Homeschooling is not meant to be a lone ranger activity. We were made to live in community and that includes schooling our kids. Co-ops are an excellent avenue for meeting the needs of your educational plans, as well as your social needs, even you, mama! They provide community, learning opportunities outside of your scope of expertise, and a teaching outlet to share your gifts. Linda’s family has participated in a dozen different co-op situations throughout their 20+ years of homeschooling. She started and led a large co-op with over 50 families for several years. Do you want to know the dos and don’ts of co-ops? Are you interested in starting a co-op, but don’t know where to begin? Do your kids need to learn subjects that you are clueless about? Then stop by this seminar and glean from Linda’s years of experience with co-ops.

When embarking upon this exciting journey of home education, figuring out which curriculum to choose for your child can seem daunting. In this very practical workshop, Linda will give an objective overview of the different learning styles and help you understand the most common teaching approaches including textbook, living books, unit studies, classical, Charlotte Mason, eclectic, unschooling, and more. Let Linda help you narrow down your choices and take the guesswork out of choosing curriculum. This workshop will boost your confidence in making educational decisions for success in your homeschool.

Teaching to your child’s bent, according to Proverbs 22:6, means uncovering, discovering, and fostering your children’s giftings. God has given every one of us a T.A.G. (talents, abilities, and gifts) to be used for His kingdom. Our job, as parents and teachers, is to provide opportunities for our children to find their passions and areas of strength. Often this is through activities beyond the three Rs. Homeschooling offers the perfect avenue to explore a wide variety of these experiences. Linda shares her family’s journey with four kids all aimed in different directions. She will share her advice, suggestions, and warnings about mixing extracurricular activities into your homeschool.

So, you’ve decided to homeschool your children. Now what? If you are at this jumping-in point and need direction navigating your homeschool journey, this workshop is for you! Homeschool mom-survivor since 2001, Linda Crosby is equipped to answer your questions: How do I teach several kids at different levels? Where do I find curriculum? What about report cards? Do I need an American flag in the kitchen? Do I need a teaching certificate? Can video games count as something? How much does this cost? Are pajamas a homeschool uniform? Where is the teacher’s lounge? Plus, many, many more.

Come and laugh with author, speaker, and homeschool mom Linda Crosby as she takes us on an entertaining journey through her many years of homeschooling. You will be refreshed, rejuvenated, and revived. With four children, four different learning styles, a late reader, an international adoption (read: English as a second language!), and a child with special needs, Linda gives hope to a variety of homeschooling parents. You will be encouraged to enjoy each day with your children, to never lose sight of why you do what you do, and most importantly to never forget that it is God who fills in the gaps.

You can read to your kids about Gutenberg’s moveable type printing press, and they might remember it. Or the kids can glue macaroni letters backwards onto their own presses and print Bible verses themselves… and they WILL remember it! Hands-on learning is not simply to keep hands busy; it is a valuable tool to teach children various skills, help them retain information, and relate to the subjects and people they are studying. Linda addresses this issue using humor, anecdotes, and wisdom from her 25+ years of teaching. She is a veteran at keeping her children learning through doing and can show you how to be a fun parent and teacher. This seminar is especially for the mom who feels non-creative, unorganized, and ill-equipped to teach her kids! Don’t fret! You will leave with easy ideas to implement at home.

Beginning with a history of education in the United States, Linda takes her audience through the effects and outcomes of following, or turning away from, God’s plan for schooling. The Scriptures are rich with wisdom and support for the duty of educating your children at home. Come and discover your real purpose for doing what you’re doing. Learn where your strength must come from and be reassured that you can stand on God’s promises for your children. God will never give you more than you can handle with His help!

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” ~ Benjamin Franklin. As a homeschool parent, it is imperative that you have a plan in place for the success of your homeschool. Veteran homeschool mom, Linda Crosby, will show you how to lay out your year, month, week, and day with schedules that will allow for flexibility in your homeschool. This practical session will get you started on the right foot with a workable schedule to keep you aimed in the direction of the areas that are most important to you. Linda will present a variety of schedules to give you planning ideas, as well as helpful hints for dealing with interruptions, housework, and chores, keeping the toddler occupied, fitting it all in, eliminating time stealers, setting goals for your child, plus more. Come join Linda and plan to succeed!

Picasso claimed, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Does your homeschool dust need to be washed away with some invigorating art ideas? Come and glean from Linda Crosby’s 30+ years of art education. Knowing that art captures the visual learner, entertains the kinesthetic learner, and awakens language learning skills, Linda determined to use art in every area of their homeschool to meet the varied needs of her children. Through her humor and life experiences, she will inspire you to branch out and experiment with art history, techniques, supplies, and ideas from pre-K through high school.

Come and learn how your kids can organize and preserve their work in a compact folder! This is a fun, hands-on, instructional workshop where you will learn folding tricks, create several mini books, and make a lapbook to bring home for your children to start using. You don’t have to be a craftsy mom to use lapbooks. Linda will go step-by-step through the entire lapbooking process. Lapbooks can enhance any subject from pre-k to 12th grade. The possibilities are endless. They are a fantastic, interactive, and educational tool for every style of learner. Join Linda and see for yourself why lapbooks are a treasure!

Linda’s heart is to build up moms and help them find humor and God’s purpose in the most important calling on earth – motherhood. Linda vividly shares her amusing struggles and triumphs as a busy homeschooling mom. Homeschooling can be a lonely time for moms, but it doesn’t need to be! From the baby stage through high school, learn to find the true source of joy and how to choose joy! Following examples from God’s Word, Linda prepares mothers to face their daily tasks with peace and joy in their hearts and homes.

Do you know how each of your kids learn best? Are you familiar with the main learning styles but don’t understand how they apply to your teaching? Could your own learning style be the cause of frustration in homeschooling? God blessed Linda Crosby with four children who have four different learning styles! (Wasn’t that thoughtful of Him?) Through her 20+ years of homeschooling, Linda realized she needed to adapt the environment, the lesson plans, and the structure of her home to optimize learning for each of her kids. Stop by and learn how to help your kids thrive…even the kid who can’t sit still and the kid who loves to talk all the time! Linda will cover how to determine your child’s learning style, tips, and tricks of teaching each style, and give multiple resources to help you optimize your homeschool time!

It is possible for the subject of history to be entertaining, exciting, and educational, not only for your kids, but for you! If you just rolled your eyes, this history teaching rejuvenation session is the one your kids want you to attend. Linda has been keeping history alive in their homeschool for more than 20 years through hands­‐on learning. You can step away from the text and make history real. Our children need to know how God orchestrated each era of history and it is our job to teach them HIS story. Linda will share ideas galore for your note­‐taking pleasure for each of the stages of history. (Papier mâché will only be mentioned once—maybe twice.)

Do you have days when you simply need to get out of the house? Are the kids ready and willing to set aside their indoor work for a while? You’ll be inspired to discover the joy of venturing outdoors as Linda shares her ideas and expertise about field trips! Whether it’s once a week or once a month, use field trips to enhance the learning in your homeschool. Two-and-a-half of Linda’s first 12 years of homeschooling were designated field trip years with extensive study specifically focused on learning away from home. Come and hear lively tales of hiking through cave dwellings, chasing sheep into pens, sailing on a tall ship, escaping on the Underground Railroad and many more! Uncover the wonder of God’s world with your children and broaden their homeschool experience.

Yes, raising animals can be part of homeschooling! Responsibility, diligence, perseverance, and dedication are life skills learned through the care and keeping of animals. Of course, your kids want pets! Use their desire as a great opportunity for them to learn and practice research, comparison shopping, delayed gratification, building and maintaining cages, vacation responsibility, licensing and registration, ER trips, etc.! Come and hear about the feathers, fins and fur of the Crosby Zoo, the work ethic learned, prayers answered, and the life lessons lived out … as well as hilarious tales of at-home IV injections gone awry, a bunny funeral, and the MIA red slider turtle.

Whether you already have a child in high school you are homeschooling, or this is in your future, you won’t want to miss this discussion with veteran homeschool mom, Linda Crosby. You will hear about her unique journey and her experience working cooperatively with several other families who have survived homeschooling through high school. Linda will share on a variety of topics, and you’ll find ideas you can use with your child, and even more importantly, you will see there are several avenues you can choose. Find the freedom to create a high school program that meets the individual needs of your child, even if it’s not what everyone else is doing! Topics covered will include curriculum options, scheduling, avoiding burnout, co-operative classes, pitfalls to avoid, balancing extracurricular activities, and much more.

Linda discovered and used unit studies as a public school teacher and later exclusively used them during her years as a homeschool mom with four children since 2001. She will explain what unit studies are, how to effectively use them, where to find them, how to make your own as well as the benefits they provide for teaching several children at the same time. Other helpful hints Linda will provide include connecting with each learning style, teaching with a toddler in the house, organizing your schedule around the unit, keeping God at the center of each unit, and expanding the lessons beyond the front door. If you want to simplify your homeschooling days, unit studies will help you succeed and thrive as a homeschool mom.

Your home is your castle, or does it feel more like a dungeon? Linda will help you gain control where you spend most of your days … in your house. Find the freedom to express yourself and create a peaceful resting place while maintaining a sense of order. Topics covered include personal and family devotions, sharing and teaching chores, meal planning, school organization, time management, plus more! Laugh with Linda while you learn to make your home a gathering place for your family and a blessing to be shared.