speaking topics

Finding Joy in the Homeschool Journey

The homeschool reality sometimes involves struggles that can leave a parent feeling overwhelmed and inadequate with children who are equally frustrated. The truth is that while the nitty gritty of teaching our children at home is sometimes messy and emotional with a variety of highs and lows, homeschooling is a great privilege and, yes, even a joy! Join Nancy as she shares encouragement to bolster you on those challenging days and refresh you as you endeavor to create an atmosphere of joy in this learning adventure with your children.

Ideas for Hands-On Learning

It is a rich experience indeed where learning is a hands-on, multi-sensory, interactive adventure. Nancy will share easy-to-implement, inexpensive, engaging ideas for children of all ages. Do you lack creativity but want to make learning fun and engaging for your kids? Come and get inspired! You can make learning a joy for your child as you incorporate hands-on learning in your homeschool—without a huge investment of time, energy, or resources.

Can be taught lecture style or as a hands-on workshop where attendees create some take-home samples. The hands-on version requires tables for attendees to sit at.

Making Lapbooks to Enhance Learning

Lapbooks are a great way to enhance learning and they allow your child to create a review of what’s been learned in a compact folder. Come and learn the basics of lapbooking in this fun, hands-on, instructional workshop! Nancy will go step-by-step through the entire lapbook making process including covering folding tips for creating a variety of mini-books to go inside the lapbook. You’ll make a sample lapbook to take home with you in this workshop. Lapbooks can be used with many different subjects by students of all ages. They are a fantastic, interactive, educational tool for learners of all types.

Works best if attendees are seated at tables for this session.

Order Promotes Peace:
Organization Ideas for Your Homeschool

Are you buried under a pile of papers and homeschool supplies? Are your kids forever misplacing their pencils and books? Do you find it difficult to homeschool, make dinner, and get the laundry done all in the same day? This workshop is for you. With lighthearted encouragement and practical tips, you’ll come away with some easy-to-implement strategies that will help restore some sanity to your busy homeschooling household. You can tame clutter and chaos and find a system that works for you and your family.

Tips for Successful Homeschooling

In this encouraging session, Nancy shares tips she’s learned along the way for making the home education adventure more effective and fruitful—and more enjoyable, too! Part of homeschool success is knowing what might undermine your efforts. We’ll touch on several obstacles to success and explore what success might look like for your family. You’ll also glean ideas to help you organize your time, your home, your schedule, and your life in ways that will foster a successful homeschool experience with your children.

Starting a Small Homeschool Co-op:
Enrichment for the Learning Adventure

Participating in a co-op can be an amazing opportunity to enrich your homeschool adventure. A small co-op provides an exciting and motivating opportunity to study a particular subject or topic with a few other families. It’s a meaningful way to build lifelong friendships, too. Nancy will share from her own experiences the benefits of teaming up with others for cooperative enrichment learning. We will also cover practical guidelines that will help you succeed in enjoying your own homeschool co-op experience and steps for starting your own small co-op. 

You (and Jesus) Are Enough!

Feeling weary? Worried that you’re failing your children? Need a boost of confidence to keep plugging along? Join Nancy as she reminds us that God has placed our children in our unique families and that He has equipped us as to raise, disciple, and educate them. She’ll share encouragement from God’s Word that will refresh you and revitalize you in your mission as a homeschooling mom. In Christ, you are indeed enough!

The Price Is Right

Homeschooling requires a great deal of sacrifice and investment. As an experienced homeschool mom who taught her children at home through high school, Nancy will tell you that the price is absolutely right! When we choose to homeschool our children, we have the opportunity to nurture and develop the unique gifts and abilities the Lord has placed in each one at a much deeper level than if they were in someone else’s care every day. In this session we will talk about the price we pay and remind ourselves why we started this journey and how we can finish strong.

This workshop kicks off with one or more homeschool-related “Price Is Right” pricing games for some interactive fun!

Getting Started Homeschooling

You’ve made the decision to homeschool or perhaps you’re exploring homeschooling as an option for your family. What’s next? Nancy will provide some direction as you embark upon this journey of teaching your children at home. We’ll cover ideas for lesson planning, basic supplies to have on hand, creating a schedule that works for your family, the benefits of joining a local homeschool group, how to balance enrichment activities and family life, and more.

When taught in Arizona, Nancy will include information about Arizona homeschool law and how to file the Affidavit of Intent to Homeschool.

Curriculum Approaches

Homeschooling jargon can be confusing even for seasoned homeschool parents. In this workshop, we’ll go through an overview of some of the most common curriculum approaches including traditional textbook, Classical, Charlotte Mason, literature-based, unit studies, and eclectic. Nancy will share examples of curriculum and resources for each approach and provide a helpful handout summarizing the pros and cons of each approach along with a list of resources.

The Price Is Right: Leaders Edition

Leading a homeschool support group requires a substantial amount of sacrifice by the leaders and their families. In this session, we will talk about the various ways leaders pay a high price to encourage others in the home education journey, and why it is a worthwhile investment. But don’t lose heart! With great sacrifice comes great reward. You’ll be refreshed in knowing that the price you pay to serve is a worthwhile investment reaping eternal rewards. We will also discuss ways to keep wise boundaries, recruit and train volunteers, and find a healthy balance as you juggle not only homeschooling your own children but serving and supporting other families.

This workshop kicks off with one or more homeschool-related Price Is Right pricing games for some interactive fun.

Communication Skills for Leaders:
Building Strong Connections

Leadership involves communicating and helping a wide variety of people to connect. Does your communication style help you to win, lose, or draw? In this session, Nancy will share ideas to help you be effective using the tools you have at your disposal to communicate well with your group members, volunteers, and leadership team. We’ll cover social media, email, website, and in-person networking to build strong relationships.

This workshop kicks off with an interactive game of Win, Lose, or Draw to illustrate how important effective communication is in leadership.

Healthy Leadership Habits

Homeschooling your own kids and serving in support group leadership can be a recipe for unhealthy habits—neglecting your own well-being, putting the needs of the group over your husband and kids’ needs, or struggling to keep your own house in order. We’ll explore ways to tackle all of this successfully through healthy leadership habits. You can shed the weight of unhealthy habits that bog you down and thrive while serving others! 

Support Group Leadership

Having served as the AFHE Support Group Liaison for nearly a decade, Nancy has spent a lot of time visiting with and encouraging homeschool support group leaders from across Arizona. In addition, Nancy spent ten years running her own email network to help homeschool families connect and share information with one another. This session will help you as a homeschool group leader to renew and revitalize your vision and focus for your group. Nancy will share advice from seasoned support group leaders for dealing with a variety of issues and challenges unique to running a homeschool support group.