‘Encouragement Day’ to support homeschool moms: ‘They’re not on this path alone’

Many modern-day moms may think homeschooling is challenging, but they may not know it was once considered illegal.

The featured speaker for the upcoming Midwest Parent Educators (MPE) Women’s Encouragement Day is Zan Tyler, who was threatened with jail in 1984 for homeschooling her son.

“Freedom is only one generation away from extinction because our children, they don’t inherit freedom,” Tyler said in one of her recent podcast episodes. “We pass it on to them. It’s not in their bloodstream. It’s something they learn from us.” 

Tyler and other homeschoolers fought in South Carolina courts for the right to homeschool during the eight years after she was threatened. She also founded the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools in 1990, serving as its president for 10 years. 

Today she inspires the next generation of homeschoolers on her podcast and at events, including the Encouragement Day set for Feb. 3 at Journey Bible Church in Olathe, Kansas. 

‘They’re not on this path alone’

The annual event began as a small gathering of about 20 women, said its co-founder, Pat Kangas, in an MPE video.  

Today it has grown to serve hundreds of homeschool moms, with an estimated 350 women attending last year. Collectively they educate and care for more than 1,300 children. 

“Every mom needs to feel like they’re not on this path alone,” said Beth Layman, an event volunteer and member of the MPE board. 

The volunteers organizing the day often started as homeschool moms attending, who then saw the need and decided to continue serving others like them. 

“I’ve heard so many times, ‘I’ve never been so encouraged in my homeschooling journey as I have been today,’” said Tonya Wiley, who co-coordinated the event for several years. “Another woman, delighted that she could eat a meal, uninterrupted, with friends.” 

While most attendees live in the greater KC metro area, a few come from other cities and towns in Kansas, Missouri, and even other states. 

For example, Therese Dansby drove from her home in Nebraska to attend last year’s event. 

“I used to live in Kansas City, and so that’s where I initially made my homeschooling friends and decided to homeschool,” she said in an interview. 

“The homeschool group at Omaha has conferences, but they don’t have anything specific for women.” 

Additional event: Dad’s Night Out

MPE is also hosting its first Dad’s Night Out BBQ Dinner on Feb. 2, the evening before the Encouragement Day. 

Joe Tyler, Zan’s husband, will speak at the event. He serves as the president of Followers in Fellowship, a nonprofit to help preserve and advance Christian education in supporting homeschool groups. Before that, he worked for 30 years as an information systems project manager. 

Registration for both events is open on the nonprofit’s website until Jan. 21.