Mary Gold

The LIFE is Good Unschooling Conference Early Bird Registration
deadline is 2 weeks away - Jan 31 2009!

Make your hotel reservations and submit your registration right away!

The third annual LIFE is Good Unschooling Conference will
be taking place just outside of Portland this year, May 21-24th, 2009.

http://www.lifeisgoodconference.com

This is truly an unschooling conference - there are no "experts"
lecturing, and no "curriculum" or "educational" items being
feverishly pitched. Families are the experts and fun is the name of
the game - every activity is for the whole family, children are the
feature of the event and everything is open to them. The speakers are
either parents of unschooled children, or grown unschoolers
themselves. There are also more intimate interactive circle chats on
a wide range of topics, and loads of "Funshops" - like workshops,
only so much more FUN - where you can discover new talents and
skills, or share one of your own! The unschooling talent show is
always a huge hit, as is the big family barefoot boogie dance! Folks
of all ages can hock their handmade wares at the "Un"trepreneurial
Fair. And Amy Steinberg, who performed a fabulously energetic concert
last year will be back to do it again this year:

http://www.myspace.com/amysteinberg

And because we cannot bear to part at the end of all this fun, we
spend the Monday picnicing at a terrific nearby park.

Dads are a huge part of the event too, speaking, leading funshops,
and having gatherings of their own that are sometimes referred to by
the beverage-inspired moniker "SSUD"s (the Secret Society of
Unschooling Dads).

It is a pretty cool feeling just to be surrounded by families of all
ages who live unschooling every day, and totally get your life
without you having to explain a thing! We literally take over the
hotel, which is a sight in itself.

For a sneak peek at what the conference looks like, check out these
videos from past years.

2008: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txdBOES235k

2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyysoHMuz_o&feature=channel_page

En route, Seattle and Portland both offer amazing museums, science
centers, zoos, and children's museums. It is the perfect excuse for a
road trip!

Check out the conference website for all the details on speakers,
main presentations, circle chats, funshops, registration, hotel
reservations, FAQs, etc. (http://www.lifeisgoodconference.com/).
There is also a Yahoo Group set up for questions, chatter, intros,
ideas, etc. (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LifeisGoodconference/)

You are encouraged to pass this message along to any other lists/
people you think might find it of interest.