When Rick and Marilyn Boyer started home educating the eldest of their four children a decade and a half ago, they didn't know what they were getting into. Now, twenty-five years and ten additional children later, they know exactly what they got into - and they love it! In this session, Rick draws on the principles of Scripture and years of experience to show how home education can be simple, enjoyable and powerfully effective. You, too, can home educate with confidence!

One of the biggest failures of our public and private school systems is that they do not teach students how to think critically. In this seminar, Dr. Wile gives you specific suggestions as to how you can teach your child to think critically, regardless of the subject matter that the student is learning. You will learn how to help your student evaluate statements, look for hidden assumptions, find political/social agendas, and discover faulty logic. Although Dr. Wile’s area of interest is science, he will show you how critical thinking applies to all academic areas, as well as all facets of your life.

Many parents finally fall prey to their own insecurities and critics’ darts when their children reach age 14 (and sometimes much earlier). They consider abandoning home-based and home-guided education. The cacophonous voices of professionals, generations of institutional schooling, “public” school giveaways and enticements, personal misperceptions of reality, and the world’s opinion about what is important muddy the waters. Getting closer to the source — the headwaters — brings refreshment and clarity to vision and action. Dr. Ray focuses on key educational goals and philosophy (biblical), research findings, the importance of separating the state from education, and homeschooling for the long term in order to reap the harvest of its excellent fruits.

Dick Karman presents a short update on homeschool freedom, a reminder of God's providence in the past, and a call to be prepared for the 2007 legislative session, along with a heart-felt look at home education a decade from now.

God has not called Christians to be influenced by society around them, but to be salt and light in that society. Every family must instill children with a sense of mission and equip them with methods to shine a light into the darkness of our community, city, and nation.

Many home educators are intimidated by the common myth that children who are taught at home are at a disadvantage in social development. Rick Boyer draws on Scripture, scientific research and the experience of thousands of home-teaching families to show that the opposite is true. To prepare children for the real world, they need to be in the real world: family, church, and community - not locked away from society in age-segregated schools. This session will help you respond to the constant challenge: "What about socialization?"

It's a blessing but it can be stressing! Home schooling with tiny ones around the house is a special challenge, but one that many moms handle with great success. Come hear how Marilyn Boyer,mother of 14 and a home schooler of 22 years' experience, makes her little ones a valuable part of the team!

Dr. Ray's major new study examines the lives of 7,306 adults from across the United States who were homeschooled. This research, a long time in the making, focuses on these adults' general demographics, attitudes toward their own home-school experience, and success in life. Success was evaluated with respect to civic, social, educational, employment, and worldview traits. In many ways, they are very "normal". On the other hand, they are remarkably different than the general U.S. population. Generally speaking, the findings defuse many of the long-held negative criticisms of those who doubted homeschooling's benefits, whether practiced in the U.S. or other nations. And the findings will likely be a great encouragement to those parents and advocates of home-based education over the past two decades.

Rather than raising children to follow formulas, let us teach them using the principles of discipleship, and then have them "follow me as I follow Christ." And, rather than trying to force your home schooling to look like someone else's, let's learn to hear from the Lord just what is best for your own family. Instead of falling victim to preconceived judgments, from ourselves or from others, let's learn to find God's way for us in this home schooling journey.

Is it possible to grow up in a Christian home and not know Christ? What if your Christian life seems boring? With tenderness and grace, this message looks closely at the hearts of home schooled young people and tells the story of a home school student who found Christ.

This workshop covers the various ways to set up a home learning environment that appeals to students of all learning styles. It addresses visual, sensory-motor, verbal and auditory methods of teaching, utilizing hands-on projects,visual aids, learning centers and restructuring school subject matter to fit a multi-sensory approach.

Are you just beginning homeschooling or have you recently started? This session discusses why homsechool, where to find support and resources, how to assess your children's needs and how to plan for the school year and choose curriculum.

Many home educators see the father's job as either that of substitute teacher standing in for Mom occasionally, or school janitor - doing housework to give Mom more time in the classroom. But the father's role is much more than that. Rick Boyer explains the seven functions of a father in Scripture and shows how they apply in the home teaching family to make the whole operation come alive.

Child rearing is not behavior modification, applying rewards and punishments to get unthinking responses. Nor is it a recipe, in which blending the right ingredients in the right amounts always brings the same results. It is a matter of accepting a God-given calling and pursuing it by His principles. It is a heart-to-heart relationship in which children are not just trained, but discipled. Marilyn Boyer brings 28 years of parenting experiences with 14 children to this enlightening and encouraging workshop.

In this seminar, Dr. Jay L. Wile, a nuclear chemist, explores the complicated Creation Versus Evolution debate. He discusses Christian attempts to make the Genesis account compatible with the theory of evolution and shows how these attempts fail. The conclusion is that a literal interpretation of Genesis is completely incompatible with the theory of evolution. He then proceeds to show that this is not at all a problem for someone who is both a Christian and a scientist. He presents strong scientific evidence that supports a literal interpretation of Genesis and equally strong scientific evidence that discounts the theory of evolution. He discusses evolutionists’ attempts to explain away this data and how such attempts fail. Perhaps the most intriguing part of this seminar comes when Dr. Wile details some of the fantastic life forms on this planet whose existence can never be explained using the theory of evolution.

When we discover that the "key to success" in home schooling is found in relationship, we go beyond survival mode and into abundance. Through an insightful and humorous word picture based on the scripture, "Unless the Lord builds the house...", the audience gets a look at the tools and materials used to build an educational "house." Diana also offers a very transparent and inviting description of her family's entry into home schooling, complete with reactions from grandparents, garage sale desks, and the first three false starts.

Dr. Ray will first ask "Should you teach your own children?" then proceed to help his audience answer the question which is the title of this message. Brian will use Christian thought, his experience as a long-time home education father of eight children, ideas from the education profession, and research to stimulate, challenge, and encourage both veteran and novice educators.

How to recognize your student’s level of motor, visual and language skills, learning style, possible learning glitches or a learning disability. Included in this workshop is an overview of Dyslexia, ADD, Autism, Sensory Integration Dysfunction and Motor Perceptual Interferences.

What composition skills does the elementary student need to master? Writing skills must develop step-by-step, so these early years are critical to later success. Come and learn age appropriate objectives and teaching strategies for achieving them. View samples and practice working with some of the exercises that I use in my home and classroom.

In this lecture, Dr. Wile uses his development as a scientist to explain why most scientists are not creationists, even though the scientific evidence for creation is so compelling. His frank discussions of indoctrination, discrimination, and bias show quite clearly that most scientists do not reject creationism on the basis of science. If you’ve ever wondered why evolution is so heavily entrenched in the scientific community, you will want to hear this lecture!

Before mass compulsory schooling, students learned to investigate, reason, and form independent attitudes. Today's home educating parents are discovering many exciting ways to get beyond packaged curriculum and experience real books, real experiences, real relationships-real learning!

Are you fathers wondering just exactly what it looks like to be involved in your family's homeschool? The homeschool fathers panel is a unique opportunity to hear 5 different perspectives ont he father's role in 'real' homeschools. Hear from godly dads who lead their families, support their wives, help at home and go to work everyday - just like you.

What a challenge! What a blessing! What a reward! But what do we, as parents, do to see the blessing and to harvest the reward? This practical, hands-on workshop looks at vision, opportunities and counsel in your teenager's life through such issues as: what we can do, through school subjects and training, to prepare our unfolding young adults; how do we home school when the subjects get harder; why we should study worldviews with them? . . . and much more.

This is for all the other moms who have been futilely asking for a maid every year for Christmas. How do you do more than is humanly possible? (which most of us are trying to do!) or justify not doing it? (which is an easily acquired skill!) You will be challenged to determine priorities as you seek to organize your time.

Now that you recognize more of how your student learns, what is the best way to gain successful learning output? This workshop deals with successful teaching strategies, brain based teaching techniques, some of the latest reading strategies, and a multi-sensory approach to curriculums.

Teaching writing to more advanced students can seem overwhelming. Yet, young people must master the writing skills needed for college and for vocational settings. How do you prepare them? What do your students need to know? We will explore reaching core composition goals, creating well-developed outlines, writing logically, following standard form, altering standard form, and creating timed response-essays.

As the father of fourteen children, Rick Boyer knows the importance of obedience to a peaceful and productive home. Here he shares, from Scripture and his own experience, the principles that make child training a loving relationship rather than a set of behavior modification techniques.

When the Boyers started their home education adventure in 1980, there were 4 children in the family, all ages 5 and under. Today there are 14 Boyer kids, several of them young adults and making an impact in God's calling for their lives. In this workshop, Marilyn tells in her own words and theirs why the Boyers (ALL OF THEM) are glad God led them into the lifestyle of home education.

In this seminar, Dr. Jay L. Wile explains how any parent can help his or her children learn science at the upper levels. As a former University teacher and a former high school teacher, Dr. Wile has experienced first-hand the failure of our public school system. As a result, he is a staunch advocate of homeschooling a student all the way through the high school years. Dr. Wile agrees that most parents do not have the ability to teach the high school sciences at home, but he also contends that this is not a problem. By the time a homeschooled student reaches high school, both the student and the parent should be able to learn by reading. Thus, Dr. Wile admonishes the parent to learn the subject right along with the student. With both the parent and the student helping each other learn, an upper level science experience can be equally rewarding for both!

Are you tired of force feeding history to your children? Does history make them yawn? Or, do you have one of those hungry-for-history type students that would devour far more than you could ever dream up to provide? Diana Waring will take you on an extraordinary learning adventure as she shares with you how to make the facts come alive and the learning go deeper! Join Diana for her "sit-on-the-edge-of-your-chair-in-suspense" history approach, using literature, music, art, science, cooking, and more, that has captivated homeschoolers across five nations.

Why did God stop making people out of dirt? Wouldn't that have been easier than having brothers and sisters? This session delves into Colossians 3 and explores the wonderful role that family plays in our march toward adulthood.

Do you or your student have ADD? Come and have a good time listening how to deal with attention focusing issues…gain and understanding as to why the way we are wired has nothing to do with how smart we are. This workshop covers ways to teach students with ADD, how to deal with it as a parent, and exposes some of the myths and fallacies of this type of wiring.

The command for women to be keepers of the home is not persecution from God or man, but a gift from the Lord to free and fulfill us. As we become ALL He has called us to be, our family becomes mighty in the Lord and a beacon to this generation. Whether you had a nurturing mother or not, God can teach you how to be one as you seek His heart for yourself and your children.