Sessions by Vicki Bentley
Starting in the Middle
Maybe you haven’t always homeschooled—you’re starting a few years in, or even mid-year. Can you start mid-year? What does it look like? Where do you begin? What should you expect? How can you ease the transition for all of you? This workshop answers these questions and more. There’s a Q&A time included, so bring your questions!
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1 hour
“Jump-Start” to Joyful Motherhood (Psalm 113:9)
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “joyful mother”? If you aren’t sure this describes your perspective on motherhood right now, come learn six steps to guide you to the joyful path! We also discuss practical strategies to help us stay “tuned up.”
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1 hour
A Mom’s Sentimental Journey
Twenty-plus years and 17 kids later, here’s what a veteran homeschool mom would repeat—and what she would do differently on this homeschooling journey!
*NOTE: Suitable for keynote; may be re-titled “A Parent’s Sentimental Journey.”
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1 hour
Getting Kids to Help at Home: Training in Diligence and Thoroughness
Letting your children be more involved in helping at has some great benefits—both for training them in character and practical skills AND for your sanity! But where do you begin? This foster mom to over 50 children shares tips and practical helps that have enabled her to homeschool 17 children and still be able to open the front door to guests.
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1 hour
Homeschooling on a Shoestring Budget
Homeschooling doesn’t have to cost hundreds of dollars per child. Vicki homeschooled seven at a time while their family was without a full-time income for four years, sometimes spending less than $100 per year. In this workshop, she shares some of her secrets to homeschooling on a tight budget.
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1 hour
Exploring Curriculum Options
Drawing on her experience as a mom of 17 homeschooled students and a curriculum counselor for a statewide homeschool organization, Vicki shares the secrets to mapping out a successful course of study for your children. This workshop helps beginners to get a solid start in home education and encourages veteran homeschoolers to re-examine their goals and priorities. It also includes a basic overview of different teaching approaches.
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1 hour
Organized (Well, Almost!): Time Management for Busy Moms
As a busy mom, do you sometimes struggle with lesson planning, keeping the house somewhat presentable, teaching your kids, keeping up with the laundry, AND getting dinner on the table the same day you homeschool? Come hear practical tips and encouragement from a fellow homeschool mom of 17. Your husband and children will thank you, and you will have hope for another day of science and language arts!
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1 hour
Organizing Your Home: Creating a Lifestyle Learning Environment
In this session, Vicki helps you decide what is important to your family, where you need to begin, how to overcome organizational challenges unique to homeschoolers. Vicki also shares practical ideas that have helped her manage her household of 10.
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1 hour
Multi-level Teaching
When you had one child, it seemed easy. But adding more children sometimes makes homeschooling feel like a zany plate-spinning act. In this workshop, Vicki shares ideas for keeping the homeschooling “plates” from crashing to the floor! Come hear practical tips for teaching multiple ages from a mom of 17 homeschooled students (up seven school-aged kids at one time!).
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1 hour
Lessons Learned
In this workshop, Vicki helps you walk through “What I Will Do Again Next Year,” and “What I Will Definitely Change”! This works best with Vicki facilitating discussion among participants divided into small groups. This is an interactive session, good for the end of the year; it works better for a local group than for a convention workshop.
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1 hour
4 Needs of Homeschool Families
In this interactive session, Vicki discusses four basic needs of homeschooling families and shares practical ways for groups to meet those needs. The workshop includes tips for dads on getting involved.
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20–60 minutes
Mentoring Groups in Action
What is a mentoring group? In this workshop, hear how some groups have mobilized their veteran homeschoolers to help pass the baton to the new families. Learn how to meet the needs of your newer homeschooling families without losing the veterans. Vicki discusses various types of mentoring programs available, practical ideas for success, and the benefits to your support group. Sample materials will be available.
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50 minutes
Getting Started
Are you overwhelmed by all the homeschooling options? Not sure where to begin? In this workshop, Vicki walks you through a planning checklist to help you prepare for this homeschool journey (good planning is the key to any successful road trip)! Topics include research, goal-setting, getting supplies, scheduling, six tips for success, and more! Appropriate for parents with children of any grade level.
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1 hour
When Life Broadsides Your Homeschool
You had a wonderful plan at the beginning of the school year for a well-rounded education, envisioning academic excellence from and character development in your smiling, well-adjusted offspring. But then . . .
life happened. How does your leadership work affect your homeschooling? How do you find “normal” again? In this workshop, Vicki helps you focus on the essentials when you’re on the frontlines, especially in a crisis situation. (There is some focus on specific life crises.)
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45–60 minutes
Holidays as Homeschool Curriculum
Do you ever feel stuck in the day-to-day sameness of your school routine? If you circle the holidays on your calendar, you can have not just instant mini-units, but family fun and fond memories. In this workshop, Vicki shares ideas to help your kids learn as you celebrate!
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45–60 minutes
Mentoring 2.0
This is a high-speed, interactive opportunity for this fast-paced generation of homeschoolers! Join us for a fun, hands-on demonstration of an activity to take back to your groups. (Room set-up help needed.)
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45–60 minutes
L.E.A.D. with JOY
Join Vicki to hear four steps to joyful support group leadership.
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45–60 minutes
The Word for Wee Ones (Surrounding Your Little Ones with God’s Word)
This workshop offers practical, hands-on ideas for surrounding your preschoolers with God’s Word as you sit in your house or walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up (Deuteronomy 6:5-9).
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1 hour
Hope for the Organizationally Challenged
“Help! I’m committed to homeschooling, but I’m feeling overwhelmed just by everyday life!” Have you ever felt like this?For many of us, standard organizing suggestions don’t “stick,” and we wonder what’s wrong with us. In this workshop, Vicki shares some tools that have helped her (and other busy moms) homeschool and get dinner on the table . . . on the same day. (Even if you were “born organized,” you’ll glean a lot from this workshop!)
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1 hour
Juggling Life and Lesson Plans
As a busy mom, do you sometimes struggle with lesson planning, keeping the house somewhat presentable, teaching your kids, keeping up with the laundry, AND getting dinner on the table the same day you homeschool? Learn to apply these 7 truths of juggling skills to take your homeschool journey from sanity-defying circus act to a joyful and peaceful experience.
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1 hour
Biography
Vicki Bentley is the mother of eight daughters, foster mom to over 50, and grandma to 21 wonderful grandbabies and three great-grandbabies (so far). Vicki has homeschooled 17 children since 1988 alongside her husband Jim and has been a support group leader since 1991. She has served on the executive board and convention committee of the Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV) and has addressed state and national conventions, university teacher organizations, and many mothers’ groups. She is the author of My Homeschool Planner, Everyday Cooking, The Everyday Family Chore System, Home Education 101: A Mentoring Program for New Homeschoolers, High School 101: Blueprint for Success, and other homeschool and homemaking helps. She currently serves as a Toddlers to Tweens consultant and the Group Services director for HSLDA. Vicki has a heart for parents and seeks to equip them with practical wisdom and encouraging words.
