Equipped for the future.
That's what every homeschooling family should be.
Homeschool Iowa is dedicated toward making that a reality.
Alena Rectenbaugh,
who has served as a
Homeschool Iowa Conference volunteer,
shares how she has seen
Homeschool Iowa equipping homeschool families.
Every year, early in the month of June, something special happens.
Trailers and SUVs brimming with boxes of brightly colored books wait to be unloaded; signs, tables, and banners get dutifully set up; and families large and small gather to hear the encouraging words of speakers.
This is the
Homeschool Iowa Conference!
I have been blessed to serve as a teen volunteer for the past three years and have seen up close how impactful the Homeschool Iowa Conference is.
Homeschool Iowa’s mission statement is composed of four core values: encouraging, equipping, promoting, and protecting.
Through my work behind the scenes as a volunteer,
I’ve seen how the conference, in particular, supports
one of those core values:
equipping families and setting them up for success.
The list of all the specific ways that the conference helps homeschoolers to be equipped for the future would be long, just like a homeschooler’s library receipt, but it can be split into two general categories: community and resources.
Equipped for the Future
Through Community
The Homeschool Iowa Conference
provides life-long community and helpful connections
for homeschooling families.
I’ve met some of my best friends at the conference because it gathers like-minded people together and unites us under the lifestyle we prioritize.
Homeschooling can be hard, not just because you have to pave your own way sometimes, but because it can feel like you’re all alone in your journey. Personally, I live in a small town that is primarily home to public school kids. Growing up, nobody around me could really relate to my homeschool experiences.
But the Homeschool Conference
helps remind us that we are not alone.
It provides the chance to meet people who are also on homeschool journeys and who hold values similar to yours. Homeschool Iowa's Regional Representatives are always available at the event, offering encouragement and answers to your questions. Throughout the conference, you can meet and learn from other homeschool families, equipping you with both knowledge and hope that things can and will work out.
In addition to that, the conference provides connections. Families and organizations alike participate in the event, so you never know who you’ll run into. Just this year at the conference, I was able to meet the teacher of an online class I am taking, who is also the administrative director of a college. After chatting for a while about my future college plans, she happily said she’d introduce me to some professors she knew who could help me learn more about my areas of interest.
The fact that I can have an opportunity to speak with people of their merit and experience is such a blessing. The ability to make connections such as those is one of the perks of attending the Homeschool Iowa Conference.
Equipped for the Future
with Resources
Along with providing an uplifting community,
the conference also supplies vital resources.
Homeschooling is unique, not just because of its style, but because it can be anything we choose. That can be both exciting and daunting. We want to do the right thing, the best thing. The only question is, what is that? Should we have a fixed schedule for homeschooling or just take it day by day? In a world with so many options available to us, it can be overwhelming to make decisions, even on what kind of crayons to buy, let alone a homeschooling curriculum.
The exhibit hall at the Homeschool Conference Exhibit Hall is the perfect fix to that common issue. Vendors come from all over the country to present curricula to attendees. They are dedicated to helping you find the right product, even if it’s not theirs.
Talking with the vendors can help eliminate any uncertainty that might come up. Many of them are former homeschoolers or homeschooling parents who are excited to help make learning easy and fun for your kids.
As you walk past all the tables and booths, you can pick up and flip through all the books, seeing first hand what kind of content you’d be teaching. This is an amazing thing, especially if your kids are with you. They can look through all the books and curricula and get excited about what they’re going to learn.
One of the years I attended the conference with my mom, I found an English textbook and practically begged her to get it. After looking through the book and getting a taste of what I would learn, excitement filled me, and I read part of it on the trip home.
Isn’t that what we all wish homeschooling was like?
The thing is, it can be. We can all get that hunger for knowledge and excitement for learning. It all comes down to how we learn best, what makes us motivated, and what helps us retain that information. The opportunity to see curricula and browse through the variety of learning options can help us find that "best thing" for us.
Equipped for the Future
by Homeschool Iowa
The Homeschool Iowa Conference has so many great aspects, but I love how it provides for people. I’ve seen firsthand how it helps to fix problems, build people up, and prepare them for the future.
Life isn’t always easy,
but when you’re connected with community
and provided with the right tools,
your family will be equipped for the future.
Alena Rectenbaugh
Alena Rectenbaugh is a homeschooled student, hailing from a small town in southwest Iowa. She’s been home educated her entire life and has enjoyed volunteering with Homeschool Iowa for the past four years. Writing is her passion, and she loves to capture moments and memories with her words. When she’s not writing, and sometimes when she should be writing, Alena can be found playing volleyball or eating blue raspberry popsicles.
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