2008 Sessions

	Homeschooling: Making it Work Financially Presented by Ginger Monette Financially surviving on one income in today's world is quite challenging. Come find out how to not only make it on one income, but actually boost your standard of living! You'll discover how to get more for less, cut household expenses, and provide rich learning materials for your children all on a shoestring. Join us! Containing Your Enthusiasm Presented by Rachel Fields Once upon a time, in a wee town in southeastern NC, the Fields family vanished. Search parties were soon deployed in hopes of finding some semblance of life. With cat-like agility, searchers maneuvered past massive stacks of books, scaled baskets of media, battled teetering mountains of crafting supplies, tiptoed through the land of scattered computer games and located the bewildered brood. Yes, it was true. They'd been consumed by their home schooling materials! <cue dramatic music!> Join us to learn how the Fields family tamed the once all-consuming chaos and created an organizational system that promotes passion-driven exploration and discovery. We Did It Our Way! Presented by Rachel Fields How often have you thumbed through a workbook and felt your heart sink due to the overwhelming amount of busy work? How many times have you encouraged your child to complete something that serves little to no purpose, just because it was there? How often have you hoped that the focus was greater in one area, more so than another? How many times has your child approached you in hopes of finding a book about <fill in the blank> and then found such a book doesn't exist? Join us for a view into the world of doing it your way! Whether your homeschooling experience is child-led or parent inspired (or a mix of the two!),there are alternatives to increase content and focus, that promote creativity and place the whole of learning in your/their hands and hearts. We'll be exploring the world of creating and organizing your own workbooks, networking and sourcing information (free, as well as purchased), tools that assist in the process, encouraging artistic activity and ownership, plus much more!
	Where Do You Find The Energy To Homeschool? Presented by Lori Barklage Does it feel like you need more energy for yourself and your family? Wish you had a time-travel machine or just more hours in each day? Learn how to recognize when your energy is being poorly invested and how to 'pull the plug' on those bad investments. Your energy is a renewable resource and you have the power to change your investment strategy. Learn ways to go 'personally green' - conserve and spend your energy more wisely.
	The “How” of Home Schooling thru High School Home schooling through high school is: Impossible? No. Challenging? Yes. Rewarding? Most definitely! Are you afraid or apprehensive about beginning or continuing to home school during your child’s high school years? This seminar will address some of the concerns as to what to study, how to determine credits, making a transcript of your child’s work and preparing for college. Having had one child graduate from her home school and another one ready to leave soon, Bobbi plans to share the lessons she has learned in this process of home schooling high school aged children. Samples of transcripts, evaluation forms and course of study suggestions will be included in this presentation. Hopefully by the end of this seminar you will be encouraged and motivated to home school your child during his/her high school career. A time of questions and answers will be included in the overflow session.
	Philosophies of Homeschooling Presented by Tami Fox Homeschooling is as much a lifestyle choice as it is an educational alternative. Your beliefs about child development, learning theory and life in general will influence the homeschool philosophy you embrace. Many parents begin homeschooling with a particular style and shift to other methods as they gain experience. Tami Fox will explain the various method of homeschooling. Homeschooling and the Large Family Tami Fox is a homeschool mom to six children who range in age from 16 years to infant. She has been homeschooling since 2000. And she will share her tips with you in this session on how to manage homeschooling and a large family. She will also share creative ways to instill a love of life-long learning while managing those little things in life that seem to creep up in your schedule.
	Reading in their own time Pam Genant and Lori Barklage Pam and Lori share how their children learned to read. With each child learning very differently and at different ages, this session will open up discussion on the subject of reading, and how children learn to read in their own time.
	Understanding the Right-Brained Child Presented by Cindy Gaddis Is your child a "late" reader? Does your child not remember their math facts no matter how many times you go over them? Does your child hate to write, or their handwriting is barely legible? Do they love at least one of the following: art/drawing, music/dance, theater/showmanship, Legos/building, video games/computers, or puzzles/mazes? Your child may be right-brained and/or a visual-spatial learner. Cindy will discuss characteristics of this learning style and help parents discover their child's path to learning with joy. Come celebrate the gifts of the right-brained learner while understanding why certain subjects may develop "later". Cindy will specifically cover reading, math facts, writing, handwriting, and more! There will also be a Q&A-time to ask Cindy any questions you might have about her talks, her family, or her philosophies
	Collaborative Learning Process Presented by Cindy Gaddis Cindy believes that there is an organic process each person navigates in order to find their gifts. As she supports each of her seven children on this process, Cindy discovered there were distinct learning stages that each child learns through that build on one another. She also discovered that she played a crucial role during each stage in exposing her children to all that is available while sharing her wisdom and insight with them in developing their weak areas that may interfere through collaborative efforts. What is your role at the various stages of learning? How do you let each child lead out in their own learning lives, but still bring in the wisdom and experience and perspective one can offer as the adult in their lives? Let's discuss these processes as Cindy shares each of the learning stages her children traveled. There will also be a Q&A-time to ask Cindy any questions you might have about her talks, her family, or her philosophies

	Teaching History at Home Presented by Karen Davis Throw out the textbooks! Or at least use them as the spine for exciting and stimulating journeys into the past. History can be one of the easiest subjects to teach at home. Absorb it together through exploration, time lines, field trips, living books and original source materials. Watch your children learn more as you teach less. This session is more about a mind set than a particular curriculum; however, you will leave armed with resources, many of them free, and ideas for making at least one area of your homeschooling stress free.
	A Relaxed Approach to High School at Home Presented by Karen Davis Does just the thought of homeschooling your high schooler strike fear into your heart? Do you have a child that does not fit the "High Achiever" profile or one who would rather do anything but schoolwork? There is more than one pathway through the dark and dreaded High School Forest! Explore a way to approach high school that puts you and your teenager on the same team. It will not suit every family but it just might be perfect for yours.
	Finding and Forming Homeschool Support Presented by Teresa Blalock and Pam Genant Teresa and Pam have connected homeschoolers from all over the state of NC, from informal field trips to formal homeschool groups. From finding a homeschool group that fits you, to forming your own support or homeschool group. They would love to share their experiences with you and hope you will bring all your questions and concerns with you as we explore the wide arena of homeschool support together.
	Unschooling Through the Teen Years Presented by Teresa Blalock Having Unschooled three children all currently at different stages of their teenage experience, Teresa has so much information to share about their living and learning through the teen years. Her Unschooled children are currently, 18, 16 and 13 and she would love to take the time to share her journey with you.
	From Trust to Disconnection to Trust Again Presented by Caren Knox-Hundley I'll tell my story of how I was a deeply attached attachment parenting mama, then when my oldest was school-age, I forgot how to listen to my heart. I started listening again, though, and we became unschoolers - and life has never been the same.