Midwestern homeschool conference to celebrate ‘richness’ of simplicity in teaching methods, 40-year anniversary

As the Midwest Parent Educators (MPE) nonprofit marks its 40-year anniversary, its spring conference will highlight many homeschool families’ firsthand experiences – including the power of simplicity in teaching.

“It’s easy to get caught up in the mentality that we’ve got to add more: we must do more, we must get more, and our children must study more,” writes Sonya Shafer, one of the event’s featured speakers, for her workshop “When More Is Less: A Call to Simplicity in Your Schedule, Your Home, and Your Children’s Education.” 

“But the funny thing is that when we keep adding more, we usually end up with less of what really matters.” 

Shafer, who co-founded the Simply Charlotte Mason curriculum publishing company, has homeschooled for almost 30 years. She encourages families to explore “the richness that simplicity can bring” to homeschooling. 

“A Charlotte Mason education is not about information, it is about relations,” she concluded in one of her website’s featured blog posts. 

“A short lesson can stimulate your student to form a relationship with God, with God’s creation and His natural laws, with others, or with herself. And once that relationship is in place, your student can continue to develop it for the rest of his life.” 

New open houses, student showcase 

The conference and curriculum fair will be March 6-7 at the KCI Expo Center in Kansas City.  

In addition to workshops and a vendor hall, it will offer two new features: “open house” sessions and a student creative arts showcase. 

The nine open houses, which will take place 9-10 a.m. March 6, will host giveaways and cater to homeschoolers with specific interests: 

• “Mentor Moms,” or those looking to connect with veteran moms for advice and connection 

• Homeschool dads 

• Grandparents who homeschool 

• Parents of preschoolers 

• Homeschool pastors 

• Those homeschooling in high school  

• Those looking for or attending homeschool co-operatives, often called co-ops 

• Those interested in family entrepreneurship 

• Those teaching unique learners – the session will include signups to learning screenings at the conference 

Ultimately, education should capitalize on a child’s predisposition toward exploration, according to Shafer. 

“Children come into this world with a natural desire to learn. Look at a toddler or a preschooler and you see a child who is constantly exploring, experimenting, testing, and processing. It’s natural. But too often we school that out of them.” 

Shafer warns against rote memorization and outward stillness as tactics to keep children focused on their schoolwork. 

“When children are required to sit and listen or read and memorize a list of facts all day, they gradually lose that natural curiosity. The joy of learning dries up. 

“But with short lessons that focus on a wide variety of ideas – that present living thought that the student is encouraged to form a personal relationship with – that natural love of learning is preserved, and the student doesn’t dread school each day.” 

Early bird registration ends Feb. 15, although conference attendees can sign up at the door if they miss advance pricing.