Conventions Shopping Tips
Here are my tips for buying resources at a Convention.
BEFORE the Convention:
1. THROUGH PRAYER – make a list of the TYPES of things you think you’ll need. i.e. “History resources covering _____ time periods. A hands on way to teach math, covering all levels. A mom’s “how-to” guide for teaching _____ in a relaxed way. A few interesting read-alouds on ______. A drawing program for _____. …..” This will help keep you from looking at things that you don’t need this year/ yet. If you’ve already got somewhat of a plan down, through prayer, AND have talked to your children about some interests they’d like to pursue, you’ll know things like ” there’s no use looking at _____ this year, because I KNOW that isn’t the direction we’re going and we won’t get to it. It will sit on the shelf and I’ll feel guilty for spending the money and for not using it.”
2. Get as many catalogs and visit as many websites as you can, so you will have an idea of what you particularly want to check out. Make a list under those “types of things” needed, of possible resources to fulfill that need. There will be plenty of other things at the convention that you haven’t heard of before to choose from, that you may also want to look at, but this pre-looking will at least narrow it down some. You will have, through the catalogs and websites, eliminated many choices. You can walk right past those booths with no condemnation or questioning for ignoring them.
AT the convention:
1. Go only to those booths that have your predetermined resource possibilities. WOULDN’T it be great if we could stop there? NO, DON’T DO THIS! There will be other good things to check out. But DO go to those pre-determined booths FIRST – and do some more eliminating.
2. DON’T buy anything on your first round. Make it a “skimming” tour. Make note of any other resources (or booths) that fit into your “types of things needed” that you’d like to further check out.
3. If something looks REALLY interesting, TALK to the vendor about it. Go to WORKSHOPS by that vendor that cover that resource (if possible) or at least give you an idea of that vendor’s philosophy (it determines the philosophy behind the books that vendor carries). This is more true of the smaller specialized vendors than those that carry a little of everything (who usually don’t do workshops, and may not even know much about their books. In fact they may just be a local “hired hand” to help “ring up” customers. Small vendors and especially those that have authored the resources are USUALLY the most helpful.
4. Buy ONLY when you have God’s Peace about a resource. If you still aren’t sure as the convention nears completion, DON’T rush or be pressured into buying ANYTHING. It will well be worth any extra you have to pay in shipping to get the right thing. Spend the time you need praying about it and getting God’s direction and peace. Don’t let a vendor (or others there) talk you into something that doesn’t fit your “litmus test” (see our guidelines below) unless you really sense God leading in that new direction. Perhaps it IS HIM giving clearer revelation, but PERHAPS it’s an expensive (in money AND TIME) rabbit trail.
5. This is personal opinion – as in what *I* do, and therefore carries emotional sentiment and may not fit as “good advise” :- ) IF you have been hs-ing a long time and you know the direction you’re going, and you already have all your basic resources – buy what you find that will fill-in for the future, even if you may not use it THIS year. I really don’t NEED anything for “THIS YEAR” anymore, but I do know what I plan for the future AND I ENJOY filling in and buying when I find a resource that is just right for what I know is upcoming, when it is something I really feel God’s Peace about.
There have been years that I haven’t been able to go to convention OR order any resources and I have been grateful for God’s advance promptings that have led me to purchase ahead and provide for future (at the time, but now current) needs. It’s a good feeling when Mark says, “Sorry I don’t see how we can squeeze anything out right now,” and I can reply, “We’re OK. We already have all we need for now.” This is especially true because we use “Real Resources” such as timeless Living Books.
We may not be studying Early America this year, BUT I know it’s coming up and I know we want to read Charles Coffin’s “Sweet Land of Liberty” and William Bradford’s “Plymouth Plantation” when we get there. I know they are living resources that won’t be not applicable/ out of our philosophy when I get there. OR, perhaps we are collecting G.A. Henty books, or those character classics reprinted by “Lamplighter”, we have the ones we’re going to read this year, but I find others to add to our collection. These are timeless resources that I’d like to have, just to have in our library and read ANYTIME!, not just the year we “study” their topic. If I find them at the convention, and I have the money to buy them, after getting anything I need for this year, I get them.
This could get me on a whole other rabbit trail of building a good and timeless library. I want to have books on our shelves that tempt our kids to “read ahead”, meaning they see these books as being valuable to our family, and are intrigued to just pull them off and start reading at anytime, not just because they were “assigned”. That is part of creating a Love for Learning. And, I will save the rest of this rabbit trail for the Environment of Excellence article in our forthcoming “Lifesytle Curriculum” book.
6. Another good question to add for us book junkies that are deviating from “this year’s needs” list is: Do I already have something that teaches/covers this in a way that is do-able for us? Does this NEW resource do that much BETTER of a job, and fit our QUALIFICATIONS that much better, that I am willing to REPLACE the other one? It’s easy for me to duplicate things, because there’s MORE than ONE good thing out there. BUT since we already have a library of thousands of books, we don’t need to keep adding, just for the sake of adding. A verse that “speaks” to me is “Of the making of books, there is no end.” from Ecclesiastes. AND I DON’T NEED TO OWN *ALL* OF THEM!!!!!
Continued in Part 3
