regulate their emotions? Executive function skills are tough for all kids to hone and harness, and especially challenging for neurodiverse kiddos.

Sometimes it seems like your overexcitable engineer can hyper focus on one thing for days on end, while at other times that same kid can’t remember to brush her teeth or tie her shoe. Your creative artist can paint for hours, but never remembers where she left her brushes and leave a mess in her wake. And your teen’s bedroom… well, some things may be beyond even this session’s allowed timeframe!

Executive function skills cover a lot of ground, so in this session I’ll talk about what they are, what they mean for your kiddos and their learning, and how you can help improve them. You’ll walk away with practical strategies and tips, along with resources to help you help your family on their way to strong executive function skills.

More Benefits of a Homeschool Convention

Meeting other parents who get it. Parenting differently-wired kiddos is not easy. It’s exhausting and isolating, and can be so difficult to find someone else to share in the adventure with. The Raising Lifelong Learners vendor booths are almost always full of moms hugging, crying, laughing, all sharing and understanding the very unique needs and struggles we face in parenting and educating our gifted and twice-exceptional kids.

Building your homeschool community and expanding your homeschool mom support group is definitely the cherry on top of a fantastic weekend.

Yes, you can also shop for curriculum in the exhibit hall and hear other speakers. There will be curriculum exhibitors and speakers from all over the country representing dozens of styles and methods. You’ll be able to flip through a workbook you’ve had your eye on, ask questions about that Latin program and have in-person conversation with the curriculum writers or representatives of the actual company, and even get new new ideas you didn’t know were out there.

Great Homeschool Conventions is about far more than just shopping, though, and you’ll find even more amazing workshops. It is a great opportunity to grow yourself, not just your book collection.

Speakers brought in to share the latest in educational research, special needs issues, family dynamics, and other important information mean you can go home prepared and empowered.

Regional Conventions are Some of the Largest Homeschool Conventions

Now is a great time to take advantage of the special offers Great Homeschool Conventions has extended to our readers. You can register here and save $10 with code RLL23!

Attending GHC is as much an investment in yourself as it is your children’s education!

There’s almost too much to take in during just three days. I can’t wait to meet you, hug you, and watch you leave with a refreshed and ready smile on your face. This year’s upcoming homeschool convention events have so many new and exciting things to offer, that you’ll definitely want to be a part of it all. See you soon!