As a longtime Midwest Parent Educators (MPE) volunteer and staff member, I really enjoyed giving a workshop session at its homeschool conference and curriculum fair on March 31-April 1.
The workshop session was called, “How Do I Teach Sex Ed In My Homeschool?”
“I can’t wait to tell my children all about the birds and bees!” said no parent ever. Why can it be so hard to have “the talk” with our children, especially if we spend every day with them homeschooling? Drawing from her own experience, MPE alumna Shanxi Omoniyi explores how her parents taught sex education in their homeschool with wisdom, grace and humility (along with a hefty dose of humor!). She also explores age-appropriate guidelines, starting from birth and going all the way into young adulthood. NOTE: This workshop is intended for adults only.”
While the workshop was a little nerve-wracking for me, the support and encouragement I received from the audience made it more than worthwhile. Here were some of the ratings and comments (all 5 out of 5 stars!):
- “she really helped relieve my apprehension of teaching sex ed to my kids.”
- “great job teaching, very informative, loved her constant smile and microphone and power point was so helpful. such a helpful topic! really good insights and tips. Thank You!”
I also heard back from two other people later – both homeschool dads, which I found interesting. One of them even went so far as to say that my workshop was the best he had attended so far that weekend (wow!). They wanted to know how to get copies of my book, which unfortunately I didn’t have with me at the time. Yes, I know how bad that sounds as an author (oops). But not to worry, you can buy the book anytime on Amazon!
Next steps
One of the women who attended my workshop came up to me afterward with some exciting news. She said she had heard my workshop last year, and it inspired her so much that she and her husband are now writing their own Christian homeschool sex ed curriculum! She asked whether she had my permission to include my book in her listed resources. Of course, I said yes right away!
That’s exactly some of the responses that I had hoped to generate with this workshop. Hopefully it will encourage more families out there to tackle this topic with their children in an intentional, God-honoring and long-term way. It may look different for every parent and child, but that’s part of the beauty of homeschooling and families in general. You can tailor and customize the learning for each person!
I’m happy for you, Shanxi! That is great that you presented and are inspiring others.
Thank you, Heidi! I appreciate that so much. 🙂 It’s sometimes out of my comfort zone, but hearing encouragement from others always makes it worthwhile.
Shanxi
What a great opportunity!
Thanks so much, Heather! Do you often go to homeschool conferences? If so, which ones?
Shanxi