Homeschooling in America is freer from restrictions and more accessible than ever. With so many successes, you’d think that homeschooling would have convinced critics of its place as a proven educational option. However, this year we’ve witnessed yet another wave of persecution aimed at home education. Christian homeschoolers have shown that we are uniquely equipped to serve and lead our culture. As individuals and as a mature institution, we must do what only followers of Christ can do: draw our neighbors to the gospel that offers forgiveness, sustenance, guidance, and reconciliation. We need to champion homeschooling as an enduring institution that continues to shape children’s characters by encouraging and modeling virtue.

As parents, we desire to disciple our kids and help them grow the authentic faith they need to live #NotConsumed by the hard things in life. Join Kim as she shares her journey, as well as ideas and resources for reaching the hearts of our kids as we help them develop a real-life faith that impacts their todays and shapes their tomorrows.

This session covers everything you need to know about Iowa’s homeschool law so you can homeschool with confidence. It includes a thorough presentation of the basics with plenty of time for questions.

Every family has a culture, a way of living, and every family is defined by it. Are your family’s mission and culture breathing life into your days? Being intentional and purposeful is the best way to make sure your mission aligns with your worldview. You’ll leave this session armed with a list of practical ideas and an encouraged heart!

Ginger will share wisdom from her best-selling book, Don’t Make Me Count to Three! There is far more to parenting than getting children to “act” right. We have to get them to “think” right and to be motivated out of a love of virtue rather than a fear of punishment. Ginger quips parents to reach past the outward behavior of their children and address the issues of the heart. Move beyond the frustrations of not knowing how to handle issues of disobedience and into a confident approach to raising your children.

Gain a fresh perspective on how your children’s actions and attitudes help you discover their natural bent, so you can plan strategies that will help them grow into the persons they were created to be. We’ll peel back the layers to reveal pieces of the puzzle that go beyond the usual “auditory, kinesthetic, and visual” discussions. This workshop will provide you with insight into your children on a new level to help you reach and teach them more effectively.

Speaking towards the scripture, “Train up a child in the way he should go…,” Peggy digs into the Bible to show parents how to live up to this standard without losing their focus, or their minds. From the experience of being a parent and a foster-parent of multiple special needs children, Peggy Ployhar has first-hand knowledge of the rigorous demands put on parents who are raising, training, and homeschooling children with special needs. Woven with personal stories, biblical truth, and lots of encouragement, this talk will truly speak to the hearts of parents who want to raise their special needs children as God has called them to do.

Kerry Beck Most homeschoolers continue to offer their children the same type of education they received; they just do it at home. There’s a better way! Kerry reveals how she homeschooled her three kids to give them a love of learning, as well as the tools of learning. Her goal was to train her kids to become leaders of tomorrow. Godly leaders who can think critically and biblically! Godly leaders who will change the world!

– Mark Davis So many teens struggle with "What's Next?" after high school. It's encouraging to know God's will isn't lost. It’s been clearly revealed in His Word. This workshop walks through the New Testament, applying Biblical principles for the next steps in life.

Are you ever embarrassed or shocked by what comes out of your child’s mouth? Based on her newest book, I Can’t Believe You Just Said That, Ginger provides a practical three-step plan to reach beyond the behaviors of tongue-related struggles (such as lying, defying, and manipulating) to address your child’s heart. After all, as Matthew 12:34 tells us, “The mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

Do your kids “forget” to do their chores? Is their schoolwork just a box that gets sloppily checked off? Do you feel like they’ll never take initiative? If you’re looking for the magic pill to help your kids get off the couch and work hard, this isn’t the session for you. But if you want practical ways to kick laziness to the curb, be sure to join us as we learn how to encourage and nurture our kids to be disciplined and responsible workers.

Homeschooling High School Part 1: – Diana Plorins This workshop will consider opportunities that support your high school student’s interests and abilities. We will also look at options for outsourcing coursework. You will be equipped with the tools you need to develop a four-year plan that is practical and purposeful.

Doubt is the number one enemy of all homeschoolers. So it stands to reason that overcoming doubt is the key to homeschool success. Peggy Ployhar, the CEO of SPED Homeschool, has 18 years’ experience battling doubt in her own homeschooling endeavors. But, instead of letting those doubts creep in and destroy her homeschool, she learned with each battle just how much God’s grace and truth provided strategies for conquering her doubts. This talk is filled with biblical fighting strategies to equip every homeschooling parent to do battle head-on with their own doubts so they can overcome them and homeschool victoriously.

– Jeremy Vos is the Homeschool Iowa Lobbyist - Many states across the nation have opened Educational Savings Account funding to homeschooling families. While Iowa currently limits ESAs to parents using private accredited schools, the possibility of expansion is real. What are the potential effects and possible concerns?

This talk provides an overview of the family economy as the basis for productive households and generational discipleship. We cover the practical steps of involving our spouses and children in work, worship, and wisdom, and how your family can begin creating a new future together today.

What should “school” look like for early learners? What things are developmentally appropriate for the younger ages? How do we keep our “littles” appropriately occupied while homeschooling their siblings? This fun and informative session will provide a plethora of ideas specifically geared to engage your pre- and elementary-age children. Nancy will share resources, fun games, toddler tips, and easy activities, all designed to help parents think outside the box when it comes to “doing school.”

How do you show that your student is prepared for college-level coursework? How do you create a transcript that reflects your student’s aptitude and ability? We will demystify the steps, so you can confidently homeschool through high school.

Discover how to use reading and writing to teach your kids how to think for themselves. Starting with young students, Kerry takes you through from littles to teens, showing how you can develop critical and biblical thinking skills. By the time she addresses the high school ages, you’ll know how to use great, living books and writing to prepare your kids to think for themselves and make wise decisions instead of following the crowd. Plus, you’ll love her ideas on how to incorporate your read-alouds in this process.

Do you find yourself threatening, repeating your instructions, or raising your voice in an attempt to get your children to obey? Do you feel guilty because you know you should be faithfully training and instructing your children in righteousness, but you aren’t sure how? Through personal experience and practical application of Scripture, Ginger encourages and equips parents in the why, when, and how of biblical discipline.

You’ve tried all the things that seem to work for other people yet still can’t find the right homeschool schedule for you. Trust me,-you’re not alone. Figuring out how to teach multiple ages, fold the laundry, and keep the toddlers from writing on the walls with markers can feel overwhelming. Join homeschool veteran of over 20 years and work-at-home mom, as she shares practical ways to wrangle your homeschool schedule for good.

With over 30,000 occupations currently in existence, students face a bewildering array of careers upon which to center their lives. But there is more at stake than just a paycheck. This talk will discuss what makes for meaningful work, self-reliance, and careers that reinforce, rather than undermine, family life and a vibrant home economy.

Maybe it seems like there just isn’t enough time in the day to take care of the house, teach the kids, and even attempt to juggle a full or part-time job. But it is possible if you know how to work self-care into your everyday living. In this talk, Peggy Ployhar, SPED Homeschool Founder and CEO and recent cancer survivor, will share her own story of near burnout and how that experience led her to many realizations about how and why it was so important to prioritize her own care to keep everything balanced in her home, and how she creatively plans to ensure self-care in her busy working and homeschooling schedule. You will come away with new resolve as well as creative ideas for strategically building self-care into your own busy parenting and homeschooling life.

You can’t do everything, but did you know that you shouldn’t even try? In this message, you’ll learn how independent learning decreases burn out, helps students excel, and equips them for life. This workshop will give you the tools to guide your child as they gradually transition to learning independently, whether you have preschoolers or high schoolers!

When I ask homeschoolers their biggest challenge in homeschooling, I often hear stress, anxiety, burnout, overwhelmed with it all, consistency, procrastination, too busy, too many activities. Can you relate to these? It’s tough to homeschool and, take your pick: keep up with the laundry, serve three meals a day, find time for your husband, make life fun for everyone, and stay focused on Jesus. Let’s take a step back and see how principles from Charlotte Mason can help you simplify your homeschool and reduce your overwhelm. These practical strategies from can be used in anyone’s homeschool.

In every generation, except the last two or three, parents have taught their children how to grow their own food, keep animals, and provide for their basic needs. With wit and wisdom, this talk presents some ways parents can teach their children homesteading skills and mend the chain that has been broken from the generations before ours.

Every parent wants grace to be the biggest part of how they interact with a child who has done wrong. But a parent looking back often sees regretfully that in the heat of the moment, they fell short of the way they wish they had acted toward the child. Anger, fear, and judging are the three main suspects that can overwhelm the deep desire to act graciously. This presentation will lay down a solid Biblical foundation for dealing with those so they can no longer hijack our heart’s desire to transmit grace to a child.

This workshop is a condensed version of ScreenStrong’s Kids’ Brains & Screens Course, that offers a basic overview of the science behind healthy brain development, the effects of screens on the developing brain, symptoms of screen overuse, and solutions to prevent and reverse the effects of addictive screen habits.

Are you a homeschooling dad like I am? Do you need an occasional booster shot like I do? Come, let us reason together, encourage one another, bear each other’s burdens, and leave refreshed to carry out our vital role

Is your laundry all over the kitchen table? Are Legos© strewn across the living room floor? Can you find the kids’ history book? Do you feel like you’re drowning in chaos and clutter? Be encouraged to know that you are not alone. Kerry may be an empty nester, but she vividly remembers those days of homeschooling in the trenches. She relives those days with her grandkids. Kerry shares 3 three tips you can start using immediately to control the chaos and clutter of homeschooling.

So many young adults are walking away from the faith. How can parents help the young people under their roof develop that personal relationship with God--to make it theirs and not just something they read about or hear about in the lives of others? In this workshop, tools will be presented to help them become aware and remember the individual works of God in their own lives.

Does your child (or do you) display primarily reflexive/impulsive problem solving or deliberate/meticulous problem solving? Do either of you struggle getting out of the box, or taking time that is needed to think something through? Developing understanding of these two default modes of thinking can create better decision making and problem solving in school and all of life. In this session, we’ll explore the principles of neuroscience that lead to brain activity, connectivity, and function We’ll ask questions to make the jump from principles of science to applications for learning. Learn how cognitive tasks work, how the brain problem solves, and how to improve focus (both more and less). Lessons will be shared from both clinical and learning environments, and homework will be given to parents to help apply these general ideas into your home. Dr. Joe has an engaging way of making the complex simple, and while his two sessions aren't connected, it will be helpful to attend both as you will learn two sides of a coin (how information is processed and how an individual relates to the surrounding world). Dr. Joe’s second workshop is in Session IX. This session is more focused on internal processes than external interpretation.

Just as a house in shambles needs to be flipped to renew its purpose and extend its use, the typical methods for teaching special needs students in the homeschooling environment need to be flipped if parents want to see better educational results than the typical model provides. Peggy Ployhar, the Founder & CEO of SPED Homeschool, will dive into the history of the special education system and where many of the current practices of teaching students with special needs stem from and how they have affected our preconceived notions on how to best teach a student with special needs. Then, with a twist of hope, she will share how parents can take advantage of their homeschooling freedoms to flip these practices and homeschool their special needs students with renewed purpose to pursue their student’s God-given gifts and talents

– Jenny Conner Many of us learned how to do math but may still lack the understanding of the why behind the procedures. How do we teach our children to reason mathematically? How do we move beyond rote memorized processes and encourage true mathematical thinking in our students? Join us for this very practical workshop where Jenny will demonstrate how to guide students toward discovery of the rationale underlying key mathematical concepts. We will learn the art of questioning as well as how to use a handful of simple yet powerful illustrations applicable across curriculum. Laying a foundation of mathematical reasoning will fill us with awe at the truth, beauty, and goodness of math... and the God who created it!

Come and discover, or encounter anew, a bigger vision of what homeschooling can be for your family. Find encouragement as you reconsider your goals and put into perspective the pieces of the puzzle. We’ll talk about both academic and non-academic objectives, and practical ways to fit it all together to help you and your children find out who they were created to be and what the changing seasons might hold for you.

Most students today are graduating from college completely unprepared for the working world, and employers are growing increasingly concerned. Give your young person an advantage in life by teaching them a work ethic before it’s too late.

Are you feeling inadequate about starting the homeschooling journey with struggling student or one who has a 504 plan or IEP? Peggy Ployhar, SPED Homeschool Founder & CEO, says that, when she started homeschooling, she would have probably been voted as the parent least likely to succeed in homeschooling. Yet, 18 years later, she’s not only graduated two children from her homeschool but has also spent the last 15 years coaching other special education families towards homeschooling success. In this session families will be equipped with the top five keys to homeschooling a struggling learner with confidence as well as practical ways to put aside the things that may hinder applying these solid educational principles.

Does your high schooler dread the question, “So, what are you doing after you graduate?” In this workshop, homeschool parents and students will learn about the Discover Your WIN “What is Next” model, which will provide practical ideas on how to identify and pursue potential career paths. Regardless of whether your homeschooler is interested in college, learning a trade, or entering the workforce, the Discover Your “WIN” model can help with developing a plan for next steps after homeschool life.

This workshop is based on the ScreenStrong Student Course. Students will learn the facts about basic brain science and how addictive technology like social media and video games affect a healthy brain. They will feel encouraged and excited to live life off the screen.

Join Nick as he helps you explore practical ways to integrate AI into your homeschool routine. He will show you how to create a future-ready homeschooling environment with virtual tutors, AI-driven content recommendations, and live examples. You’ll learn how AI works, what tools are available, and how it can enhance your teaching and your child's learning.

So you’ve got a box full of unused planners and half-erased lesson plan books. Trust me, you’re not alone! From curriculum to the daily schedule, there is a simple way to plan your whole school year in just ONE week. Reclaim your Sunday nights and your sanity by joining veteran homeschool mom, Kim Sorgius Jones, for this practical session.

Many parents slowly progress away from hands-on learning as their student nears high school level classes. But, for students who have difficulty with understanding abstract concepts through traditional instruction, the removal of multi-sensory and discovery-style instruction makes the leap to high school not only challenging but also often very discouraging. In this talk, Peggy Ployhar, the CEO of SPED Homeschool, covers practical ways to build high school credit courses for a homeschool student using unit studies and encourages her audience to do the same in this interactive workshop. You will leave this talk encouraged and equipped to start, or continue, your homeschooling high school journey using unit studies.

Weeds find the tiniest cracks to take root. The same is true for marriage. Financial stress, communication breakdowns, and unresolved conflicts constantly apply pressure to your marriage. This workshop marriage adventure will help couples develop fun and healthy ways to connect with their spouse. Participants will experience how knowing who they are can produce a joyful style of communication. They will learn new habits and practices as they speak from their heart.

This is a demonstration workshop, walking you through the start-to-finish process of making sourdough bread while being fed an encouraging word. As homeschool moms, our daily work can begin to feel quite monotonous. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner come around at lightning speed, the cleanliness of the house falls short in a picture-perfect world, and the work of character training is constant. This session will be a conversation in how the rhythms of daily work and daily obedience can actually transfigure ordinary work into something very holy.

Hear from our Homeschool Iowa Lobbyist, Jeremy Voss, about our efforts to keep homeschooling rights secure. Find out about proposed legislation and learn how you can be a partner.

Does your child have a comeback for everything you tell him to do or always try and get the last word, even if it’s mumbled under his breath? Does he become mad and lose control when you discipline him rather than repenting? Or does he seem indifferent, giving the impression that discipline doesn’t faze him in the least? Through biblical insights and powerful drama, learn how to avoid the snares of parent-provoked anger and raise emotionally healthy children.

Traditionally, fathers were revered as the “Paterfamilias”— the Head of the House. In modern times, the father’s role has been diminished, usurped, and mocked. But there can be no substitute: Father is the pattern for the family, and vision for its future begins with him.

Most homeschoolers have more than one child at home, but how do they balance it all? If you need help homeschooling multiple kids, you’re in the right place. Kerry shares three tips that worked for her during her 10 years of homeschooling all three of her kids. Get rid of the overwhelm from all those lesson plans and use these tips to simplify your homeschool.

Do you find it hard to relate to and teach your children who have different learning/processing styles than you do? Understanding how your student processes information can be the key you need to help them unlock a love of learning. In this session, we will be exploring the neurobiology behind information processing and decision making. The focus will primarily be on how the right brain and left brain function and work together. As we develop applications for understanding communication, you’ll begin to understand why the same message can have vastly different meanings for two people. Take-home applications will help improve communication, relating, and efficiency in learning. Dr. Joe has an engaging way of making the complex simple, and while his two sessions aren't connected, it will be helpful to attend both as you will learn two sides of a coin (how information is processed and how an individual relates to the world around). This session is more focused on external interpretation than internal processes.

“The Principality of Mathematics is a mountainous land, but the air is very fine and health-giving.” (Charlotte Mason) Is this indicative of junior high and/or high school math in your home? Are you enjoying the fine air and taking in the summit view, or does the air feel thin and your student is seemingly stuck hiking in a circle? In this workshop we will learn how to help students retrace their steps in order to build a more solid understanding of place value, fractions, decimals, integers, and exponents. Then with this firm ground under our feet, we will navigate how to breathe life into your upper level math lessons through hands on discovery and practical examples of algebra and geometry concepts. A world of truth and beauty awaits to be found in this mountainous land!