Monday, June 6, 2011

Favorite Speakers from this Year's NCHE

I'm excited to share today some of my favorite speakers from last week's NCHE conference. Sometimes, just even hearing the title of a seminar will inspire and encourage. At the end of the post, I'll let you know how you can listen to all of these seminars on audio yourself!


The Downers - Phil (Dad), Paul (Son), and Anna (Daughter)
Website: DNA Ministries

First off, isn't it great to have a homeschooling family including graduated children speaking for a homeschool conference. The longer I homeschool, the more I appreciate those who have reached the finish line of schooling their children. And these children have turned out pretty well.

Paul (the son) Downer's seminar on parenting the strong willed child (entitled Homeschooling the Strong-Willed Child–I Am One!) was very enlightening. It allowed you to have the child's perspective and yet, filtered through the perspective of maturity. In a practical sense, he mentioned how his parents, and especially his mother reached his heart and guided his steps.

Bert enjoyed sitting in on Phil's seminar "The Keys to Godly Discipline", as well as Anna's (the daughter) seminar entitled "Perfectionism and Grace in the Christian Family".

There were two seminars that we couldn't attend due to scheduling conflicts that we bought on audio entitled, " Teaching Your Children How to Work with Godly Diligence" and The Homeschool Marriage, from Surviving to Thriving!", so I'll share in a few weeks our thoughts on these.

Mark Hamby
Website: Lamplighter Publishing
If you're not familiar with Lamplighter Publishing, they republish classic books from centuries before that teach character and faith. The books are captivating for young and old. This year, we also purchased our first Lamplighter audio story and I was enthralled, along with our children. I was especially impressed with the audio quality - It was like you were listening to a movie.

One of the seminars I sat in on was "The Education of a Child—The Wisdom of Fenelon". Francois Fenelon was the priest who was charged with educating the grandson of Louis XIV. This young man, apparently, was quite the handful. Hamby's words were very challenging on how to win your child's heart.

In a separate seminar, he also spoke on the role of media ("A Great Awakening: the Mind, Media and Moral Imagination") and basically said that TV is turning us into vegetables. The talk was not profound, but a good reminder about the reasons why we don't watch much television.


Tomorrow, I'll share more about writing, nature, and the biology of learning - All topics I learned about at the conference.

In the mean time, if you would like to purchase any of these or one of the many other seminars and key notes from the conference, you can go to Manna Recording and click on their Online Store.

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