Do you and your child work hard in reading or writing, yet experience slow growth? Are you frustrated or stuck? Is it possible you are "buying into" the myths about dyslexia i.e. waiting it out, asking your child to "try harder", or thinking - my student is so smart, he/she could not be dyslexic! Learn characteristics of dyslexia, when to reach out to a professional, and hands on strategies to begin closing the gap.

20/20 vision means you can see clearly at 20 feet what should normally be seen at that distance. However, it does not mean that you have perfect vision. Visual acuity gives no meaning about what a person sees. If your child is not achieving their full potential academically, struggling with written reading comprehension, skips lines or words when reading, reverses words or letters, or avoids reading or near work, this presentation is for you. There are more than 17 skills that are needed for efficient vision and learning. Children struggling with binocular vision or visual processing disorders often will not complain about symptoms because they are unaware that they visually experience things any differently than their peers. In this course, we will learn about these skills, the signs and symptoms of a visual processing disorder, and what can be done to help them be successful.

Vendor Workshop - Energematrice 6

Who says learning has to be boring? In this dynamic session, discover how to turn reading and spelling lessons into engaging games that captivate your student’s attention and make learning a joyful experience for everyone involved. Drawing on the latest neuroscience and play-based learning strategies, this session will show you how to transform even the most challenging subjects into fun, interactive activities that keep your kids asking for more. Whether you’re teaching a reluctant reader or a struggling speller, you’ll learn how to create a learning environment where everyone is excited to play—and learn! Walk away with a toolkit of game-based activities that you can easily implement at home, using everyday items you already have on hand. Let’s make reading and spelling the most anticipated part of your homeschool day!

So many parents ask, “Why doesn’t my son enjoy reading? I want him to love it!” We look at ways to help your boys read better (because it’s hard to love it when it’s hard!), enjoy reading more, and find joy in stories and in research. From the parents of six adult sons, all of whom learned (eventually) to love reading! Many boys struggle with writing, too. They complain that it's too hard, that they can't think of anything to write, that they don't know why they have to do it anyway. Hal & Melanie homeschooled all six of their boys all the way through. Their boys learned to love writing and won writing awards. You can pull it off, too!

Many children have difficulty learning to spell, but the difficulty may not be with the student. Often parents and teachers feel ill-equipped to help students who are not natural spellers. Join Andrew Pudewa to learn how spelling information is most efficiently stored in the brain, to gain greater insight into the nature of spelling and neurological function, and to be better equipped to teach students how to spell.

Will Christian curriculum look any different from public school curriculum when it comes to subjects like history, science, and literature? As the author of most of the Christian Family Discipleship Curriculum provided by Generations, Kevin Swanson discusses the fundamental and radical differences a Christian worldview provides in these subjects.

As schools have made reading their new god, they believe that producing good readers will solve all their academic problems. As a result, many children—the dyslexic, the easily distracted, the auditorily challenged—are left behind in the rush to improve test scores. What schools do not know (but what many parents and teachers discover) is that reading is not simply being able to rapidly decode symbols with the eyes. With humor and insight, Andrew Pudewa shares stories and strategies for helping students who need to engage the cognitive processes of reading but who are more likely to excel through a wider variety of practical, creative, and imaginative approaches.

Mary calls Lansing, Michigan, home, but has a desire to travel across America, exploring natural wonders in our national parks. She has been in all fifty states, stopping to visit sixty national parks. Experiences while traveling prompted Mary to write the National Park Mystery Books, with ten titles in the series. Now that she has two grandchildren, taking them on mystery trips to a national park is the perfect vacation.

Recent years have seen an enormous increase in the use of technology in education for even the youngest students. But is technology really the cure-all that many believe it to be? While traditional skills such as cursive penmanship are seen as unnecessary in the modern world, the actual research tells a different story. Join Andrew Pudewa to learn the compelling reasons to read paper books instead of electronic devices, handwrite instead of type, teach cursive instead of printing, and grab a pen instead of a pencil. Discover how to unleash creativity that goes beyond technology.

Listening and reading well, speaking and writing clearly, and thinking and debating effectively are abilities that most parents hope to cultivate in their children. With that goal in mind, Andrew Pudewa explores various environments and activities that accelerate the development of these language skills, beginning with the youngest students and continuing into the high school years.

It’s time to jump to the root of your kids’ spelling issues. Discover the common thread as to why they are having trouble with spelling and implement 7 strategies that will help to fix spelling issues for good! You will walk away with a list of things to start doing now to help your student to become an excellent speller in just a couple of months.

Teaching high school does not have to be intimidating. It can be fun and engaging. Dara will share tips and tricks for successfully navigating your child through the teen years and on to the next years of work and/or college. She will have resource lists and reading lists, emotional support ideas for the teenager and parents, classes needed lists and how to set up a transcript with a transcript template included.

What is perfect vision? The number 20/20 might come to mind. Actually, 20/20 means perfect visual acuity, however, the 17 other visual skills that are needed for efficient learning, reading, sports, and overall life performance are not taken into consideration with this one value. Visual acuity, or 20/20 vision, gives no meaning about what a person sees, yet many people including medical professionals use this single value as a measure of visual proficiency. If you or your child is not achieving their full potential academically, struggling with written reading comprehension, skips lines or words when reading, reverses words or letters, avoids reading or near work, is uncoordinated, or struggles with car sickness this presentation is for you!

This session offers a discussion of learners who experience some form of disability or learning challenge alongside an exceptional gift. You’ll come away with a broader understanding of how different exceptionalities can manifest themselves within learning styles and preview resources that match your child’s unique learning profile. Ultimately, this workshop will enable you to spend less time searching for resources and more time nurturing your child’s gifts.

Exhibitor Workshop

This workshop addresses some of the challenges associated with teaching struggling or atypical learners at home in the high school years. Do you have questions such as “How do I award my teen with special needs a diploma?” or “What do I do when my teen with dyslexia can’t read high school-level material?” Rochelle discusses alternative coursework, specialized curricula and learning materials, assistive technology, transcript options, possible graduation guidelines, high school programs for special learners, and post-high school options. She also offers tips for navigating the process of applying for testing accommodations for College Board tests.

Participants will be better prepared to implement effective reading instruction for their child who struggles with reading by gaining a deeper understanding of the five components of literacy instruction -- phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. They will learn how to use available screeners to accurately place children in a reading intervention, using phonics and word-reading screeners, spelling screeners, and phonemic awareness screeners.

Could you use some encouragement and strategies to help reignite your student’s love of learning? If so, this session is for you! There are many factors that impact a child’s motivation level—stress, executive function, nutritional needs, media usage, and more. With a little bit of theory and a whole lot of practical application, Rochelle equips parents with the tools they need to tap into their child’s God-given gift of curiosity.

Teach handwriting explicitly and effortlessly. Students need to learn the basic handwriting forms that we call “Squiggles.” These Squiggles will enable your children to write all the letters of the alphabet effortlessly. We will also address the importance of teaching cursive!

Change your laborious reading instruction into a class that both you and your child will look forward to every day! Find out how easy it is to make reading time engaging and fun!

If you aren't teaching the Six Types of Syllables to your child, you are missing a huge support for decoding and spelling! Come see how easy it is to teach and apply this learning!

Good readers are not necessarily early readers. And, early readers don’t always grow up to love reading. God designs each child differently as He deems fit for His purposes. Deborah Wuehler, Senior Editor of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, will talk about her own struggling readers and the practical things that helped them jump those hurdles. Deborah will show you how to have victory over your own obstacles as you keep your children Home Where They Belong.

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?

Good readers are not necessarily early readers. Early readers don’t always grow to love reading. God designs each child differently as He deems fit for His purposes. Deborah Wuehler will talk about her own struggling readers and the practical things that helped them jump those hurdles. She’ll show you how to have victory over your own obstacles as you keep your children Home Where They Belong.

Math and Language arts are two of the most important building blocks in the early education of our children. In this research-based workshop, Parents will learn to approach these topics playfully with their children, while watching for readiness for next steps. Handouts will include useful developmental guidelines, resource suggestions, and book titles.

Let's look at some creative book summary activities for your kids that you can assemble together to provide many different creative ways to summarize a book. We will also discuss the writing process, some quick ways to assemble a sandwich paragraph, and more!

This presentation shares how Gretta's mother cultivated a love of reading for her and her 3 siblings. She shares reasons why parents should cultivate a love of reading and books in their own children, as she provides concrete, simple ways parents can do this. Greta ends with a great book list for kids from babies to teens.

In this session, Faith discusses the ultimate goal of reading instruction: comprehension. She also explores various types of thinking and processing skills required for proficient comprehension. Faith shares tips, techniques, and strategies for developing the vocabulary of very young, as well as good habits of mind in order to lay a solid foundation for comprehension with our wee ones (up to age 5).

Do you have a child who just isn’t getting phonics—or is struggling with beginning reading instruction? Or perhaps you have a child who has sloppy speech or doesn’t seem to hear things correctly? Poor phonemic awareness could be partly to blame. Faith provides parent-teachers with an understanding of phonemic awareness skills and how these skills (or lack thereof) impact a child’s ability to become a proficient reader. Hear about a phonemic awareness assessment that you can use at home.

Do you have a student who is having reading difficulties? This session introduces the 5 Pillars of Reading: phonemic awareness, phonics (decoding and word recognition), fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Faith offers guidance for identifying the area and the level of your child’s reading difficulty, and she also shares practical teaching tools, strategies, and techniques for remediating your child’s reading struggles. Part 1 addresses decoding and fluency problems.

Do you have a student who is having reading difficulties? This session introduces the 5 Pillars of Reading: phonemic awareness, phonics (decoding and word recognition), fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Faith offers guidance for identifying the area and the level of your child’s reading difficulty, and she also shares practical teaching tools, strategies, and techniques for remediating your child’s reading struggles. Part 2 will cover addressing and remediating reading comprehension difficulties.

These wonderful children learn in a different manner than their left brain siblings. You will learn how to identify the right brain child, and learn many simple teaching techniques, such as Right Brain Reading and Right Brain Math. Right Brain Reading is the method Dianne used in her Resource room to help students make a two-year gain in reading in one year! For kids who find math “miserable”, this is a Godsend. No curriculum required! Help your children get in touch with the “smart part of themselves”! Poor test takers will learn how to store facts using their photographic memory. Everyone looks smart when these strategies are used.

In an age of simplistic and repetitive choruses, many churches are rediscovering the blessing of theologically rich and biblically informed songs. Douglas Bond introduces us to Isaac Watts, “the father of English hymnody.” Bond urges Christians to delight in the grandeur, beauty, and joy of Watts’ poetry. We pray that you would regain a sense of God’s majesty as we celebrate the God-given poetic wonder of Isaac Watts.

Many people think that some are just born with a “photographic memory”. But we now know that this amazing ability can be easily taught. The ability to use the photographic memory is one of the best gifts you can give your child. Your child can store his spelling words in his photographic memory for quick retrieval. Vocabulary is learned in a totally different way! Imagine your child actually having fun improving his vocabulary for the SAT.

Regardless of natural ability or internal desire, young people can learn to discover ideas, discern truth, and influence others by participating in debate. If your children are ready to meet their challenge, grow in grace, and communicate with confidence, check out debate. It’s an adventure worth taking!

Do you have a child whom you suspect has an Auditory Processing Problem? There are ten auditory channels. Some channels affect academics (reading, phonics and sight words, spelling, and math), while others affect everyday life (easily confused, misunderstands verbal information, poor working memory, speech delay or articulation issues). Become your child’s own diagnostician as you identify, bypass, and correct auditory processing problems at home. Learn to bypass the auditory learning glitch by using the child’s natural photographic memory and how to correct the auditory glitch by using the proven methods of home Brain Integration Therapy and Targeted Nutritional Interventions.

There are approximately 70 behaviors readers encounter when they struggle and there are hundreds of researched-strategies that parents and teachers can implement! BUT how to pinpoint where the reader struggles can be a struggle in and of itself, not to mention which strategy to try! The good news is that certain strategies are linked to certain behaviors and it is possible to assess, create a personalized plan, and improve reading as a result. You will receive a brief introduction to the most common reading problems students encounter and a handful of tools to help them overcome the struggle.

Homeschooling families are often heard saying, “The older books are so much better!” Is that really true? Why do people say this? This workshop explains what it is about Christian books from the 19th and 18th centuries that makes them unique, so rich in content, and helpful for the formation of godly character. The result is, you'll learn how you can best use literature from that era and, in fact, the great literature from every era, to promote Christian character in your children.

Do you have a child who just isn’t getting phonics—or is struggling with beginning reading instruction? Or perhaps you have a child who has sloppy speech or doesn’t seem to hear things correctly? Poor phonemic awareness could be partly to blame. This session provides parent-teachers with an understanding of phonemic awareness skills and how these skills (or lack thereof) impact a child’s ability to become a proficient reader. Participants receive a phonemic awareness assessment that they can use at home, take part in interactive activities in order to “play” with phonemic awareness, and receive a list of curriculum, materials, and games that address these important, foundational skills.

We will discuss what children need to know before phonics instruction, how to layer phonemic awareness on phonics instruction, and hands-on activities to help children hear, segment, and blend sounds. Includes hearing initial and ending sounds, sound boxes, rhyming, word families, counting syllables in words, and counting words in sentences. Techniques to enhance learning through movement and multi-sensory activities will be reviewed.

Join Sonya for a practical and encouraging overview of the simple yet effective methods used in the Charlotte Mason approach. Learn about Charlotte and experience using her methods for yourself during the session.

Some children practically teach themselves to read, but most will need to begin with good preparation and continue with sustained instruction along the way. Before beginning to work with a phonics curriculum, there are helpful things you can do right now to ensure that your child is prepared to read successfully. Learn more about the value of pre-reading skills, what those skills are, and what to look for in a sound, thorough phonics curriculum.

Learning to read shouldn’t be unnecessarily hard for our children… or exhausting for moms! Learn some practical things that can help open the door to understanding for your child in the area of Reading. We’ll cover small changes you can make using any curriculum, including what you are already using, that can help both mom and child find success.

Can your child read between the lines or is she just 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? Handout: https://masshope.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Sharon_Fisher_2.pdf