Name: Great Homeschool Conventions (Columbus)
Start: 2025-04-24T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-04-26T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Columbus, OH

Sonya loves to encourage and equip women’s groups and homeschool groups as her family and home responsibilities allow. Here are descriptions of the sessions she presents. You can also check her speaking schedule to see if she will be coming to an event near you.

Charlotte Mason Presentations

Laying Down the Rails—Discover the secret to smooth and easy days: habit training. Learn how to instill good habits, which habits Charlotte Mason encouraged parents to cultivate in their children, and practical tips for cultivating the Top Three. Available on video. handout

Charlotte Mason and Her Methods—Join Sonya for a practical and encouraging overview of the simple yet effective methods used in the Charlotte Mason approach. You will learn about Charlotte and experience using her methods for yourself during the session. handout

Using Consequences Effectively—We talk a lot about using natural consequences in habit-training and parenting, but what are they exactly and how are we supposed to use them? Join Sonya for a look at the natural consequences that Charlotte Mason mentioned, the principles behind them, and tips for using consequences effectively with your own children.

Pick Your Rabbit: The Habit of Attention—In a world of distractions, we need to help our children learn how to give full attention intentionally and consistently. In this session, Sonya will describe how her perception of attention has been radically changed and share lots of practical ideas for cultivating a habit of attention—a habit that is crucial for success in learning and in life.

Habit-Training Yourself: Good Habits Are Not Just for Kids—Yes, we want our children to have good habits, but many of us parents struggle with habits in our own lives. Take a look at four powerful pictures that give insight into how habits are formed and what to do about your bad habits. Learn the three most important words to keep in mind when habit-training. Discover how to instill your own good habits that will serve you well and help your days run smoothly. Available on video.

Little Changes, Big Results: Habits for Teens and Adults—When you’re dealing with habits, little changes can add up to big results. In this session for teens and adults, you’ll learn what is involved in cultivating your own habits (and how it’s different from cultivating them in your children), explore a handful of little changes that can give you big results, and be encouraged to embrace those habits that will set you up for success and shape your life. (A newly revised version of Habit-Training Yourself)

Keep It Simple: How to Teach Your Whole Family Together—Save time and money by teaching most school subjects to all of your students together. Join Sonya for practical strategies to lower your stress level, provide a well-rounded education, and help you and your children build sweet memories. Learn how to keep it simple by teaching your whole family together with Charlotte Mason methods! Available on video.

One Word Can Change Everything: The Strong Weak-Willed Child—When Sonya realized how Charlotte Mason defined strong-willed vs. weak-willed, it completely changed her attitude toward her children. If you feel like you are constantly butting heads in a battle of the wills, this session could revolutionize how you view your child. Discover helpful ideas that can relieve the tension, refresh your perspective, and restore the peace. Available on video.

Buttons, Beans, and Coins: Making Math Come Alive—Discover Charlotte Mason’s simple yet brilliant approach to teaching elementary arithmetic. Learn her teaching techniques that give the student a solid understanding of math, help instill good habits, eliminate drudgery, and encourage creativity. Gain the confidence you need to go at your child’s pace while adding variety and refreshment to math lessons.

8 Words That Make All the Difference—When you’re feeling weary as a homeschool parent, these eight words will refresh you. They will inspire you when you’re feeling mundane and encourage you when you’re uncertain: I am, I can I ought, I will. Come explore the powerful ideas behind these eight words, let them nestle into your heart and mind this year, and see what a difference they make!

Delightful Reading—Relax with a truly gentle approach to teaching reading. Charlotte Mason-style reading lessons include informal play, multi-sensory activities, basic phonics, and enjoyable variety. This simple plan will carry your child from learning the alphabet to building words to feeling at home in the fascinating world of books.

Inside a Charlotte Mason Home School—Take a look at a typical day in the life of families who use the Charlotte Mason Method. You’ll discover what the method looks like in everyday practice and gain lots of practical help and clear explanations. Available on video.

Learning with Living Books—Good living books feed our children a feast of ideas, not just dry facts. Join Sonya for a look at this simple, yet effective, approach to true education. Learn what makes living books “living,” and practice using them in a way that makes learning stick. handout

Feed Your Child’s Mind, Don’t Just Exercise It—Do you ever feel like you’re going through the motions of school, but the joy has gone out of learning? The problem might be that your curriculum isn’t feeding your student’s mind, it’s just exercising his mind. All exercise and no nourishment would starve anyone’s enthusiasm! In this session discover what food the mind grows on and how you can rekindle the joy in your home school.

Fine Arts the Charlotte Mason Way—You don’t have to be a music major or an art aficionado to teach fine arts to your children. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll discover an easy yet effective way to give your children music appreciation and art appreciation that will enrich their lives and yours! handout

The Early Years: Homeschooling Your Preschooler—Give your child what is most important. Instead of academic or social pressures, Charlotte Mason encouraged mothers to give their little ones a full six years of developing good habits, getting acquainted with nature, exploring with the five senses, growing in their spiritual lives, and more. Learn how to give your child a quiet growing time. Available on video. handout

The Quiet Schooling of Nature—We all have a fascinating science resource right outside our doors, but we often overlook it because it is so quiet. Come learn how nature study lays the foundation for science lessons, how to get started, and how to keep a nature notebook, plus fun and simple nature study ideas for the whole family. Available on video. handout

Language Arts: It’s a Natural Progression—Teaching language arts doesn’t have to be complicated. Discover what exactly is included in language arts and how the Charlotte Mason Method simply follows the natural progression of learning to use language well. Gather lots of practical tips for teaching language arts in an enjoyable and simple way—the Charlotte Mason way. handout

Homeschooling and Parenting Workshops

The Five Flavors of Homeschooling—The world of homeschooling is a lot like the world of food. You know that you want to provide nutritious meals for your children’s minds, but there are so many possibilities for what that food could look like and taste like. Join Sonya for a simple overview of five main approaches to homeschooling: traditional, classical, Charlotte Mason, unit studies, unschooling. Find your preferred “flavor” and learn how to choose and use curriculum successfully. handout

What It Takes to Homeschool Successfully—Of course, you want to succeed at this homeschooling thing! But what does it take to reach that goal? In this session, Sonya shares mom-to-mom encouragement about the top qualifications and priorities that are vital for homeschooling (and for life). Do you have what it takes to homeschool successfully? You might be surprised.

Choosing the Soundtracks of Your Life—The thoughts that repeatedly play in your mind become the soundtracks of your life, and those soundtracks greatly affect how you view and respond to situations. Join Sonya for a look at how you can choose powerful soundtracks and build biblical playlists through Scripture memory. She will walk you through a simple Scripture Memory System that thousands of families around the world are using. By spending just five minutes a day, you and your children can learn and retain hundreds of verses—biblical soundtracks that can transform the moments of your life.

When More Is Less: A Call to Simplicity in Your Schedule, Your Home, and Your Children’s Education—It’s easy to get caught up in the mentality that we’ve got to add more: we must do more, we must get more, and our children must study more. More, more, more! But the funny thing is that when we keep adding more, we usually end up with less of what really matters. Come discover the richness that simplicity can bring to your schedule, your home, and your children’s education. Available to download.

The 5 Gifts of Intentional Parents— We parents give our children gifts every day. Some are survival gifts, given just to make a problem go away. Some are default gifts, carelessly copied from those around us. Our goal should be intentional gifts, purposely given to prepare our children for life. Discover the five gifts of intentional parents—all centered around the word TEACH—along with lots of practical tips for giving them. Available on video.

Teach from a Flowing Stream, Not a Stagnant Pool—A drink from a vibrant, flowing stream is much more refreshing than one from a scummy, stagnant pool! Sonya encourages you in this session to breathe vivacity back into your personal life—for your children’s benefit as well as your own. Discover a practical way to rejuvenate your weekly schedule to help you embrace living, not settle for surviving. Available on video.

Using Consequences Effectively—We talk a lot about using natural consequences in habit-training, but what are they exactly and how are we supposed to use them? Join Sonya for a look at the natural consequences that Charlotte Mason mentioned, the principles behind them, and tips for using consequences effectively with your own children.

6 Tools for Lifelong Learners—With the right tools, your student will be equipped and eager to continue learning for his entire life. Give your child practice with six practical tools now, and you will be amazed at how well he transitions into being a self-learner. Come learn what the six tools are and how to use them in your home school. Plus, discover the secret that makes those tools extra powerful in creating lifelong learners.

Reaching Your Child’s Heart—A mommy-to-mommy challenge about priorities in your home school. Sonya shares six ways to reach your child’s heart—taken from Elizabeth’s example in Luke 1—and four obstacles that can keep us from reaching the heart. Available to download.

Looking Past the Fear—Making the decision to homeschool may not be an easy one, and sticking to your decision may become even harder when the inevitable challenges arise. This workshop provides an encouraging look at God’s response to five fears that homeschooling moms face: fear of what God is calling you to do, fear of being inadequate for the job, fear of what might happen in the future, fear of ridicule or rejection, and fear of our weak areas ruining our children. Learn how to rely on God’s guidance and the strengths He has provided you, and to trust Him to take you through your areas of weakness. Available to download.

Special Needs Emphasis

Lessons from the Valley—After diagnosing her youngest daughter with autism, Sonya found herself in a spiritual valley. Though your valley may look different, the giants that she encountered there may seem eerily similar to your own. Learn what Scriptures the Lord used to help her overcome five giants in the valley: the giants named Fear, Faltering Faith, Uncertainty, Guilt, and Self-Pity. Available as a free download.

Using Charlotte Mason with Special Needs—Yes, you can use Charlotte Mason principles and methods with a special needs child. Sonya shares what she has learned from more than 15 years of teaching her daughter with autism, pervasive developmental delays, and language processing issues.