Conference wrap-up

The Minnesota Catholic Homeschool Conference was wonderful, again. The new rec building as UST is bright, airy and there is lots of space. I enjoyed doing my Bloggers' session, with a small and very nice group of women. The vending was great fun, but the accidental conversations were, as usual, the best of all.

Some highlights:

• Mr. Pudewa's Keynote on the effects of music on human beings was very, very interesting. To sum it up in one thought: if you just have your child learn piano early on, and do nothing else, you are on the right track. :-)
• Mr. Weiss' talk on Chesterton was enchanting. I have attended Jim Weiss' talks for a few years now and dare I say he gets better as he ages...
• My iPad turned out to be the best conference companion. During Mr. Weiss's talk, as he mentioned his favorite non-fiction book by G.K., I was able to purchase it from Amazon into my Kindle app instantly and begin leafing through it. Talk about instant referencing. The book in question is Chesterton's biography of Saint Francis of Assisi.
• Meeting Mr. Martin Cothran of Memoria Press was unforgettable. My friend C. K. and I had a delightful conversation with him about all things, and of course left with arms laden with new books, and minds laden with academic plans.
• What I bought at the conference? I usually find one treasure at the used book sale and this year was no exception: I have never owned a copy of Hillyer's A Child's Geography of the World, and sure enough, there it was, waiting for me, at the table of a mother who was getting rid of her homeschool books... we had a wonderful conversation and I will begin reading that volume aloud soon!
• I also bought some framed art work, and many Bethlehem Books where I spent a great amount of time. BBooks reps at this conference are wonderful people! We both used out iPads to enrich our sharing of information and ideas!
• I bought Dover coloring books and board games, and a few new homeschool materials for next year: All Creatures Great and Small Life Science, Seton Art 7 and Seton Handwriting 5 among them.