Catholic Home School Conference this Friday and Saturday in Houston TX.

There are not a lot of home school conferences that serve Catholics. Few Catholic curriculum providers are invited to have booths at the other home school conferences. Few Catholic speakers are invited to give talks at other home school conferences and certainly none that are boldly Catholic in their choice of topics. We ignore this prejudice because we recognize that for most non-Catholics it doesn’t even occur to them that the prejudice might be offensive.

We accept that none of our good Catholic Curriculum providers will be advertising in the magazines put out by the large home school organizations.  Alpha Omega or Bob Jones University Press will be found in those pages but not Seton or Catholic Heritage.  Patrick Henry College but never Ave Maria University will be found in the supposedly all inclusive Christian publications for home school families. Thus while we gain some good from the articles, the growing Catholic Home School demographic is poorly served.

Catholics have a harder time getting connected with appropriate Catholic home school materials. We want our materials to reflect the Catholic understanding of Christianity and Scripture and the Catholic Faith of historical figures. We do not want our children robbed of their Catholic heritage and identity! This makes Catholic curriculum providers very important.

We can go look online but this has limits.  We gather in Catholic home school forums to ask about what people are using, but it is extremely difficult to choose the right materials for your own learners without seeing and handling the materials yourself.

So, I go to a Catholic home school conference this weekend.  There will be prayer that is Catholic in tone and talks by Catholics who have a lot of very relevant things to say to our Catholic home school families.  The best part will be the FACT that none of us will feel the subtle social pressure to hide our Catholic identity.  We’ll say a Hail Mary when we will and not fear to offend anyone.  We will praise Jesus in the Eucharist and join together in the beautiful prayers of the Rosary.  We will TALK in Catholic idiom without hesitation and it will be good.

I hope other Catholics live near enough to a Catholic home school conference to attend one and network with other Catholics and talk about the importance of raising our kids CATHOLIC.

Dear Lord, please bless the home school conference this weekend with a healthy attendance. Please keep all those who travel safe in their journey.  Please grant wisdom to all parents who are struggling to choose a curriculum that will serve them in their vocation of parent teaching the faith to those children You have entrusted to them.  Thank You for all who support Catholic parents who home school. Amen.