Most parents place a high value on education. It prepares children for life and gives hope for a happy future. In the old days, the three Rs of schooling included reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic. Is homeschooling succeeding because it is reclaiming the tried-and-true educational philosophy or is something else going on? This workshop presents a compelling case for you to believe in the power of homeschooling and seven new Rs to back it up.

Many homeschoolers struggle with self-doubt and/or criticism for their decision by well-meaning friends and family. Here we’ll tackle some of the top objections people raise about home education and will give statistics and fact-based answers to build confidence to defend your choice to home educate.

What is the true definition of socialization? Who should be socializing our children? Will your children be looked at as “different” or criticized for being unsocialized? We’ll answer these questions and reveal the negative socialization in the present education culture, as well as the points of positive socialization that homeschooling affords when you keep your children Home Where They Belong.

Most people think of schooling when they hear the word “education.” The two, however, are not intrinsically linked in any way. In this keynote learn why most people are schooled, but never truly educated, and how you can ensure your children get a great education, even without schooling.

In what way has God been unfair to you? What do you want that God has not already given you? At what point will you be totally satisfied with what you have in life? When will you realize that God is more than enough? At what point will you be able to “thank” God for what you have rather than “ask” God for what you want? Discontentment is a curse that will poison every relationship and every task in life. It is a curse.

What makes the creation model different and better than others? The answer lies in one’s worldview. Naturalism views the cosmos and all matter as all there ever was, is, and will be. Many people in the West think that Science is the only thing we can trust. Darwin was a major influence in this arena. Many in the East are more aligned with Transcendentalism – the physical world is a dream, an illusion, not real – and we can’t trust our senses. Postmodernism says that truth is relative and can’t be known. We’ll compare all four options to help you come to a reasonable conclusion of your own.

So here we are. Most of us would have chosen something different than what we’ve recently had to face. Who would have signed up for the last two years of crazy chaos? If I believe in a sovereign God and believe that He has a role for me to play in His plan, then how do I lean into that? What is my role in this cultural moment? Let’s look at some similarly chaotic cultural moments in Scripture and see what we can learn from those who have gone before.

Their first five years are crucial times of development for young children. Foundations are set that give them a perspective of God, themselves, and others. During these years children gain an understanding of love, obedience, and responsibility. Their worldview will be shaped by the books you read to them (including the Bible) and the freedom they have to sing, play, and explore the great outdoors of God’s wonderful Creation. Is this parenting, homeschooling, or both? We’ll uncover ten lessons your young children should learn and experience that can make a big difference in their first five years.

Are you concerned that you might be missing something in your reading instruction? Is there more to reading than reading well orally and decoding? How does your phonics instruction affect your child's reading comprehension? What techniques can you use before, during, and after reading to help your child comprehend? How does the comprehension taught in reading instruction affect other subject areas?

First, know that you’re not alone. Secondly, “that” child is a blessing. You may think, “If only you knew.” Well, I do. I have one. What comes to mind when you hear “that child?” Do you smile, or scowl? Do you see yourself? Do you struggle to like that child? Is it difficult? Impossible? That child is a world changer, and God has a plan. All the energy, questions, and strength are God-given for His glory. Come and learn strategies to love, embrace, and train that child.

God’s Word is living and relevant for every generation—even for our digital world. What does God have to say about texting? Facebook? Pinterest? Snapchat? Is God’s inspired Word up-to-date enough to tackle the technology of our plugged-in world?

“Have fun with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus--____!” It is very difficult to think and live biblically. The Wiseman calls Christians to exhibit wisdom in their deeds. Christians must understand and exercise four essential duties in order to please the One Who enlisted them as soldiers.

With daily stress and the physical and emotional demands of the job, it’s easy to forget why we are homeschooling. We may think, “Someone else could do this better!” or “What was I thinking?” So many things can weaken our courage to continue. Relatives, friend, strangers, and even our children may ask why we do this. Do we have answers? It is important to remember why we are homeschooling so that when tough times come, our home school will not collapse.

Wouldn’t it be nice if it were? Wouldn’t it be nice if all our problems could be solved with good family time and great curriculum, and if all we had to do was adopt a certain schedule, read certain books, and follow a certain educational philosophy? What if there were a simple, daily checklist to guarantee success? But, there’s not. There is, however, an answer to all that ails us; the sin and death, pain and misery. Come be reminded of the Answer and the hope it engenders.

What are the life goals we have for our own heart, our home, our marriage, and our children? We will discuss how living as a woman who is a disciple of Christ brings us great influence and ministry in all these areas. We’ll talk about the rewards of keeping our goals God-centered, and learn where to find help for living this kind of life. Based on Proverbs 24:3-4, “Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”

Are you ready to run the race set before you? As in any race or journey, the better informed you are, the better the experience. Whether you’ve already made the decision to homeschool, or are still sitting on the fence, come learn more about homeschooling and requirements here in Massachusetts. Susan will address a few of the most frequently asked questions and address common concerns of parents just getting started. She hopes her practical advice will leave you informed and encouraged as you begin one of the most important adventures you’ll ever take – the journey of homeschooling your children.

Everyone is a leader. What kind are you? Paul shares seven practical steps to developing leadership. Teens will be entertained and inspired hearing Paul share lessons from his own leadership journey and will walk away with real-life applications drawn from Scripture.

If Godly children are the answer to the evils of the future, then Godly parents are the answer to who should teach them. What do Godly parent/teachers look like? God desires parents that will teach the next generation not only academically, but most importantly, biblically. The outcome is good for the society, the church, the student, and our future generations. The best teacher that cares about your children and their future as much as you do—is you! Deborah reminds homeschoolers that they are making the best educational choice possible as they keep their children Home Where They Belong.

The heart of leadership is influence and everyone influences someone. That means everyone needs some basic leadership skills, no matter who you are or what you do. You can spend a lifetime reading and studying leadership, and that’s not a bad pursuit, but this session will give you the basic leadership skills you need to understand so you can apply them immediately.

Are we pushing too hard or doing too little? Are we teaching the right things at the right time? Will there be gaps if we teach outside the box? This workshop is all about fostering a love of dreaming while still meeting the academic needs of your kids and keeping the important things in focus.

Parents are often surprised when their homeschooled teen becomes unmotivated, angry, or uncooperative. — Up to that point, homeschooling had been a magical learning adventure marked by self-directed learning and effortless discovery. Parents wonder What happened? — What did I do wrong? This workshop will address common challenges when homeschooling high school: motivation, attitude, puberty, achieving high school requirements, and more. It will also provide solutions and insights that produce real results and homeschool success.

Do you feel like you just don’t have what you need to fulfill God’s purpose for your life as a home educator? Do you feel like you don’t have what it takes to be a Godly parent? Do you feel like you lack patience, understanding, kindness, or joy? Where we lack, God’s divine power provides. In this workshop, we see God’s power and grace given in order to do all that He asks of us and reflect Him to our children and to the world. His grace gives us all that we need to abound in every good work—even homeschooling!

Adolescents today are starving: they’re aesthetically and culturally undernourished. Among the many culprits: Our poor use of literature throughout secondary education. Great works on high school reading lists are treated as mere boxes to checked off, and do students really learn to love Dickens in AP lit? — Our STEM students, moreover, will have few electives in college; the high school years may represent their real taste of literature. This homeschooling dad shows how we can use literature to nourish our teens, expand their emotional intelligence, and sharpen their insight into human relationships.

In a bygone time, plans were paramount, caution was king, and deciding was marked by deliberation. In that old world knowledge trumped experience. We don’t live in that world anymore. In our world iteration is better than planning, action holds the throne, and deciding is marked by doing. In our world knowledge is still necessary, but knowledge without experience holds little value. This session will teach you how to adapt to this new world and use project-based education to train students to take action for the real world.

Maybe you struggled with math, so how do you choose a curriculum to avoid the same fate for your child? Maybe you are really good in math but are unsure how to teach it now? Should you include manipulatives or not? What DOES it take to be the best teacher for your child? Find out the science and the art of teaching math. It is a science because much research has been done on how children learn, especially in math. It is an art because each child is different and lessons need to be tweaked. Come learn and be encouraged to become a great math teacher.

Discover practical strategies for teaching your child HOW to learn. This workshop will give you the tools to guide your child as they gradually transition to learning independently. Whether you have preschoolers or high schoolers you can decrease burnout, develop successful students, and bring peace into your home once again. Listen and experience a renewed vision for your homeschool.

You are a human being, not a human doing. Culture and society will tell you that changing the world and making a difference with your life will require you to become rich, famous, and/or powerful. Unfortunately, it’s extremely difficult to become rich, famous, and powerful. Fortunately, that’s not the way you change the world and make a difference. Christianity has a different plan for world changers, a plan that anyone can follow, that requires community, and that you can start today. This session will teach you how you really change the world and find meaning. Caution: If you attend this session you will have to start today!

Have you made a list of rules only to get discouraged when your teen doesn't follow them? Do you feel your attempts to create close relationships feel one-sided? Rest assured, mom, you aren't alone. While every family needs rules, limits, and boundaries to help protect your child and keep order, they cannot come at the expense of your relationship. It's not the rules that cause our children to rebel. Often something is missing. Connie Albers, the mother of five adult children, shares how to create rules, build relationships, and reduce rebellion.

Death, illness, finances, marriage struggles, catastrophes, struggling teens, rebellious and difficult children, discouragement, or that feeling you are failing at life. Hard things happen to homeschool families, but there is great hope in the midst of hard things. Deborah talks about ten years of hardships in her journey and shares the hope in the midst of the hard things, as well as tips on practical, simple homeschooling through them. Deborah loves to encourage homeschool families that God has given them all that they need as they keep their children Home Where They Belong.

Whether you have toddlers or teens, we all have a desire to see our kids walk with the Lord and grow in faith. In this session, we will explore fun and simple ways to teach your kids to have regular devotional study, a meaningful prayer life, and engaging family discussions.

What if homeschooling and the homeschool movement was about more than education, but was the training corps for the special forces whose mission is to take and hold the cultural anchors of our civilization? What if your local church was more than a building to worship in once a week, but was the headquarters for an army whose mission was to rebuild a civilization? What if we understood that this army doesn’t build walls and fortifications to keep the barbarians out, but builds homes and communities that lower the bridge, open the gates, and invites those outside in, to a better world? This session will challenge you to think big, think long, and join the mission.

In 1984, the State Superintendent of Education told Zan Tyler that he could have her put in jail for homeschooling her son. Zan knew this was no idle threat. The shock and fear that riveted her and the imminent threat of being jailed forced her to count the costs of homeschooling and decide if it was really worth it. Zan learned some powerful lessons about fighting for freedom, family, and faith that remain pertinent today. Our nation is once again at a crossroads where the liberties we often take for granted are at stake. We must all continue to work to preserve our homeschool freedoms, while intentionally raising up a new generation of freedom fighters. But how do we do that? Come to this session to be encouraged and equipped with powerful principles to share with your children and teens. Handout: https://masshope.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Tyler_Zan_1.pdf

Bearing responsibility for the education of a child is a high calling, one that brings with it great challenge and the potential for great anxiety. In this talk, Brian Phillips looks to Scripture, Church history, and classic literature, drawing practical lessons to encourage the hearts of educators in the trenches. The struggle will continue, but there is strength available to face it.

Your house is a disaster, your kids seem out of control, and you wonder how you’ll ever make it through another day of school. Your “get up and go” has “gotten up and went”. You used to think homeschooling was the best thing since sliced bread, but now you’re feeling like burnt toast. Take heart – you’re not alone! No one homeschools because it’s easy. You do it because you believe it is best. But there are times when you need to be reminded once again why it’s best. Join me as we do just that. You’ll laugh and be encouraged in the toughest job you’ll ever…love.

We like things nice and neat, orderly, with predictable outcomes. Often OUR plans don’t ‘come together’ as hoped. Instead, they fall apart and leave us dumbfounded and stunned. I’ve talked to plenty of homeschooling parents who were sold a plan. They followed it and later stood before me with tears in their eyes because the plan “didn’t come together.” “We did everything THEY said to do.” “We didn’t have TV…we homeschooled…we ate organic…we only wore dresses…we sheltered and protected….we did courtship…they played the violin…we emphasized the classics…we never missed family devotions…we emphasized purity…we birthed our children at home…we had a home business” and on and on the list goes. They feel betrayed, angry, and lost….and their children are starting ‘tell all’ websites!! Years ago when I heard their sob stories I wondered what they had done wrong. I believed they must have gotten the WRONG plan…or didn’t carry the plan out according to instructions. While some of that may be true, I know NOW that sometimes our plans don’t come together because God has a DIFFERENT PLAN. Join me as we take an honest and humorous look at plans, why they fall apart and what to do when they have.

In a traditional classroom environment, students have an average of eight to ten individual interactions with their teacher each day. In your homeschool, these verbal interactions can number in the hundreds and greatly enhance the education your children receive at home. Zan Tyler shares how the simple and free tool of conversation can help your children replace boredom during lessons with a motivation to learn. Discover why parents make the best teachers and capitalize on these strengths. Explore strategies to minimize conflict in your home and promote camaraderie, enthusiasm, and learning with stimulating academics instead. Conversation is the key! Conversation IS core curriculum. Handout: https://masshope.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Tyler_Zan_3.pdf

From teaching phonics to graduating teens, from refereeing fights to nurturing faith, our lives as homeschooling parents run the gamut from the very mundane to the very meaningful. In the midst of the mind-boggling demands of homeschooling and everyday life, we constantly need to remind ourselves that our work as homeschooling moms and dads has tremendous Kingdom significance. Using the lessons of Scripture and history, this workshop will expand your vision of how God is using the homeschool movement, as well as your specific work as a homeschooling parent, to usher in spiritual and educational revival. Handout: https://masshope.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Tyler_Zan_4.pdf

It’s a fact! The only thing tougher than being a homeschooling mom is…being married to a homeschooling mom! Dad, your wife needs your help. Come join me as we discuss how to support and assist our wives in the homeschooling journey. We’ll also do a lot of laughing, as I encourage men to be encouragers of their homeschooling wives.

Do you ever have those moments of panic when you wonder if you are giving your children everything they need to succeed in life? Do you worry that you are inadequate for all that homeschooling requires of you? Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night plagued by the long list of important things that still need to be done—and know there will never be enough time in the day to accomplish them? In this session, we will discuss five areas that pose particular challenges to homeschool moms and be reminded that He always holds us in the palm of His hand. Join Zan and be encouraged by God’s promises of hope, strength, power, and help for those of us who are weary and imperfect. Handout: https://masshope.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Tyler_Zan_6.pdf