NCHE Homeschool Conference

We just returned from the annual state homeschool conference and book fair in Winston-Salem. This year I didn't get to attend from the moment the doors opened on Thurs. until they closed on Sat., ( as I have some years ), but Mark, Amanda, Jason and I were there for most of Friday and Saturday. I split my time between attending workshops and browsing the book fair. I didn't need to purchase much this year, but I did pick up a couple of good books ( including Passion and Purity and The Mark of a Man by Elisabeth Elliot) , a version of Pilgrim's Progress, a chess playing manual, some new Adventures in Odyssey story tapes ( yes we bought tapes because they were much cheaper than the CDs and J has a cassette player!), a new Mavis Beacon typing CD-ROM for the computer, and the "Drive Through History: America" DVD set.

I attended workshops by Paul Tripp, Dr. Jeff Myers, Debra Bell, Mark Hamby and Shelley Noonan. This annual conference is not only "teacher training", but also spiritually uplifting and often challenging. Most of the speakers at this conference are Christians who boldly speak of God's providence, and of our utter inability to succeed in homeschooling, in parenting, in life..without God's grace and mercy.

Some quotes/notes from the conference:

"There is no knowing that doesn't begin with knowing God."

"Your home should be a place where children are taught to see God everywhere and in everything."

" It is of utmost importance that we learn, and that we teach our children, that in order to love another human being we must give up things!"

" Before children participate in co-operative learning opportunities, there needs to be a firm foundation of parental leadership in the family."

"What the watching world needs from us is the Gospel made visible!"

"We are not protecting our children; we are preparing them."