Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The Story Behind NEXT STEP

In early 2010, Deena and her family attended Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering (UWWG) and learned that what she had been doing for the previous five years had a name.  She wasn't "homeschooling wrong" as she had labeled it, she was "unschooling".  She was inspired by what she heard and saw, her children were thrilled to be in a place where they weren't being questioned about schoolish things, and their father was settling in to the idea that maybe she hadn't completely lost her mind.  The family left that event craving more!

A couple months later, Cameron Lovejoy organized and hosted The Autodidact Symposium in South Carolina.  Again, the family attended and saw that this model they were using was actually successful for others and these wonderful, vibrant, young people were talking and mentoring and planning and were outright joyful with their never-ending search for happiness and knowledge.  She left that weekend with the intention of creating a melding of these two wonderful experiences.

Two more months passed and Deena took her children out to the Life is Good Conference in Vancouver, Washington where her oldest met the girl who instantly became her best friend and the four of them left feeling peaceful and inspired!

Life threw in some bumps and the family withdrew unto themselves for a bit, but that intention was ever-present and after finally getting back to the conference circuit by attending UWG in 2013, Deena wondered if it was possible to gather some of her personal heroes and move forward with creating, organizing, and hosting an unschool conference in the southeast.

No sooner did she return home from UWG (literally midnight; four hours after they returned) then she sent her first line into the water and got a bite.  Yes, Wes Beach was curious and wanted to know more!  Hmm, try the next one.  Yes, Laura Flynn Endres was also interested!  Then she took a deep breath and dove in.  YES!  Her hero of heroes, James Marcus Bach, wasn't only interested, but encouraging!  In under 24 hours, she had gone from dreaming to planning.  Erika Davis-Pitre jumped in the water, Cameron Lovejoy (the catalyst) said he might be available, Blake Boles (the little brother she would've loved to have) responded positively and offered up some initial advice, Brenna McBroom (who doesn't love her???) asked more about the conference plans, and the conference began taking on its own life!  The ideas and support continue to grow and the panels are practically creating themselves.  It's a beautiful thing and clearly meant to be!

We have been creating this dream for three years in our minds and our conversations, but it has only been spoken of and acted upon for TWELVE days!

So, who is Deena?  Well, she's a mom who loves her children more than life itself and who has seen first hand the difference between traditional parenting and relationship parenting and who remembers thinking she was "homeschooling wrong" then discovering this whole world of unschoolers and who sees her children become passionate about learning more in areas she herself isn't knowledgeable and who is trying to help her oldest decide what the right Next Step for her will be and who wants to share that journey, fulfill her intention, grow her tribe, make new friends, and inspire other families!

Who she isn't.... She isn't an "expert" and doesn't claim to be "doing it right".  She doesn't really blog about or even talk much about unschooling.  She hasn't written any books or articles.  She doesn't host any groups.  Conference goers who have seen her may not remember her because she watches, she listens, she learns, and above all she loves.  She takes in as much of the wisdom and love that is offered and tries to find ways to use it to help her be a better partner with her children and provide them an even richer experience in their lives.

If you want to know more about Deena on a personal level, look for her at Next Step and she will be happy to chat anytime, especially over a cup of tea or a game of Bananagrams!

13 comments:

  1. This post is Brilliant! And I am so glad to be a part of this conference from the beginning!

    Take Care,
    ErikaDP
    "Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail..."
    "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."-MLK
    "I am learning all the time, the tombstone will be my diploma"- Eartha Kitt

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  2. Namaste, Erika. Truly my spirit recognizes the beauty in yours.

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  3. I love how you came to be inspired to do this. Good luck & I hope you enjoy the process as much as the outcome!

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    1. Thank you, Christine! We are very excited about the whole experience and would love to have you and your family join us.

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  4. Deena, I could've written your feelings as my own! As we drove home from UWG in our RV, I had our directory open and fb pages up, really commited to keeping in touch with all the wonderful people we hung out with this year. Faces, new and old, filled up my brain as our kiddos lovingly reminded me friends to not forget.
    We've talked to some of them about making it to the NE conference, but it would be wonderful to have one so close to home! We've made it to UWG every year and just love it! Since thwe dates will be in May next year, maybe this can help bridge the time gap (plus GA in Feb is so much nicer:)Let me know if you need any help...
    Sadie Bugni
    lotsagr8kidz@gmail.com

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    1. Sadie, we look forward to seeing you at the conference in February and maybe even getting the kiddos together before then! Thanks for the offer to help, we'll be in touch!

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  5. Excited to read about this on the list and on your blog. Deena, please let me know what I could do to help.

    Namaste,
    Kimba

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    1. Thanks for the support, Kimba, we would love to have you involved and promise to be in touch about how that will happen.

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  6. Hi, just curious if there is anything we can do to help? I posted your blog over on the Georgia Homeschool Events facebook page,www.facebook.com/groups/213097142127605/, which is pretty active and I know there are unschoolers on that list. I started getting questions almost immediately, so I would say there is a good bit of interest in this conference.

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    1. Thank you for posting about our conference! We are VERY excited as it's beginning to find its form and audience. It will be unlike other conferences (they're each unique, after all) and we believe it will meet the heart of everyone who attends! Stay tuned!

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  7. A Michigan family here very interested! I can not wait to see it take shape, anything I can help with let me know

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  8. Just wondering, since it has been a month since this post.......is this still being planned?

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  9. YES! Absolutely! We are still planning, got the contract signed with our hotel/venue, and are getting the site ready to go live. There's a small snag with the hotel rooms and we're trying to get that worked out before opening up registrations. Thanks for your interest and for checking back with us. We have been traveling and without internet for most of the last two weeks, so sorry for the delay in responding!

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