E•vent Library

Teaching your teenager to drive can be real eye-opener, for both of you! Understanding the key components of a training program as well as the standards for teaching driver’s education can significantly improve the teaching and learning experience for you and your child. Join Steve as he takes you through the step-by-step process of teaching a young mind the principles of driving safely. Not only will he share what’s changed in the realm of driver’s education over the last 10 to 20 years, but he’ll also share tips for keeping it rigorous and for staying calm and in control while instructing your child behind the wheel (with or without the option of a second brake).

Teaching driver’s education at home can seem like a daunting prospect—but it doesn’t have to be. When Texas became the first state to approve of parent-taught driver education and training in 1996, it set a precedent for what is, today, a recommended strategy for producing safe teenage drivers. As parents, your input in your child’s education is invaluable, and driver’s education is no exception. Join Wayne and find out how to help your child stay safe and drive well. He’ll discuss why it’s essential to use a curriculum for driver’s education and how to choose a good training program, as well as the principles and practices of safe driving.

Are you a homeschooling parent in North Carolina? If so, then you won’t want to miss this informative @home e-vent with HSLDA Senior Counsel Dewitt Black. New home educators and seasoned veterans alike will benefit from this overview of home instruction in North Carolina. Join Dee as he explains the legal requirements for establishing a home study program and covers matters relating to curriculum and general instruction. In addition, he'll also discuss the typical legal problems you may encounter when homeschooling. Bring your questions and register today! This is a free e-vent open to HSLDA members only.

The study and appreciation of poetry is a vital part of traditional education. In fact, many of the best thinkers, authors, and statesmen of the past several hundred years had a comprehensive knowledge of poetry, and were well-versed in Homer, Virgil, Dante, Chaucer, Spenser, and Milton from a very young age.

Like many other foundational arts, poetry has been sadly neglected in our day. Classical education expert and homeschooling mom Kathy Weitz offers creative ways to remedy this situation in your homeschool using material from the Classical Writing curriculum’s poetry series. With Kathy’s tips and advice, you can learn ways to restore the strength of poetry in your children’s home education program. Kathy will allow time to for you to ask specific questions after her lecture.

Have any of your children demonstrated a tendency toward anger or a bad temper? If so, this session is absolutely essential for you. Anger is a God-given emotion and did not come about as a result of the Fall. However, the Bible says, “Be angry, and sin not.” This talk addresses anger from a biblical perspective, focusing on the positive and negative aspects of anger. Michael Smith also delineates the five steps that lead to rebellion, then suggests ways to help your child identify the causes of anger and take the necessary steps toward freedom from anger.

If any topic generates controversy among homeschooling parents, it is grading. From a somewhat rebellious “Why do I have to do this, anyway?” to a despairing, “I can’t do this! I don’t even know how!,” the task of evaluating our own children elicits a strong emotional response. Beneath the wide range of reactions lurks a common feeling: inadequacy. How do parents evaluate their own children? Classroom grading models do not always apply to the homeschool, so we throw up our hands in despair. What an impossible task, we think. No, not impossible. We just need the right tools. This workshop will introduce you to some practical methods you can use to honestly and ethically grade and evaluate your own children.

A new school year can bring anticipation, excitement, and—let’s be honest—anxiety. As we consider the magnitude of the task of homeschooling, it is easy to be overwhelmed.

The clarion call comes from Scripture: “Walk in the light as He is in the light.” How do we really do that when we feel afraid or overwhelmed? When we are worried about our children’s future? Or when we feel inadequate in our roles as wives, mothers, and teachers?

President Teddy Roosevelt once said, “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.” As we begin this school year, let’s make a new commitment to learning and depending on God’s Word.

In this webinar, Zan relates God’s promises, then addresses common concerns and questions homeschooling mothers face with each new school year, such as: God is the Author of His Word, light, and life.

-- How should that impact my daily life? God promises great things if we seek Him.

-- How can I do that when I’m always surrounded by children? The Word of God is living, active, and powerful.

-- But how can it really help me deal with the overwhelming responsibilities and demands in my life? God’s Word gives instruction, direction, clarity, and discernment.

-- I’m really struggling with homeschooling, curriculum, and family issues. Does the Bible get that specific?

So often, learning style materials pour all their time and energy into finding the right label for your child's learning style. While there are many different tools for assessment, too often these same materials are light on just what you should do after you find a "label" for your child. How do you teach history so it sticks? What if she can't understand fractions? What if he loves language but hates to write? Self-acclaimed “Delightful Speaker, Entertaining Author, Adequate Wife, Pitiful Housekeeper” Carol Barnier goes beyond learning styles to answer "What do we do now?" Come away from Carol’s refreshing session with lots of ideas you can use Monday morning!

Whether you are homeschooling a teen or a pre-schooler—or both at the same time—your students can study and learn together. Sherrie Payne, mother and teacher of six, has learned to make multi-grade homeschooling both fun and efficient.

To simplify the multi-level teaching process and eliminate “boring” from history lessons, Sherrie wrote a world history curriculum entitled, "Around the World in 180 Days." In this engaging webinar, Sherrie draws from "Around the World" to share the excitement of history!

You’ll learn that there’s more to world history than just dates, names, and places. Sherrie will show how you can give your students “the rest of the story,” and help them understand more about the nations that influence world events.

Take a ride in an imaginary hot air balloon, and prepare to have fun with world history!

Do you have a child who is doubting his faith? Or perhaps a daughter who has rejected your beliefs completely? Are you convinced you've failed...and the state of this child's heart is weighing heavily on you and your spouse? Come and listen to Carol share her own journey away from and back to her faith after 13 years as an atheist. She'll share thoughts and views from inside the mind of a lost child. You'll learn the best thing you can do for this child and for yourself. Come and find an understanding heart that hurts and rejoices along with your own.

The holiday season is just around the corner! If you’re wondering how to keep your children focused on educational pursuits amidst the whirl, you won’t want to miss this webinar! One of the great beauties of homeschooling is the opportunity it provides to turn all of life into a learning experience—and author, speaker, and homeschool mom Zan Tyler wants to share her thoughts on both the educational and spiritual lessons to be found in the holidays. Do you want to transform those hard-to-manage, informal days of study into a productive time filled with unique learning situations and environments? Using Thanksgiving and Christmas as the foundation for her discussion, Zan will offer key principles for making the most of any holiday as a family, both spiritually and academically. Don’t miss this opportunity to discover the juncture between education and celebration and to help your children learn and promote the deeper reasons for the season!

Why do so many home schooling parents worry about teaching their students science? Perhaps the biggest fears come from seemingly vast quantities of evolution-based science coming from media outlets. Evolutionary science has permeated our culture—turning up in the newspaper, on television shows, and in movies.

Amidst all this evolutionary “evidence,” we rarely hear about the thousands of creatures whose existence and attributes contradict the theory of evolution. The ocean and its creatures especially challenge the hypothesized process of evolution.

Join Sherri, a marine biologist and homeschool mom, to learn how sharks’ abilities are “ahead of their time” (evolutionarily speaking), and dolphins’ organs defy evolutionary processes. Take a look at some “living fossils” which “should” be either extinct or look drastically different than they actually do, according to evolution. Discover how the ocean itself gives clues about the age of the earth, and indicates that the earth may be much younger than the suggested multi-billion years!

Homeschooling parents should not be afraid to teach science. If we truly believe what the Bible teaches, we can study the world boldly, expecting to be excited and amazed at its testimony to God’s glory!

What does a father have to do with homeschooling? Michael Smith, the president of HSLDA, tells of his wife's reaction when he informed her that they would be homeschooling. Her immediate response was not about curriculum, pedagogy or discipline. Instead she asked, "What will your role be in this?"

During this webinar, Dr. Fred Worth will explain that, even if Mom is doing the majority of the instruction, the father has a very important role in the success of the family's homeschool. His role encompasses academics, discipline and spiritual leadership. We will take a look at what Dad needs to do to be successful in each important part of his role as a homeschool father.

C. S. Lewis, considered the greatest apologist of the 20th century, was not a theologian—he was primarily a classicist, a student of literature. Dr. James Stobaugh shares his belief that the next “C. S. Lewis” God will call forth will emerge from a community that understands, analyzes, and appreciates truly great literature.

In this stimulating webinar, Dr. Stobaugh will specifically address the importance of learning how to analyze literature for effective college preparation and for the establishment of a firm apologetics foundation.

The ability to write is a valuable tool to help your children express their beliefs in any venue God calls them to. For young people preparing to be 21st century apologists, a strong education in composition is especially crucial.

In this informative webinar, Dr. James Stobaugh overviews appropriate writing goals and objectives from pre-K to college. Learn to balance teaching writing skills with nurturing the heart to develop a capable student, ready and able to articulate with eloquence.

As we travel through this life, we see signs or guideposts that give us direction, warning or encouragement. Children need those guideposts. They need positive, godly guideposts. Parents are God's agents for setting up those guideposts. In this workshop, Dr. Fred Worth will discuss the different kinds of guideposts that are needed and how to intentionally set them up for the protection, guidance and encouragement of our children.

Do you find teaching mathematics to your children one of your greatest challenges as a homeschooling parent? Do you want your child to not merely “do” math, but to really understand mathematics? If so, this webinar with Dr. Fred Worth, professor of mathematics at Henderson State University in Arkansas might contain just the answers you’re looking for! Dr. Worth’s down-to-earth, practical approach and insightful tips will help all homeschooling parents—regardless of their own mathematical background— to teach math more effectively.

Dr. Robert Epstein’s research shows that many serious problems in American teens are due in large part to isolation from responsible adults. Public schools not only isolate teens from their families and the benefits of work, but they also trap teens with peers during most of their waking hours.

In this webinar, Dr. Epstein will discuss these issues, with special focus on the myth that schooling is important for "socialization."

"Peers are the last people on earth from whom teens should be learning," says Dr. Epstein. "Socialization needs to occur with people of all ages, and especially with responsible adults, and the kind of socialization that occurs in our schools, especially our middle and high schools, is often bizarre, driven mainly by the media and fashion industries."

Doing well on the SAT can open doors of opportunity that will enable our children to become world changers for Christ. In light of the changes introduced in the 2005 SAT I, this workshop is especially relevant. James Stobaugh, an official Collegeboard grader, will share specific insights concerning the essay portion of the SAT I.

Are you a home educator in Massachusetts? Then you’ll want to join HSLDA attorney Mike Donnellyin his helpful webinar, “How to Homeschool in Massachusetts”!

Donnelly will address questions such as: How do we get “approval” for our homeschool? What paperwork must I provide to the superintendent? How do I deal with social workers? What if officials ask for more information than they are entitled to? Don’t miss this members-only e-vent! Pull up a chair to your computer—and bring your specific Massachusetts homeschool questions for Donnelly’s Q&A session.