Register now for New Hampshire Conference!

[Donna]

The registration pack is now available via our website for the Christopherus Early Years conference in New Hampshire the weekend of 19 September.

Jen, who is organizing it, is looking into the possibility of shared hotel rooms as well as camping (for the hardy!) to help people save some money. Contact her directly about this.
http://www.christopherushomeschool.org/newengland_earlyearsconf.pdf

[Debbie]

Donna,
This conference looks so inspiring! I wish I could attend, but I have a new baby who will be 5 months old at that time. The relatives we will be visiting at that time live near Boston. I'd only be able to attend the conference if the baby could be with me (which is probably not the most appropriate way for a 5 month old to spend his weekend!).
I was wondering if there might be a plan to tape the conference to be available on DVD?
Thanks,
Debbie

[Donna]

Hi Debbie,

Well..... I do get requests about taping conferences and at this point I don't want to take that on. I know that one can do an amateur version of a conference - but those can be really messy.

Another issue for me is that I work very hard to create a feeling of warmth and to build a relationship between the members of the group. I feel that to tape this would, on some level, be to almost violate the space and the trust. I know that may sound a little odd or a little strong, but I take a lot of pride in really getting to know the individuals at my conferences and tailoring things to them as individuals. I also almost always have people share very intimate things with the group - and often there are one or two who shed tears as we deal with perhaps painful "stuff" around parenting, etc. That might not be appropriate to film.

I should hasten to add that there is also a lot of laughter - my conferences are not solemn therapy sessions!:)

Rahima Baldwin tapes sessions and keynotes from her conferences - and people like Eugene Schwartz tapes his workshops. But these are far more impersonal conferences than a weekend just with me. I am planning to do week long intensive (possibly Chicago 2009 for the first one) for grades 1 through 8. It could be I tape some of those sessions.

Debbie - I would be willing to talk to you about attending part of the conference. We can't, unfortunately, provide childcare at this event - but it might be possible for two parents to juggle a young baby who might sleep and nurse the whole time anyway. A little one might be easier than an older one! But you are also right that it might not be something you want to do with such a young baby. If you would like to get in touch later in the summer once you get a better idea of whether this would be a good idea or not, do contact me. Having said that, there's been a huge response to this conference, so I'm not sure if there'll be a limit on how many people can attend.

[Debbie]

Thanks, Donna. It is a good idea to decide later in the summer if attending the conference with my little one will work or not. (Why don't my babies sleep and nurse all the time?? Ok, he does nurse all the time, but we only get 10 - 30 min. cat naps now and then during the day - even in the sling! I am quite thankful that he does nurse and sleep through the night!) Hopefully, before September, we'll have a better routine developed and he'll sleep more consistently during the day too.
Debbie