Convention Expected to Draw Thousands of Home Schoolers

Fifteen years ago, Susan Beatty struggled to educate her children at home by piecing together teachings from the Bible and various textbooks. The Anaheim mother found that resources for Christian parents like her were limited and tough to find.

Now Christian educational materials are big business, from Bible spelling books to CD-ROMS to online services for home schoolers. And Beatty has found a living in the industry as well, organizing book fairs and workshops to help parents sort through the educational choices.

“The wealth of information that’s now out there is overwhelming,” said Beatty, also the co-founder of the Christian Home Educators Assn., which is holding its 14th annual home-school convention at the Disneyland Hotel.

The three-day event, which began Friday evening, has 200 booths and dozens of workshops. Many sessions might be seen at any educational gathering, such as ones on teaching phonics or preparing teenagers for college. Others are clearly unique to this group’s interests: “Teaching Christ-Centered California History,” for example, or “Home Schooling vs. Discipleship.”

Beatty’s conviction that religion needed to be an integral part of her children’s schooling led her to help form the Christian Home Educators Assn. in 1982. Working out of her kitchen, she began by contacting about 35 other home-schooling parents in California and swapping teaching methods and book titles with them.

“God’s name is completely banned at the public schools,” Beatty said. “Nothing is based on biblical teachings.”

She also prefers the safety of home schooling and the chance to teach family values.

“Very little takes place at home anymore. But 100 years ago, we relied on the family for everything,” Beatty said. “You earned your wages at home. You died at home. It’s the parents’ responsibility to educate their children, because I know no one will care for my child as best as I can.”

The first Christian Home Educators convention, which drew about 1,100 people, aimed to enlist more home schoolers. It drew 6,000 last year, Beatty said, and an equal number is expected this year.

Home schooling is legal in every state, but California has the most lenient rules. Parents need file only an affidavit to become an independent school, and instruction must be by someone capable of teaching in English.

The U.S. Department of Education estimates that there are as many as 700,000 home-schooled children, up from 15,000 in 1970. The National Home Education Research Institute in Oregon, however, says that as many as 1.3 million children are educated by their parents.

Brian Ray, a researcher with the National Home Education Research Institute, has found that home-schooling parents spend an average of $550 per child on educational materials each year, creating a $700-million industry.

Meanwhile, products targeting the Christian home schooler are proliferating, according to Sandy Gogel, who runs a Costa Mesa-based mail order business of home-teaching equipment. Although the reasons why parents teach their children at home are vast, Gogel said that about 80% of her clients want to emphasize religion.

There are spelling books with biblical terms and handwriting tablets with Christian proverbs for children to copy. Books on creationism abound, rejecting evolution and describing God’s creation of the natural earth, the Grand Canyon and how dinosaurs are used to lure children from the Bible. And there are history books discussing God’s role in building the United States and information on Christian principles in government.

The Christian Home Educators convention is open to the public, with a $50 daily registration fee today and Sunday.