Carol Barnier

Carol's Messages are for:

17 Years of Homeschooling and I Hardly Twitch at ALL Anymore.

   --(formerly the Practical Parenting talk--updated with even more humor)

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What are you THINKING?

          --Learning Styles & Beyond

This talk is BIG on the beyond. So often, learning style materials pour all their time and energy into finding the right label for your child's learning style. (Yes, we now know he's a right brained, global, sub-dominant, argyle-wearing, rational wombat...but how do I teach him to spell?) And while there are many different tools for assessment, too often these same materials are light on just what you should do after the label. How do you teach history so it sticks? What if she can't understand fractions? What if he loves language but hates to write? This workshop will be all about "What do we do now?" come away with lots of ideas you can use Monday morning.

A Prodigal Speaks Out

Do you have a child who is doubting his faith? Or perhaps a daughter who has rejected your beliefs completely? Are you convinced you've failed...and the state of this child's heart is weighing heavily on you and your spouse? Come and listen to Carol share her own journey away from and back to her faith after 13 years as an atheist. She'll share thoughts and views from inside the mind of a lost child. You'll learn the best thing you can do for this child and for yourself. Come and find an understanding heart that hurts and rejoices along with your own.

Giving Your Child a LOVE of Missions--An Awesome Year Long Unit-Study.

Imagine learning about the exciting lives of missionaries in a way that incorporates history and geography, science and language. Any study of history should begin with people.  You can make missions a year-long unit study that covers a full school year of learning (you will need your own math program). Find out how to take well written biographies that engage your child and create a year-long study covering a multitude of learning while enriching your child's faith through a study of the lives of people who devoted themselves to teaching others about Christ. 

Homeschooling 101

So you think you're gonna homeschool? Worried? Excited? Overwhelmed? Would you like to avoid some of the more common pitfalls? Come listen as a long-term homeschooling mom, Carol Barnier, tells what she has learned, alleviates common fears, shares some surprising benefits and encourages you to have much fun on this journey. You can do this! And she'll tell you how.

Don't Miss the Gift in This Child 

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Have you ever heard someone say “All children are gifts from God” only to roll your eyes and think… “Ha! They don't know what goes on in my house!” If you don't look for God's gifts, you may be missing some of His best. Come laugh and be encouraged to see just what God had in mind when he designed your child. Learn how to see your child through God's spectacles and how to stay focused on God's vision of your child...not the world's.

Empowering the Shy Child
God has wonderful plans for this shy child of yours.  But to see them, you'll have to drop the world's view of this child as a defective child and instead start to unravel the gifts God has placed in this unique and precious family member.  Come and learn this different perspective that celebrates the qualities in this child.  Go home with many practical suggestions to use right away in empowering this child with the knowledge of their real value.

HELP! How Do I Teach this Highly Distractible Child (in two parts)
A two-session workshop that attracts not only families with ADHD children, but also those whose children are simply fidgety. How do you teach a child with an impossibly short attention span? This home schooling mom of a supercharged, highly distractible child shares the practical tips that turned their home schooling from an exercise in pain and frustration to one of pleasure and success. Topics include, putting motion into learning, making math fun, the unique difficulty with writing and decreasing distractions. Also a thought provoking commentary on “What was God thinking?” when he put such qualities in your child. Come and learn practical tips that you can start using Monday morning. 

HELP! I Fell Off My Lesson Plan!

When things don't go as planned, when no one can seem to focus on their spelling, when the kids (and you) need an off day, what can you do? A day away from the lesson plan doesn't have to mean learning is over. Come learn lots of ideas for an atypical day that is fun, memorable and packed with learning.

If I'm Diapering A Watermelon Then Where'd I Leave the Baby?

Why do we start for the kitchen to get a drink for a child, get sidetracked by a paperclip on the floor and end up weeding in the garden with no idea why our child is still thirsty? Why do library books constantly disappear into black holes in our homes, never to be seen again?...at least not before the fines add up? Why do we have 25 projects started in our day and only 2 or 3 are ever finished? As a self-proclaimed "Gloriously Unregimented Mom", Carol shares stories and strategies from the heart (and from the trenches!) about a home run by a highly distractible mom. She brings to light the many "truths" distractible moms must own if ever they are to develop strategies that work. Best of all, Carol shares her firm conviction that the highly distractible mom has a real and God-given edge over the naturally organized mom. Come and learn and laugh as you find REAL help for the highly distractible mom.

If Thou Seekest Thee Deep Appreciation,  Goest Thou Quickly and Buyest Thee A Dog -- for the Leadership Track

A fun & honest look at the real life adventures and frustrations of being a leader in support ministries.  It isn't always easy.  It isn't even always uplifting.  But in this workshop, you'll learn why it is always important. Come, listen and laugh as we  learn some great tools that equip us to serve with joy.

A Day in the Life of a Homeschool Leader-- for the Leadership Track

Lots of laughs are shared as we explore typical trials that come to homeschool leaders. We walk a similar journey, and there is great value in learning from each other's experiences. Carol shares tips to smooth the process, methods to improve communication and a joyful perspective to help us enjoy the trip.

Margins for Moms.  Limits that Liberate

Too often we've just accepted how busy our lives our supposed to be.  But many of us are running through life in a frenzied fog.  We have a nagging sense that it shouldn't be this way, but don't know how it should be.  Even if we did, we often don't know how to get from here to there.  With a bit of laughter and an unabashed challenge of the status quo, learn to take control of the input and output of your family's lives.

Oddly Wrapped Gifts: Find God's Gifts in Life's Toughest Moments        Guilt, anger, depression, jealousy, guilt...there is an extraordinary gift residing within.  How to go through the process of claiming these gifts and freeing yourself from the damaging power of the painful accompaniments that often take up residence. 

Teaching Your Child to Read...Made Easy
Relax. It's easier than you think. This workshop will walk you step-by-step through a simple and easy-to-use method based on phonics and fun combined in a simple game that kids will ask for day after day. The game is learned in one minute but will grow with your child through years of learning. All the materials for this method will cost you less than $2.00

Creation of a Homeschool Co-op
Follow the ups & downs, the mistakes and the rewards of the first two years of a now-thriving homeschool co-op.  Learn how to start, what questions to ask, what costs you can expect, what policies you need up front, and what surprising things human behavior will add to the equation. 

Copyright © 2001-2009 Carol L Barnier  All Rights Reserved.