Gearing Up for a Homeschooling Curriculum Fair

In my area they actually call the venue a convention, but since I'm only really visiting the vendor tables, I tend to think of it as more a fair type of thing. In any case, our convention/fair is 3 weeks from this weekend and I'm already feeling an increase in my resting heartrate as I anticipate entering that giant auditorium with my credit card tucked securely in my purse, a tight budget and more choices than one person could possibly digest in a single afternoon.

I'm both excited and anxious over the prospects of being surrounded by thousands, upon thousands of wonderful books and resources. It's sort of like being transported into the biggest homeschooling catalogue known to man. Sounds cool right? Maybe. Yes, but the only problem is you can't put the catalog down and revisit it another time at your leisure. It's more like... look at it now, take a mental picture, buy now and save on shipping later or go home with nothing and try to remember what you did/didn't like about each and every item you laid your hands on.

The Stress that Follows
Homeschooling fair stress... sounds like a joke if you've not found yourself in that place, but it's oh so very real and stems from the fact that there's this very real thing called time. The fair is only here for 2 days, I'll only have a few hours on the second day (no time on the first), and it's not free to attend. So, I'll be thinking about this the entire time I'm there... "I'm paying $35 to attend, need to use my time wisely, need to leave with something... need to ask all my questions, need to, need to, need to..." Aaaugh!

The Joy of a Fair
The joy of a homeschooling fair is the luxury of having nearly everything right there in front of you... to be able to actually pick up the books and teaching tools you've seen in magazines and on the web and really get to know each resource in a more personal way. However.... it's also a long day. It's a bit stressful trying to manage your time when you want to give careful consideration to more than just a handful of options. If you start talking to a rep from any table, that's a mixed blessing too, sometimes it helps you decide, sometimes it just adds to the confusion! lol Oh, there are so many wonderful aspects to every curriculum I pick up. I might like the approach to math in one, the language arts in another, the in depth Bible teaching of the third. It's really, really difficult.

A Plan for Success
My plan for success this year is to go with all the things highlighted from my catalogs that I anticipate wanting to purchase... hopefully this will help me stay focused. The best case scenario would be to still have time to visit other booths, specifically those with supplemental types of materials. I love to supplement, despite adding to the expense of the experience. I just figure if I'm getting bored, so are my kids... so I've been big on adding variety to our classroom as our budget allows.

What Will I Buy?
What am I going to look at this year? Last year I actually struggled between My Father's World (what I utlimately chose) and A Beka which seems crazy, because the two couldn't be more different. A Beka is heavy seat work with very cool looking books, My Father's World is more layed back and interactive and some of the materials look amateurish (but ohhhh so good). I liked certain aspects of both and spent a good 70% of my time going back and forth asking questions, flipping through books and trying to imagine my son doing the work involved in both curriculums. Both tables had customers swooning over the books going on and on about how wonderful their children were doing with that curriculum and how they'd never consider anything else. lol Given last Spring I was gearing up for our first official homeschool year, I had no personal experiences of my own to base my decisions on, so I was really listening to what other mom's reported. Hearing other people's personal testimonials was inspiring and exciting, but also confusing. I kept reminding myself... my son isn't their son.

What is My Mission?
My mission this year, pending I don't confuse myself with my rambling thoughts while there (or the rambling testimonies of those around me), is to purchase My Father's World 2nd grade for my son, the extra student materials for MFW first grade for my daughter, and upon really reviewing what I'm buying up close and personal, maybe adding some supplemental materials from other vendors. It sounds like a good plan, right? Let's hope it really is that simple. Who knows, maybe this year I'll be one of the women standing in front of MFW rambling about our own successes with the curriculum. If I thought it would really help someone, I'd ramble all day, but based on my own experiences I don't know if that's really the case. I might just be weird though. I've come to accept that possibility.

What I'll Report
You know either way, I'll be writing about it here. I wonder if they'd allow me take photos of my experience? lol That might be kind of cool for those of you who've never attended a fair. We'll see how that works out. Maybe I could be discrete about it. I just would love for those of you who've not been to a fair to see how enormous they can be. The coolest thing about last year is Jesus was everywhere. I know they say only about 75% of homeschoolers claim any sort of religious affiliation and who knows what percentage of those are born again Christians, but in that gigantic room, you'd think the entire planet worshiped the same God. It was really something to see! Jesus was everywhere and in that respect I felt very much at home. ; )

~Wendy