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Here are some current topics we have available. If you don't see something you like, contact us and we will be happy to customize a presentation for your group.
Workshops are available as a single session, multiple separate sessions in a convention setting, or grouped theme workshops for a retreat.
* Catching the Foxes that Ruin the Vineyard: What are the small and large distractions that detract from your work in your home? Presents strategies for dealing with the common foxes of every day home life, both large and small, such as time crunchers and energy wasters. "Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes, that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom." (Song of Songs 2: 15)* Refreshing the Heart: Parenting can be physically and emotionally draining. Presents strategies to help mom stay refreshed while meeting all the needs around her.
* Pearls of Mothering: The biggest surprise of mothering has been what mothering has taught me. While raising and training our children, we grow, change and mature. This workshop mines some of the unexpected pearls of mothering, including the pearls of patience, endurance, maintaining a good attitude, weathering the rough spots, learning the meaning of lasting love and encouraging Mom's job satisfaction.
* Should You Adopt? Analyzes right and wrong reasons to adopt, presents a strategy for getting started in adoption, touches on the special issues involved in adopting after infertility, discusses available children and includes a brief description of adoptive cases gone awry, with an emphasis on new legislation and safeguards for adoptive parents. Features a decision making tree for couples to work through in their process. Intended audience is pre-adoptive families.
* Celebrating Adoptive Families. Presents pre- and post-adoption celebration ideas for the waiting family as well as the post-placement family. Lots of hands-on, fun ideas and exhibits, including a discussion of celebrating adoption anniversaries and getting family members involved in the process. Intended audience is pre or post-adoptive families.
* Taking Them Home: Making the Transition from School to Home:
How to prepare yourself and your child for transitioning from a traditional
school setting to home schooling.
* The Home Schooling Marriage: Is home schooling actually GOOD for your marriage?
We think so. Presented by Christine and Mark Field. Does home schooling
strengthen not just families but marriages as well? How to use the shared experience
of home education to enrich the bond between husband and wife.
* NEW!! Home Schooling the Challenging Child: Does home schooling seem too hard? This workshop examines these five areas of frustration: attention issues, personality clashes, learning style differences, discipline issues and learning disabilities, and presents suggestions and solutions for meeting the challenge.
Based on the book, Home Schooling the Challenging Child (Broadman & Holman, 2005).
* NEW!! Home Schooling the Different Learner: Do your child’s attention or perceptual difficulties interfere with learning? This workshop defines common learning difficulties, as well as ADHD, and gives teaching strategies for addressing the needs of our different learners. Based on the book, Home Schooling the Challenging Child (Broadman & Holman, 2005).
* Help for the Harried Home Schooler: Do you feel like Mom Multiplied? Balance is the key to home school sanity. This workshop gives strategies for keeping perspective on the many demands on our time and presents crucial information on how to effectively manage our personal resources. Based on the book, Help for the Harried Home Schooler (Shaw, 2002).
* Learning From My Children: What Motherhood Has Taught Me: College and law school trained my intellect and my mind. Raising children has trained my heart and strengthened my faith. Everyday life with children can be a chance for us to grow and learn. What are the lessons God can teach us through our children?
* Encouraging Words: Building One Another Up: Words can hurt and words can be the greatest source of encouragement. What you say and how you say it has a lasting impact on spouses and children. How to use common life situations to engage encouraging words to build one another up.
* Three to Five Year Olds: Mining These Rich Years At Home: Between ages three and five, children are wonderful, curious sponges. The activities we engage them and the experiences they are exposed to can set the stage for a lifelong love of learning. How to enrich these early pre-school years to enhance your child’s excitement and love of learning.
* Life Skills: Equipping Your Child For the Real World: Before launching your child into college or other real world situations, what life skills should they possess? Getting along in the world consists of more that the ability to operate Nintendo. What skills does your child need for independent living and how can those skills be taught in the years at home?
* Sorry For Your Troubles: Seeing Christ in Life’s Trials: A life untouched by sorrow does not exist. Troubles and sorrows can be times of great spiritual growth. Using real life examples, learn how to mine life’s troubles to gain God’s wisdom and strength.
* In Over Your Head? What To Do When Mothering Is A Mess: Is your stress meter off the scale? Kids driving you crazy? Feel like you have more than you can manage? Take a deep breath, fix a cup of tea and listen to ways to make your life less complicated, thereby making it less stressful.
* Our Daily Bread: Prayer for Home Schoolers: The Lord completely understands the needs of home schoolers for the practical and divine aspects of life. This session examines the Lord’s Prayer as it relates to the deepest desires of our heart as we walk the path of home schooling.
* When Hard Times Come: How to handle the trials of home schooling. What to do when you don’t know what to do. Looking at trials as opportunities for growth.
* Winning Over Home School Worries: Examines the major worries of home schoolers, from proper socialization to college admission. Gives a basis for winning over worries with a combination of facts and faith.
* Our Home School Witness: The world forms its opinion of home schooling by looking at the lives of home schoolers. Is your life a positive witness for others? How our attitudes and practices can help to encourage acceptance and support for all home schoolers.
* Home Schooling 101: Why home school? Looks at the many benefits of home schooling, such as the spiritual, academic, emotional and social advantages, as well as the many unexpected benefits of home schooling. How to decide if home schooling is right for your family, including a self-assessment for you to complete with your family members. How to get started on this family adventure of learning. Audience is those who are considering the home schooling option.
* Homeschooling for the 21st Century: Why home school? Looks at the many benefits of home schooling, including the spiritual, academic, social and emotional advantages. How to decide if home schooling if right for your family, including a self-assessment to be completed by your family members. How to get started on this family adventure of learning.
* The Six Minute Solution: Character and values education for busy families. (Presented with Mark Field) Presents a model for teaching children character traits and instilling values with a simple method which requires nothing more than six minutes of your time per day.
* PEARLS of Mothering. The biggest surprise of mothering has been what mothering has taught me. While raising and training our children, we grow, change and mature. This workshop mines some of the unexpected pearls of mothering, including the pearls of patience, endurance, maintaining a good attitude, weathering the rough spots, learning the meaning of lasting love and encouraging Mom's job satisfaction. Audience is general.
* Celebrating the Family: Sharing the joy of everyday life. Why celebrate your family? A brief discussion of the importance of celebrations and traditions and their role in giving family life depth, color and texture. Ideas for celebrating mealtime, chores, bedtime, seasons, sick days and more. Handouts will be provided to share many of these ideas, Audience is general.
* Looking at the Same Side of the House: Communicating with your spouse about issues related to children and parenting. How to understand different communication styles to effectively reach your spouse.
* Is it Time for a Change? Has your mothering become stale and uninspiring? How to recover some of the enthusiasm you felt as a new mom, with practical ideas and tips to shake up your practices and your attitudes for a fresh season of mothering.
* Making the Most of Your Time: Ephesians 5:15 tells us the days are evil and that we should make the most of our time. We are called to be good stewards of our time and opportunities. How to exercise wisdom in making choices for the use of our time.
* New! Lighthouse Momma: Lighthouses served to guide ships and keep them from danger. Mothers want the same for their children. How to be a lighthouse momma to your children in the areas of faith, fun and family values.
* New! Learning From My Children: What Motherhood Has Taught Me: College and law school trained my intellect and my mind. Raising children has trained my heart and strengthened my faith. Everyday life with children can be a chance for us to grow and learn. What are the lessons God can teach us through our children?
* Coming Home to Raise Your Children: Making the Transition from Full Time Worker to Full Time Mother: Before you quit, assess your reasons for staying home to help you focus on your work as a mother. Items to discuss with your husband before you make the transition, such as the division of housework. How to streamline your budget to be able to afford a full time season at home. After you make the decision, how do you make the psychological transformation? Getting support from your husband and others, and taking care of yourself during this exciting time of life. Audience is women who are newly at home or who are still considering this option.
* Nurturing Mom in the Midst of Mothering Others. The days of mothering are full of giving and nurturing. Mom needs nurture too. How to recognize and deal with your physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs in the midst of caring for a busy, needy family. Practical suggestions on how to recharge Mom when she is needing recharging. Audience is general.
* Homeschooling 101: Why homeschool? Looks at the many benefits of homeschooling, such as the academic, social, emotional and spiritual aspects, as well as the many unexpected benefits of homeschooling. How changes in our society have made homeschooling an appealing option for many Christian families. How to decide if homeschooling is for your family, including a self-assessment for you and your family to complete. How to get started on this family adventure of learning. Audience is women who are considering the homeschool decision.
Help for the Harried Home Schooler Series:
* BALANCE: The Key to Home School Sanity
Home schooling is more than an educational choice. It’s a lifestyle. Recognizing that fact helps put the many demands on our time and our personal resources in perspective—and may be our key to success as we manage the myriad roles of Mom Multiplied.
* CHAOS CONTROL: Getting and Staying Organized
“God is not a God of disorder, but of peace” (I Corinthians 14:33). God scheduled creation. He orders the seasons. And he can help us make sense of our days. There is hope for the organizationally challenged home schooler!
* DISCIPLINE: To Train Up a Child
Discipline is essential in the home school; you can’t teach a child who is out of control. Effective discipline is a product of loving relationship, based not on our convenience but on what is best for our children. It trains them above all things to follow Christ.
* STRUCTURE vs. FREEDOM: The Great Home Schooling Debate
Finding the proper balance between structure and freedom for your educational program and deciding on the teaching approach that works best for your family may take some time. Don’t lock yourself in. Explore the options. It’s okay to change your mind!
* TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING: Making Curriculum Choices
There is no “best” curriculum. What works for your home school will depend on what your family wants and needs. More important than any specific content is that your children learn how to learn—and that they learn to love learning.
* BEYOND ACADEMICS: Character and Life Skills Training
Academics are only the beginning of what our children will need in order to successfully navigate adulthood. Home school provides an ideal environment to instill godly values and teach basic life skills to our children.
* THE ONE ROOM SCHOOLHOUSE ALL OVER AGAIN: Teaching Multiple Ages
Teaching multiple children of different ages is a juggling act that requires patience, grace and creativity. While it can tax us to the limit, it also provides unique opportunities for our children to exercise responsibility, independence and self control.
* EVALUATION: Setting and Meeting Standards
Every school needs standards to measure teacher and student performance. How are we doing? Are our children mastering the academic skills and subject matter the state requires? Are they learning appropriate life skills and growing in character?
* THE FAMILY CIRCUS: Quibbling Siblings and Tireless Toddlers
Siblings who don’t always get along and toddlers who never seem to stop are special challenges for home schooling moms. But they also offer opportunities to teach our children valuable conflict resolution skills and practical ways to help one another
* WHAT’S A DADDY TO DO? Home Schooling and Your Marriage
For a marriage to be effective, both husband and wife must understand clearly their common mission, goals, and intentions. This is particularly true when it comes to educating your children. How can—and should—Dad be involved in your home school?
* SANE SOCIALIZATION: Are Your Children Missing Out?
Knowing how to get along with others is a critical life skill. Are we harming them by keeping them at home? How can we provide the tools and social skills our children will need for personal and work relationships?
* WHEN YOUR WORLD FALLS APART: Home Schooling Through Crises
When we find ourselves saying, “This is too hard,” when we come to the end of our own ability to cope with crises and turn them over to God, then he can begin to work in us. Crises are opportunities for great personal growth—if we will but persevere.
* “YOU’RE GOING TO RUIN THOSE KIDS!” Dealing with Disapproval
Disapproval is never fun, but we can use it to clarify our values and strengthen our resolve. If we avoid defensiveness, build positive relationships in our communities and teach our children well, the thing will speak for itself. Who can argue with success?
* TO WALK AND NOT GROW WEARY: Dispensing with Discouragement
When you feel like giving up, remember who called you to home school your children. Reflect on the reasons you chose to answer. Tune in to God’s word and your children’s hearts. And stay the course—God never leads where we cannot follow.
* NEW LIFE IN THE VALLEY OF DRY BONES: Learning from Burnout
There are ways to avoid burnout. But should we find ourselves already in the valley of dry bones, the only way out is to grab God’s hand and walk through it with him. Burnout is an opportunity to learn in the most practical of ways that with God, everything is possible.
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