I haven’t been posting as much as usual since this has been an extraordinarily busy period for me!  Lots of things to write about, but no time to write!  The end of the school year is usually busy since I have all the regular paperwork to document everyone’s work for the past academic year, plus this year has been graduation and planning for next year for ds16 and dd15.  And of course, organizing the Torah Home Education Conference that’s scheduled for this coming Sunday!  After months of planning, it’s hard to believe that it’s finally here.

It looks like we’re going to have a great turn out for the conference!  We have people coming from all over the country – California, Washington, Iowa, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maine, and of course Maryland.  (I might have left out a state or two;  someone else is handling these registration details for me so I’m saying this off the top of my head. )  It looks like a really nice group of people and I’m gratified that so many people are taking the time and making the effort to participate.

We’ve also planned a teen girls get together, and I’m expecting between 12 – 19 girls for that. Then there’s a day camp for boys ages 4 – 10 (14 boys), and a day camp for girls ages 4 – 10, that also has 14 girls signed up.  Well, to be more accurate, there are three more children that I just learned about today but I don’t yet know if they’re boys or girls so they aren’t included in my tally. And then there’s the babysitting services for young children up to age 3.

In addition to helping arrange Shabbos placements for families coming for the entire weekend, I’ve also been busy with details for the communal shalosh seudos planned for Shabbos (Saturday) afternoon for local homeschooling families and those whove come in for the conference early.   I wanted to do this to give people a chance to get to know one another before the conference itself, which will make it that much more enjoyable when they come to the conference already knowing other attendees.

It’s been a lot of details to orchestrate – honestly I never would have done all of these things if I had considered doing all of it from the beginning.  I would have been too overwhelmed with all of it.  But one thing led to another, and it’s worked out!

If you want to come, it’s not too late.  You can register and pay at the door, and enjoy a stimulating day with lots of like-minded parents!  You don’t have to be homeschooling to attend or benefit; if you’re interested in an alternative approach to education, many principles and suggestions can be adapted by a parent of conventionally schooled kids, too!  If your children aren’t yet school age but homeschooling is something you’ve been wondering about, now’s a great time to further explore what is involved and make connections with others.

I invited someone coming in from NY for the weekend to stop by with her kids on Friday to see the ducklings (who are getting huge!).  It occurred to me that other blog readers who will be in the area with their children might also like to see them, also.  So I’m tentatively thinking that Friday for an hour in the mid – late afternoon (probably around 4 – 5) people can stop by with their children for a short visit, if it isn’t raining.

I’m in the middle of a yard renovation, lol, with the new fence almost finished, grass seed that we just planted yesterday, and lots of new raised garden beds we’re in the middle of building.  So my yard is definitely in process right now and I won’t invite anyone in since it’s a busy erev Shabbos and hopefully my kids will be napping or showering/getting dressed at that time. I’m not making this an official conference related offer and won’t be emailing anyone privately; if you read about it here you’re included.

If you want to come by on Friday, email me (avivahwerner AT yahoo dot com) and let me know, and I’ll give you the address and a definite time.  DON’T just show up and assume it will be okay since I’ll be very grumpy if you do. 🙂  If for some reason something unexpected comes up and I have to shift my plans, I’ll let you know that via private email as well.

Avivah