INCH Report

Arrived at the conference Friday afternoon and took my bags up to our room at the hotel. Paid my registration fee at the conference and headed into the vendor hall. Wow, look at all the STUFF! Oooh-wee!

Off to the first break-out session - Is Art Essential to Your Child's Education? The first screen of the PowerPoint presentation read: Congradulation! I should have left right then, because it only went downhill from there. I'll spare you all the details, but just say that the woman has a PhD in art education but does not know how to communicate with an audience. This is the worst seminar I have ever attended at a conference. Ever.

So, it can only get better from here, obviously! lol

I then attended the seminar - Peace Treaties in the Living Room. This was presented by Sarah, Steven, and Grace Mally, homeschooled siblings who are now ages 29, 22, and 19. This was a wonderful seminar and I highly recommend it. However, some friends attending the conference didn't give it as high marks, so your mileage may vary. This is the seminar I bought the DVD of. (See previous post for link.) They discussed: How to handle irritations successfully, conflict resolution, how to have meaningful conversations, and what parents can do.

Those are the two sessions I attended on Friday. I did not attend the general session in the evening (nor on Saturday morning) so I did not listen to the keynote speaker, Phil Downer.

Some of us wanted to eat together Friday night, but the downtown area isn't big on good restaurants. We found a list of restaurants and called one. We asked, "Is your restaurant more like a pub or more like a restaurant?" We were told it was more like a restaurant, so we walked several blocks to it, only to discover that, no, it really is more like a BAR. So, we walked back and ate at a sports bar RIGHT NEXT to the convention center. lol

Stayed up late playing games and chatting.

Saturday morning we ate breakfast in the little cafeteria at the convention center and then headed into the vendor hall. The first seminar I attended on Saturday was Raising the Strong-willed Child by Paul Downer, a twentysomething homeschool graduate who admits to his strong-willed disposition. This was an AWESOME talk and again, I highly recommend it. Here are his main points. (He had a LOT of them! lol)

A - Kids take energy!
B - Our Enemy has a very specific plan for each of us.
C - Satan always goes after the next generation of God's warriors.
D - He told his own story.

Strategies for dealing with SW children:
1 - Remember the power of modeling daily dependence on the Lord.
2 - The power of prayer
3 - Say "I was wrong and I'm sorry."

Practical Ways
1 - Celebrate your child without a reason.
2 - Have fun together.
3 - The power of YOUR happiness.
4 - Dates with mom and dad
5 - Draft your strong-willed child onto your team.
6 - High Impact Relational Experiences (Do fun stuff!)
7 - Communicate to your child that you are FOR him, not against him.
8 - Explain the flesh vs. the spirit.
9 - Name their gifts
10 - Draw them to the heart of God. Rom 2:4
11 - Acknowledge the good in their flaws and call them to a higher standard.
12 - Study strong-willed heroes.
13 - Avoid comparison.
14 - Danger of crushing the strong-willed child's spirit.

Discipline:
Explain the offense.
Communicate the standard.
Explain the consequences.
Administer discipline.
Wait for repentance.
Give forgiveness.
Restore the relationship.
Giving grace is beneficial at times.

The other two seminars I attended were given by Danielle Olander from Institute for Excellence in Writing. They were Content Area Writing and Creating, Editing, and Grading Writing Assignments. Both were excellent and neither required that you use IEW materials. (Although I do.)

I spent some time in the vendor hall, as you saw if you read my previous post. Lunch was at the restaurant hotel and it was overpriced and the service was very slow. Six of us stopped at Don Pablo's on the way home and that was a great time of fellowship and the food was excellent!

All in all, a wonderful convention experience. Well worth the time and money.