Hal & Melanie Young
General Session Speakers
Hal & Melanie Young
Hal and Melanie Young are the award-winning authors of Raising Real Men; No Longer Little; and Love, Honor, and Virtue, among others and are the creators of Craftsman Crate. They are publishers, writers, bloggers, and popular international conference speakers known for their Christ-centered focus and practical, real-life stories. Hal and Melanie are the parents of six real boys (all grown!) and two real girls, and they live in noisy, messy happiness in North Carolina.
General Sessions
Freedom from Fear (Hal & Melanie)
Fear-based parenting drives us to make bad decisions despite the best of intentions. We choose curricula based on what our friends are doing, not what our kids need, because we’re scared they’ll miss something. We micromanage our teens because we’re afraid they’ll make mistakes. We stress and worry and can’t sleep at night. Why do we fall so easily into the what ifs? God has not given us a spirit of fear. This eye-opening session will point you to the real source of security and hope and free you to do what is best for your children no matter what anyone else is doing. Step up and take courage!
Workshop Sessions
No Longer Little – Hal and Melanie
The turmoil of the tween/preteen years between nine and thirteen usually catches parents by surprise. Diligent students become addled and distracted. Kids raised in church start questioning the existence of God. Sweet children seem to climb on an emotional rollercoaster – and then invite you to join them. Don’t get a ticket for that ride! Instead, learn to resist the temptation to lose it yourself and to shepherd our children through this challenging age at this funny and all-too-real workshop — and lay a foundation to make the teen years great!
How Not To Lose Your Teens – Hal and Melanie
When you get to the end of your homeschooling and your child leaves home, things get real. At that point, the only thing you’ll have is relationship: their relationship with God and their relationship with you. Learn about encouraging research that highlights the critical importance of relationships in the spiritual life of our children, find out how to rebuild strained relationships, and get practical help to build the kind of relationship that will last through adulthood. Hal & Melanie’s six oldest children have grown up and left home and are their best friends.
Your Marriage and Your Kids – Hal and Melanie
Does your marriage affect your kids? You bet. It affects them profoundly. It impacts their security, their identity, and their sense of worth. Beyond that, our marriage toolkit will be the one our kids reach for in their own marriages. Come take a look at your own marriage toolbox, pick up a few new tools, and learn five ways to tune up your marriage to make it even better for you and your children. Give them a legacy that will help them build a good marriage, too!
Boys and Media – Hal
How do you teach a young man to keep his way pure when the red-light district is riding around in his shirt pocket – or his friend’s? How can you help a boy think about the future when all he wants to do is game all day? Media addiction and porn are derailing young men at a rate that is hard to even believe. Learn how to teach your sons a healthy, Biblical attitude toward entertainment and sexuality. Prepare them to make it a matter of honor to practice self-control, do what’s right, and have healthy relationships with girls. Get them in the fight because there are no bystanders in this battle and we don’t want our sons to lose. The stakes are too high.
What Gifted Kids Really Need – Hal
We may hope our kids will be really smart, but what do you do when they are? It can be intimidating to think about educating a kid who’s blowing the curve, racing ahead, and seems to want more. Can you really meet his needs, or would he be better off with professionals? How can you help him fit in socially? Should he graduate early or on time? Hal and Melanie were involved in gifted programs in school, and had several precocious children themselves. Learn about challenging these kids academically, answering their spiritual questions, and knowing when to push them ahead and when to broaden their education instead. You can meet the needs of your bright child and enjoy doing it!
I’m Not So Sure About That – Hal
So maybe you’re considering homeschooling, or maybe you’re new at it – but you’ve still got questions, concerns, even uneasiness. Will they get into college? Can they find a job? Will they have any friends? What about sports? What if they have special needs? Will we be weird? Hal and Melanie have homeschooled their eight children from the beginning; come hear their first hand experience with all of these issues!
Teaching Boys to Love Reading and Writing – Melanie
So many parents ask, “Why doesn’t my son enjoy reading? I want him to love it!” This session, we’ll look at ways to help your boys read better, enjoy reading more, and find joy in stories and in research. What’s more, we’ll talk about ways to help your son over his hurdles with writing assignments. Melanie homeschooled all six of her boys from the beginning, and all of them eventually loved to read and won awards for their writing, too. You can do this!
Homeschooling Young Children – Melanie
When do you get started and what do you do first? We’ve had precocious readers and late bloomers, but every one of them has benefited from being homeschooled from the beginning. Find out how to know when each child is ready for formal academics, how to get started, and what homeschooling looks like for young children. Learn to relax and introduce your little ones to the joy of learning in a gentle and realistic way that will prepare them to succeed academically.
Curriculum Approaches and Choices – Melanie
Homeschool veterans toss around terms like unit studies, classical education, Charlotte Mason, and more, never dreaming how confusing it can be for someone new. Understand the different approaches available and get practical help in making this next year of homeschooling enjoyable and effective!