Cincinnati Midwest Convention--Here I Come...

There are only 10 days till the Midwest Convention--9 days till I have to set up the booth.

Although I have already done a LOT of prep work in order to have the best booth in the hall, I still had quite a bit to do. So, today was dedicated to finishing up.

I store my books and materials in our barn out at our farm.

Gathering up my last minute books, my faithful dog Scrappy and my iPod, I headed out in the truck to spend a day at the farm. 




Scrappy found the smells surrounding the barn much more interesting than this huge stack of catalogs!

 Yes, folks, these are the catalogs that are earmarked for Cincinnati. 1500 catalogs! Each box of 50 weighs 30 pounds, so 900 pounds are coming to Cinci.

 I have tubs and tubs of books, display items, brochures, pens, extension cords and more!













Good thing we have a pick up truck! It doesn't seem like it should take so much time to get ready, but I like to get the booth set up in an hour or so, and that takes organization before the event.

I also practiced setting up some of the displays.  I have a sample of the Mathtacular Educational Kit which is really cool. I can't wait till my two granddaughters get a bit older.

I think I like it displayed this way the best. It is sitting on the box. I love all the cool hands on manipulatives that complement the DVD. Awesome!

I also purchased the new Mathtacular Word Problems set. This looks really interesting and easy to understand. I love that it has a DVD, student book and answer key.  Great for students and Mom.

 In another week, we will pack up so we can set up on Wednesday at the Duke Energy Center.

Take care, and you may want to check our my homeschool resource library. 
 

Jill

A fantastic convention...

I just got back from the Midwest Convention in Cincinnati. I loved this event! The sponsors were organized and the guards, volunteers and even the crowd were the friendliest of any event we have ever attended.

Here is the booth from the front, with the big banner and Core 400 [Government and Civics with American Lit] and P4/5 [Preschool or Kindergarten for 4-5 year olds].

We had an awesome spot and were swamped the whole time. I didn't get a picture of my team or of how busy our booth was because I was too busy to take a picture. But we did talk to about 2000 people and if you were one of them, thanks for coming by.

I had a whole Newcomer 3--everything you need for one child about 8-11 years old for a whole year. I used to say, "Just add child and stir." Basically you need a child, pencil and paper and you are good to go.

This year I decided to make "sampler for every level" so that you can see samples of every Bible book, every history spine, samples of reading levels and science books. These samplers, along with all the Instructor's Guides really give a good feeling of what Sonlight is and how it works. You can see them lined up her by the "Why Sonlight" banner.

This past year I was privileged to be asked to create "hands-on" activities for P4/5. It was a challenge, but after consulting some early childhood educators, reading state standards and reading through many developmental activity books I was able to create some great activities that are not twaddle.

One friend asked what the definition of twaddle is an another quickly replied,

"Worthless, no purpose, busy work."

If you would like to see samples of the new P4/5 Instructors Guide, click here: and scroll down and click on "see samples." I think you will love it.

If you haven't been to a convention yet, I will be in Lansing in May and in Akron in June. I hope I will see some of you then.

Take care,
Jill