Georgia Homeschool Convention: What to Expect and When to Go

The Georgia Home Education Association (GHEA) organizes the state's primary annual homeschool convention. For families who are new to homeschooling, considering the transition, or looking to refresh their curriculum and connect with other families, this is the main statewide event on the calendar.

Here is what the convention covers, who attends, and how it fits into the broader Georgia homeschool community.

GHEA's Annual Homeschool Convention

GHEA has hosted a statewide homeschool convention in Georgia for decades. The event typically runs for two to three days and covers a wide range of topics for both new and experienced homeschooling families.

What happens at the convention:

• Curriculum exhibition hall. Major curriculum publishers — Abeka, Sonlight, Saxon Math, Classical Conversations, Time4Learning, and dozens of others — set up booths where families can physically examine materials before purchasing. For new homeschoolers, this is one of the few chances to hold a curriculum in your hands, flip through a textbook, or watch a demo before committing to a full-year purchase. Curriculum decisions are easier to reverse when made after this kind of hands-on comparison.

• Workshop and keynote sessions. Speakers address a range of topics: homeschooling methods (classical, Charlotte Mason, unschooling, eclectic), legal compliance, record-keeping, college preparation, supporting special needs learners, and faith integration. The workshops are generally practical rather than theoretical.

• Support for new families. GHEA typically offers dedicated workshops for parents who are just starting — covering the Declaration of Intent process, the legal requirements under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-690, and how to set up the first school year. If you are at the point of deciding whether to withdraw, this is a good orientation.

• Teen and student programming. Some conventions include sessions for students, not just parents, with activities and workshops designed for older homeschoolers navigating high school and thinking about college.

Graduation Ceremonies

One of GHEA's most valued offerings is the graduation ceremony they organize for homeschool seniors. Because Georgia home study programs are not affiliated with any accredited institution, families bear full responsibility for organizing their own graduation recognition. GHEA's ceremony provides a formal, shared celebration with other homeschool graduates — cap, gown, diploma, and all.

This matters for students who want the social and ceremonial experience of graduation without being enrolled in an umbrella or accredited program. GHEA membership is typically required to participate in these ceremonies.

Who Should Attend the Convention

The convention is worth attending for:

New families considering homeschooling. The combination of legal information, curriculum browsing, and connecting with experienced homeschoolers makes the convention one of the most efficient orientations available. Walking the exhibition hall eliminates months of online research.

Families due for a curriculum refresh. If your current curriculum is not working and you are not sure what to switch to, the exhibition hall is the fastest way to evaluate alternatives side by side.

High school parents. The convention consistently includes sessions on dual enrollment, college preparation for homeschoolers, HOPE scholarship eligibility for unaccredited graduates, and transcript building. These topics become more urgent in 9th and 10th grade than most families expect.

Parents of special needs learners. Sessions on supporting neurodivergent students, IEP exits, and alternative learning approaches are a regular part of the program.

Finding the Convention Details

GHEA publishes current convention dates, location, and registration details on their official website. Dates typically fall in spring, ahead of the next school year planning season. Check the GHEA website directly for current year information — dates and venues can shift annually.

GHEA membership ($35/year) sometimes includes a registration discount for the convention or early access to speaker schedules.

Other Georgia Homeschool Events

Beyond the state convention, Georgia's large homeschool community supports a range of regional and county-level events throughout the year:

Co-op fairs. Many counties in Metro Atlanta (Gwinnett, Fulton, Cobb, DeKalb) hold their own local co-op sign-up events each spring. These are smaller and more neighborhood-specific than the state convention, but useful for finding week-to-week community.

Regional GHEA chapters. GHEA has chapters across the state that organize their own speaker events, curriculum swaps, and field trips throughout the school year.

Curriculum swaps. Used curriculum is a significant cost-saving strategy for Georgia families. Several co-ops and GHEA chapters organize curriculum swap events at the end of each school year.

Testing coordination events. Because Georgia requires standardized testing every three years, many regional networks coordinate group testing sessions — bringing in a qualified test administrator to proctor a group of students at once. This is often more affordable than individual testing service fees and provides a peer testing environment that mimics what students may encounter in college settings.

What the Convention Cannot Substitute

The convention is an excellent resource for curriculum decisions and community. It does not substitute for understanding the legal compliance requirements before you begin.

The critical first steps — withdrawing correctly from the public school, filing the Declaration of Intent with the GaDOE portal, notifying the local district to prevent truancy flags, and establishing your record-keeping system — are administrative tasks that need to be completed before the school year starts, regardless of whether you attend the convention.

Families who attend the convention having already filed their DOI and completed the withdrawal will get more out of it than families who are still sorting out the legal steps.

The Georgia Legal Withdrawal Blueprint covers the compliance sequence in full — Declaration of Intent process, the withdrawal letter, records you need to keep, and the long-term timeline for testing and scholarship eligibility — so you can walk into convention already compliant and focused on curriculum and community decisions.

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