Celebrate Homeschooling at TPA Conference 2000!

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Celebrate Homeschooling at TPA Conference 2000

Link to the conference brochure as a PDF file. Note: this is a 566k file that required Acorobat reader. So it will take time to download. The first page is blank for some reason.
Link to the tentative conference schedule and descriptions of all the workshops

Whether you are a brand new homeschooler interested in learning about using curriculum, keeping records and Kansas legalities, or a journeyman homeschooler of several years looking for bargains for next year’s curriculum and possibly needing a morale boost after a long winter, or even a veteran homeschooler of many years looking ahead to high school programs and preparing transcripts for college application, there is no better place to celebrate the journey our families have undertaken than a homeschool convention, bursting with exhibitors, workshops, keynote speakers, and the throng of our fellow homeschooling families. There is nothing quite like it, and there is no better way to revitalize your spirit and stock up with supplies for the coming school year.

The Teaching Parents Association in Wichita welcomes all homeschooling families to Homeschool Conference 2000, our 15th annual homeschool convention, to be held on Friday & Saturday, June 2-3, at the Century II Expo Hall in downtown Wichita. This year’s event promises to be bigger and better than ever, with four keynote speakers, over 60 workshops, and nearly 100 exhibitors. Conference 2000 also features Adventures in Character, a character training workshop for children ages 6-12.

Keynote Speakers

• Diana Waring: Diana and husband Bill have homeschooled their three children for the past 13 years. Diana is an historian and author of numerous books and unit study programs on American and world history, many of which are currently available though the Warings’ home business – History Alive! She is also the author of Beyond Survival: A Guide to Abundant-Life Homeschooling (an excerpt from which appears on page 12) and with her husband has recently published a book entitled Things We Wish We’d Known, recounting the true-life experiences and practical lessons learned from over 50 veteran homeschooling families from around the world.

• Dr. Tedd Tripp: Dr. Tripp and wife Margy are the parents of three grown children. He is the author of Shepherding a Child’s Heart, which examines the Biblical perspective and offers practical approaches for nurturing Godly character in children by addressing issues of the heart. Dr. Tripp is a board member of Immanuel Christian School, which he helped found and served as teacher and principal. Dr. Tripp is also Pastor of Grace Fellowship Church and Counselor for Christian Counseling and Education Foundation.

• Steve Lambert: In 1982, Steve Lambert and his wife Jane began homeschooling their oldest daughter and continue today with their youngest daughter. The Lamberts travel as a family during several months of the year as they speak to thousands of homeschoolers at conventions and workshops across the U.S. Steve & Jane are the creators and publishers of the Five in a Row homeschool curricu-lum, a unit-study approach to early education based on outstanding children’s literature that now encompasses three volumes.

• Sam Brownback: After serving one term as U.S. Congressman, Mr. Brownback was elected U.S. Senator from Kansas in 1996 to complete the term of Sen. Robert Dole.

Workshops

Conference 2000 will present a wealth of individual workshop sessions addressing homeschool topics of interest to both novice and experienced homeschoolers. Friday morning once again feature exhibitor workshops, allowing registrants to learn about the many different materials available in the Exhibitors Hall. A complete workshop schedule is included with this issue, or send an SASE to: TPA Conference Schedule, P.O. Box 3968, Wichita, KS 67201.

General Homeschool Information

• Getting a homeschool started successfully
• Homeschool curriculum overview
• Phonics programs review
• Satellite schools panel: four distinct programs
• Learning without curriculum: homeschooling young children
• Homeschooling high schoolers: planning for success
• Homeschool fatherhood 101
• Kansas homeschool legalities and recent developments
• Support groups: an overview of two successful groups
• Organizing a successful homeschool co-op
• Doing your own unit studies
• Field trips: the good, the bad, and the ugly
• Homeschoolers and the church
• First aid for weary homeschoolers
• Managing the risks: balancing over- vs. under-protection

Subject Areas

• Recognizing and teaching good literature
• Teaching science at home
• Writing and composition
• How to write a research paper
• Teaching foreign language (even if you don’t speak one)
• Outline maps and timelines
• Using current events
• History with a heart

Other Areas of Interest

• Chores and more: successfully organizing household duties
• Teaching teens about money
• Organizing homeschool sports programs
• Using the A.P. (Advanced Placement) program at home
• Political action 101

This is only a partial listing! There are more workshops in each area above, plus an entire section of workshops on preparing for college, not to mention the nearly dozen workshops and keynote sessions to be presented by our main speakers! Tentative conference schedule (as of 5/7/2000)

Adventures in Character

Do you know there is more to obedience than simply doing what we are told? Do you know how a parachute demonstrates how God gave each child just the right set of parents to protect him or her? Do you acknowledge the ten "unchangeables" God has given you? After two days in Adventures in Character, your children will!

Adventures in Character, a character training workshop for children ages 6-12, has wonderful things planned for your children. It is two days of discovering and exploring the fact that there are character qualities each of us needs in our lives to make us successful in whatever we do. Using materials developed by the Character Training Institute, this workshop teaches character qualities, e.g., attentiveness, responsibility, gratefulness, truthfulness, and obedience, through stories, skits, songs, crafts, games and other activities. In large group assembly, participants will sing and hear stories from nature and history that demonstrate character qualities, followed by small group time for crafts, games, and memory work to apply these character traits. Each small group will be comprised of young people of different ages, since siblings stay together, so the older ones can help and be examples to the younger ones. Leading this workshop will be adults and exemplary young people with extensive experience in using and presenting this material.

Success in being a student, a happy child, an employee, a parent, or even the President depends upon an individual’s character. We know it is character, i.e., what a person is on the inside, that carries him or her through life’s good and bad times. Parents cannot start too early instilling Godly character into their children. We hope your young people will join us in a time of fun and discovery.

Adventures in Character will be held in the area immediately adjacent to the Exhibitors Hall on the first floor of Expo Hall. Parents are responsible for meals both days. A separate registration is required: $15 for the first child, $10 for each additional sibling.

Registration

Registration cost for Conference 2000 is $20 for registrations postmarked by May 20. Registration at the door is $25. Spouses attend free. To obtain a registration brochure, call Kathy Middleton at 316-755-2159 or email TPAWICHITA@CS.COM. We will also be glad to send you extra brochures, Conference posters, or bulletin inserts to help get the word out. Contact Kathy for details.