Cardinal Keeler and William Bennett to Keynote NACHE Home Schooling Convention



by Matt & Rachel Watkins

Although homeschooling is growing at a rate of seven to 15 percent each year (1.3 to 1.7 million homeschooled in 1999/2000 school year), many homeschooling parents tend to feel they are among a small few attempting this challenging task. Catholic homeschooling parents may feel this sense of isolation even moreso, as we jumped on the “homeschooling bandwagon” several years after our Protestant counterparts.

Well you don't need to feel alone anymore. The National Assocation of Catholic Home Educators (NACHE) will be holding its annual convention on July 20-21, 2001, in Woodbridge, Va at the Hylton Memorial Chapel. In addition to keynote speakers William Cardinal Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore and William Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education and noted author, you will gather will over 1,000 other Catholic homeschoolers who have taken the role of parents as primary educators very seriously.

Some families planning to attend have been homeschooling for 15 years or more and have successfully sent one or more children on to college. Other attendees are just “checking out this homeschooling thing” as one mother remarked at last year's event.

The number of vendors and visitors increases significantly each year. There are full service curricula such as “Mother of Divine Grace” or the “Angelicum Academy” along with the new kid on the block – K12, the newest venture of William Bennett and his organization, Empower America.

There are also the product providers such as Emmanuel Books, Saints and Scholars and reliable Catholic providers such as Daughters of St. Paul and The Leaflet Missal Company, among others. This year's event will include eight Catholic colleges, highlighted in their own area so parents can ask all the important questions (“Just how much do you offer in scholarship dollars?”).

The most popular event features, however, are the 30+ seminars offered over the two days. The seminars provide the nuts and bolts of teaching (i.e., Dr. Joan Cotter offering her expertise in teaching math) and the necessity of keeping your marriage strong (i.e., Greg and Lisa Popcak giving out the secrets for an incredible Christian marriage). Dr. Ray Guarendi will be back reminding us once again of our ability to parent – “You Are a Better Parent than You Think!”. There will also be a special series of talks for families with special needs children hosted by Kristen and Dan McGuire.

Of special interest to all parents, whether homeschooling or not, will be William Bennett's Friday keynote address, “A Vision for Educational Excellence into the Third Millennium through Family Dynamics.” Anyone can attend this keynote without attending the rest of the event by purchasing a ticket at the door (fee: $20.00). Cardinal Keeler will be speaking on the graces available to us as we live in this third millennium and celebrating Mass with all attendees on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

As in previous years, the event provides parents with all they need — from supplies to spiritual encouragement — for the adventure of homeschooling with a Catholic flavor. Just seeing all the other families teaching their children math as well as manners will help you realize you are a part of a large and growing community.

Complete information about the event, as well as information on registration options, vendor lists and more, is available at www.nache.org.

Subscribe to CE
(It's free)

Go to Catholic Exchange homepage

MENU