[1] Somehow over the past 5 years of homeschooling I have managed not to go to a single homeschool convention.
I’ve thought about going to our local one here in Dallas each year, but I’ve decided against it for two reasons:
1. I know that I would spend way to much money and buy curriculum that I wouldn’t use. (I’m kind of a sucker for product demonstrations at conventions).
2. I don’t want to feel overwhelmed. I feel great about what we are doing with our school schedule and I want to continue feeling great about it instead of feeling like there’s absolutely no way that I can homeschool my kids (I’ve heard many friends say that they have felt completely overwhelmed after a homeschool convention).
But last year I saw my friend Holly [2] post several things to Facebook and Twitter about a homeschool convention that she went to in South Carolina called the Teach Them Diligently Convention [1]. I was intrigued by her posts and decided to look into it.
And this is what I found:
“The Teach Them Diligently Convention was born out of a recognized need for more events celebrating the focus of Christian Homeschool Families—which is to disciple their children to glorify God. The organizers of this Convention are also officers of Worldwide Tentmakers which is a Mission Agency focused on Tentmaking as a missions strategy as you would find in Acts 18. Therefore, Missions, discipleship, and parenting will be a large focus for the Teach Them Diligently Convention. This will be added to the normal Homeschool Convention focus on teaching techniques and use of curriculum.”
Well that sounded like a lot more than just an expo hall and people telling you that you’re not doing enough (I know, that’s not all homeschool conventions, but that’s what was in my head about conventions!)
But this… THIS sounded like a convention that would actually be encouraging not just as a homeschool mom but also as a family wanting to teach our children to love God with all their hearts and to love others.
I was impressed with the speakers that they had this past year (like Ken Ham, Voddie Baucham, Stephen Kendrick to name a few) and I was impressed with their heart and vision behind the whole conference.
So much so that I asked them what I could do to spread the word about the conferences next year!!
First off, I was THRILLED to see that they are not only having a conference in Spartanburg, SC in 2013 (May 2-4), but also in Nashville, TN (May 16-18), and in Omaha, NE (May 30 – June 1)!! So hopefully you live close enough to one to be able to go!! I will be at the one in Omaha! 🙂
Secondly, I absolutely LOVE that they have a program for children. This is also a big part of what sold me on this conference. Kids ages 4 – 12 can join the kid’s programs where they will learn about topics from robotics to crafts to film-making to apologetics! I LOVE IT!!!
Then the teens will have their own program put on by Apologia Academy (can I join in on that one too?) 🙂
And have you seen the price of the THREE-DAY convention? I’ve been to many many conferences for blogging over the past several years and so the prices of Teach Them Diligently [3] completely blew me away! For our whole family (5 of us… the 2 year old would stay with grandma) it’s just $150!
PLUS, they have a special coupon code that you can use through TUESDAY (that’s tomorrow, 10/2) to get $20 off the early bird pricing!! The basic early bird price is $45, so you can get it for just $25 (then the kids/teens bring up the price from there).
When you sign up, just enter the coupon code BESTOFFER to get the $20 off!
Now I mentioned a few of the speakers for 2012, but have you seen the speakers for 2013?! Ken Ham and Voddie Baucham are going to be back, but they have also added a whole slew of amazing speakers like PAM TEBOW (yes, you read that correctly), Sally Clarkson [4], Todd Friel [5], Jenny Martin [6], and Crystal Paine [7]! So many of my favorite speakers and bloggers!
And last but certainly not least, one of the reasons I love this convention is because all of the proceeds are going to Worldwide Tent Makers [8], an awesome Christian organization that helps to send professionals overseas to work AND share Jesus with others! You can read more about Worldwide Tent Makers on their website [8]!
[9]
**Disclosure: I am thrilled to be partnering with Teach Them Diligently as an affiliate! All of the proceeds that How To Homeschool For Free makes from this affiliate program will be going back into missions work overseas.**