Family Life

06.03.11 | Sarah Harnisch

The 27^th Annual LEAH homeschool convention in Rochester, New York is underway. It’s the largest homeschool gathering in the state each year for upstaters—thousands attend.

The Keynote speaker for the event is Gregg Harris; author of “Raising Kids To Do Hard Things”. Also attending is Dr. Henry Morris—the CEO of the Institute for Creation Research. Morris is regularly sought out for creationist questions on national and international news networks like the BBC. Also here, the wife of Christopher Kicka. Chris was a senior counsel for the Homeschool Legal Defense group, but abruptly died when he was just 48 last year. His wife of 21 years—and mom to their 7 kids—is here speaking on hardship.  Some of the topics of the speeches are “How To Stay Engaged To The One You Married”, “Homeschooling Struggling Teens”, “Personal Finance for Kids”, “Encouraging Your Own Child”, “How To Spend Time With A Preschooler”, and “The Well-Planned Day.”

Outside of the speakers, what else is there to do at a homeschool expo? The exhibition hall is packed wall to wall with curriculum, there are books at a fraction of the price, samples of just about everything you’d want to try at home with your kids—from art kits and science kits to music, family read alouds, wholesome movies and brain teasers. And the stuff is much cheaper then you can find it online or in a store. There’s a “teen track” where kids are putting on a mock legislative day, and a place for them to worship, fellowship, and get advice on how to make it through school with mom and dad as teacher. There’s also a young entrepreneurs section—where kids have created their own inventions. There’s one girl who invented school id’s for homeschoolers; another one invented creative ways to display bible verses in the home.

And if you can’t catch everything  in person, all the speaker sessions are recorded onto cd’s for sale. Another perk just this year is that every person that gets in can get a full day pass to the Strong Museum of Play—for their whole family—for 20 bucks.

Things kick into high gear with the busiest day of this 3-day convention starting tomorrow, Saturday, at 9 in the morning. Doors stay open till 4 p.m., when 120 kids get their caps and gowns on and graduate high school. The energy here is intoxicating— lots of encouragement, support, ideas, and family-focused fun—at the Riverside Convention Center—in Rochester, New York.