El Paso home EDUCATION Conference

FEBRUARY 23–24, 2024

Alive Fellowship Church 5505 Will Ruth

Join us for a refreshing conference that will inspire, energize, teach and encourage you for your family's unique journey of home educating and parenting. Our keynote speaker will encourage you as you begin or continue your home education journey or simply as you parent you children.

Members are able to register for the conference for FREE. Please check your email for the current members only site password.

ONLINE REGISTRATION CLOSED. ONSITE REGISTRATION AVAILABLE.

CONFERENCE SPONSORS

PlatinuM

GOLD SPONSORS

KeyNote Speaker:
AMBER O’NEIL JOHNSON

Amber O’Neal Johnston lives in Georgia, nestled among pine trees, hammocks, and zip lines with her husband and their four children. Her happy place is the back porch on a rainy day, preferably with a giant mug of hot tea and a good book. And although she was raised in the air-conditioning, somehow the woods is where she feels most at home these days. Amber is a regular contributor to the Wild + Free homeschooling community, and she writes and speaks about the beauty of an inclusive, culturally and socially conscious home environment. You can find her sharing diverse literary mirrors and windows on Instagram @heritagemomblog.

KEYNOTE TALKS

Relational Living, Learning, and Loving

Interacting with living books, things, and people. Learning amid the mundane. Loving our family, friends, and community well. These are the relational aspects of home that fuel growth and contentment. Home education blurs the lines between home and “school,” and it offers a unique opportunity for connection with and among our children. When we approach our days as opportunities for relationships to flourish (and be tested), we’re able to experience the fullness of educating our children at home. This session will guide parents in curating a home atmosphere rooted in relational living, learning, and loving.

Claiming Freedom: Embracing Contradictions Amid Motherhood

Through a series of relatable anecdotes, Amber leads mamas down a freedom path where they can embrace life’s contradictions and claim the ability to explore, dabble, grow, and connect without bounds. Specifically, she dives into four freedoms that mothers can gift themselves and their peers while living and loving well within community.

WORKSHOPS

A PAth to Belonging and Kinship: Celebrating Diversity and Kinship in the Home and Beyond

Gone are the days when socially conscious parents feel comfortable teaching their children to merely tolerate others. Instead, they are looking for a way to authentically embrace the fullness of their diverse communities. In this session, families of all backgrounds will receive guidance on celebrating cultural heritage and embracing inclusivity in the home and beyond. We’ll discuss how to foster an environment where children feel secure in their own personhood and culture, enabling them to better understand and appreciate people who are racially and culturally different. Parents will walk away with tools to empower children to embrace their unique identities while feeling beautifully tethered to their global community. 

Belonging Together: Managing the Seasons of Community and Fellowship

Cultivating intentional opportunities for children to explore ideas and grow within a community of like-minded learners is a priceless experience. When families are regularly situated alongside others who share their desires for a living education rooted in Charlotte Mason’s principles, they reap the immediate benefits of relational learning. But once homeschool co-ops and groups are seeded, they must be watered and cared for through fruitful and difficult seasons. In this session, we’ll discuss how to manage community and fellowship amid various stages of development while maintaining a healthy atmosphere of belonging for yourself, your children, and the families within your community. 

Conference Details

Two full days of workshops, childcare, and a fantastic vendor hall.

Friday, February 23, 2024
8:00–9:00 Vendor Set Up
9:00–9:45 Registration and Exhibit Hall
9:45–11:00 Opening Session + Keynote
11:15–12:15 Workshops
12:15–1:30 Lunch and Vendor Hall
1:30–2:30 Workshops
2:45–3:45 Workshops
4:00–5:00 Workshops
5:30 Exhibit Hall Closes

Saturday, February 24, 2024
8:00–9:00 Registration and Exhibit Hall
9:00–10:00 Workshops
10:15–11:15 Workshops
11:30–1:00 Closing Keynote
1:30 Exhibit Hall Closes

WORKSHOPS

Deep Engagement using Arts Integration and Project-Based Learning

Laurie Marshall This hands-on workshop will give the participants a process to support the “spark” of their child, - that which brings them joy and makes them feel useful. generating real products that come out of a real interest for a real audience that has a real impact. Ideas will also be shared about how learners can use visual arts, music, storytelling, video and dance to express what they have learned.  She will share the neurobiology of why the arts are such an important tool for self-regulation and mental health. Home educators will walk away prepared to undertake a meaningful project.

Why Doesn’t Everyone Love Math?

Dove Cranson As a high school math teacher, I see holes in my students’ education every day.  By the high school level these are difficult to fill.  This talk is about filling the holes and building a foundation in math.  Math should be a tool to explore the world, not just a chore to be carried out under threat of life.

Using Unit STUDIES EFFECTIVELY

Julia Novoa, M.Ed.  Join this interactive homeschooling workshop to discover unit studies and their potential of  in your curriculum. Explore how to effectively integrate unit studies into your homeschooling routine, and learn to integrate the whole family into one lesson. This session will equip homeschooling parents with the tools to harness the flexibility and creativity of unit studies, whether purchased or created.  @mytexashomeschool mytexashomeschool.com

WOrldview formation IN YOUR HOMESCHOOL FAMILY

Caleb Harrelson What are the predominant worldviews that are shaping our culture the most right now? How can you thoughtfully engage and test various worldviews and form students views around what is good, beautiful and true?  This class will equip you in intentional Worldview Formation with your homeschooler student and the entire family. 

5 Core Habits to Help Your Child Learn Anything

Classical Conversations Sponsored Workshop Janel Barr
Discover how you can help your child acquire the essential habits to learn anything. This talk will model these "core habits," allowing you to experience them yourself!

Homeschool Dads

Dove Cranson For most of us homeschool dad’s, our role is more from the watchtower than the front lines.  This talk is about my experience as a homeschool dad and my hope to help you, dad, be a person who provides vision, support, encouragement, and stability for the family God has entrusted you with.

Homeschool Quickstart

Amarna Kirk and Laurie Bennett Learn how to start your home education journey. What the laws are, how to find curriculum and order your days.

Tailoring your Child's Education

Felicia Johnson During this practical and encouraging workshop, you will learn how to approach your child's education to meet their specific needs and learning styles. I don't like to call this a special needs workshop, because we all have some learning challenges to overcome, but this is definitely the workshop for those needing to think outside the box. 

Getting the Most out of Middle School

Julia Novoa, M.Ed. In this talk, Julia Novoa, M.Ed. talks about the training ground middle school can be, and discusses four main points for laying a foundation in middle school: Fill Gaps, Backwards Planning, Connection, and Curriculum. We will look at these four items with some fun and laughter, but also with an acknowledgement of the serious work we are doing to train up children who are academically ready for the next phase of their schooling. @mytexashomeschool mytexashomeschool.com

Dyslexia—HOw do You know and Where do you go?

Lindsay Kronmiller  Learn what Dyslexia is, how to spot it, what it’s superpowers are and how you can leverage your child’s strengths for a thriving education at home.

Military life and Homeschooling

Alyssa Rodas  Moving often can be hard. Alyssa will share tips for how to plug into community quickly when moving or if you’re just getting started. After we gather, you will feel confident finding new connections, community, and co-ops for you and your children! 

Early ChildHood Education

Amarna Kirk

Electrify History!

Deb Roennebeck Come find out how to take your history lessons from blah to BOING! Most curriculum focuses on names and dates... Let's leave behind the memorize test and forget model (and curriculum) and use a more engaging type of learning that our kids will never forget and will give them the passion to continue learning long after they have graduated!  

Nurturing character through reading

Lamplight Ministries Sponsored Workshop Kyle Townes
How can we build solid character in our children? We’ll discuss what virtue is, how our kids can cultivate it in themselves in this day and age, and where we can find the resources we need to instill virtues in our children's hearts and minds.

Teaching your child to read

Kyle Townes Teaching your child to read is totally overwhelming for many parents. And that's understandable! Where do you start? What method should you use? How do you even do it? When is a child too young to start? In this talk we will take you by the hand and walk you through every element of teaching your child to read. We'll even cover what reading does for the developing brain. No more fear! And spoiler alert: virtually no age is too young to start!

HOmeschool High School

Holly and Dove Cranson Homeschooling High School can be scary, but Holly and Dove will walk you through all the options and how to navigate those options, From at home curriculum to dual credit and part time enrollement. You will walk away from this talk feeling confident to get your child(ren) graduated and on to their next step.

Navigating High School

Felicia Johnson This workshop is designed to give parents the tools and confidence to effectively homeschool their high school students. The workshop covers key aspects of designing and implementing a successful high school homeschooling program, transcripts, and testing. 

Working + Homeschool PaneL

Hear from a panel of working homeschool moms.

HOmeschool Grad PaneL

Curious what homeschool grads have to say. This panel will ask homeschool grads all the question you want to know.

Getting Involved in the Homeschool Community Panel

Homeschool families often have to create the opportunities their kids are looking for. This panel will have people who have started different programs and shine light on how you can hop in and get involved to enhance your child’s education.

Nature-Inspired Learning—Joy and Growth

Laurie Marshall Structuring learning like an interdependent eco-system brings joy and life, because that’s how life works.  Clear goals, autonomous determination of how the goals are achieved, interdependence, diversity and mutualism produce a faith in learning and life that will carry young people through difficult challenges. Jane Goodall states that realistic goal setting is needed to fight depression. Laurie will offer a step-by-step guide on how to apply this life giving structure to homeschooling. She will share the neurobiology of diversity that can result in conflict or  mutualism. In addition, bully prevention tools will be provided.  Home educators will walk away with a lesson plan in a subject of interest to their children.

Kids are capable (And so are you!)

Kyle Townes Your fears vs. the facts in your choice to homeschool, what is important in laying a firm Biblical and educational foundation in early childhood, and what your kids (and you) are really capable of. All this and more will be covered in this talk so that you leave feeling empowered to homeschool your young child!