New Features and Special Items of Interest for 2012

This year's convention will have many new benefits in addition to improved features from previous years. There are so many exciting changes to list.

More Workshops Than Ever Before

There will be a new record total of 133 workshop sessions. Some of the topics will be of special interest to POPS (Parents of Pre-Schoolers), special needs, high school, support group leaders, beginning the homeschool journey, getting started homeschooling, completing the homeschool journey, after high school choices, sessions for dads, sessions for moms, issues threatening the right to homeschool, and many more.

Free Sessions Open to the Public

Friday Evening 7:00 - 8:30 PM - Family Comedy in Song and Scholarship Awards Presentation
Saturday Evening 6:00 - 8:00 PM - CHAP Graduation Ceremony

All are welcome to these free, informative and inspiring sessions.

In the free Open-to-the-public Friday evening session the awards for the CHAP Writing and Art Contests will be presented and the Scholarship Award. Plus you will have your funny bone tickled by Brother Don Woolett who will entertain you with comedy in song. His good wholesome family entertainment will have you laughing as he tells a story with his original songs.

Two New Christian Film Premieres for your family's pleasure

CHAP is blessed to be offering the opportunity for attendees at the convention to view either one or both of two newly released Christian films free of charge. The films will be shown both days of the convention.

Milltown Pride

Good Christian films are something most of us recognize the industry needs. For sixty years, Unusual Films, a division of Bob Jones University, has produced quality, family-friendly films, including the award-winning Sheffey. And now, Unusual Films is pleased to announce its latest feature-length film: Milltown Pride. It will premiere on the campus of Bob Jones University April 8, 2011.

This original film story, set in America in the 1920s, depicts life in a southern textile milltown. Will Wright takes a job at the local mill in order to play baseball. Will revels in his success, but he soon finds not only more emptiness, but also tragedy. Helpless, he discovers that only God can give a purpose in life bigger than baseball.

IndoctriNation

"IndoctriNation" is a 90-minute documentary film that takes the audience on a panoramic exploration of one of the most important and controversial issues in the history of mankind, the issue of education.

Traveling all over America with his family in a big yellow school bus and conducting a series of candid conversational interviews, Colin Gunn, a Scottish filmmaker, actor, and homeschool father of seven children living in Texas, is on a quest to discover the origins of our modern educational system.

What he discovers is a masterful design that sought to replace God's recipe for training up the next generation with a humanistic, man-centered program that fragmented the family and undermined the influence of the Church and its Great Commission.

Part documentary, part testimonial -- a confessional and a rebuke, this film is above all a challenge and an encouragement to millions of Christians who need to know what history, experience, and the Scriptures have to say about what is perhaps the pivotal issue of our time: the discipleship and training of the next generation.

Check the grid schedule here. Check the workshop summaries here.

Children's Program

Once again the able staff of KnightLights will be offering the optional Children's Program. For an additional fee, parents can register their children ages 5 to 12 to attend the Children's Program. In deference to their age and the requests of many parents from last year, the Children's Program is shorter and consists of 4 sessions. You can choose for your child to attend sessions each morning OR each afternoon. Children cannot be registered for both the morning and afternoon sessions. It will be limited in size so be sure to register early. Nathan and April Elliott of The KnightLights will be leading the Children's Program. The program will be entitled "Sifting Through the Sands of Time." The KnightLights team will use a variety of methods such as puppetry, songs, interactive games, and character portrayals to engage your children in this two-part program. The Bible lessons, which will be based on the book of Ecclesiastes, will be presented by the quirky Professor Selah. A Christian biography presentation will also be given on the life of Samuel F. B. Morse. Gregorio (the third most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania) will also make an appearance. As they are having fun, the students will be reminded of the ever important truth to "remember their Creator in the days of their youth." Parents are able to register and pay to attend the Children's Program if they wish to attend with their child.

Teen Track

Join the team from Generation Joshua for iElect: A Mock Presidential Election. Participants will take part in a mock presidential campaign that includes caucus work, a primary race, voter registration, fundraising, commercials, campaigning, and actual voting. Participants will be assigned to a mock political party, design their own party platform, elect their own candidates from among themselves, and raise GenJ money to buy commercials, campaign materials, advertisements, etc. Parents and other conference attendees are involved by registering to vote, donating play money (parents will be provided with the money), and by voting for their favorite candidate. Students simulate the rigors of the electoral process by personally campaigning for a candidate of their choice. At each phase of the program, students will learn how a real election works by actually participating in the presidential race and making important decisions that could make or break their campaign. The program is designed to be interactive, even getting parents and other attendees involved in the process. Teens will enjoy the hands-on nature that the program offers.

Used Curriculum Sale

An opportunity for attendees to buy and sell used curriculum. Start gathering those no longer needed educational items and watch for the details of how you can sell them at the CHAP Convention. Sellers will enter online all items for sale, prepare the items with the required labels, and bring them to the convention during the drop-off times. CHAP will process the items and do all the sales work for you. Sellers will have the option of reclaiming any unsold items on Saturday afternoon at the end of the Used Curriculum Sale or they will be able to donate unsold items. The seller will receive a check within 60 days of the convention for 75% of the selling cost of all their items. Check out the CHAP website for the Used Curriculum Sale information link.

Sponsorship

CHAP is introducing advertising sponsorships for the convention. Businesses that wish to partner with CHAP through advertising sponsorships receive the benefit of several avenues of advertising to a large number of homeschoolers while their sponsorship helps to support the ministry of CHAP and the CHAP Convention. If you know of a business which would like more information about being a CHAP sponsor they can read more on the Sponsorship Packages page.

CHAP Contests

We will once again be having the CHAP Essay Contest and Art Contest along with the Scholarship Contest. Presentation of the winners of the scholarship, art, and writing contests will take place at the Friday evening free open-to-the-public concert. There will be displays of the art and writing contest finalists at the CHAP Convention. Go to http://www.chapcontest.com for more information and to check on the deadlines. The finalists in the Art Show and Essay Contest will be on display during the two-day convention.

Support Group Leaders' Townhall

Stop by the CHAP Booth to register for the Support Group Leaders' Townhall Meeting. This session is for past, present, or future support group leaders to share and help each other. Join other support group leaders for a time to share ideas and to garner support.

Vendor Sessions

Last year, CHAP introduced Vendor Sessions where you can learn about products and services sold by the vendors. The idea was good, but our locations were not. This year, the vendor sessions will be in real rooms so the sound should be perfect. It is a great opportunity for you to get your questions answered and see what vendors have to offer. Check the workshop schedule to see which vendors will be presenting informative sessions.

CHAP went Green last year, and it worked!

CHAP went Green last year, and it worked except for a 10 minute glitch caused by a faulty modem. Registration will again be paperless this year in an effort to keep costs as low as possible (our Farm Show rental rates went up 18% in 2010 and another 5% for 2011). If you do not have internet access at home, find a friend who does, or go to the public library where you can access the internet free of charge. You can register online, then pay by credit card online or mail a check after entering your information. Registration at-the-door will also be paperless. There will be a computer café where you will enter your registration information and complete your payment by credit card, check, or cash.

The CHAP Convention needs you to volunteer. We require many volunteers to run the convention. We desire and need your help to make the convention a success. The benefits of volunteering include:

• An opportunity to serve fellow homeschoolers.
• Registration rebate equal to the registration of each volunteer.
• Early bird shopping in the Used Curriculum Sale 8:00- 9:30 a.m. on Friday. (Imagine a chance to shop with only three hundred other people.)
• Online orientation, so no early morning orientation meeting to attend.

Volunteering can only take place online. After filling out the registration form, you will be given a choice of volunteer jobs from which to choose. You will know immediately if you received your choice. We do online volunteer orientation as well, so we can expand the actual convention time for everyone. Go to CHAPonline.com, click the Convention tab, then click the registration page to sign up for the convention and volunteering.

The National Alliance of Christian Home Education Leadership is announcing the DVD Exposing a Trojan Horse, which is an exposé of government-funded, public-school-at-home programs recruiting home educators in many states.

Encouraged by the overwhelming support of those Alliance members in attendance at the conference in Glorieta, New Mexico, the Alliance board authorized the production of this DVD.

As you know, public-school-at-home and government-funded programs for homeschoolers often target home educators to try to "bring them back" into the government system. The DVD explores the implications of participation in government-funded homeschool programs and their impact on both families' lives and the homeschool movement in general. Exposing a Trojan Horse presents families with thought provoking interviews with Christian home educators.

This 30-minute documentary can be used at support group leadership training events, support group meetings, and with individual families. You can view the complete Exposing a Trojan Horse DVD during the Friday 2:00 PM session as part of your family's convention admission.

Copies are on sale for $10.00 at the CHAP booth or may be ordered through our website. Mailorder cost is $10.00 plus $2.50 shipping.

Take some time during the convention to watch this most interesting and informative DVD. You can see a continuous loop of the DVD at the CHAP booth.

CHAP has undertaken the It Works campaign. We have purchased removable, 8" long by 2¾" at its tallest point, 1½" at its shortest point, die-cut, vinyl decals, in an effort to spread the exciting word about homeschooling, raise a small amount of money for all the state organizations around the nation and other countries that do what CHAP does, and raise a smaller amount of money for the National Alliance of Christian Home Education Leadership (NACHEL, referred to as the Alliance). The latter group is designed to assist individuals across the nation who run Christian home education conferences and organizations like CHAP.

The website on the decals is sponsored by the Alliance and when individuals look up beginning homeschooling on the web, they often find this site, which has a map of the United States. If one clicks on a given state, he is linked to the statewide Christian homeschooling organization(s) in that state. All these organizations are affiliated with the Alliance and abide by a solid Christian statement of faith.

The Alliance has voted to support this campaign and all its affiliated state organizations have been invited to take part in this. Prayers for this endeavor would be greatly appreciated when the Lord brings it to mind. Ordering information is available on our website.

Join homeschoolers across the nation and beyond in this awareness campaign!