Features & Special Items of Interest

 

WorkshopsFor the third year in a row, there will be an increase in the number of workshops for you to choose – a new record total of 172 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, how to be an homeschool evaluator, separate sessions for moms and dads, issues threatening the right to homeschool, after high school choices and how to’s, and many more.

Again this year, CHAP is excited to offer Parents of Preschoolers (POPS) who have never attended the CHAP Convention and whose children are all 4 years old or under a free family admission to this year’s convention.

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, the Children’s Program consists of 4 sessions per day. This year’s children’s track at the CHAP Convention consists of two separate, individual programs which share a common theme.  (The Friday sessions and Saturday sessions stand on their own as complete programs.)  Friday’s Bible lesson will focus on the life of James and the epistle that he wrote, while the missions emphasis/Christian biography segment will highlight John Wesley.  Saturday’s Bible lesson will be on the life of Jude and his book, while the missions emphasis/Christian biography segment will be on Charles Wesley.  In addition to the actual lesson times, there will also be puppets, skits, songs, memory verses, games, and other activities on both days.  While various spiritual truths will be discussed at this year’s program, one overriding theme will be the reminder to honor God and serve Him within our families.  For your child, this year’s CHAP Convention could very well be “the best of times as we study shifts in paradigms.” You can choose for your child to attend sessions on one OR two days. The cost is $15 per student for each day – If you choose to enroll your child in the Children’s Program both days, then the cost would be $30. Each day the Children’s Program will meet for one hour and forty-five minutes in the morning and also in the afternoon. The tracks will be limited in size so be sure to register early.

The Teen Track

This year’s Teen Track will be led by Mike Snavely of Mission Imperative. Check the summary of each of the sessions on the special Teen Track webpage. The Teen Track will take place during two morning and two afternoon sessions each day for a total of 8 sessions. The cost will be $15 per student. This schedule allows ample time for the teens to spend time with their parents in the Vendor Hall and eating lunch.

 A Remodeled Used Curriculum Sale

The Merkels, the Used Curriculum coordinators, are working very hard to eliminate several issues from last year’s Used Curriculum Sale in order to provide 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 65% of the selling cost of all their items. Check out the CHAP website for the Used Curriculum Sale information link.

Support Group Leaders’ Special Sessions

These sessions are for past, present, or future support group leaders. The sessions are geared to help support group leaders in their position of leadership. Check the schedule of workshops to see the various topics and be sure to attend the Round Table discussion for a time to share ideas and to garner support from your fellow leaders.

 

Vendor Sessions:

Two years ago, CHAP introduced Vendor Sessions where you can learn about products and services sold by the vendors. The idea has been very well received and quite helpful to homeschool parents. It is a great opportunity for you to get your questions answered and to see what vendors have to offer. Check the workshop schedule to see which vendors will be presenting informative sessions.
The CHAP Convention is also offering two entertainment choices during the 2012 convention.

The first family entertainment choice is the final version of IndoctriNation (http://indoctrinationmovie.com) a Christian documentary which was shown in its draft form at last year’s convention. The film 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.  

The second family entertainment choice is a video from the series Samuel E. Collins and the Search for Biblical Truth (http://www.searchforbiblicaltruths.com). From their website: “The Collins Family has the same convictions you do.  That’s why we created the DVD series Samuel L. Collins: The Search for Biblical Truths… we thought it was time that 6-12 year-old Christian children could finally have a role model who was an actual child from an actual family who dealt with real-life challenges from a Biblical perspective. Like the old Mission Impossible TV series, Samuel Collins will be tasked by Special Operations Commander with a different mission each time.  The differences?  First, Samuel Collins doesn’t look anything like Peter Graves!  But, second, and more importantly, our hero is tracking down applicable biblical truth through several clues.  In each episode, as we follow Samuel and his family around the globe – in one exotic locale after another — he will learn a different Christian principle based upon his Bible verse for the day.

CHAP is blessed to be offering the opportunity for attendees at the convention to view either one or both of these entertainment possibilities free of charge. They will be shown both days of the convention.

 

CHAP Graduation Ceremony – Friday Evening 7:00 – 8:30 PM

Maybe you have a graduating student or maybe you know one who is graduating this year. The CHAP Graduation will be a time of accenting the achievements of these home educated students as they enter another season of their life. See the CHAP Graduation webpage for more information on being involved in the ceremony.

 

Savings options:

Is your money $hort in this economic down turn? There are many ways you can reduce or even eliminate your cost for attending the CHAP Convention:

  • Volunteer for a 3 hour time slot and receive your tuition rebated to you. Attend the convention at no cost to you! Volunteers make our convention run smoothly. We have jobs before the convention, during the convention, and even after the convention. We have jobs for adults and for teens.
  • Carpool with friends to attend the convention to save on the Farm Show’s parking fee – a fee that CHAP has no control over.
  • Gather your no-longer-used homeschool items and sell them in the CHAP Used Curriculum Sale at the convention. Turn those no longer used items into cash.

Not so far to walk!

We’re trying to reduce your walking distances in as many ways as possible. We are moving the vendor parking so more attendees will be able to park closer to the convention entrance. We also are moving the convention entrance so it is a little closer to the parking. So many people liked the smaller layout footprint of the 2011 CHAP Convention ­– once they learned the layout. Everyone loved the new conference rooms which are normal rooms, not curtains in a bustling vendor hall, so you were able hear the speakers. In addition to better sound in the seminars, the convention layout will continue to have a smaller footprint so it won’t be as far to walk from the vendor hall to seminars.

 

No more dust or farm smells!

The Farm Show staff has promised to do a much better job of cleaning the facility before our convention so we shouldn’t have the animal odors and dust.

Farm Show Complex Information:

  • No food or drink may be brought into the Farm Show Complex. Please be above reproach and respect the rules of the facility.
  • The Farm Show has several ATM machines inside the complex build­ings and also a drive-up machine outside the Cameron Street Lobby. Please consult your complex map for exact location denoted “$.”
  • The emergency phone number for the Farm Show Complex during the hours of the convention is 717-783-2815. This is an emergency number and not a number for information about the convention. For convention information please refer to the CHAP Convention webpages or call the CHAP office at 717-838-0980.

Parking:

Parking is available on site for $8 per vehicle. If the main lot becomes full, overflow parking will be available off-site for $8 per vehicle in the parking lot at the corner of Elmerton Avenue and Sycamore Drive (watch for signs off I-81 and Cameron Street) and includes shuttle bus service to the Farm Show Complex. This parking fee is the Farm Show’s policy and a requirement

Accommodations:

This year for your convenience we have secured blocks of rooms at various local hotels that awarded us reduced rates. Please make all reservation by calling the convention and visitor’s bureau reservation hotline is 404-844-4404 or by going to their website www.hersheyharrisburghotels.com – Click on the CHAP link to choose your hotel at the special CHAP rate.

Wristbands:

If you lose your wristband there will be a $3 handling fee to replace it. Go to the Special Registration Area for assistance. Wristbands are nontransferable.

Children:

The convention is designed for parents to examine and purchase curriculum and attend seminars and workshops for en­couragement, inspiration, and education. Childcare is not provided. The parents of children and teens attending the convention must also be in attendance at the convention. Children must be supervised at all times by a parent. Since seminars and workshops are being recorded, we would like to provide quality recordings without extraneous sounds. Children may attend seminar sessions –with a parent– as long as they are quiet. We would suggest sitting on an aisle, near an exit, in order to leave quickly if the child becomes noisy.

Nursing Mothers’ Room:

Facilities will be available for nursing mothers, but baby-care products are not provided. Only very young children may accompany their mothers into the Nursing Mothers’ Room

No Food or Drink:

No food or drink may be brought into the Farm Show building by order of the Farm Show. The Farm Show concessionaire will have a variety of food available in a Food Court – everything from a cafeteria line with multiple choices to fast food stands for a quick bite to eat. Prices can be similar as amusement park pricing. You are also welcome to bring your own food to be stored in a cooler in your car, and there are also restaurants in the vicinity, but please be above reproach and respect the rules of the facility (This is not CHAP’s rule but the Farm Show’s policy). We encourage you to bring a cooler for an afternoon picnic outside while you rest between workshops and the Exhibit Hall.

Audio Recording:

Most of the sessions will be audio recorded – please refer to your convention program for this information. CDs may be purchased at the Convention Recording Booth at the convention or after the convention at www.CHAPonline.com. Personal audio and video recorders are prohibited. When picking up CDs, please allow at least one hour after the end time of the last session you wish to purchase.

Wheeled Vehicles:

Strollers and small wheeled items for your shopping convenience are permitted. Wagons, tricycles, scooters, roller blades, etc., are not permitted.

Solicitation Prohibited

No solicitation or distribution of material, polling, or interviewing is permitted at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex indoors or in the parking area during the CHAP Homeschool Convention. Violators will be prosecuted and asked to leave the Convention.

HELP

Registration help: 717-838-0980

CHAP Magazine

The CHAP Magazine, formerly known as the CHAP Newsletter, is available on a yearly subscription rate or by being a member of CHAP. Stop by the CHAP Booth at the convention to view a sample copy or visit the Magazine’s page on the CHAP website. The CHAP Magazine will be mailed free of charge quarterly to homeschooling families across Pennsylvania who are members of CHAP. It contains encouragement and information on events and issues pertinent to home educators including articles of encouragement, academic items for sale, etc. If you do not receive an issue, please contact the CHAP office. Issues are mailed mid-summer, mid-fall, mid-winter, and mid-spring. Non-members may subscribe to the magazine for the yearly subscription rate of $10.

Visiting Legislators, Candidates, and Public Officials:

These public servants are invited to attend the CHAP Convention as our guests. CHAP does not endorse any candidates for office but instead uses their attendance at the CHAP Convention to acquaint them with home education as a successful, proven educational choice. Feel free to introduce yourselves to them and ask them questions! Candidates are not authorized to make the CHAP Convention a time for general solicitations or distributing campaign material. In the context of a personal conversation, they may hand out business cards or other small cards indicating where an interested person could obtain more information or campaign material.

HELP! CHAP Needs you!

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 the chance to shop with only three hundred other people.)
  • Online orientation, so no early morning orientation meeting to attend.

In order to volunteer, you must go to our website: www.CHAPconvention.com. Volunteering can only take place online and you must register online. After completing the registration form, you will be given a choice of available volunteer jobs during your choice of time slots. 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. To volunteer, you must first register at www.CHAPconvention.com

 

Convention Registration Information

CHAP will continue to be “family friendly” in the pricing for the CHAP Homeschool Convention. The price for early bird registration is $30 for the first person to a maximum of $55 per family – must be postmarked by 3/31. After 3/31 online and at-the-door the pricing will be $38 for the first person and a maximum of $65 per family. A family will consist of parents and their children living at home and grandparents. CHAP will once again be offering optional teen and children’s programs for an additional fee of $15/student.

CHAP has gone Green! Registration is paperless this year in an effort to keep costs as low as possible. 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 Visa, MasterCard, or personal check. If you choose Visa or MasterCard your registration will be finalized immediately. If you choose to mail a check after entering your online registration, the check must be postmarked within 2 days. Your registration will be finalized once your check is received.

Use one registration per household. Family members include parents and children in the same household and grandparents even if they are not living with you.

Fill in the name of your spouse even if they are not planning to attend the convention.

Be sure to include your email address and phone number so we can contact you if there is a problem.

You may register after March 31st, at the walk-in registration rate.

The registration fee allows you to attend both Friday and Saturday. There are no registration fee reductions for attending only one day.

Confirmation: Your canceled check or online receipt will serve as your confirmation but you do not need to bring it with you. There will be no confirmation mailing and no bothersome name tags.

Refunds: CHAP must receive a refund request postmarked no later than May 1, 2012. You will then be refunded your registration fee less a $3 handling charge per family. No check will be issued under $5. Refund requests may take up to twelve weeks to process. Send refund requests to:

CHAP Refund
231 North Chestnut Street
Palmyra, PA 17078