"You Want Me to Do What?"

This is the question Cheryl posed to Mike twenty years ago after Mike asked Cheryl to consider homeschooling their children, who were at the time, not yet born! Journey with Cheryl back through those years as she candidly addresses how she worked through the why, what, where, when, and how questions of homeschooling. Session includes answers to questions from attendees.

Blessed with Preschoolers

Editing a middle school research paper while trying to occupy an energetic preschooler? Preschoolers are a blessing. Their joy is infectious, their smiles salve for the soul. How do we embrace their jubilation while teaching our older children? Cheryl, mother of six children and eighteen years of homeschooling with busy preschoolers, shares ten never-fail-experience-proven ideas to engage the minds, hearts and precious hands of our youngest family members.

Books Teach

We know books encourage reading, but what about mathematics, language arts, social sciences, natural sciences, fine arts, and character? This interactive session will challenge participants to use the precious gems in literature to enrich content areas, inspire minds, and speak to hearts.

Celebrate High School (half or full day seminar)

Whether fresh out of the blocks on the first leg of the high school adventure or heading toward the finish line, high school is a time to be celebrated. Cheryl will answer common questions asked by students and parents as they work together toward turning the tassel. Topics include planning ahead, understanding graduation requirements, building credits, grading assignments, calculating grade point averages, writing effective course descriptions, preparing transcripts and supporting documents, tailoring paperwork to the student's strengths, college admission testing, submitting college applications, and finding scholarship money.

Choosing Books to Fuel a Literary Fire

Books stoke the literary fire. Learn how to choose books that build a literary fire ignited by the artistic merit and rhythmic text of picture books, and later kept aflame by the thickening plots, well-developed characters, and eloquent literary styles of timeless chapter books. Cheryl encourages participants to consider developmental abilities, reading level, and worldview when choosing literary material, with the intention of fueling a literary fire that will burn brightly for generations.

Creating a Flexible Four-Year Plan

Plan well to finish well! This hands-on, interactive workshop (yes, high school workshops can be hands-on) walks parents through the process of developing a flexible, working four-year plan for their high school student.

Flip Three Pancakes with One Spatula

How do you get it all done? As a mom of six, Cheryl has been asked this question many times. In this hands-on, interactive presentation, Cheryl reveals her secrets to teaching math, extending lessons to language arts, social studies, science, and life skills, while preparing meals. Oh, and bring your spatula!

Getting It On Paper

High school is not a one-size-fits-all experience. High school is a time to refine the skills needed to polish a student's God-given gifts and talents. But what does that look like on paper? How do you tailor courses which will prepare your child for what God has planned for their future? Cheryl walks parents through the paperwork needed for employment and college entrance, explaining how to write course descriptions describing your student's strengths, how to develop a transcript people want to read and how to write supporting documents to reflect a student's educational experiences and character.

High School Crash Course (Don’t worry! I Don’t Have Your Car Keys.)

Credits. GPA's. Transcripts. Where do I start? Cheryl navigates the basic nuts and bolts of home educating through high school. Attendees learn the high school lingo, how to establish goals and create a four-year plan, how to award credits, and how to organize records. Practical tips for keeping a clear vision while on the high school journey.

Hooray! It's Library Day!

Hooray! It's library day! Children jump and shout when library day appears on the calendar. Cheryl shares ten practical ways to be intentional about making library day an exciting highlight in a child's schedule. A child who feels at home in the library will use the library life-long.

InJOYing Motherhood

Have you checked your JOY tank, lately? Is your JOY tank running on empty or is it full to the brim and running over? Without periodic checks and maintenance, vehicles break down and leave passengers stranded. This session gives mothers practical tips on how to maintain a JOY tank that will overflow to the passengers in her home.

K-12 under One Roof

Multi-level teaching. You may not be teaching in a one room schoolhouse or in a K-12 building, but your homes might resemble those venues if you are teaching multiple levels. This presentation offers practical how-tos from Cheryl’s experiences of teaching K-12 under one roof, emphasizing the benefits and blessings of teaching more than one level or child at the same time.

Learning by Helping

Matching shoes. Sorting laundry. Making a grocery list. Recycling plastics. Cheryl has accumulated eighteen years of experience and sage wisdom incorporating toddlers and preschoolers into everyday life, encouraging little ones as they worked, learned, and lived alongside her. In this presentation, she shares ten practical tips about teaching life skills, training character, and nurturing spiritual growth in the youngest blessings of the family.

Library Etiquette and Book Borrowing Basics

Children can become enthusiastic library patrons, eager to learn from the books that await them on the library shelves. Cheryl offers participants suggestions regarding regular library visits, library etiquette, book borrowing, and home storage of library materials.

Look at That Art!

The art mediums, techniques, and styles used in books encourage children to turn the pages. Cheryl uses picture books to highlight the works of notable illustrators and their techniques, teaching attendees how to choose books with artistic merit, how to use the books to spark a child's creativity, and how to teach older children to compare, analyze, and appreciate illustrations.

Perfect for Preschoolers

Learn how to choose perfect picture books for preschoolers, speaking to their hearts and minds. Books highlighted will be packed with the elements children birth through age six love: rhyme, rhythm, and repetition.

Raising a Contagious Reader

Passionate about helping parents raise contagious readers, Cheryl shares five keys which unlock the doors of reading and five practical tips for nurturing reading once the reading doors have been opened.

Read-Aloud Rewards

Read-aloud time returns great gains, from language development to vocabulary development, from understanding the rudiments of oral language to building the propriety of conversational skills. Learn how to reap the rewards of read-aloud time by personalizing reading adventures. Includes practical suggestions for use before, during, and after read-aloud times.

The Cumulative Folder

Cumulative folders are only useful to students educated in a traditional school setting? True or False. False. Families who are home educating high school students benefit greatly from keeping cumulative high school records. These records help write a resume for employment and the supporting documents to accompany a transcript for college admission. Cheryl walks parents through a simple process for setting up the cumulative high school folder, giving concrete examples of valuable paperwork and explaining why each document is important. (Want to involve your high school student in this process? Ask Cheryl about parent-student workshops. Participants provide a three-ring binder and tab dividers for workshop format.)

Warning! Storm Season Approaching!

Hurricane season hits the middle of summer and continues into fall. Blizzards blanket communities during the winter season. What happens to families when stormy seasons approach? When the storms of life threaten your family or your home school, take cover and ride out the storm. It's only for a season. Cheryl offers practical tips from experiences that threatened both her family and her home school.

What is a Genre, Anyway?

Cadence, folk tale, tall tale, fable, biography, historical fiction, poetry. Fancy names for types of literature. Cheryl familiarizes participants with the characteristics of genres suitable for the ages and stages of preschool toddlers, elementary children, and middle school teens.

When My Library Card Became the Curriculum

A flood. Great-grandma's health needs. Budget cuts. These three simultaneous situations and the circumstances leading to them challenged Cheryl’s thoughts about "curriculum". In this presentation, she shares how a pivotal year influenced the amount of money her family spent on curriculum and how her library card became the answer to the questions she didn't know she had. Confused? You may find yourself walking beside Cheryl as she shares practical ideas about how library resources can rekindle a love of learning in your home.

Support Groups: Cultivating a Garden of Friendship

Feature Article, Winter Issue

The Old Schoolhouse 2010

Simplicity in Life's Seasons

Homeschooling Today, March/April

2010

Savoring Life's Simple Pleasures

Homeschooling Today, March/April

2010

Sailing Through Evaluation Season

FPEA Almanac, Summer Issue

2010

Celebrate High School: Finish with Excellence

Our high school students have stories, stories which tell of their character, talents, and education. A student's story is told and unfolds through the transcripts, course descriptions, reading lists, co-curricular activities, and other supporting documents commonly requested by employers and college admissions personnel. Employers and college admissions personnel reading these stories come to know the student, ultimately deciding whether or not to offer employment or admission to the student. Celebrate High School walks with the reader on the high school journey, from developing a four-year plan to writing professional, informative documents. Each step of the process is showered with samples and examples, all with the intention of finishing high school with excellence. Capture curiosity. Invite readers to take a closer look at your student’s individual qualities and the excellence of his/her education. How will your student impact the workplace or college campus? Tell them with words they will understand.

Cheryl A. Bastian 2009

Creative Ways to Occupy Preschoolers

Homeschooling Today 2009

Feature Article: Cradles in Trees: A Lesson from the Creator’s Classroom

Homeschooling Today 2009

Life Lessons and New Friends: Read-aloud Treasures

Article, November/December

Homeschooling Today 2009

Read Aloud: Inspire Minds, Nurture Hearts, and Build Relationships

FPEA Almanac 2008

There’s No Place Like Home for the Contagious Reader

FPEA Almanac 2008

Flip Three Pancakes with One Spatula

The kitchen is a living laboratory, demanding curiosity. Cups of water and corn syrup can be measured, heated and transformed into one pound of hard candy. The circular circumference of a pizza can be measured, baked and cut into fractional parts. Cylinders and rectangular prisms sit comfortably on the pantry shelf waiting to be sorted, counted and stacked in geometric sculpture. Children love to experience and experiment with these math wonders. When a child’s desire to help is tapped, math skills and life skills can be taught and will be remembered because of the natural inquisitiveness which saturates the kitchen. Children love the kitchen, a perfect place to be immersed in math. The 85 recipes and additional add-on activities in Flip 3 Pancakes With 1 Spatula have been selected based on the frameworks of mathematical concepts taught to young children between the ages of four and eight.

Cheryl A. Bastian 2008

Check These Out

Written as a multi-level study, elementary children and middle school students (K-8), can study the same material at various levels, discussing and learning from one another. Content includes lessons in library science, introductions to genres (fairy tales, fables, fantasy, tall tales, legends, poetry, historical fiction, and mystery), information about art techniques used by illustrators (photography, collage, drawing, painting, monochrome, modern art, impressionism, digital painting, and prints), elements of a story, instructions for using the Dewey Decimal System and the Library of Congress, types of binding, careers in book publishing, study skills and more. Books are read, highlighted or discussed for each topic as it is studied. Field trips to the library, book bindery, book store, newspaper and publishing company are incorporated. The unit comes complete with weekly calendars, daily lessons, library lists and check lists of learned skills. Internet links are available at this website on the Check These Out Book Links page. Check These Out is a valuable tool for parents/educators who want to put “hands and feet” to You Have to Read This One: Raising a Contagious Reader.

Cheryl A. Bastian 2007

You Have to Read This One: Raising a Contagious Reader

“You just have to read this one!" How many times has this proclamation been made by a reader who cannot wait to tell the world about his or her latest, greatest literary find? Parents can raise children who make this proclamation. It is not an impossible task. Cheryl’s book will encourage and equip parents with the tools necessary to raise contagious readers.

Cheryl A. Bastian 2006

Special Section: Field Trips

Contributing Author

Teaching Home 1999

Special Section: Organization

Contributing Author

Teaching Home 1998