October 16 & October 17, 2023
2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
$25 per family; free for CHEA members
Homeschooling a child with special needs has its own set of unique challenges. But a parent should never feel alone in this journey. Thousands of families are successfully teaching their own children who have special needs. These special challenges are better handled in the loving environment of home by a parent who is helping them learn and grow as they fulfill their God-given purpose.
Join us for this two-day conference that will offer solutions for homeschooling families who teach students across a spectrum of special needs.
Sessions will be recorded and available in the Digital Library for CHEA members following the event.
Thank you to our sponsors!
The Schedule
Monday, October 16
| 2:00 p.m. | Teaching Struggling Learners at Home: Nuts and Bolts for Success | Krisa Winn |
| 3:00 p.m. | Life with Autism: Creating Successful Days at Home | Melissa Crabtree |
| 4:00 p.m. | Tackling Tricky High School Issues: Practical Help and Guidance for Homeschooling High School Students with Special Needs | Krisa Winn |
Tuesday, October 17
| 2:00 p.m. | Behavioral Success in Your Child with Special Needs | Melissa Crabtree |
| 3:00 p.m. | You Can Homeschool Your Child With Dyslexia | Marianne Sunderland |
| 4:00 p.m. | Teaching Math to Kids With Dyscalculia | Marianne Sunderland |
Meet Our Speakers
Melissa Crabtree
Melissa Crabtree has been married to her husband Robert for 24 years. She followed her fifth grade dreams to teach Special Education for six years and went on to support families of preschoolers in Early Intervention for three years. As Melissa has homeschooled her own two children (each with different learning disabilities), she has filled her cup by serving families in Disability Ministry in her church and Joni & Friends. Melissa currently serves as the Executive Assistant to Heidi St. John, operates a health and wellness company, and consults with families parenting children with special needs.
Marianne Sunderland
Marianne Sunderland is a homeschooling mother of eight unique children ages 11 to 29, including adventurous and homeschooled sailors, Zac and Abby Sunderland, known for their world-record setting around-the-world sailing campaigns. She is also an author, speaker, and because seven of her eight children are dyslexic, a passionate dyslexia advocate. Her mission is to educate and encourage families to understand dyslexia as well as to discover and nurture their children’s God-given gifts and talents, in and outside of the classroom. Marianne’s web site, Homeschooling With Dyslexia, provides weekly articles on homeschooling kids with ADD, ADHD, and dyslexia that will bless and encourage you.
Krisa Winn
Krisa Winn holds a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from Arkansas State University, and an associates degree in Practical Theology from Christ for the Nations Institute. For more than 20 years, she was a classroom teacher in both private and public-school settings. She has also worked as a private tutor, an early childhood intervention specialist, and an academic language therapist in-training, working with students who have dyslexia.
Throughout her career, she has had many opportunities to work with children with various special needs. Students with attention deficit disorder, attachment issues, developmental delays, auditory processing disorder, sensory processing disorders, and autism (among others) have filled her class rosters and her heart.
Krisa joined Home School Legal Defense Association as an educational consultant in 2012, and she continues to serve in that capacity. She offers resources, support, and guidance to parents who are homeschooling typically developing children, as well as those with special needs.
After almost 23 years of marriage, Krisa and her husband Bryon were blessed with the birth of their first child, Grace. Three years later, their second miracle baby, Karis Joy, was born. The Winn family currently makes their home in South Arkansas.
Workshops
Teaching Struggling Learners at Home: Nuts and Bolts for Success, Krisa Winn
This workshop offers practical resources, lists of materials, and curricula ideas to equip you as you work with a struggling learner in your homeschool. Krisa presents ideas for designing a unique home instruction program tailored to your child’s specific challenges. Krisa also addresses homeschooling while working, teaching multiple ages, scheduling the day, and practical teaching strategies you can use regardless of your curriculum program. Finally, she will discuss multi-sensory teaching methods, direct instruction, and modeled teaching.
Life with Autism: Creating Successful Days at Home, Melissa Crabtree
Life with Autism comes with a set of challenges that is familiar to many, but there are strategies to employ that can help your days be more successful with your child at home. We’ll talk about the basics, the early years, tools for successful communication, choosing what is most important, and more. You’ll leave encouraged and ready to put practical tips into action. You can homeschool your child with Autism!
Tackling Tricky High School Issues: Practical Help and Guidance for Homeschooling High School Students with Special Needs, Krisa Winn
This workshop addresses some of the challenges associated with teaching struggling or atypical learners at home in the high school years. Do you have questions such as “How do I award my child with special needs a diploma?” or “What do I do since my child with dyslexia can’t read typical high school level material?” Krisa discusses alternative coursework, specialized curricula and learning materials, assistive technology, transcript options, possible graduation guidelines, high school programs for special learners, post–high school options. She also offer tips for navigating the process of applying for testing accommodations for College Board tests.
Behavioral Success in Your Child with Special Needs, Melissa Crabtree
Children of all abilities can be frustrating when they don’t behave. Can I get an Amen? Children with special needs especially can make us want to throw in the towel as we often lack confidence in our parenting, especially when it comes to behavior management. What do they understand? What are they actually capable of? What does it mean to exasperate my child? We’ll talk about ditches we walk in, how to get out, and most importantly, strategies to manage behavior so you and your children with special needs can succeed in your daily life. You can do this!
You Can Homeschool Your Child With Dyslexia, Marianne Sunderland
Dyslexia affects 20% of our kids. Research shows that dyslexic kids become dyslexic adults. Early intervention with researched-based teaching methods can help your child avoid many of the struggles with school caused by poor reading skills. This session will help parents understand what dyslexia is and what it isn’t, provide practical help to understand learning styles and how to choose teaching methods that are more effective. The session will also include encouragement for the day-to-day struggles, both academic and emotional, and conclude with learning the advantages to the dyslexic way of thinking.
Teaching Math to Kids With Dyscalculia, Marianne Sunderland
Many kids struggle unexpectedly with math despite having average to above-average intelligence. This talk will cover:
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- What is Dyscalculia?
- Understand why kids struggle with math – underlying causes
- Proven methods of how to teach kids who lack math sense
- Implementing appropriate accommodations and modifications in the homeschool
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