Upcoming Catholic Homeschool Conferences - Spring 2013

A Catholic homeschool conference is a great opportunity to see inside the books, talk to curriculum providers, get advice and be encouraged by supportive and well-known speakers.

There are a few coming up that I highly recommend.

First, C.H.A.P.L.E.T. in New Jersey on April 13th.  Besides tables and tables of items for Catholic families and homeschoolers here are the speakers and their topics:

Maria Rioux 
Great Ideas for Small Minds:
Getting Started or Jump Started

Michele Quigley 
Time Management for Christian Mothers

Rev. Ronan Murphy 
The Rosary: The Devotion for Our Times;
A Devotion for Peace, Sanctification & Salvation

Marie Siobhan Gallagher 
Solving the “I Hate Math” Problem:
Insights into Overcoming Common Obstacles

More HERE.

In MAY, there's the IHM conference in Maryland on the 17th and 18th. The speakers at this conference will be:

We are awaiting one more confirmation.

Fr. Shenan Boquet, before being appointed as President of Human Life International, came from the Houma Thibodaux Roman Catholic Diocese, where he most recently served as Pastor of St. Gregory Barbarigo Parish in Houma, Louisiana. Since being ordained as a priest in 1993, Fr. Boquet has given hundreds of talks at conferences and in parishes on issues ranging from the dignity of the human person and the nature of marriage, to social justice and moral theology. He has given retreats and educational seminars on the Theology of the Body, Holy Scripture and various theological topics. Fr. Boquet has also appeared numerous times on EWTN and Ave Maria Radio, as well as in other media. He has served and continues to serve on numerous boards, including the Diocesan Priests Council, of which he remains Chairman.

Dr. Ray Guarendi is a homeschooling father, clinical psychologist, author, public speaker and a radio host. His experience includes school districts, Head Start programs, mental health centers, substance abuse programs, inpatient psychiatric centers, juvenile courts, and a private practice. Dr. Guarendi has been a regular guest on national radio and television, includingOprah, Joan Rivers, Scott Ross Prime Time, 700 Club, Gordon Elliot, and CBS This Morning. He’s appeared on regional radio and television shows in over 40 states and Canada. He has been the program psychologist for Cleveland’s Morning Exchange, Pittsburgh 2-Day,and AM Indiana. He has written several books, including You’re a Better Parent Than You Think!, Back to the Family and Discipline That Lasts a Lifetime.

Mrs. Mary Ellen Barrett is a home educating mother of seven children. Her column, “Life in Our Domestic Church,” is regularly featured in The Long Island Catholic. She has spoken at numerous homeschooling conferences on topics such as socialization and the challenges of raising a special needs child. In her popular blog,Tales from the Bonny Blue House, Mary Ellen writes about daily life and happenings in her Catholic home. In addition, she writes about the Catholic celebration of Christmas in her blog O Night Divine. Currently, she is working on two books, a book about life as a mom of a large family and an Advent Book of Days. Besides writing and blogging, Mary Ellen enjoys cooking, sewing, photography, and studying Theology.

Mrs. Laraine Bennett has a Master’s Degree in Philosophy and is a freelance writer for many Catholic publications, including Catholic Match and the Catholic News Agency’s Catholic Womanhood Blog. She also designed an online temperament test for Catholic Match that has been taken by more than 60,000 singles. Together with her husband, Art, she has co-authored three books on temperament:The Temperament God Gave You, The Temperament God Gave Your Spouse, andThe Temperament God Gave Your Kids, as well as a book on emotions, The Emotions God Gave You. They have lived in California and in Germany and currently live in Northern Virginia where they are parishioners at Holy Trinity Parish in Gainesville. The Bennetts have four children—one of each temperament type! They homeschooled for ten years, and have done many talks to local homeschool groups.

Mrs. Virginia (Ginny) Seuffert, a native New Yorker and mother of 12, has been homeschooling for over 20 years! While in New York, Mrs. Seuffert lectured, debated, and wrote a number of articles for the Pro-Life movement. After moving to Illinois, she became a founding member of the Network of Illinois Catholic Home Educators, helped establish the “Round Table” (a Catholic home school leadership discussion group), and became a founder and officer of the Catholic Home School Network of America.In addition to appearing on EWTN, she has been a guest on numerous radio shows, lectured at Catholic family conferences all over the United States and Canada, and has authored several articles on such topics as home education, teaching children the virtues, and household management. The Illinois Press Association awarded her first place honors for a column she wrote defending traditional family values in a local newspaper. The Seton Home Study School Newsletter regularly features her columns, and recently Seton Press published her first two books of a series, Ginny’s Gems: Home Management Essentials and Ginny’s Gems: 10 Essentials for Teaching Your Preschooler at Home.

And the biggest one, IHM's Virginia, the National conference is June 21st and 22nd in Fredericksburg. This is the biggie with too many speakers to print here and a warehouse full of vendor table after vendor table. You'll be surrounded by like-minded Catholic families.

If you're thinking about homeschooling or need a retreat to recharge for the next school year, this is where you need to be. In fact, for the Year of Faith, 2013 is a special year for Catholic homeschooling conferences. For the first time in history, there will be a national campaign to show support for Catholic homeschooling by having 10,000 people attend conferences during the Year of Faith. See 10kStrong.org