Tips for Attending Your First Homeschool Convention

This post was sponsored by Great Homeschool Conventions.

Use the Children’s Programming

First of all, I should mention that the younger children went into the children’s program during the main portion of the day, joining us for meals. It is extremely helpful when a convention hosts children and Great Homeschool Convention does an excellent job of providing for the children so parents can enjoy all of the teaching and shopping. This was our *first* experience with a children’s program and I was very impressed.

Divide and Conquer

My husband and I looked at all the sessions before we arrived, and for the most part we chose to split up to “divide and conquer.” We would each attend different sessions and then during meals and open time we would get together and discuss all we had learned.

While we were in sessions ourselves, our teens were also in sessions specifically designed for them so during meals we would also discuss what they were learning. The teen track was a wonderful world-view conference and they had so much fun having this independence and getting relevant information.

Shop with Purpose

Before we arrived at the convention, my husband and I went through the exhibitor list and made our own list of “must-see” vendors to meet with. We also made a list of everything we would need for that year, so if something unexpected caught our eye we knew ahead of time if it was something we needed. And finally, we agreed on a baseline spending budget which would be flexible if we saw any amazing deals.

That doesn’t mean we didn’t browse the vendor hall. We both went through it all together once. I browsed and chatted with various vendors more than once – because – I love SHOPPING! In the evenings I would chat with my husband about some of the various things I saw and we would make decisions. And then at the end of the conference we made final purchase decisions and went in for a strategic shopping strike. If you plan to use this method, just be sure you get back to the exhibitor hall before vendors start to pack up.

Dress Comfortably and Wear Good Shoes

I’m not saying be sloppy or anything, but you are definitely going to be doing some walking and enjoying long days learning, shopping, fellowshipping, and being entertained. It’s gonna be good to be comfortable.

Bring a Rolling Cart

This is one of those things that I often forget, but my husband actually bought our first rolling cart when we were at the Great Homeschool Convention in Long Beach. It’s super handy to have in the exhibitor hall unless you do not plan to shop.

I’m super excited this year to attend the Great Homeschool Convention happening in Cincinnati, Ohio in April of 2017. My teens and I will be attending together again and I am looking forward to my youngest teen being able to enjoy the teen track for the first time! Also, we are super excited to be attending all of the special extra events this time!

User: (WT-shared) Peraltita at wts wikivoyage [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

What are some of your tips for attending a Homeschool Convention?