Yesterday was the AQED/QAHBE (Quebec Association for Home-Based Education) Symposium…

I had avoided going the last years because there was not much that interested me in the presentations that were offered, but this year I decided to take a chance and go. I am  happy that I did so…

We left in the morning at about 6am and got there at about 7:15 and we were in the first arrivals… there was an intro and then the presentations started…

The first I went to was called “Eco-Education” and was basically about the language around homeschooling and about how the word “homeschooling”  misrepresents the act by giving the impression that it is “school at home” when it is so much more (or even not close at all to that model in the case of unschooling).  The words of “Eco-Education” in this situation doesn’t take on the meaning of ecological (though they can be intertwined) but takes on the meaning of “eco” as representing our “habitat”… our environment etc…

The second one was on “unschooling”… lol… I actually ended up taking a bit and I am glad I did… I had mentioned when I presented myself that I was an unschooler and that I was there to mingle with other unschoolers… and  soon after we left the room I was aproached by a woman who presented herself and her partner and we ended up talking for an hour or two about unschooling and eating lunch together… it was really great to meet them and I hope that we can keep in touch because they were great people whom I would love to know more… Sadly they live far away but I hope that there will be other ways to keep in touch…

I also met a cool homeschooling mama that came all the way from NB to meet other French homeschoolers…

After lunch there was a seminar but I ended up ditching it and talking with another couple that are in the other homeschooling group that I go to at times and we ended up talking for another hour about unschooling and kids and family life etc…

It was really refreshing to be around so many like-minded people…

In the afternoon I went to two other presentations…

One was on Waldorf and I kind of regret going to that one… though I went to a walforf school when I was young, I did not see it at all in the same way as was described…

The last one was on a theory called Parent-Guide, Parent-Complice, which turned out to be a really cool presentation about parenting… many of the things presented in the book reminds me about a little bit of  “Hold onto your kids” mixed in with “Playful Parenting” with a little bit of “NVC” thrown in… among other ideas that seemed pretty interesting…

After, I met with my friends and we headed out for supper and we had a great time eating and sharing before finally heading home at about 9pm…

Anyway… I am really happy to have been there and I had a lot of fun and I am honestly looking forward to next year…