Homeschooling

My baby is 13 now! I can't believe it! Is there life after homeschooling? I want to keep homeschooling forever! I love it!

My homeschooling journey has taken many twists and turns, but God knew exactly what He was doing when He called our family to homeschool. It has been a lifestyle of learning and growing together. We are so close to one another. I really can't imagine life any other way.

Reading aloud, living books, unit studies, music, and mentoring with a splash of classical education has been our homeschool philosophy/methodology. We have studied Latin and Logic, but mostly we have immersed ourselves in good books and built strong relationships with the Lord and people.

Lives are changed in the context of relationships! So, our relationship with Jesus has been at the center of our homeschooling. I have sought to teach everything from a Christian worldview and apply the Bible to every area of life.

I have seen homeschooling as a birth to graduation kind of thing, trying to keep my eyes on the big picture, majoring on the majors, and minoring on the minors. Long ago, I wrote down my long-term goals and keep them posted near my desk. Each year, I have educational and spiritual goals for each child. I pray over these goals and work hard to see them fulfilled.

I do not believe in wasting time or sleeping the day away. Hard work honors Christ and idle hands are the devil's workshop. My children work hard and sometimes they complain. Complaining doesn't move me. We are set on a course, determined by the Lord and we will do our best to homeschool for the glory of God!

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How to Raise Children Who Love to Read

In our high-tech culture, is it possible to cultivate a love of reading in our children? Some kids just love to read. Other children need a little nudge. A genuine love of reading can't be pushed, it must be gently cultivated. Discover ways to introduce your children to books, provide reading material, and dive into the world of reading together in a way that is fun and pressure-free. 

When Personalities Collide

Would you like to motivate your children more effectively? Would you like to get rid of conflict in your home school? Would you like to understand why your children sometimes misunderstand you? More than learning styles, personalities tend to influence how students want to learn as they get older. Mom and Dad's personalities affect their teaching styles Sometimes personalities collide, resulting in conflict, learning problems, and getting off track. Meredith will share ways to homeschool with your children's and your own personalities in view. Be careful--she just might be talking about you!

How to Create Your Own Unit Study

Would you like to create your own Unit Study for your family home school? It's easier than you think! Meredith will show you how to create your own unit study step-by-step. You will learn to choose living books, crafts, hands-on fun, games, activities, writing assignments, and even movies to make learning an adventure. Unit studies make learning fun and they provide a great framework for all ages to learn together. Soon, you'll be learning with the unit studies you've created yourself.  

Quick & EZ Unit Studies

What could be more fun than learning together as a family? Meredith creates unit studies for her children from the young years to the high school years. She also loves Christmas unit studies! In this workshop, she demonstrates the simple method she uses to put together unit studies for her family on a variety of subjects using living books as the foundation. Learn to add poetry, games, music, art, crafts, drama, research, baking, cooking, maps, timelines, experiments, and more hands-on-fun to turn learning into an exciting adventure.

How to Teach Everything!

How can I teach my own children? You can be an effective teacher by teaching to your children's heads, hearts, and hands, so that they can remember and apply what they learn. Discover ways to make conversations educational and make the most of teachable moments. This workshop will also give you an easy tip to teach children things that you know little about yourself.

Literature for Life

Everybody loves a story. Your children will love stories. Timeless literature provides a painless education that cannot be duplicated with other methods. Introduce living books to your children in their homeschool classes or unit studies, while fostering a taste for excellence in literature. What makes a book a "classic"? We also take a look at the roots of Western Civilization: Judeo-Christian, Greek, & Roman. Learn to spot various worldviews in the books you read to make wise reading material choices.

Homeschooling with Other Families

(with Laura Nolette)
Our families have been friends for over fifteen years! Our children have practically grown up together. Beyond homeschooling together in co-ops, field trips, and nursing home adventures, we have enjoyed a deep friendship and encouraged each other in the Lord. Come hear about our funny adventures, successes, and mistakes, so that you can wisely homeschool with other families.

How To Mentor Your Child

We want to raise our children to love Jesus and walk with Him all the days of their lives. Let's learn from Jesus who spent 24/7 with disciples who had a lot to learn. Apply Jesus' style of mentoring to your own home and imitate Him in practical ways. This is not a program, but a lifestyle of modeling, loving, teaching, and training.

Mentoring Model of Homeschooling

More is caught, than taught. Look at homeschooling in a new light, as an opportunity to imitate Jesus, who traveled with his disciples 24/ 7 for three years, teaching and training them. What kind of teaching style and curriculum choices work with this model? Can this educational philosophy work in your home school?

Books from Birth to College

What is the best in reading materials (literature and great works) from birth to college? How can you instill a love of reading from the early years that keeps growing until they start college. Learn how reading is foundational, fascinating, and fun for the whole family. Receive tips for building a home library.

Raising World Changers

Your children can grow up and change the world! You see, twelve men, mentored by Jesus, turned the world upside-down! Your homeschooled children and teens can change the world for the glory of God before and after graduation. Homeschool with purpose so that you focus on what is truly important as you equip your children for life, beginning in the early years.

Seven R's of Homeschooling

Are you worried that your children are learning what they need? How can you give your children the tools of learning so they can experience joy and success in all their educational pursuits? Meredith will show you how to "major on the majors" and "minor on the minors" in your homeschooling. Focus on the Seven R's: Relationships, Reading, (w)Riting, (a)Rithmetic, Research, Rhetoric, and Right Living. This will lay a foundation in your children's lives for all kinds of learning and growing so that they can walk in the path the Lord has chosen for them in the future.

Create a Nurturing Environment at Home

Do you want to bring forth life? Add beauty? Stir up curiosity? Meredith will share ways to create an atmosphere in your home where children can learn, experiment, create, and grow. You can provide physical, spiritual, emotional, and intellectual nurture that will produce confident, courageous children. It's much easier than you think!

Raising Our Daughters to Be Beautiful

(with Sarah Holland)
Every woman longs to be beautiful. Our daughters are getting the wrong message from the world on what beauty is, but God's Word, as always, has the answer. Define loveliness for yourself and your daughters according to the Bible. Be beautiful inside and outside with these principles, tips, and beauty secrets. From hair care to modesty and from character to make-up tips, this workshop is fun for all ages.

Include Creation in Your Homeschooling

The Truth is our starting point. Truth includes the basics of the Christian faith, especially that God created the heavens and the earth. While Truth is undermined wherever we turn, we can educate our children with Genesis and the rest of Scripture as a foundation in in every area of your home school, especially science and history. History has a beginning and will have an end. God created the world in six days. He placed laws into existence that we can discover. 

Joy & Success in Your Homeschooling Journey

Look at homschooling from birth to graduation in this workshop, keeping the big picture in mind while you walk out the details of teaching! Experience God's Presence and Help in your in your planning and teaching. Learn to make long-term goals for your family and your children's education while you enjoy the day-by-day adventure.

The Homeschooling Journey

See your homeschooling in a new light: as a journey from your family's starting place to graduation. Pack your bags for the adventure of a lifetime! Leave your final destination in the Lord's hands, walking in faith as a family, enjoying a lifestyle of learning. Learn ways to grow as an educator, parent, mentor, and child of God.

The Secret of Joy in Homeschooling

Why do we struggle as homeschooling moms with frustration, anger, and discontentment? Can we homeschool through trials and difficulties? How do we find joy in our homeschooling journey when the path gets bumpy or boring? Meredith shares life-changing principles that will help you see life's challenges from a different perspective and impart hope for the future!

Lessons from the Sound of Music

Mom and I watched The Sound of Music together for the first time when I was 6 years old. We sat enthralled by the scenery and the story. Homeschooling lessons abound in this movie. Learn to fill your house with the sound of music, make play clothes out of curtains, climb every mountain, and more.

Making Lesson Plans

Plan your school year before it starts by making lesson plans for the coming year. Meredith shares a simple method to lay out lessons plans for the whole year, schedule in catch-up time, and leave room for unexpected learning adventures.

Teach History the Fun Way

Hands-on-Fun makes history exciting! Is history an adventure in your house or just rote memorization of dates and events? Let your family discover people, places, events, clothing, music, art, culture, and food from other times and places. As your family sees God's providential hand in HIS Story, there will be an excitement and curiosity about history. ​Learn to use maps, timelines, crafts, historical fiction, movies, drama, and recipes in a fun, engaging way that delights your children and instills a love of history in their hearts.

Creating a Nurturing Environment

Women were created to bring forth and sustain life. Walk in your God-given anointing and create a nurturing environment in your home. Fill your house with excellent books, art works, music, instruments, art media, tools, and all kinds of things that can stir up curiousity. Meredith shares ways to create an atmosphere of love, acceptance, and curiosity to foster a lifestyle of learning.

Choosing Curriculum

So many choices! Where should you begin? Learn how to investigate curriculum to see if it will work for your family and what to do with curriculum that is less than ideal once you have purchased it. Meredith shares simple principles that work every time you need to make curriculum choices.

Enjoy & Create Music in Your Home School

Music adds joy to life and homeschooling. How can you teach music in your home school? Meredith will share practical ways to teach your children to appreciate, understand, listen to, and create music. You do not have to have musical experience to teach music. From learning to sing and play instruments to recognizing elements of musical works, you will even discover ways to cultivate musically gifted children when you are not musically inclined.  

Use Living Books to Teach Character

Living books have impacted us, helping us to grow in wisdom and holy living. We pass those books on to our children. Novels, classics, inspirational books, and the Holy Bible are perfect tools to instill godly character in the lives of our children. Learn practical ways to use living books to transform lives and prepare children for the future when they have homes of their own.

Teach Writing

Cultivate gifted writers or give remedial help to a struggling writer. This workshop will include practical ideas and tips for teaching all levels of written communication from crafting sentences to writing essays and research papers.

Solar-Powered Homeschooling

Meredith is solar-powered. If the day is sunny, she is full of energy. A cloudy day brings lethargy. In a different way, her homeschooling is Solar-powered too. Jesus provides grace, energy, and principles that sustain the Curtis family homeschooling adventure. Learn to receive strength and vision from Jesus so that you can enjoy Solar-powered homeschooling too.

Exceptional Children with Godly Character

Building godly character in gifted children can sometimes be a challenge. Meredith will share ways to inspire your exceptional children to live wholeheartedly for Jesus Christ. She will also help you walk children through some common trouble areas such as pride, insecurity, boredom, and laziness. Join Meredith for encouragement and practical advice. 

Gear Up for a Great Year!

It's time for a brand new school year! How can you make this the best one every? Meredith will share ways to evaluate the past year, make sensible priorities for the coming year, choose your destination, map your route, choose curriculum, make lesson plans, schedule, and get your home ready. Get ready for a great year on the next leg of your homeschool adventure. 

Picture Book Read Alouds for All Ages

Starting with babies and all the way to high school, Meredith shows you what books are best for reading aloud in your home school. You will enjoy learning about classic storybooks and fresh new works. But, are there really picture books for high school?  Everyone loves a well-written, beautifully illustrated picture book. 

Learn from our Past Mistakes & Fail Forward

They are part of life, unwelcome maybe, but we all make mistakes. Instead of covering them up and pretending they never happened, let them be learning experiences. Others can learn from your mistakes too, especially your children. Meredith will show you how to make the best out of all those things you wish had never happened! In our homeschooling journey, we are always moving forward. Before we forget what’s behind, let’s learn and move forward in our lives wiser and full of hope for the future. 

Teaching Children & Teens about Sex

Most parents don't like to talk about sex with their kids. The result? Most of what children learn about sex is from popular culture and peers. Do you feel underqualified or overwhelmed when you talk to your children or teens about this topic? Here is practical advice that goes beyond "the talk" to a lifestyle of open communication about physiology, sexual desires, and purity. Learn how to set the tone for honest conversation that balances clinical candor with reverent modesty. Meredith will also talk about how to protect children from sexual predators and what to do if something heartbreaking happens to your children. 

Write a Murder Mystery Together

Meredith taught a class that left her students wanting more, Who Dun It: Murder Mystery Literature and Writing Class is the high school course this talk is based upon. Join Meredith as she shares how to get your teens (and children!) excited about solving mysteries and creative writing! You and your children can read classic murder mysteries and write your own murder mystery!