Stay Tuned For This Year's Workshops
Last Year's Workshop List
Friday, March 11th, 2011
"Homeschooling High School, Part I" - 2:00-2:50 P.M.
High school - what a great time of life to continue to pour godly wisdom and life-training into our young men and women! This workshop is Part I of two high school workshops - Part II is offered tomorrow. In Part I, we'll focus on high school credits and how to fulfill them, a simple way to keep records, writing a quality transcript, and preparing for SAT testing.
Cindy Probasco has homeschooled for eighteen years. She and her husband, Bart, have six children. They have a heart for encouraging homeschooling families to stay the course and continue to home school through the delightful and critical teenage years. By God's grace, they have graduated two of their children from high school so far, and their two "middle children" will be graduating soon.
"Ellerslie Training - Experience a Set-Apart Season with Christ" - 3:00-3:50 P.M.
If you have a high school or college student who is searching for direction and eager to go deeper with Christ, the Ellerslie Training Program might be the answer. Students from all around the world come to our campus in Windsor, Colorado to attend semester and year-long programs. Their lives are eternally changed as a result of what they experience in this set-apart environment. Ellerslie specializes in helping students gain a passionate love for the Word of God, an effective and vibrant prayer life, healthy life-long spiritual behaviors, and the ability to live a poured-out life on behalf of the weak. In this session, Eric Ludy will share what God is doing through Ellerslie and answer your questions. Visit www.ellerslie.com for more.
Eric Ludy and his wife, Leslie, are international speakers and the bestselling authors of eighteen books. They are most known for their classic relationships book, When God Writes Your Love Story. Eric and Leslie are passionate about proclaiming the true Gospel of Christ to their generation and training future leaders in the pattern of historical Christianity. Eric is the president of Ellerslie - an intensive Biblical training program based in Colorado that equips men and women from around the world to make an eternal impact for Christ. The Ludys live in Windsor, Colorado with their four children.
"First Lego League Robotics" - 3:30-4:00 P.M.
Can you believe it?? Colorado's 2010 state champion robotics team, The Knights of the Field Table, is from Loveland, and in a few short weeks, they will be traveling to the World Festival Competition! Two of the team's members will be with us to show their robot game (COOL!) and demonstrate their biomedical project. Coach Dawn will answer your questions about how to get your children (3rd through 8th grade) involved with one of these teams. First Lego League teams are an excellent place for students to learn about teamwork, designing and building a robot, researching projects, public speaking, brainstorming, writing computer programs and persistence!
Coach Dawn Canny and team members, Patrick Canny and Daniel Probasco, will present this workshop.
Saturday, March 12th , 11:00-11:50 A.M.
three workshops will be offered concurrently
"The Greater Mission of Teaching Literature"
Studying grammar is only a part of the bigger picture of perfecting communication skills. What are your goals in teaching Language Arts? Are they worthy goals? In this workshop, Candy will present how Total Language Plus turns well-written literature into a full curriculum designed to teach students to think and then express themselves within the rules of the English language.
Candy Trygstad has been home-schooling for the past 17 years. She and her husband, Paul, have been married 21 years and have eight children. Candy lives in Aurora, Colorado, and enjoys gardening, hiking, and camping with the family. She has over 10 years experience teaching in Sunday Schools and has been a teacher and coordinator for a local homeschool co-op.
"Discovering Your Child's God-given Strengths"
Discover your student's God-given talents, as well as your own, and create an engaging home and teaching environment. The Gallup Organization has studied the strengths of individuals over the past 60 years to identify talents in teachers and students. LEARN how to discover your own talents and how to develop them into strengths as an educator. DISCOVER the strengths of your students. Learn how to MOTIVATE them for success based on their individual strengths. Encourage them to FOCUS toward a future that builds on their God-given gifts. Help them move toward a career or higher education that will INSPIRE them and allow them to do more of what they were made to do!
Joan Andersen holds a B.S. degree in Education from The University of Nebraska/Lincoln, Masters work in Adult Education from NU and is a certified strengths- based educator as well. She has worked as an elementary teacher in private, public, and home school. She joined The Gallup Organization in 1979 as a management consultant. She and her husband Dennis have raised four daughters. Joan now works with home, public, and private school educators helping them create engaging home and school environments using Gallup's strength education.
"Living What You Are Learning: Taking Learning From School into Everyday Life"
One of the benefits of homeschooling is the ability to tailor your curriculum and school to fit your unique life. Learn some simple, practical ways to make your everyday life fit well with the things you are learning in school. From preparing meals to hands-on projects to taking learning vacations, Dawn discusses some exciting ideas that can add the words "fun," "relevant," and "memorable" into your daily homeschool experience.
Dawn Hudson was homeschooled as a child - now she home educates her own children. As a consultant for My Father's World, Dawn fields questions from homeschooling parents who are looking for better methods and innovative techniques. She is also actively involved in her church and local homeschooling community, encouraging parents to train their children to be shining examples of God's love.
Saturday, March 12th, 12:00-12:50 P.M.
three workshops will be offered concurrently
"Occupying Preschoolers While Teaching Older Children"
Our children are precious gifts from the Lord but sometimes they can interfere with our human plans. Many homeschooling parents are in distress because they find their little ones seeking attention at all the wrong times. Dawn will offer practical suggestions for educational toys and common household items that can be used to educate and occupy young ones. Homeschooling with young ones can be easier than you think!
Dawn Hudson - First the student and now the educator of her own three children, Dawn see homeschooling from both sides. This second generation homeschooler brings a "practitioners" bent into her home classroom, giving her insight into what works and what could cause unexpected problems! Dawn has worked for Focus on the Family, Christian Bookseller's Association, and as a Colorado state legislative aide. Now Dawn truly works in her favorite environment: first as a wife, mom, and homeschooling teacher; then, as a voice of support to homeschooling parents.
"Homeschooling High School, Part II"
This is the second half of a two-part workshop. In this segment, we'll discuss dual enrollment courses through local community colleges which are a great way to get both high school and college credit simultaneously. We'll also have a panel of students who will answer your questions about taking the placement test for community colleges, writing the essay, what it's like to transition from homeschool high school to college classes, etc. If time allows, we may also talk about how to prepare your students for writing in college.
Cindy Probasco has homeschooled for eighteen years. She and her husband, Bart, have six children. They have a heart for encouraging homeschooling families to stay the course and continue to home school through the delightful and critical teenage years. By God's grace, they have graduated two children from high school so far. They have a son in the Air Force, two daughters at Aims Community College, two children in high school, one child in middle school, and one in elementary school.
"Strengthening the Skills that Strengthen Attention"
Many of us have children who struggle to pay attention to the daily events of their life from moment to moment, never mind hour to hour. It is a struggle just to get a page of math problems done, or a whole sheet of grammar exercises completed, or an entire page of a book read. Distractions are everywhere! My own son, Tim, struggled mightily with this. Parents will discover the types of attention skills that need to be developed in children and how to develop them. This workshop will present an alternative to medications.
Don Cassidy is a homeschool father of five children, three daughters and two sons, who range from almost 20 down to 10 years old. Don taught Classical Latin to homeschool children for a few years and has tutored math and science with various students over many years. Don holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Colorado State University (1987) and an Executive MBA from Denver University (2008). He also worked as an engineering manager at LSI Corporation from 1988 through 2008. Don is currently the owner and Master Brain Trainer at LearningRx where he has helped many people transform their lives through brain training.
Saturday, March 12th, 1:00-1:50 P.M.
"Beginning Your Homeschool Journey"
Have you just made the decision to homeschool? Or are you still just considering the idea? What is God saying to your heart? This workshop will be an informal chat for prospective/new homeschoolers exploring topics such as how, when, and why to homeschool, and how to choose curriculum. Bart Probasco will briefly share his family's homeschooling journey with you and then open the floor for your questions.
Bart Probasco and his wife have homeschooled their six children for the past eighteen years. They own Probasco's Christian Bookstore where they have a large section devoted to homeschool products. Bart speaks with homeschoolers almost every day and helps many families who are just getting started. His desire is to help turn the hearts of fathers to their children and children to their fathers (Malachi 4:6a)
"Experiencing Home as a Homeschool Family"
Homeschool families have a unique opportunity and challenge as they spend more time together in their homes than most American families. Although a true blessing, this time together and the sharing of space can create conflicts and struggles every day. This workshop will help you discover how to balance your home vs. your school and how to better organize all of your 'school stuff' to effectively utilize the amount of space you have. Learn how to provide good spaces for educating by considering daylight, color, and ways to define individual space. Through all of this homeschooling clutter and chaos, we are called to contentment as we serve our family and others with our homes and glorify God as we live in them.
Jon Rentfrow is an award- winning custom home designer and the homeschool father of three boys. Jon has worked out of his home and right next to the family's school table for more than 10 years. Jon's book, "experiencing home..." speaks to the heart of beginning to appreciate and experience the homes that God has given us. His expertise in exploring and defining how people live in their homes and his new supplement book "...experiencing home... as a homeschool family" both bring a unique perspective to homeschool families.