I recently attended a hs convention. They brought in some well-known speakers and some lesser known. Overall I gleaned a fair bit but came away disappointed.
What I gleaned:
*One speaker said the same thing my parents always told me (& practiced): don't treat Bible as a separate subject that has to be completed each day. Have devotions and then apply/integrate to allow it to permeate life. But separating it out lowers it to just another box for kids, and de-values it. Kids this speaker noted who grew up with Bible as just another daily subject often grow up and don't value it as highly.
*Re-affirmed pacing lessons for full attention to maximize learning. Even if the lesson isn't over. Set a time limit that's developmentally appropriate (10 minutes for example for k) & move on. You can come back to it later. Your child will absorb more!
*Talk on the value of poetry and Shakespeare as an essential part of education- even in grade school.
* Interesting talk on four major variations in the current classical education world. I was taking kids back and forth to bathroom and diaper changes so missed a lot of that talk.
* A history of the differences in goals of a liberal arts education and creating thinkers vs a lot of the financial backers of the 20th century educational system and teacher training wanting good workers (for the sake of their companies/the economy) but not independent thinkers.
* Also an interesting challenge asking what would happen to our country if all students were required to take 3 years of Logic prior to high school graduation (formal and informal).
Things I didn't like
*Feeling like I've heard a lot of this before.
*Not really seeing much I wasn't familiar with from the vendors.
*Feeling odd that I didn't feel an urge to buy. HSers keep telling me how easy it is to blow a budget at these things. The only money I spent was on food.
*A plenary session that was promoting a personal not-related-to-education agenda. Seriously? Plus I'd respect it more if it hadn't contained some mocking of other beliefs and ignorant comments.
Was it worth $60? Probably not.
I'd rather spend a few hundred to attend the ACCS in the future. Love their recordings and loved attending their conference in the past. I'm thinking I would also prefer to go to the Latin Schools convention for home, cottage, and private schools at the end of summer.
