Durenda brings decades of experience in a gracious, practical, and gentle way. Her words and voice bring a sense of calm to the hearts of parents and help them realize that they really can do this!
She has been a wife to Darryl for 33 years and homeschooling mom to 8 kids, 7 of whom have graduated. They have homeschooled all their children from the beginning.
Durenda is the author of The Four Hour School Day, The Unhurried Homeschooler, and Unhurried Grace for a Mom’s Heart. She mentors moms at simplyunhurriedcommunity.com, is the host of The Durenda Wilson Podcast and writes for Homeschooling Today and Epoch Times.
The Sky Is the Limit: Homeschooling High School
These final years seem full of pressure and can feel intimidating. Every parent wonders if their kids will be prepared for college, if they missed something, or if their child will measure up. In this workshop, parents are encouraged to take a step back and think about what education should really look like at this age. Durenda is in her 15th year of homeschooling high schoolers and will share how she turned her children’s interests and experiences into high school credits, and how combining subjects can help keep your high schooler motivated. She will also share the importance of parents moving away from a dominating role and more toward the role of a coach during this season.
Preparing Your “Mom Heart” for the Post-Homeschool Years
The homeschooling journey becomes such a big part of our lives as moms that sometimes it seems as though we will never see the finish line. But talk to any homeschool mom with grown kids and she will tell you, “The days are long, but the years are short.” What feels like a lifelong commitment soon becomes a distant memory, and when you’ve given your all to this worthy task of homeschooling, the next season can bring a conflict of emotions. Durenda has graduated seven students (so far) whom she has homeschooled from the beginning, and in this session, she shares some key thoughts to consider as you near the finish line.
Unhurried Homeschooling: Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers
The pressure starts before we even hold our babies in our arms! Cloth diapering or disposable? Store-bought baby food or homemade? Nurse or bottle-feed? We even feel pressured to decide our “style” of parenting before we have a chance to engage in the role. Feeling pushed and pressured is no way to start our parenting journey or our home education. By taking time in the early years to learn to let God lead us, we begin to create the margin that helps give us the freedom to be the parents and homeschooling family God has called us to be.
Unhurried Homeschooling: Why We Need to Slow Down
In a world that is moving at warp speed, it’s easy to forget that kids are still kids. Their needs haven’t changed: they need time to explore and experiment with the real world around them, to absorb life through all their senses, and to process their thoughts at their own pace. All of these are crucial in laying a firm foundation for higher learning, but this takes time! Learn why this is so important, and how to protect and defend your kids’ childhood.
Chores: Why They Are Essential in Homeschooling
Most of us agree that chores are important, but often moms and kids are frustrated, angry, and resentful when it comes to how and when to implement them. Having 8 kids in 13 years has the potential to bring a mom to her knees and her home into disarray, but God taught our family SO much through working together. The benefits of having our kids do chores are countless! Investing in this area not only lightens our loads as moms but is an essential part of our kids’ education.
The Four-Hour School Day
Often, parents who are considering homeschooling are hesitant because they think that home educating their children will take seven hours a day, but that simply isn’t the case. In this workshop, Durenda shares the reasons why home education doesn’t have to be an all-day event. This session is loaded with encouragement for parents and will help them begin to see how they and their kids can thrive in homeschool life.
