THSC is excited to bring you the 2006 THSC State Convention & Family Conference on August 17-19th in The Woodlands. You won’t want to miss out on a weekend packed with quality exhibitors and inspiring speakers such as Doug and Patsy Arnold. (See their featured article in the left column.)

Doug and Patsy Arnold are educators with a mission. Doug is currently a special education teacher at a middle school in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Patsy taught high school Spanish for 13 years before leaving in 1998 to homeschool their children. Their middle child has been disabled since infancy. Through many experiences of God's grace as they have worked with their son, the Arnolds have learned much about working with children who have different learning needs. As a result, they have begun a ministry to families with special needs children, called Texas' Special Kids. (Click on picture.) The Arnolds will present the practical workshop, "Special Tools for Special Schools", at 10:45 a.m., Friday, August 18th. They will also facilitate a special fellowship on Saturday afternoon for families with special needs children.

Don’t miss out on the retail therapy offered in the carpeted exhibit hall full of quality exhibitors such as Usborne Books, Edu-Track, and JoyceHerzog.com! Your teens will love the Teen Staff Program which will be fun and educational and complete with workshops with Mission Imperative’s Mike Snavely, activities, and fellowship—they won’t want to miss it and it is only available when registering in advance! (See an informative article by Mike at the Mission Imperative website.)

The Advance Registration deadline is July 14th. Mark your calendar to be in The Woodlands at the THSC State Convention and Family Conference on August 17-19, 2006. Call toll-free (888) 200-4903 or register online.

This new, expanded edition by Dr. Ray Ballmann not only makes a persuasive case for home schooling but also gives practical guidelines for successfully teaching your children at home. It is a comprehensive resource.

If God has called you to home schooling, or if you are just starting to investigate alternatives to public education, this book is a must. It will give you the knowledge and confidence you need to make good choices regarding your children's education. This book will help you prepare, so you can go to the THSC State Convention ready to ask the right questions and seek the right materials.

Price: $12.00 Remember that THSC Association members can take 10% off this helpful book and any other resource purchased from THSC Association as well.

Announcing a new benefit of membership in THSC Association! Members can now shop tax-free at the FEAST bookstore and website year-round!

FEAST, the regional group in the San Antonio area, will pay the sales tax for THSC Association members on purchases made at the FEAST Bookstore, either onsite or online.

Present your current THSC Teacher ID, and FEAST will do the rest! No mail-in refunds or coupons to carry; save money every time you shop at FEAST!

For THSC members, shopping at FEAST is 100% tax free!

Many Texas home schoolers are proudly wearing THSC Association’s T-shirts, which not only proudly proclaim that they are from Texas and homeschool but also flaunt the fact that Texas has some of the best laws for home schooling in the U.S. Many may not know that the text on the T-shirt is actually a paraphrase of one of Tim Lambert’s favorite sayings, especially when he talks to home schoolers who have moved to Texas from one of the more regulated states. He loves to say, “Welcome to Texas, Ma’am, where people are FREE!" (Click on picture to see current T-shirt.)

THSC Association has had such a positive response to its current T-shirt that we’ve decided that we’d like to offer another. This time, we’d like YOU to help us design it!

To the person who designs the winning Texas Home School T-shirt, we will give a prize of $100 and one T-shirt for every member of his immediate family.

We look forward to seeing the creativity of the home school community of Texas. May the best design win!

Remember the July 15th deadline!

In his June 30, 2006, column appearing at buffalonews.com, Chris Stucchio tells of a graduate school research paper that yields convincing evidence for home schooling. Read his findings in the following article:

“Home schooling offers many advantages

“Those who regularly follow the news are probably aware of the debate that rages between traditional public school and charter school advocates. Vouchers, test scores, and academic standards are just a few of the many issues that ignite the passions on both sides. Parents who still haven't formed an undying allegiance to either option might want to consider home schooling their children

“Several years ago, I did a research paper in graduate school that touched on home schooling. One of the sources I consulted stated that the standard test scores for the 1.5 million to 2 million home schooled children in this country are, on average, higher than traditional schooled children. That fact left an indelible impression with me.”

THSC Association intervened with a letter when a home school mom was told, two years after withdrawing her child from the school, that she must send a letter to the school district each year that she homeschools her child or face a visit from the truancy officer.