Catholic Homeschooling Conferences!

          The 2011 Catholic Homeschool Conference season has now come to a close, and we have had a fantastic year! In 2012, we hope to be hosting even more conferences—adding four or five new conferences to our line up. We will be making changes to this website on a constant basis as soon as we get our details confirmed.

Why attend a Catholic Homeschooling Conference?

          The first question is, what is a Catholic homeschooling conference? In general, it is a one or two day event usually held at a Catholic parish or conference center at which there are speakers who encourage others and offer practical advice as well as vendors who display curriculum materials. The speakers are often a mixture of veteran homeschooling mothers, Catholic priests, and professional educators. The vendors are usually arrayed in a large area in which different Catholic curriculum providers, publishers, and retailers have tables displaying thousands of homeschooling books and products. 

          So… Why go to such an event? If you are new to Catholic homeschooling or are curious about it, a conference is simply an invaluable experience. Not only do speakers explain the basics of homeschooling and elaborate on some of the motivations behind doing it, and not only does examining the vendor materials allow you an unrivaled opportunity to look through the pages of actual homeschooling text books and lesson plans, but also, even more importantly, you get to see and meet numerous other Catholic homeschooling families. Homeschoolers are not Amish; they are not cult members; and they are not superheroes (at least not in the traditional sense). They are ordinary mothers and fathers just like you, who care deeply about the welfare and education of their children, and want to do what seems best for them.

          It is not uncommon to hear from new conference attendees that they are surprised how normal everyone is and how comfortable they feel at the conference, almost as if it were a spiritual retreat or a relaxed family gathering. It might sound silly, but getting a concrete experience with other homeschoolers can make a world of difference to a family deciding whether or not to homeschool. 

          For veteran homeschoolers, the reason to come to a conference is often to be rejuvenated. Even if on an intellectual level you think homeschooling is the best, the fact is the homeschooling is often hard work, and having a once a year gathering where you can feel uplifted, encouraged, and feel connected with other homeschooling parents is often just what is needed to approach the new school year refreshed and eager. The opportunity to shop for curriculum with the physical books and lesson plans in your hand is just a categorically different experience than trying to shop online with only a few sample pages, sometimes depending on vague book descriptions to make very important choices about your child’s education. 

          In the end, the question really seems to be, why not go to a Catholic Homeschooling Conference? It can be difficult to keep these conferences going each year and many conferences are in need of volunteers, so if you are interested, you might think of contacting the coordinator for your local conference and ask how you can help!