Ely told the kids to "strike a pose."
Kandee Wright and Dayna Martin, and their very comfy babies
Keith Wright, Eli Gerzon, Ely, and Joe MartinLast weekend, Ely, Logan and I went to Wakefield, Mass. for our very first unschooling conference. It was so empowering to finally meet other families actually living this way. To be honest, I already knew most of the nuts-and-bolts, how-to-unschool stuff from all the reading I've done. I get it. This conference, for me, was all about forging a real connection to the unschooling community in a way that the internet just cannot do. We met so many amazing people. I came away energized and galvanized, more sure than ever that unschooling is the way to go for our family. Plus, it was just so much fun!
Some random impressions and memories:
--an adorable little girl strumming her plastic guitar at the talent show
--all the confident, outgoing, interesting teens and young adults
--Logan joyfully being chased down the hall by his new friends, all chanting his name
--Ely bonding with other unschooling dads, and realizing that maybe I'm not so crazy with this unschooling thing, after all
--enjoying the very talented unschooled singer songwriter Julian Baptista, and the unschooled Ryan siblings' Irish folk band, Fishing with Finnegan
--listening to Dayna Martin's talk on Sunday morning with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes because her words hit so close to home
--sitting on the floor late into the night, drinking, laughing, and talking with other unschooling moms
--actually winning some cool stuff at the auction!
--not wanting it to end
How did I miss that late night sitting, drinking and talking thing? Bummer! Glad you had a good time. I was in bed by 10 every night; the days were so overwhelming!
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It was nice meeting you and your family!
ReplyDeleteAndrea, there were a bunch of us hanging out downstairs after the evening's entertainment, while the kids generally ran up and down the halls. I couldn't hang as long as the dads, but one night Logan and I were down there 'til almost 1! (And I still managed to get up for the first session every morning.) It was very cool to finally meet you--I wish we could have talked longer.
ReplyDeleteKandee, it was great meeting you guys, too! I'm very jealous right now because I know you're in Texas at Rethinking. How's it going so far? Is it amazing? Have fun, and I want a full report when you get back! ;)
I loved every minute of the conference and it was such fun playing bananagrams with you!
ReplyDeleteJulie