Workshops & Conferences

Whether you're new to homeschooling or right in the middle of it, these workshops provide the answers you seek

Recognized as a leading voice in homeschooling, Diane Keith teaches refreshing and fun workshops that pack a wallop of information. Find Diane Keith at educational events throughout North America or, bring her into your community by simply Contacting Us.

More popular workshop offerings:

• Homeschool 101 - The Nuts and Bolts That Get You Started
  In this all-inclusive workshop, Diane Keith explains:
  

• Homeschool ABCs
  What You Need To Know To Get Started:
  

• How To Create Your Own Family Blueprint for
  Homeschooling Success
  Nearly 50% of new homeschools flounder or fail in the first year. But those who succeed share certain and specific strategies...
  

• The 7 Dumb Mistakes Smart People Make
  When They Homeschool... And How to Avoid Them
  What are some of the most common mistakes homeschooling families make?
  

• How To Ease Your Homeschool Anxiety:
  A Homeschool Trouble-Shooting Discussion
  

• Take the Whine Out of Drive Time: The Carschooling Workshop
  Whether you're shuttling your kids in town to sports activities,
  

• One-Click Curriculum Shopping with "Clickschooling!"
  Discover the world's best websites for enhancing
  

• Pick A Homeschool Graduate's Brain!
  (Ask Questions - Get Answers)
  

Homeschool 101:
The Nuts & Bolts To Get You Started

California is renowned for pioneering the modern homeschool movement. In this workshop, you'll receive advice from veteran California homeschool moms who explain:

• The legal ways to homeschool in California;
• Homeschool methodologies from classical to unschooling;
• How to rely on the world as your classroom;
• Where to find curricula and fun educational products for all ages;
• How to get connected with support groups or "neighborhoods" of homeschoolers near you;
• How to easily get involved in co-op classes and field trips;
• Why so many homeschoolers are being accepted to the finest colleges and universities.

You'll also hear personal homeschooling stories and receive practical insights into how people actually homeschool on a day-to-day basis. There will be plenty of time for questions and answers too. You'll also receive the Homefires Guide To Homeschooling - California Style, filled with resources and information that you will refer to over and over again. You'll leave this presentation with an "I can do it" spirit, confidence, and resolve.

Timeframe: 4 - 5 hours

To book Diane Keith and/or to learn more about the Workshop and its upcoming dates, Contact Us.

Homeschool ABCs
What You Need To Know To Get Started

This informal presentation with Diane Flynn Keith and Barbara Phillips covers all of the basics you need to know to get started homeschooling.

The Homeschool ABCs presentation is geared for beginners. It is also ideal for people who are "on the fence" about homeschooling - those who need more information in order to make a decision about whether or not to homeschool.

The Homeschool ABCs presentation includes:

• The Legal Ways to Homeschool in California including information on public charter school programs and homeschooling independently through the private school option.
• Where to find curricula and educational products for students of all ages, no matter what homeschool methodology you use.
• Information on local homeschool support groups, co-op classes, and field trips.
• Learn how homeschoolers are accepted to the finest colleges and universities.

During the Q&A session Diane and Barbara (both veteran homeschool moms with over 15 years experience coaching homeschool families) will share personal stories and practical insights into how people homeschool successfully.

To book Diane Keith and/or to learn more about this Workshop and its upcoming dates, Contact Us.

How To Create Your Own Family Blueprint for Homeschooling Success

Nearly 50% of new homeschools flounder or fail in the first year. But those who succeed share certain and specific strategies...

What does it really take to make your homeschool work?
You'll find the secrets here:

In this interactive workshop, Diane Keith explores these "guaranteed wins" and shows you how to develop your own educational philosophy, your "blueprint" that subsequently (and much more easily) guides you in everything you do, from homeschool methodology to curriculum selection.

Through lively personal stories, individual and group activities, hand-outs, and an always-required dose of humor, Diane will get you started on developing your own blueprint philosophy that builds your solid, bedrock foundation. Plenty of time for Q & A.

Timeframe: 2.5 hours

To book Diane Keith and/or to learn more about the Workshop and its upcoming dates, Contact Us.

The 7 Dumb Mistakes Smart People Make
When They Homeschool... And How to Avoid Them

Why go through your own School of Hard Knocks?
Here's where the veterans weigh in:

Find out what they are and how to avoid them from the people who know best - the hundreds and hundreds of parents who embarked on homeschooling years ago and have graduated (some with honors) from their own "School of Hard Knocks."

With her trademark humor and practical ideas, Diane Keith gets you rolling on the inside track to what really works and what really doesn't. We'll leave plenty of time for audience participants to share their own stories, too, so that others can pick up tips and hints from these valuable "lessons learned."

Timeframe: 1.5 hours

To book Diane Keith and/or to learn more about the Workshop and its upcoming dates, Contact Us.

How To Ease Your Homeschool Anxiety:
A Homeschool Trouble-Shooting Discussion

• Are you frustrated with homeschooling?
• Do your children refuse to cooperate?
• Is your curriculum not working?
• Is your unschooling not working?
• Do you feel incapable of teaching?
• Do you worry that you are not covering it all?
• Are you scared that when your kids grow up they won't have the skills to compete in the global economy?
• Is your budget for homeschool resources maxed out?
• Is your house a mess or in such chaos that you can't think straight?
• If your kids previously went to school, do they miss their friends?
• Are you or your kids lonely?
• Have you been unable to connect with other homeschool families?
• Do you and your husband disagree about how you should homeschool?
• Are your relatives or friends opposed to homeschooling?
• Do you feel burned out?
• Is there a particular homeschool issue or problem that you have not been able to resolve?
• Are you thinking about discontinuing homeschooling?

Don't give up. You're not alone. In this interactive Q&A style presentation veteran homeschool moms, Beverly Cuellar, Diane Flynn Keith, and Barbara Phillips tackle these questions and provide some strategies and new perspectives for how to solve problems that come up in homeschooling. In fact, you are welcome to send your questions to us in advance of the event by email, so that we can thoroughly address your concerns at the meeting. Through lively discussion, personal stories, hand-outs, and an always-required dose of humor, we'll help you feel better and get you started on renewing your resolve to homeschool successfully. You can do it, we can help.

Take the Whine Out of Drive Time:
The Carschooling Workshop

Diane Keith introduces a bright new world of "road scholarly" fun for road-tripping parents and kids:

Whether you're shuttling your kids in town to sports activities, libraries, music lessons, friend's houses, or field trips ...or packing them in for an hour or more on an actual roadtrip, Diane Keith shows you how to better utilize time in your car with engaging games and activities that actually teach every facet of the National Curriculum Standards while they entertain.

Note: Carschooling® is not just for homeschoolers. If you spend any amount of time in the car with your family, this workshop will provide relief to the universal question, "Are we there, yet?" These ideas will improve the quality of everyone's drive-time in zero to 60 seconds!

Start your engines and get rolling on the real information superhighway in this lively, interactive presentation!

Timeframe: 1.5 - 3 hours

To book Diane Keith and/or to learn more about the Workshop and its upcoming dates, Contact Us.

One-Click Curriculum Shopping with "Clickschooling!"

Thanks to the Internet, phenomenal educational resources are yours for the taking. Here's how you do it:

Discover the world's best websites for enhancing learning in every subject including math, science, history, social studies, language arts (reading, spelling, grammar), foreign language, music, and art. We'll even give you our top recommendations for virtual field trips! These compiled resources are gleaned from Diane Keith's free Clickschooling® E-List service with thousands of members.

Look at what they have to say:

Don't miss this great workshop of Internet discovery and information management for your best curriculum use!

Timeframe: 1.5 hours

To book Diane Keith and/or to learn more about the Workshop and its upcoming dates, Contact Us.

New! Pick A Homeschool Graduate's Brain!
(Ask Questions - Get Answers)

We recently featured homeschool graduate Rachel Phillips with Barbara Phillips and Diane Flynn Keith.

Rachel Phillips is a homeschool graduate. She is 24 years old. After a bout with first grade, Rachel was homeschooled all the way through her highschool years in Menlo Park, CA. Rachel earned a scholarship to Skidmore College and graduated with a B.A. in June of 2005. During college and after graduation, she worked as a reading specialist, tutoring children of all ages. Rachel won a nationwide photography contest and received a full scholarship to a pretigious program in the San Juan Islands. She continues to develop her love of photography. Her photography has been featured in "American Photo on Campus" magazine and her work is currently on exhibit at the Filoli estate in Woodside, CA. She recently launched her own business, Rachel Phillips Photography and Design, providing photography of homes (along with flyer design and professional printing) for real estate agents on the San Francisco Peninsula. [Learn more]

Rachel is thoughtful and articulate and has been a popular speaker at several homeschool seminars and conferences. In this evening of conversation, she will answer any questions you have about her homeschool experience such as:

• What were your homeschool days like?
• What kinds of structure or guidelines did you have?
• Did you get along with your mom?
• What role did your father have in homeschooling?
• What about academics, did you have a curriculum?
• What other interests did you have?
• How did you learn to manage money?
• What about highschool?
• How did you do algebra and higher math?
• Where did you find high school level classes?
• Did you feel out of synch with your peer group?
• What about the prom?
• Did you take the CHSPE (California High School Proficiency Exam)?
• How did you transition from homeschool to college?
• What was attending community college like as a teen?
• How did you adjust to the academic demands of college?
• Once you graduated, how did you adjust to working?
• Did homechooling give you a good foundation for adulthood?
• If you have children someday, will you homeschool them?
• If you had to do it all over, would you want to do it again?

Rachel can also offer advice and encouragement on a variety of homeschool subjects including helping children learn to read. Her mom, longtime homeschool advocate and reading specialist, Barbara Phillips, will join the discussion as well. Diane Flynn Keith, editor of Homefires.com, will be on hand to moderate and help answer any questions you may have about homeschooling through the high school years.

This is a rare opportunity to really get the low-down from someone who has been there, done that. Mature children ages 13 and up are welcome to attend with their parents at no additional charge. Due to insurance liability restrictions, we cannot accommodate infants or children under the age of 13. Seating is limited so reserve your place today!