Feeling a little overwhelmed re: SCM All Day Seminar

I hosted the SCM All-Day Seminar back in September, and it was a great success. I determined up front that if 8 or less signed up, I would host it in my living room over two evenings, but if more than 8 signed up, I would host it at my church all day on Saturday. I had 12 sign up and 10 attend. I e-mailed all the local homeschoolers on my list, seeing what kind of interest it generated. Interest was good, so I sent out another e-mail with all the details and an attached sign-up form. I also provided everyone with the option of a catered lunch for $9/person–which many opted to do. I charged $9/person for the conference booklet as well, so for someone who wanted to fully participate in the conference and lunch, it was $18–not bad. Of course, I didn’t make a penny off of that, and everyone felt it was a reasonable price. 

My church has a large projector and screen, so our worship center was the perfect spot. The chairs are padded and more comfortable than regular folding chairs, which I think everyone appreciated. I provided some bottled water, coffee, and iced tea, as well as a little fruit and nuts. 

I set up a few tables at the front of the worship center and brought every single SCM resource, including the history family handbooks and picture study portfolios, I owned so that people could browse through them. I also brought some SCM-recommended resources such as the Child’s Story Bible by Vos, CM’s Original Homeschooling Series, and some of Karen Andreola’s books. Every time we took a break, the ladies were busy talking over the books and resources and looking through them, so I think it was a nice touch. 

We had a short discussion/Q&A time after each of Sonya’s sessions, and I primarily answered the questions as best as I could, since I was the most familar with CM. Several people said they were going to incorporate more CM into their homeschools–which was exactly what I hoped for! 

It really was pretty simple, and I definitely would like to do it again. Hosting at my home probably would have been easier, but not many moms (including myself) are willing to give up 2 consecutive evenings. I’m glad I did it on a Saturday. Cleaning up the church took hardly any time, and I was at home by 5:00 that afternoon. 

If you are even a little bit of an organizer, you can easily do this type of event. What you make available to the people who come is entirely up to you. You don’t have to do a catered lunch or even host it at your church if you think it’s too much. 

Does that answer your questions?

I just hosted one a few weeks ago, and it went really well! I had six ladies, since a couple didn’t show, but that was a great size! I had it in my home, and made some granola bars and had bottled water for the first break, a full lunch and then I put on a light afternoon tea for the afternoon break with cake and fruit. I don’t think that you need to do so much, I just really wanted it to be a rejuvenating kind of day-retreat for us mamas. I only charged for the notebook, but I think when it’s at a church, offering an option like Lindsey did is a great option. I made absolutely everything the day before and was able to fully relax and enjoy the seminar myself. It was such a special day for me, and I got to get to know some friends better and make a couple new ones! I held it on a Saturday, which worked well for me. I liked Lindsey’s idea of bringing resources, because this was one thing that was really helpful about having it in my home, we raided my library!

I hope it’s as much of a blessing for you as it was for me!

Rachel