I was going to try to write this last week, half-way through the IHM Homeschooler Conference in Washington, DC, but the last talk finished after 9pm, I’d been up since a time of morning I’d rather forget, and I still needed a shower. So, instead, I’ll post this as a summary of the homeschooler conference I’ll call:
Why the Homeschooler Conference Was So Wonderful
1. Two days without the kids. Yes, I love my kids; that’s why I homeschool, although the kids may think I’m doing it to torment them. (“Oh, look, lightpoles! Let’s count them by two’s… What letter does ‘lightpole’ start with? Come on, sound it out.”) But, once in a while, it’s nice to love them from a distance. Although I’m not sure how much distance is involved when the whole purpose of the weekend was to improve their schooling.
2. The vendors’ area. Our state homeschooler association ran a cartoon in their e-newsletter with an awed mom in a denim jumper asking, “Is this heaven?” as she surveyed the curriculum fair. I’d view it more as purgatory (not an option, to be fair, for our state homeschooler association- it’s of a definitely evangelical Protestant bent). But I did get almost all of my curriculum shopping done, partially just because I was so overloaded I said, “Sure, [flip, flip] that looks good. And one of those, no I don’t need the new edition, and I have the text but need the workbooks for that… That’ll be how much?!”
3. Seeing people in person you usually only see on TV or hear on tape. Very weird. Yes, that’s Raymond Arroyo, the anchor for EWTN’s weekly news program The World Over. I felt like I should hold up my fingers to put his face in a frame; I’m used to seeing him on TV.
4. Getting books autographed. This one’s very funny for me; I am so not a groupie/hero worship/fan type of person. I may like someone’s work, even admire it, but I figure they’re really too busy to want to talk to every single person who can say, “Oh, I read your book, can I talk your ear off?” Actually, everyone was incredibly personable.
- Dr. Ray Guarendi briefly discussed the prevalent attitudes in adoption literature with me.
- Prof. Joseph Pearce took the time to discuss his book-writing schedule as if I was the only person in line (new book from him focusing on the Catholicism of the Lord of the Rings in 2012 or so; he’s otherwise committed until then). In the meantime, I wrote a post on his talk of the same subject.
- Dale Ahlquist signed a copy of his critical edition of G.K. Chesterton’s epic poem Lepanto with a self-depreciating smile and, “There; now it isn’t worth anything!”
- Susie Lloyd was very sweet. (and if you haven’t read her hilarious first book of essays Don’t Drink the Holy Water: Homeschool days, rosary nights, and other near occasions of sin, I’d highly recommend it. I’ve only just started her new one, Forgive Me Father, For I Have Kids, but she said she thought it was even funnier. Both books are available over here.)
5. Discipline encouragement. Virginia Seuffert, mother of twelve, grandmother of several more, talked about order and discipline in the home, focusing around the themes of why we homeschool. Dr. Ray Guarendi, child psychologist and father of ten adopted, homeschooled children, talked about discipline, homeschooling, and the culture. (I also discussed his new book on adoption in my post on his talks.) When you spend so much time going against the grain (often to the chagrin of your family, parish, pediatricians, random store clerks who obviously know better, etc.), it is a relief to sit down and be surrounded by people fighting the same battles.
6. Homeschooling encouragement. The ones I would place in this category also fell into the discipline category, while others fell into this and spiritual encouragement. Why do we homeschool? Why bother? Because Truth matters. Truth is freeing; “there is no truth” creates only a shallow swamp of a culture. I especially liked Prof. Joseph Pearce’s talk “A Matter of Life and Death: The Battle for a True Education.” (Summed up here.) Dale Ahlquist’s talk on G.K. Chesterton covered some of the same ideas. (Sorry, but I’m behind: I’d meant to have all the talk summaries done by now, but the Ahlquist/Chesterton post will be coming later this weekend. Check back later.) To sum up this point, I offer the ever-quotable Chesterton, himself an adult convert to Catholicism, and once required reading in almost every English-speaking university:
The Catholic Church is the only thing that saves a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age.
7. Feeling “normal” for once. I have never seen so many fourteen-passenger vans, pregnant women, and pro-life bumper stickers in one place. I can’t get pregnant and my three kids still fit in a minivan, but I still felt like I belonged a lot more than I usually do out in public. And I just loved this license plate. I nearly passed it up, wondering what people would think of the weirdo taking photos of someone’s plates, but decided I had to get a photo for the DH:
(That’s short for Benedict the Sixteenth, i.e. the current pope, fondly referred to as B16 in some circles.)
As always, click on the giant post-it at the top to visit Jen at Conversion Diary for everyone else’s 7 Quick Takes Friday.
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