Workshop Topics
WEDNESDAY
Wil and Meeke Addison – Airing the Addisons AFR Radio Program
“Legacy and Leadership for a Homeschooling Dad” An interview with Hal Young and Paul Hastings
Hal and Melanie Young
Homeschooling Is Not Enough
It makes no sense to pour our lives into homeschooling, only to stumble at the finish line. We’ve got to pass the baton of Christian adulthood to our children, and it can’t happen overnight. Hal and Melanie talk about this critical time in our children’s lives and how to transition from the benevolent dictator our 11-year-olds need to the trusted advisor of our adult children. Let’s all finish well and prepare our sons and daughters to be servants of the Most High—even when we can’t “make them” anymore!
LaNissir James
Developing a Plan for High School: Sample Four-Year Plans
What plan would suit your high school student? What subjects do you teach and when? Do you follow a basic high school plan, a general college prep plan, or a rigorous college prep plan? This seminar will help organize your thoughts and lay the groundwork for a viable four-year plan. You’ll learn about high school credits, simplifying grading, and the fundamentals of recordkeeping—transcripts, extracurriculars, and diplomas.
Paul Hastings
Hacking College – Earning a Bachelor’s for Under $10,000
Homeschool graduate Paul Hastings shares how he earned his bachelor’s degree for under $10k. He’ll share all the tips, tricks, resources, coaching services, and best practices that he uncovered along the way. He’ll also address other alternatives, misconceptions, and drawbacks—as well as the steps to overcome them.
Dr. Kathy Koch
Do I Even Need College?
Ideally, children are college-worthy, but college isn’t necessary for all children. Learn ways to determine what’s best for your children and some questions to ask that are better than, “What do you want to do when you grow up?”
THURSDAY
Wil and Meeke Addison
The Heart of the Homeschool
Wil and Meeke discuss the motivation for homeschooling and how it becomes the heartbeat of the homeschool.
Ginny Yurich
Homeschool: Are You Doing It Right?
Whereas the public school system is very uniform, the landscape of homeschool includes all sorts of variety. This variety can sometimes lead to confusion about the decisions we make along our homeschooling journeys. We know that God is a lover of variety. We can see that simply by looking at His creation. He made 7,000 different types of apples, for instance. In this session you will learn how to cater learning to the individual interests of your children, and you will leave embracing the freedom that homeschooling offers each family.;
Dr. Kathy Koch
8 Great Smarts: Discovering and Using Your Child’s Intelligences
All children have eight intelligences that can be awakened, strengthened, and used when learning anything. Each intelligence will be explained, so you can determine which ones are strengths for your children—and how to teach with them. You’ll also learn how children might be getting into trouble through their greatest strengths and what to do about it. The ways children are smart are also relevant to friendships, obedience, and spiritual growth. All the applications make this fun and important!
LaNissir James
Happy Homeschoolers at Every Age
Are you homeschooling an elementary, middle, or high school student (or thinking about homeschooling)? Do you need tips on how to enjoy the journey of homeschooling for yourself and your child, too? This presentation is Homeschooling 101 with a joyful twist! Come and be encouraged as you discover a new, long-range perspective for teaching your child in a way that creates sweet memories to last a lifetime.
Hal and Melanie Young
Parenting Without Losing Heart (Yours or Theirs)
You don’t hear much about the relationship with your children unless somehow you’ve lost it, but relationship is one of the most important parts of being a parent. Learn how to parent your child’s heart; how to build a healthy, unbroken relationship with them; and how to regain trust if you’ve already seen that distance in their eyes. Award-winning parenting authors Hal and Melanie Young have raised six of their eight children to adulthood so far, and their adult kids are their best friends.
Wil and Meeke Addison – Airing the Addisons AFR Radio Program
Interview with Dr. Kathy Koch of Celebrate Kids
Ginny Yurich
1000 Hours Outside: How Nature Immersion Sets Kids Up for Lifetime Success
In the last few decades, childhood has largely moved inside. With so many great opportunities that vie for our time, it’s easy to consider outside play as frivolous. In this session, Ginny Yurich, founder of 1000 Hours Outside, reveals how “just” playing outside offers a myriad of developmental benefits to your child, and how these benefits will extend through adulthood. Do less—and yet gain more—with nature immersion!
Jeannie Fulbright
Why Nature Study Matters and How to Make it Awesome
As a foundational Charlotte Mason philosophy, nature study has been shown to train a child’s power of observation, benefitting children both academically and emotionally. In this talk, Jeannie explains the research and studies that support the need for children to spend time in nature, and shares how you can make it rewarding for the whole family. She discusses foundational teaching tools, field guide applications, teaching techniques, and how to create nature journals.
Julia Nalle
In the Trenches: Multi‐Grade, Multi‐Age, Multi‐Learning Styles
Can it be done all together, without mom losing her mind? Are you longing to find opportunities in your day to bring all your children together around the table? Do you need refreshing tips that show you how to combine subjects in a way that meets the needs of all your children—on their levels and in their styles of learning? Are you weary of juggling different history time periods for the different grade levels, or tackling the extra work your curriculum requires you to do just to teach a lesson? Spend some time with Julia Nalle, co‐author of BiblioPlan, as she shares numerous practical helps for teaching history, literature, writing, Bible, geography, art, science, and more—across multi‐age levels, drawing from both a classical style and a Charlotte Mason approach.
Dr. Kathy Koch
Resiliency Rescues: Helping Children Break Bad Habits
Do your children repeat unhealthy choices? Are they not changing their behaviors? Their mindset matters. How can we help them believe the truth and change their mindset so their behaviors change? They need to develop resiliency—the choice and ability to make changes and to try something new. Learn how to create an environment that makes resiliency more likely.
Candice Dugger
Working and Homeschooling: How Can I Possibly Make this Work?
Do you want to homeschool, but also need to balance working? This workshop will take a look at hands-on strategies and solutions to help you balance work and homeschooling.
Paul Hastings
Strong Fatherhood
What does it mean to be a godly father who leads his family faithfully? Hear these true stories about homeschool dads who have grappled with this question:
- An NFL Super Bowl Champion who came to Christ after realizing the world’s definition of success was hollow. He now homeschools his 13 children.
- An Orthodox Jewish father who found Christ after reading the Book of Matthew, even at the price of being shunned by everyone he knew.
- Homeschooling was just another act of obedience.
An Army Lieutenant Colonel (and homeschool dad) who survived the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon when a Boeing 757 crashed yards away from him, engulfing his body in flames, sending him on a journey of faith and hope like never before.
FRIDAY
Dr. Kathy Koch
Motivation Matters: Start with the Heart
Understand how and why your relationship with children and character development are the foundation of motivation. Learn what to focus on and what beliefs to emphasize. Learn the four roles you must play, how to respond when children are frustrated, and how to compliment and correct effectively. You’ll love the practical ideas!
Ginny Yurich
Jump Start Guide to Homeschooling (Homeschool 101)
As the public schools continue to become less safe physically, emotionally, and spiritually, more and more parents are considering homeschooling. On a daily basis, parents around the country are wanting to bring their children home to learn, but they are often at a loss with where to begin. It can be overwhelming to start the process, but once you get going, homeschooling can be easy, refreshing, and enjoyable! Just like we often get a quick start guide to electronics, this session by Ginny Yurich, homeschooling mother of five and former public school educator, will be providing a quick start guide to starting your children on their home education. You will leave this session believing that you are the best teacher for your child!
LaNissir James
Plan and Organize Your Homeschool Life
The freedom to homeschool is great, but the responsibility can be intimidating. Once a family has decided to homeschool, Mom’s concern is how she will tackle it all. Finding the plan that works best for your family is the ultimate goal. You get to design the strategy that works best for you. This session by a homeschool mom of seven will help you plan and organize your homeschool life to suit your style. You will learn how to set up an academic plan, a weekly plan, a monthly plan, a menu plan, a project plan, and more. Life doesn’t come with a manual, but it does come with a mom. When mom gets organized with her life plan, the entire family benefits. You will leave this session with the tools you need to design a homeschool life you can enjoy!
Jeannie Fulbright
The 7 E’s for Choosing Curriculum
As an admitted curriculum junkie, Jeannie Fulbright tried every kind of curriculum and method available. Out of this experience, Jeannie has formulated the 7 E’s to help her carefully choose curriculum. In this seminar, she shares her experiences, as well as the conclusions she reached through this process. Following the 7 E’s when choosing curriculum will enable you to enjoy a successful homeschooling year and avoid wasting money on things that won’t work for you. These 7 E’s will ensure your children have curriculum that conforms to your mission and goals and breathes life and ease into your homeschooling journey.
Julia Nalle
Tips and Tricks for Adapting Curriculum for Struggling or Special-Needs Learners
Homeschooling can seem so simple. You did well in school, and usually behaved yourself well enough, so how hard can teaching be? Buy a whiteboard and dry-erase markers, hang a wall map and some posters in your dining room, and go to work. But then real life intervenes. Your wiggler and your giggler can’t seem to settle; books and worksheets send your struggling reader into orbit; your otherwise complacent children raise the flag of revolt; and you find yourself face-planted before the Lord. What happens when your children don’t fit the mold? How do you respond when their learning style is the precise opposite of yours? Join Julia Nalle, mother to three adopted and two biological kids, co-writer of BiblioPlan and teacher for 35-plus years, as she facilitates an honest and heartfelt discussion for parents who are scratching their heads over their struggling or special needs learners. In this session she will discuss some of the reasons your child may be struggling and share practical, fun strategies for helping your child.
Jeannie Fulbright
Methods that Win and Methods that Wipe Out
This workshop uncovers the reasons why we get discouraged as we travel the road of homeschooling. We tie up heavy burdens, place them on our backs, and struggle through each day using overly difficult principles and practices that drag us down. By mid-year, we are so exhausted and depleted that we wonder how we’ll ever get through. Consequently, the joy of following God’s will in homeschooling is missing. This should not be! Jeannie Fulbright explains how many homeschool moms employ philosophies, techniques, and methodologies that consume a great deal of time and energy with little result. She enables you to identify wasteful methods and empowers you with winning methods, including both the latest research in educational methodology as well as time-tested practices that the founders of our country used to achieve an excellent education. She gives practical tips and ideas that will breathe life into your school day, including ideas for organizing your school day, scheduling, and fitting difficult subjects into the week.
Wil and Meeke Addison – Airing the Addisons AFR Radio Program
Interview with Ginny Yurich of 1000 Hours Outside
Dr. Kathy Koch
Technology’s Influence Over Children’s Beliefs and Behaviors
Understand how technology is influencing children’s beliefs and behaviors (and ours). Learn how technology is the root of some of your biggest concerns (e.g., your children’s complaining, expectations, inability to know what to do after graduation). Discover the five big lies technology is especially causing young people to believe and communication patterns and practical things to do to help them mature even as they keep using technology. You’ll find hope in this message.
Candice Dugger
Bullying in Today’s Culture
The types of bullying affecting our children in today’s culture is nothing like we remember as kids! It’s more than just mean words and pushing, and can run the gamut from food bullying, body shaming, gaming, happy slapping, posing, and flaming to name a few. Candice will give us an in-depth look at what our kids are really dealing with and show how to open a conversation with our child to understand the depths of their bullying angst.
Ginny Yurich
Are You Doing This Right? Yes, You Are!
If you are wondering who the best teacher is for your child, the answer is YOU. There is no one better suited to be the primary instructor in your family than you are. Children thrive at home, and families thrive when they spend the best parts of childhood together. You are doing this homeschool thing right simply by choosing home education. You CAN do this!