19^th Annual Statewide Convention

“Weathering the Storm”
Staying the Course through Tough Times

Key Note Speaker: Jeff Myers
Featured Speaker: Carol Barnier

June 19-20, 2009

Children's Program College Fair Great Opportunities Hotels Leaders Location

Schedule & Tickets Speakers Teen Conference USC Sumter food court menu Vendors Workshops

We are looking for any good, new or gently used homeschooling textbooks, reading books, educational games (with all the pieces), or other supplies for our Single Moms' workshop. They will be distributed first to our single moms, with the remainder offered to any homeschool families in need. All materials donated in past years were given to good homes with grateful parents. We appreciate the thoughtfulness of homeschoolers who have blessed many families with their books.

College Fair

Friday 10-noon

Great Opportunities for this Year

• Extended Hours for the same price - more time to shop
• More Workshops - 6 workshop slots rather than 5
• Generation Joshua program for Teens
• Puppets of Praise for Children
• Special Events for Leaders ¹
• Free Convention Entrance for One Leader per Support Group or Accountability Association ²
• Free Convention Entrance for Parents with Preschoolers who have never homeschooled before and want to explore the option ³

THE FINE PRINT

• Special give-aways at each of the following events! Please pay attention to which of the following leaders' events require pre-registration in order to participate.
• Friday 10:00-11:30: Leaders' Brunch with Guest Speaker Jeff Myers. Invited: two leaders and spouses (or four individual leaders) who are on the actual Board of Directors or Steering Committee from each support group and accountability association. Brunch will be provided, but you must pre-register on pre-registration form by the pre-registration deadline. Other leaders are invited to attend for $3.00 each.
• Saturday 12:15-1:45: Leaders' Lunch with Guest Speaker Carol Barnier. Invited: Homeschool leaders of all types (see above description). Leaders bring own lunch to this meeting to eat during the meeting or may pre-order and pay for lunch at the registration desk no later than 10:00 am on Saturday.(Prepaid meals will be delivered to the meeting room).
• Saturday 2:00-3:00: Leaders' Town Hall. Invited: Homeschool leaders of all types - members of the board of directors or Steering Committee, Park Day coordinators, Science Fair or Arts Festival coordinators, Journalism Club or 4-H Club leaders, co-op leaders, those who would like to be in leadership in the near future, etc. Leaders have until May 15th to submit questions they want considered for discussion at this Town Hall, so that discussion agendas can be printed for dissemination at this meeting to maximize usefulness of the discussion. The forum will be such that attendees are encouraged to come forward to microphone to give input on issue under discussion, with strictly-enforced 2-minute time limit given to each speaker so as to allow many people to offer opinions and ideas.

• Offer is for one leader who is on the actual Board of Directors/Steering Committee of the respective support group or accountability association.
• Free entrance offer includes spouse of the leader (spouse must be pre-registered as well)
• Covers convention entrance only, not food, motel, travel expenses, purchases, or childrens/teen programs.
• Leader must pre-register by pre-registration deadline, noting "Free--Leader of ___ Group" on the top of the pre-registration form

• Offer is for parents whose oldest child is less than 5 years old by September 1, 2009 AND who have never homeschooled before.
• Covers convention entrance only, not food, motel, travel expenses, or purchases
• We request that you pre-register but this is not absolutely required. Pre-registration helps us figure out the number of free POP bags we will need at the convention. When you pre-register, please mark "Free-POPS" on the top of the form.

Registered Vendors

Location

Coming from Columbia On HWY 378 take a right onto Alice Drive at the light with the Arby's in the right hand corner. At the third light, take a left onto Miller Rd. USC Sumter is on the left immediately past Alice Drive Middle School. Take the street between Alice Drive Middle School and USC Sumter for parking. Coming from Mrytle Beach area Take HWY 378 By-Pass around Sumter. Take a left onto Alice Drive at the light with the Arby's on the lefthand side of the road. At the third light, take a left onto Miller Rd. USC Sumter is on the left immediately past Alice Drive Middle School. Take the street between Alice Drive Middle School and USC Sumter for parking. Coming from the Low Country Take I-95 to HWY 378 to Sumter. Take HWY 378 By-Pass around Sumter. Take a left onto Alice Drive at the light with the Arby's on the lefthand side of the road. At the third light, take a left onto Miller Rd. USC Sumter is on the left immediately past Alice Drive Middle School. Take the street between Alice Drive Middle School and USC Sumter for parking. Coming from the Upstate Take I-385 to I-26E to Columbia. Take I-77N (Exit 116 to the LEFT). Take Exit 9 (US 378 towards Sumter). On HWY 378 in Sumter,take a right onto Alice Drive at the light with the Arby's in the right hand corner. At the third light, take a left onto Miller Rd. USC Sumter is on the left immediately past Alice Drive Middle School. Take the street between Alice Drive Middle School and USC Sumter for parking. Fun and Educational Things to do in Sumter Opera House Tennis Aquatic Center Artist Colony Swan Lake Iris Market Sumter County Museum Sumter Gallery Pointsett Park

Teen Conference

Policy to Protect Children (.pdf) Registration form (.pdf) Extended description of the Teen Conference

Generation Joshua is an organization founded with the purpose of helping parents raise up the next generation of Christian leaders and citizens to change the culture. Their theme, “Faith Duty Courage,” is the basis of their programs. For teenagers, Generation Joshua, or GenJ as it is nicknamed, means a fun time with friends as they address real issues of current events, learn about the country they will soon lead, and take part in important political campaigns and legislative issues. more...

Teen Conference Schedule:

Friday June 19th 10:00-12:00 College Fair 1:00-5:00 workshops with Gen J Supper with parents 7:00-8:30 Cerebral Café –“Staying Safe with Technology” led by Deputy Casey Bowling from Oconee County sheriff’s department

Saturday June 20th 9:00-12:00 workshops with Gen J Lunch with parents 2:00-5:00 concluding session with Gen J

Speakers

Jeff Myers is a highly sought-after national speaker whose passion is to help parents pass the baton of Christian faith on to their children and to others around them. Will the next generation of our young people accept the Christian faith and live it, or will they depart from the teaching of their parents because that faith was not carefully and consciously passed on to them? Author of many books, including his latest titled Handoff: The Only Way to Win the Race of Life, Dr. Myers points out that the baton is not being passed in business, in government, in the church, or in the home. For homeschooling parents who have lived a life of sacrifice in order to homeschool their children, the loss of their children who don’t accept the Christian faith is especially devastating. Dr. Myers offers us real hope in a concerted plan to consciously pass on our faith to our children, and to other young people whom we have opportunity to mentor. Dr. Jeff Myers has extensive teaching experience and has worked with the Colorado-based Summit Ministries to develop its leadership-training program. He helped write Understanding the Times, the worldview training curriculum used in many American Christian schools and homeschools. He is the author of seven books and several video coaching systems including Secrets of World Changers, Secrets of Everyday Leaders, and Secrets of the Great Communicators, which over 2 million people have used. He is the Founder and President of Passing the Baton International and is an Associate Professor of Communication at Bryan College. Although he has an impressive educational background, his style of speaking is humorous and practical, and parents love him. Come prepared to take home a wealth of valuable nuggets that you can put into practice in your family this next school year to make a real difference in your family’s ability to live a life of faith that lasts into the next generations.

Carol Barnier God has this wonderful knack of teaching us His most valuable lessons through some of life's most rattling moments. Several of Carol's journeys (both painful and pleasant) are the fuel of her speaking and writing material. Through a long medical ordeal for her son, involving 13 surgical procedures before he was 3 1/2, Carol learned the powerful lesson that she wasn't in control. When she and her husband couldn't bring themselves to medicate this ADHD child, particularly after his already long medical history, Carol found herself homeschooling. That will grow you & rattle you simultaneously! She learned over time that all of the traditional methods that she knew and cherished from her own childhood were a recipe for disaster with this very different child. So through much experimentation, coupled with a belief that this child's energy was a gift from God, she developed strategies and teaching methods that worked with his need for constant motion. The knowledge gained from this experience led to a web site, Carol's Web Corner , and eventually her first book entitled, How To Get Your Child Off the Refrigerator and On To Learning, published by Emerald Books (YWAM). Life continues to provide many opportunities to look for God's plan and God's gifts in situations that others regarded as "mistakes, defects, things to be changed". This effort to try to see each child and each event through God's spectacles has led Carol to develop workshops on Empowering the Shy Child, or finding the gift that exists in being a highly distractible mom. Carol delights in opening ALL the gifts God has sent into her life, even the most challenging, for she has come to delight in seeing how His plan often runs delightfully counter to the world's plans. Carol is now a regular speaker at women's groups, state home schooling conferences, and is a popular guest on radio programs such as Moody Radio (311 affiliates), American Family Radio (200 stations), Life Talk Radio (15 markets) and many other individual stations.

Schedule & Tickets

Hotels

Workshops

Children's Program

Click for a .pdf preregistration form

Click for a Prevent Child Abuse Policy form (pdf)

Friday 12:45-5:15 6:45-8:45 Saturday 8:45-12:15 1:45-4:45

Puppets of Praise is a Christian puppet team made up of students, faculty, staff and alumni of Bob Jones University. They share the gospel and Biblical principles through scripts and songs (mainly Patch the Pirate songs). Throughout the year they minister to Sunday Schools, children's churches, Bible clubs, nursing homes, and several Chick-fil-a restaurants during their Kids Night. For the second year they will be the featured leaders of the Children's Progam. As always there will be lots of games (including outdoor water games), songs, crafts and, of course, Puppets! The Children's Program is for any 5-12 year olds whose parents have a full ticket.

Home School Day at the Capitol

All Homeschoolers are encouraged to meet in Columbia on
WEDNESDAY, April 1, 2009
to
Meet Your Senators and Representatives!
Great Civic Experience!!

State Capitol Building Tours 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30, 3:00, 3:30 (50 people per tour, 45 minutes each, 3rd grade and up—no exceptions)

Governor’s Mansion/Green Tours 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, 2:00, 2:30, 3:00 (75 people per tour, 45 minutes each, meet in the Print Shop for the tours)

SC Confederate Relic Room and Museum 11:00, 1:00, 3:00 (free admission all day and to tours for HDAC participants, no pre-registration necessary)

USC Walking Tour brochures available at Registration

Art Museum—Admission to the first floor exhibit—highlights of the permanent collection: children free and adults $2 for HDAC participants (bring proof of HDAC participation to museum admission desk).  Admission to both the first floor exhibit and Blockbuster Exhibit, which includes works by Turner and Cezanne and Eye to the East exhibit featuring Chinese art on remaining floors, is $15 per adult and $12 for students. Wednesdays 10 am - 5pm.  www.columbiamuseum.org

Riverbanks Zoo—discount coupons will be available at Registration that provide 1 free child's admission with each paid adult admission. Each coupon is good for up to 6 adults and children.  www.riverbanks.org

There are ten scheduled tours of the State House (Capitol Building). You can reserve a tour ahead of time by contacting Leslie Graham. Tours fill up fast, so if you want to make sure you get to take a tour, or get the time you want, please sign up soon! Tours are free. We can accommodate 50 people per tour. If you plan on attending HDAC as a group and want to go on the same tour, please sign up all at the same time. By Capitol Staff guidelines, only those who are 3rd grade or older may go on tours. Tours may overlap one another; each is 45 minutes long. The State House is located a short walk across the State House Grounds from the Blatt Building (where Registration is located and where workshops are held).

There are six scheduled tours of the Governor’s Green (Mansion). The Mansion is located a short drive from the State House. There is a special designated parking area on the mansion side of Lincoln Street behind Calhoun and Laurel Streets for those who are touring the mansion. If these spaces are full, please park at the meters along the street. You need to go to the State House Grounds, to the Blatt Building, to Registration to pick up your tickets and get registered for HDAC prior to taking the tour of the Governor’s Green. Please arrange time to find parking and walk to do this. The Governor’s Mansion tour can accommodate 75 people per tour. Please reserve your space with others in your group if you want to ensure that you have the same tour time. Tickets are free.

The South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Museum is located a short drive from the State House Grounds. We have arranged three tour times. You need to show some proof that you are there as part of Homeschool Day at the Capitol in order to gain free admission (ex. HDAC flyer/schedule, HDAC sticker you will get at registration).

The State Art Museum is located a short drive from the Capitol. On April 1st, there is a special exhibit that takes up most of the museum—the cost for this special exhibit is $15. Highlights of the museum are located on the 1st floor and can be accessed for a reduced fee with proof of HDAC attendance (flyer, sticker). www.columbiamuseum.org.

The Riverbanks Zoo is located a couple miles from the Capitol, and is a fabulous way to end the day in Columbia. Zoo coupons for admission discounts are available at HDAC registration. The coupon is good for up to six adults in a party, and provide for one free child admission with each paid adult admission. Admission fees available on the zoo web site www.riverbanks.org .

This event is for all South Carolina Homeschoolers and their families -- not just SCHEA members. The event is FREE except parking - bring LOTS of quarters for the meters if you are parking around the Capitol. Plan your schedule carefully to allow time to get from one activity to another. Be sure your tour times are not overlapping.

All students are invited to create their own Business Card, to introduce yourself to your Legislator. There will be a drawing from all the cards for a special prize.

Capitol Tours are for THIRD GRADE and up ONLY. Tours are FREE, but you MUST pre-register. Tours for both the Governor's Mansion and the Confederate Museum are for any age, but you must preregister for the Governor's Mansion. The museum does not require preregistration, but you must be there for the scheduled times. Email Leslie Graham.

Scavenger Hunt will allow you to learn much more about the capitol grounds, while having fun. Turn your completed list in to the registration desk for a small prize.

Bring a blanket and picnic lunch to enjoy on the statehouse grounds while you listen to the music of both the AAA Homeschool Band and the Midlands Home School Band.

We will hold "Homeschool Day at the Capitol" rain or shine (pray for shine), but the band will not play during lunch if it rains. All other events will be held as scheduled.

Come out for a fun-filled, hands-on Civics Day at the Statehouse in Columbia. You will get more out of the experience if you prepare a little ahead of time. The following ideas are given by way of suggestions for those of you for which this will be a first-ever experience to the Capitol. We're glad you're coming!

Workshops will be run strictly on schedule, in Room 101 of the Blatt Bldg. Doors will be closed at start time, and no one else will be allowed to enter while the workshop is going on, in order to demonstrate respect for our guest speakers. We ask that attendees remove children quickly who are unable to sit quietly. Otherwise, please do not leave during the session.

Most people at the Capitol dress in "business dress," that is suit and tie for the men, and dress, stockings, and heels, or a nice pantsuit, for the women. You don't have to dress this formal, but it is recommended highly that families come dressed very nicely to make an excellent impression on their representatives who are accustomed to this type of dress from their colleagues, and very different from how teens from most school groups appear (i.e. jeans, baggy pants). For older students who aspire to go into politics or business, the following book is highly recommended: The Etiquette Advantage by June Hines Moore published by The Life@Work Co.

Quiet, well-behaved deportment is the order of the day! This applies even in the hallways, elevators, and bathrooms. Good behavior and polite manners will stand out to representatives and make a great impression. Even during lunch outside on the grounds, children should stay with their parents and behave "decorously." This is a good word to look up for Vocabulary! Homeschoolers are often accused of not living in the real world; this is excellent training for our children to demonstrate that we know how to respect others by behaving well in public. This is a good opportunity for parents to teach children about self-restraint and self-discipline, hallmarks of child training and the one admonition specifically mentioned to young men in Titus 2:6. It would be a great family contest to see how well family members encourage one another in modeling self-discipline.

Check out the website www.knowitall.org/letsgo to get a layout of the Statehouse Grounds and the location of the various buildings. Have your children compare the Day at the Capitol schedule with the building plan.

Check out the website www.scstatehouse.net/html-pages/housemembers.html to find out your representative's name and what he looks like. The Blatt Building houses the offices of the representatives. Most representatives share office space with three other representatives, their small personal offices arranged in a hub around a waiting area manned by a secretary at a desk which you see when you enter the room. You should introduce yourself to the secretary and ask to talk with your representative. Sometimes, more than one representative will come out of the little rooms into the waiting area, and it is very helpful to know which one is yours (!), so find out ahead of time what yours looks like. Remember this is a visit, not an overnight stay. Keep it short and pleasant. Your representative may not be favorable to homeschooling. Your goal is to introduce him to a fine homeschooling family, not necessarily make him change his diehard ways in one short visit. Politeness, respect for him and his views, and a listening attitude will go a long way toward his willingness to listen to you and your opinions.

Representatives go into session at noon, so if you visit after that (which is fine!), be prepared to leave a message with an aide or the secretary. If you write out your message, be sure to spell correctly! It is important that everything you do represents the excellence of homeschooling! For Christians, we are to do all things as unto the Lord. I Cor. 10:31

Across the paved, open area outside the south side of the Blatt Building is the Gressette Building. The Strom Thurmond Statue stands between the two buildings. This is the Lunch Spot, so plan on meeting back here at 12:00.

Senators are housed in the Gressette Building. Go to the web site www.scstatehouse.net/html-pages/senatemembers.html to find your senator's name and what he looks like. Again, when you enter the waiting area outside of your senator's office, you will speak to his secretary, asking to speak to your senator. Be prepared to leave a message and your treat if he is not there at the time you visit. You can ask that he call or email you later about a particular issue, if you desire.

Please feel free to bring from home some homemade bread, cookies, brownies, or apple pie to take to your representatives. They will love it! A nice touch is to take a smaller plate of the same thing to the secretary - she is rarely remembered in this way and will treasure your gift. Make sure and leave your name and phone number. It is important that your representative know that he was visited by a real, live constituent from his district.

As you prepare to visit your legislators, think of something positive to say about homeschooling. How is it working for your family? You do not have to be an expert on homeschooling law. Most likely, you know more than your legislator does about how it actually works in the average home, so you are an "expert" on the actual workings of homeschooling. Most of them are very interested in how it works, how the children are doing academically "in school," and what other social activities they have. Prepare your children to greet these men politely, to make eye contact, to speak clearly, and to shake hands firmly. If invited into the office, children should sit or stand quietly while the adults talk. Often, legislators will turn to the kids to ask a question about how he or she likes homeschooling or what he likes about homeschooling. So, you can practice possible scenarios at home ahead of time, to let your children know what to expect. Kids can be our greatest ambassadors.

As you prepare in the days before your visit, work through the schedule, so that you can plan how you will spend your time during the day. Allow enough time to go from one activity to another so your tour times are not overlapping. You will want to make time to visit your legislators or do the scavenger hunt on the grounds with your children. If you have both older and younger children, you might want to split up as parents, one taking the older children to visit the legislators, and the other taking the younger ones on a more active walk around the statehouse grounds finding the landmarks on the activity sheets. Completed activity sheets can be shown at the Sign-In desk to receive a little prize. Children can keep their sheets to take home for their homeschooling work for the day.

Please plan on visiting with friends, and meeting with the SCHEA Board, on the statehouse grounds for lunchtime. We will all gather in the vicinity of the Strom Thurmond Statue. Look for the band setting up. The AAA Homeschool Band and the Midlands Home School Band will perform for one hour, starting about 12:15 PM. Bring a blanket and plenty of food and drinks for your family.

The afternoon is free for families to visit other sites around Columbia. Peruse through the list of sites that have offered family discounts in order to plan your afternoon. You will need to present your SCHEA card at these sites in order to receive the discount.

This is an excellent way to round out your educational day in Columbia!

For those who wish to do a follow-up to this study, here are some other ideas: Write a letter of thanks to your legislator whom you visited, thanking him for his time and for what he does in serving his constituents. Use the information in your workshop packet to find his address and how to write this letter. Write a short report or journal entry on your favorite part of your day at the Capitol, or something you learned that day you didn't know before. Feel free to send it to SCHEA, for possible entry into the next newsletter. Write a field trip summary about the special place you visited in Columbia, i.e. the Riverbanks Zoo, and the things that most impressed you about that place.