Each year there are about two dozen Catholic homeschooling conferences in the United States and many more curriculum fairs and information nights. Homeschooling Catholic will come out with two important conference listings each year. In September, as soon as conference season is over (the conference season goes from March through August), we will post a ranking of conferences by attendance. In February, we will post a listing by date with dates, locations, and links.
The 2012 Conference Season has brought some significant changes. Several older conferences have been discontinued and several new conferences have arisen. One of the more notable trends comes from the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) Coalition. They have hosted the largest conference in the nation for many years and have even branched out into hosting regional conferences, however this year, they have gone from hosting 6 conferences in 2011 to 11 in 2012, and that number could even increase in 2013. As far as we can tell, the following conferences have fallen by the wayside this year: Memphis, Buffalo, Kentucky, Seattle, Denver, Napa, Round Rock. It is not unusual to lose 2 or 3 in one year, but 7 is very significant. On the other hand, new conferences include: Jacksonville, Carolina, San Antonio, Santa Clara, Green Bay, and Lafayette. There are also two events in Atlanta this year, though the Seton Atlanta Book Fair isn’t technically a conference.
2012 Catholic Homeschooling Conferences
| March | |
|
IHM Jacksonville Homeschool and Parent Conference Embassy Suites Jacksonvilee – Baymeadows |
First Year |
|
Roman Catholic Home School Association of Louisiana Home School Conference St. Peter’s Catholic Church - St. Mary’s Hall |
Ranked
in 2011 |
|
St. Louis Catholic Homeschool Conference Cardinal Rigali Center |
Ranked
in 2011 |
| April | |
| Seton Atlanta Book Fair April 13, 2012(Friday) Hyatt Regency Suites Atlanta Northwest |
First Year Event |
|
Northern California Catholic Homeschooling Conference Our Lady of Peace Shrine |
First Year |
|
IHM Houston Homeschool and Parent Conference University of St. Thomas – Jerabeck Athletic Center |
Ranked
in 2011 |
|
CHAPLET Catholic Homeschool Conference Mater Ecclesiae Roman Catholic Church |
Ranked
in 2011 |
|
“Celebrate the Faith! 2012″ Catholic Homeschool Conference and Vendor Fair Tommy G. Thompson Youth Center |
Ranked
in 2011 |
|
CHS Catholic Homeschool Conference St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church |
Ranked
in 2011 |
|
Catholic Homeschool Conference and Curriculum Fair Holy Name of Jesus Parish |
Ranked
in 2011 |
| May | |
|
Indianapolis Catholic Homeschool Conference and Curriculum Fair Holy Rosary Catholic Parish |
Ranked in 2011 |
|
IHM Green Bay Homeschool and Parent Conference St. Agnes Parish |
First Year Conference |
|
San Antonio Catholic Homeschooling Conference and Book Fair Antonian College Preparatory |
First Year |
|
New England Catholic Homeschool Conference St. Monica Parish |
Unranked |
| June | |
|
Minnesota Catholic Home Education Conference and Curriculum Fair University of St. Thomas |
Ranked
in 2011 |
|
IHM Lafayette Homeschool and Parent Conference Cajundome and Convention Center |
No |
|
Kansas City Conference for Catholic Homeschoolers St. James Academy |
Ranked
in 2011 |
|
“It’s Great to be Catholic!” Family and Home Education Conference Lansing Center |
Ranked
in 2011 |
|
The Immaculate Heart of Mary National Homeschool and Parent Conference Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center |
Ranked
in 2011 |
|
Southern California Catholic Home Educators Conference Sacred Heart Retreat House |
Ranked
in 2011 |
|
IHM Cleveland Homeschool and Parent Conference St. Adalbert’s Catholic Church – Keller Center |
Ranked
in 2011 |
| July | |
|
IHM Tampa Home School and Parent Conference St. Lawrence Catholic Church – Higgins Hall |
Ranked
in 2011 |
|
IHM Dayton Home School and Parent Conference St. Peter’s Catholic Church |
Ranked
in 2011 |
|
Père Marquette Home School and Parent Conference North Central College |
Ranked
in 2011 |
|
IHM North Texas Homeschool and Parent Conference Arlington Convention Center |
Ranked
in 2011 |
| August | |
|
IHM New York Homeschool and Parent Conference DoubleTree Hotel Tarrytown |
Ranked
in 2011 |
The attendance figures used by Homeschooling Catholic are independently estimated and may not be identical with the official figures used by individual conference organizers. Unfortunately, different conferences often have different criteria for counting, and thus official figures are not always good for comparison. Homeschooling Catholic’s actual estimates are not posted in order to avoid any dispute with individual organizers. Our numbers only count persons 13 years of age and older.
Homeschooling Catholic only ranks the top 20 conferences.
Why attend a Catholic Homeschooling Conference?
The first question is what is a Catholic homeschooling conference? In general, it is a one day or two day event usually held at a Catholic parish or conference center at which there are speakers who encourage others and offer practical advice. These speakers are often a mixture of veteran homeschooling mothers, Catholic priests, and professional educators. In addition to the slate of speakers is a large area in which different Catholic curriculum providers, publishers, and retailers have tables displaying thousands of homeschooling books and products.
So… Why go to such an event? If you are new to Catholic homeschooling or are curious about it, a conference is simply an invaluable experience. Not only to speakers explain the basics of homeschooling and elaborate on some of the motivations behind doing it, and not only does examining the vendor materials allow you an unrivaled opportunity to look through the pages of actual homeschooling text books and lesson plans, but more importantly you get to see and meet numerous other Catholic homeschooling families. Homeschoolers are not Amish, they are not cult members, and they are not superheroes (at least not in the traditional sense), they are ordinary mothers and fathers just like you who care deeply about the welfare and education of their children and want to do what seems best for them. It is not uncommon to hear from new conference attendees that they are surprised how normal everyone is and how comfortable they feel at the conference, almost as if it were a spiritual retreat or a relaxed family gathering. It might sound silly, but getting a concrete experience with other homeschoolers can make a world of difference to a family deciding whether or not to homeschool.
Mrs. Colleen Billing speaking at the IHM National Conference
For veteran homeschoolers, the reason to come to a conference is often to be rejuvenated. Even if on an intellectual level you think homeschooling is the best, the fact is the homeschooling is often hard work, and having a once a year gathering where you can feel uplifted, encouraged, and feel connected with other homeschooling parents is often just what is needed to approach the new school year refreshed and eager. The opportunity to shop for curriculum with the physical books and lesson plans in your hand is just a categorically different experience then trying to shop online with only a few sample pages, sometimes depending on vague books descriptions to make very important choices about your child’s education.
In the end, the question really seems to be, why not go to a Catholic Homeschooling Conference? It can be difficult to keep these conferences going each year and many conferences are in need of volunteers, so if you are interested, you might think of contacting the coordinator for your local conference and asking how you can help!
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