Kick off your school year with HSLDA’s 13th annual essay contest! Offering cash prizes upwards of $200, this contest is open to all homeschooled students ages 7–19 and runs through November 1, 2014. Our themes for this year’s contest focus on inventions.

View Contest Info & Guidelines

Our world has been shaped by the inventions of the past, with inventors improving and building on the ideas of previous generations. Every item we use—from the toothbrush to the smartphone—was invented by someone using his or her God-given creativity and intellect to do something!

Category 1 (ages 7–10): God has given humanity great creativity, and so many amazing things have already been invented. But there is still so much room for ingenuity! If you were to invent something that has not yet been invented, what would it be, what would it do, and why would you choose to invent it?

Category 2 (ages 11–14): Let’s say you are stranded on a desert island, alone, where there is no electricity, no cell tower signal, nor any other sign of civilization. You have a stockpile of food and help is on its way—in a couple months—but in the meantime you must survive. What three existing inventions would you want to find washed up on the shore of the island with you and why?

Category 3 (ages 15–19): Though created with good intentions, to do something good, some inventions have had unintended negative consequences. They’ve solved one problem but created other problems—sometimes worse than the first. Choose one such invention and discuss its positive and negative impacts. Be sure to address whether or not the benefits from the invention outweigh its negative impact.

Each student is invited to enter up to two essays relating to the theme for his or her age category.

To get a sense of what to look for or avoid when writing an essay, you can view the judges’ comments from previous contests or read the winning essays from previous years!

Guidelines and entry forms can be found on our website, as well as information about our other annual contests: art, poetry, and photo.

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From the Smiths:

Needing help for your home schooling journey:

https://hef.org.nz/2011/needing-help-for-your-home-schooling-journey-2/

And

Here are a couple of links to get you started home schooling:

Information on getting started: https://hef.org.nz/getting-started-2/

and

Information on getting an exemption: https://hef.org.nz/exemptions/

This link is motivational: https://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-what-is-it-all-about/

Exemption Form online: https://hef.org.nz/2012/home-schooling-exemption-form-now-online/

Coming Events: https://hef.org.nz/2013/some-coming-events-for-home-education-during-2013-2/

Beneficiaries: https://hef.org.nz/2013/where-to-for-beneficiary-families-now-that-the-social-security-benefit-categories-and-work-focus-amendment-bill-has-passed-its-third-reading/