The Essential Beginner’s Guide to Home Education
The whole seminar is 10 hours long, delivered in several sessions, but approx. 3 topics can be selected together to make a shorter session. While obviously concentrating on ‘beginners’, this comprehensive seminar is suitable for a wide range of home educating parents. Whether you have not yet applied for an exemption or have to write another one soon; whether you feel you’re not too well equipped for your home education career, or you could do with some better preparation for your ERO review, whether you’re almost lost in an overwhelming sea of information about curriculum choice, or whether you wonder just how much work is enough work – this seminar has many answers, handy tips, ideas and inspiration. It also features a hands-on, practical approach with active participation, and a course manual.
Content areas are:
* Learning styles and teaching approaches
* Curriculum choice
* Creating a learning environment and learning centres
* Unplanned learning experiences
* Unit studies, Charlotte Mason methods, unschooling, and more
* Sequences in teaching reading, writing and maths
* Assessing your child’s learning
* Planning and record keeping (how much or how little, what is acceptable by ERO, etc.)
* Avoiding burn-out
* Motivating reluctant learners
* Homeschooling and toddlers – do they mix?
* Homeschooling teens and looking beyond
* Your application for exemption to the MoE
* Your ERO review
* and more
What others have said:
I would like to thank you for the great course you ran over the past weeks. The information has been invaluable and will help me and my family in many ways. You gave us so much to think about and prepared us for up and coming hurdles which was wonderful! Thanks again for all your help.
What I most valued was learning and being reminded of our wide-ranging freedoms. The final session was especially brilliant. Very practical.
To tell the truth, I could only think that it would be good to go for twice the seminar time. Have thoroughly enjoyed it!
Lennie, you’re a legend – thanks heaps!
You give me so much confidence to believe in myself.
The following workshops are all approx. 2 hours duration and include hand-out notes. As Lennie has a Christian worldview, all workshops could include Christian content.
Charlotte Mason methods of education.
Charlotte was an educationalist who lived in the 19th century in England. Her philosophy is still of lively interest to many home educators today. Her ideas allow for a flexible approach in matters of structure and content, and can be applied tin most home education settings. Contents are:
* An overview of Charlotte Mason methods of education
* What are “Living Books”
* Why narrate and where does it lead?
* Narration in practice.
Educational Games.
This workshop is very hands-on. It will get you familiar with games that are easy to learn, quick to play, cheap to make and enjoyable for the whole family as they are adaptable to age, interest and ability. Contents of the workshop are:
* View a range of games for English, Maths, Social Studies, Science, Music, Art, etc.
* Try some out.
* Design your own and share ideas.
The Teenage Workshop.
Please note this workshop is not directed at teenagers, so attendance is for adults only please.
It aims to provide advice, suggestions, goals, examples, reasons, etc. to equip parents for home educating their teens. Parents will get fresh inspiration and motivation to keep children on the fruitful path of self-directed learning that is based at home. Contents are:
* curriculum choices for teens
* preparing for tertiary study
* moving out into the workplace
* preparing a CV
* working towards good citizenship
* relationship issues
Cutting Social Studies Down to Size.
We will look at the reasons behind teaching this topic, which will logically bring us to what we want to teach and how. Contents are:
* How does the National Curriculum describe Social Studies? Is it useful for home educators?
* Social studies vs. History, Geography & Economics.
* It’s surprising how much we already do.
* How can we start with younger children?
* Where do we lead our older children?
Literature – What’s the Big Idea?
This looks at defining what literature is, understanding and formulating why literature has importance, what place it takes in a home-based curriculum, recognising good quality literature, how it can become ‘alive’, and some practical pointers. Contents are:
* Viewing literature as art
* How important is literature?
* Literature’s place in the home.
* When, where and how to start.
Am I Doing Enough?
This workshop takes a closer look at what standards ERO would apply to this question, and what standards we should consider, quite aside from government bureaucracy. It spells out our freedoms and should do away with that unsettling feeling, that nagging doubt, that tries to tell us that, perhaps, we’re not doing enough.
Whatever conferences you have, you MUST have Craig!