SHBE Special Needs Convention 2018
October 19-20, 2018
Southside Community Church
41 Birchwood Rd, Regina, SK
Peggy Ployhar
Peggy Ployhar, SPED Homeschool Founder & CEO, is a leader in the special education homeschooling community and a frequent writer and speaker on special education homeschooling issues.
Peggy is the former THSC (Texas Home School Coalition) Special Needs Team Lead, MACHE (Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators) Special Needs Coordinator and MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Area Coordinator for MN, ND and SD. She is certified by the American Association of Christian Counselors and trained as a Precept Bible Study leader.
Peggy's home school journey started when her oldest child was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. Now with 16 years of homeschooling under her belt, she thanks God for all the experiences He has given her so she can use them to encourage other special needs homeschooling parents.
Peggy and her husband Doug live in League City, TX, where they still home school the youngest of their three children (21, 19, and 14).
Samantha Cameron
Samantha believes that learning is a life long journey and it is important to keep the love of learning alive. She practices this philosophy in her tutoring, teaching and private music lessons by approaching each student as a unique individual with their own set of strengths and gifts. If a child is given the tools to learn, a passion for knowledge and helped to learn in the way best suited to them, then learning will be something that they want to do. Many of her students have learning challenges and she has been able to help unlock their potential so that they can achieve success and confidence.
Samantha attended Trent University for a Bachelor of Science (Biology – Psychology) and was in the Trent-Queens Concurrent Education Program. She was an elementary school teacher for 7 years before she educated her two daughters from kindergarten to high school. Both her daughters are dyslexic and Samantha approached their learning with as many different approaches as possible. She always made sure that learning was active, meaningful and fun.
“Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.” W.B.Yeats
Registration
Cost:
SHBE Members: $80
Non-Members: $135 (Membership is $35, here)
Schedule:
Session 1: Friday 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Session 2: Saturday 8:30 - 10:00
Session 3: Saturday 10:30 - 12:00
Samantha Cameron Q&A
Session 4: Saturday 1:00 - 2:30
Session 5: Saturday 3:00 - 4:30
Overcoming Doubt - Friday 6:30 - 8:30 pm
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 16 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.
An Overview of Special Education Homeschooling - Saturday 8:30 - 10:00
Home schooling is the ultimate individualized education plan, so it’s not a wonder why parents of special needs children consider this educational choice. In this talk, Peggy Ployhar, the CEO of SPED Homeschool covers what it takes to get started homeschooling, avoiding and conquering common pitfalls, and how to homeschool special education through high school. This talk is filled with practical advice from the trenches of homeschooling for 16 years and working for over a decade as a special needs homeschooling consultant.
Free Resources for Special Education Homeschooling - Saturday 10:30 - 12:00
Peggy Ployhar, the CEO of SPED Homeschool, has a Pinterest board featuring over 6,000 online resources for special needs homeschooling parents. In creating these boards, Peggy has discovered countless free and cheap resources parents of special needs students can use to teach at home. From teaching basic elementary concepts to high school level courses, in this talk, Peggy will highlight her favorite resources for parents. Come and see how you can save some money while meeting the specific needs of your unique learner using cheap online resources.
Samantha Cameron (HSLDA Canada Exceptional Needs Specialist)
Samantha is a passionate advocate for home education and has spent many years supporting and encouraging home educators, both in one on one relationships and as a conference speaker. She believes that homeschooling is both possible and beneficial through all grades and ages. Samantha will join us over Skype for a Q&A session.
Transition & Life Skills Planning - Saturday 1:00 - 2:30
Any parent knows a student’s learning goes beyond basics academics. But, parents of special needs students are even more aware of this truth. Successful post-homeschool transitioning of a special needs student requires planning. In this talk, Peggy Ployhar, the CEO of SPED Homeschool, takes parents of special needs homeschooling students through a plan that helps them be intentional in setting up a transition plan that will ready their student for life beyond homeschool.
Biblical Encouragement for the Special Needs Parent - Saturday 3:00 - 4:30
While the world tells special needs parents, and their children, that disability/struggling areas should be used to excuse poor behavior, the bible holds Christians to a different standard - one of love, compassion, and continual biblical training. 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 hearts of parents who want to raise their special needs children as God has called them to do.
What is "Special Needs" and is this "Special Needs Conference" for me?
Let's answer the second question first: "Yes, this conference is for you". You are not only welcome to attend, there will almost certainly be something that will be applicable to your home education journey.
Here is a list of high-incidence special needs that educators have compiled:
- Speech and/or language delays.
- Autism Spectrum Disorder.
- Cognitive delays.
- Social & emotional disorders.
- Learning differences/disabilities.
Special needs encompasses a wide range of behaviours and can mean different things to different parents. We recognize that all children are unique and have their very own mix of learning styles. However, sometimes there are physical, social, emotional or developmental differences that require parents to teach and advocate for their children in unique ways. If you have a child who has a physical need that can make it more difficult than usual learn, or requires methods and tools that are not widely needed by other children, you might consider that a special need. Your child may be somewhere on the autism spectrum. Your child may have "difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition or have poor spelling and decoding abilities" (characteristics of dyslexia).
SHBE 2019 Convention
Featuring Brian D. Ray, NHERI
TCU Place, Saskatoon, SK
February 22 and 23
Details will be coming soon.
Dr. Brian Ray
Brian D. Ray is internationally known for his research on homeschooling. He is the founding president of the nonprofit National Home Education Research Institute in Oregon, U.S.A. Brian has been investigating the homeschool movement for over 30 years. He holds a PhD in science education from Oregon State University, an MS in zoology from Ohio University, and a BS in Biology from the University of Puget Sound. Brian is a former professor of science and education at the undergraduate and graduate levels, a former classroom teacher in both public and private schools, and he has taught homeschool students. Dr. Ray does research and speaking across the United States and internationally that focuses on home-based education research and pedagogy, and serves as an expert witness in court cases and to government bodies on home education and other matters.