Pack for the Day

I dress casually and wear comfortable shoes, because I’m planning on a long day with lots of walking. I pack lunch (if it’s allowed inside the convention hall) and bottled water, some parking money, my checkbook and debit card, a highlighter pen, and my favorite bargain curriculum catalog, all packed inside a small, wheeled suitcase which I borrow from one of my children. The suitcase is for holding all my books and other purchases until I return home. I’ll use my favorite bargain curriculum catalog for making price comparisons. The highlighter pen is for use in the program I receive when I check in at the convention. I usually spend the first few minutes at the convention highlighting the scheduled workshops which I’d like to attend, based on my previously set goals. I intentionally plan to skip some sessions, allowing myself time to shop at the vendor tables, eat, and withdraw to pray. I want to make sure that I’m not acting on impulse, that my decisions stay aligned with our predetermined goals.

Go With a Teachable Heart

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I try to take a moldable, teachable heart to the convention. I want to be open to what the Lord can teach me through the main speakers and through the other presenters. His living Word, Jesus, can direct me to find encouragement in old friends and make new ones, if I am available. I need humility so that He can guide me to the materials I ought to purchase, all within the budget we have set.

To illustrate, two years ago I needed to find a language arts curriculum suitable for both my 10-year-old son, who didn’t enjoy reading, and my 7-year-old daughter, who loved to read but had only basic skills. I went to a workshop session at our convention offered by the author of a reading curriculum. It was her first visit to our convention, so I wasn’t familiar with her books. Her love for the Lord, her enthusiasm during her seminar, and the literary approach she offered left me thinking her curriculum would be a good match for our needs. So down I marched to the vendor hall to visit her booth. I spent another 30 minutes flipping through the pages and asking questions. Would this be the right material for my reluctant reader and his younger sister for the upcoming year? With my goals in mind, I decided that yes, this reading program would be a good fit for us. I can report that we had a wonderful, fun, challenging year using that curriculum, which turned out to be suitable for my 12-year-old voracious reader, too. What a blessing! God faithfully provided me His wisdom—through the convention—on how to best teach my children.

To sum it all up, when I have done sufficient pre-conference planning and have arrived at the convention with a teachable heart, I haven’t felt overwhelmed. I’ve left the conference with a sweet taste in my mouth, hungry for more next year. 

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Melanie Hexter and her husband of 17 years, Matthew, live in central Ohio with their five children. She has lost count, but thinks they have attended six statewide homeschool conventions and a variety of other local ones. Melanie finds joy in Jesus, her family, ice cream (especially Matthew’s homemade flavors), traveling, and encouraging other homeschool mothers.

This article was originally published in the Mar/Apr ’08 issue of Home School Enrichment Magazine. For more information, visit http://homeschoolenrichment.com/.