Homeschooling through High School

Room 1: 9:30 AM

The high school years can be one of the most rewarding seasons of the homeschool journey (if you can get past the eye rolls). Standing beside your teens as they navigate their final classes and prepare to take wing puts the bow on the gift of homeschooling. 

This will be a discussion-type session. Come ready with your questions about high school transcripts, options for advanced and specialized courses, dual credit, preparing for college or a trade, navigating the amazing teen years, and anything else. 

Facilitators:

Rachel Lebowitz, A Charlotte Mason Plenary 

Rachel is owner of A Charlotte Mason Plenary. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Houston where she studied Communications and Political Science.

Before attending college, she spent a year traveling as a member of Up With People, singing and dancing her way across the U.S. and Europe. Up With People is a performing arts organization with a mission to transcend cultural barriers and create global understanding through music.

After college, she spent many years working as a Radio and Television Journalist. 

She and her husband have always homeschooled their two children using the Charlotte Mason method because they feel strongly that it is an excellent method of education and were drawn to its beauty and simplicity.

Beth Sprinkle

Beth and Andy Sprinkle have been married for 35 years and have graduated all of their seven children from homeschool high school.  The two oldest of these children have graduated from 4 year colleges, and the other five children have taken some college courses so far.

Beth has a BS in Civil Engineering Technology from the University of Houston.  She has taught Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, and Geometry over the past ten years at South Texas Christian Homeschool Co-op.

Debbie Gatchel

Debbie and her husband, Dan will be celebrating 30 years of marriage this summer. They have five children: three graduated (one of those has graduated from college), one in high school, and one trekking along at her own amazing pace. 

First, and foremost, a follower of Jesus Christ, she has served on the H.O.S.T. board for 10 years, coordinates the South Texas Homeschool Conference, is a unit leader in the local American Heritage Girls troop, and active in serving in her local church body. She makes it a point to write almost every day. Her family Bible study is set to publish this fall. 

Homeschool 101

Room 3: 9:30 AM

This workshop will prepare homeschoolers to take the first steps towards homeschooling. We will explore the legal requirements, selecting curriculum, setting schedules, and building a support structure. 

Facilitator: Misty Beardsley

Misty is a veteran homeschool mom of 14 years. She is the mom of three amazing boys, two of whom have graduated.

An avid member of team Star Wars, Misty loves working in the yard, enjoying a nice glass of iced tea with friends, and playing games with her family. 

Charlotte Mason Methods

Room 1: 11:00 AM

Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) was a British educator who ushered in revolutionary ideas about the way education is taught.

She believed that ALL children deserved an equal education and she built an educational philosophy that values each child as an individual person. She established an educational method that spread throughout England and the far corners of the globe.

This workshop will explore the principles of the Charlotte Mason method and how to implement them in your homeschool. 

Facilitator: Rachel Lebowitz, A Charlotte Mason Plenary

Rachel is owner of A Charlotte Mason Plenary. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Houston where she studied Communications and Political Science.

Before attending college, she spent a year traveling as a member of Up With People, singing and dancing her way across the U.S. and Europe. Up With People is a performing arts organization with a mission to transcend cultural barriers and create global understanding through music.

After college, she spent many years working as a Radio and Television Journalist. 

She and her husband have always homeschooled their two children using the Charlotte Mason method because they feel strongly that it is an excellent method of education and were drawn to its beauty and simplicity.

How to Create Your Own Curriculum with Books

Want to take your own approach to a subject that’s custom and flexible? In this workshop you’ll discover just how easy it is! Learn the simple steps to make your own curriculum with books, gain confidence in teaching your children, and learn how to instill a love of books! 

Janine LaTulippe is a homeschool mom of 8, she is passionate about helping homeschool parents gain more education and financial freedom! She has helped 100s of women do just that and has a goal to help 1000 more in the next few years. 

Facilitator: Janine Latulippe, Raising Raving Readers

The 10-99 Program

Room 3: 11:00 AM

This workshop brings trafficking awareness: how it happens, how to identify and report with the ultimate goal of prevention. 

We call this presentation the "10-99" program as it's for nearly all ages with the caveat that under 12 should be at the parents discretion, depending on the maturity of the child. We speak of things like sexting, pornography, and of course sex trafficking. We do not show any images of those, of course, but it is discussed. All parents are encouraged to sit in, even though some topics may be a bit out of their comfort zone. If they don't know how it happens, they cannot intervene or prevent it. It happens here to our Texas kids...it happens everywhere not just at the border or other countries.

Facilitator: Tina Canary, New Life Refuge Ministries

When God presents you with your calling... you jump in with both feet! Tina joined the New Life Refuge team in 2018, working to #EndChildTrafficking through Refuge, Education, and Partnerships.

Tina brings expertise from years of sales and marketing, to deliver life-saving education throughout the community, and to develop partnerships to end the demand. Working with the child survivors and being witness to their healing is an amazing part of what is done through the Refuge campus. Tina aims to keep kids safe from predators and traffickers by sharing the needed resources to identify, report, and prevent child trafficking. 

The Benefits of Speech and Debate in Your High School Curriculum

Room 1: 12:45 PM

Beyond the obvious of public speaking skills, Speech and Debate affords students many opportunities to supplement and enhance their high school curriculum from research skills and expanding ones world view to developing leadership skills and building empathy.

In this workshop, we will look at various ways to maximize your child's potential through Speech and Debate. 

Facilitator: Tasha Aschmutat

Tasha Aschmutat has just completed her 27th year of homeschooling. Five of her nine children have completed their homeschool journey, but she still has several years left to go.

In the past 27 years, Tasha has served the homeschool community in a variety of ways. She volunteered as a H.O.S.T. board member for over a decade. She has managed and coached a local speech and debate club as well as directed several local and non-local speech and debate tournaments. She is on the speech committee for Stoa, a national homeschool speech and debate league. She has also taught both English and math at the homeschool co-op.

Tasha works part time as a writing tutor at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi where she, also, sometimes teaches Freshman Composition.

We have a Class for That: Homeschooling with Youth Organizations

Room 2: 12:45 PM

Learning doesn't just happen while sitting at a desk from 8:00 am and 2:30 pm. In fact, life presents many hands-on opportunities to explore new concepts and apply old ones. 

In this workshop we will discuss ways to utilize youth organizations such as scouts and 4H as a supplement or basis of your homeschool curriculum. 

Facilitators: Peggy Flores and Emiliana Wigley

Peggy Flores is multi-talented. Mom of eight, she has been homeschooling for seven years. She currently homeschools two, with another in college on both academic and athletic scholarships. The others have successfully launched into careers.

Peggie holds an Industrial Technology Engineering degree from Southern Illinois University and has been a registered pharmacy technician for 20 years and ran a state licensed daycare for several years before her family moved to Texas. She and her husband decided to homeschool to customize their children’s education to their specific needs and to better infuse Christian values into their instruction.

She currently is active in American Heritage Girls and Cub Scout troops, utilizing their badgework to guide their homeschooling. 

Emiliana Wigley  is a wife, mom, homesteader, and home-school educator. She has been a home-school educator for 9 years with one child attending seminary, one entering high school, and one preschooler. Prior to home-schooling, Emiliana worked as an Occupational Therapy Assistant in the hospital, school, and home health setting. She brings her knowledge and experience of working in the special education department in the public-school setting and home school setting to offer guidance and support for other families venturing through the special education home-school experience. 

Avoiding Homeschool Burnout

Room 3: 12:45 PM

Are you feeling tired, overwhelmed, and stressed? Do you feel guilty because sending those kids to school sounds amazing? You may be experiencing homeschool burnout.Join me as we discuss ways to prevent and push through homeschool burnout. 

Belinda Dominguez has been a homeschool mom for 12 years. She has three daughters. The oldest graduated in 2018, and will be graduating from college in New York this month. Her middle child is in middle school and the youngest is in elementary. She is the creator of the Facebook page, "Corpus Christi Homeschoolers." Once upon a time, she was club manager for 4H. Currently, she is a unit leader for American Heritage Girls.