2026 BFHES Virtual Teach-In
Saturday, July 18, 2026
12pm Welcome/Keynote Conversation with Queen Taese
1pm --- Teaching Truth
Live Workshop (50 minutes)
Learning Through an African-Centered Lens (Monica Utsey)
African-centered education moves beyond adding African history to a curriculum. This workshop invites participants to learn how to intentionally place African people, cultures, contributions, values, and ways of knowing at the center of a child’s educational experience across all subjects. Monica Utsey draws from her experience as co-founder of Sankofa Homeschool Collective and her lived experiences between the United States and Ghana. She will share practical examples of how families can integrate an African-centered lens into everyday learning, regardless of where they are in their homeschool journey.
Coffee Talk (20 minutes)
Getting Started Homeschooling (Khadijah Z Ali-Coleman)
For the parent deciding to homeschool, everything may seem overwhelming at first. There is no federal handbook on how to homeschool legally in the US. Homeschool laws are state-based. So, it is important to know what you don't know. Dr. Ali-Coleman offers a checklist for parents new to homeschooling, helping parents understand the importance of staying compliant in your state, developing a plan, and having some goals for yourself and your family.
Dr. Ali-Coleman is founding director of Black Family Homeschool Educators and Scholars, LLC. She homeschooled her daughter off and on through P-12 and co-edited the book, Homeschooling Black Children in the US and edited the forthcoming book, Homeschooling Black Children on a College Pathway. She is a multigenre writer, performer, and tenured full professor in the Humanities department at the Coppin State University, an HBCU in Baltimore, MD.
Coffee Talk (20 minutes)
Free and/or Low Cost Resources to Build Reading and Writing Skills (Kendra Price)
Parents learn ways to incorporate reading and writing into their daily homeschool activities with the help of a few free or cheap online resources. Kendra Price, a former public school chemistry teacher turned homeschool mom, is in her thirteenth year of homeschooling. Kendra believes homeschooling is an opportunity to love on your children, spark a love for learning in them, impart your faith, values, and heritage in them, and reclaim quality time as a family unit. She also believes that homeschooling is a solution to the school-to-prison pipeline, systemic discrimination, and low expectations associated with the public school system. Kendra is passionate about sharing her knowledge and experiences through her blog at www.aheart4homeschool.com. She also hosts A Heart 4 Homeschool Podcast, where she highlights the experiences of other black homeschool families to encourage others along their journey.
Coffee Talk (20 minutes)
Benefits of Creative Play for Early Learners (Colie Aziza)
Creative play is how early learners begin to make sense of the world around them. Play should be encouraged, not discouraged, when you begin home educating children especially those between the ages of 4-8.
Colie Aziza is the lead content creator of Mariama Learning Channel, a channel designed to support Early Learners' Needs. Colie published her first children’s book, Corey’s Dreams in 2016 using her pen name Aziza M. Throughout her life’s work, she encourages both adults and young people to always follow their dreams. She is certified in Early Childhood and Special Education, a 30+ year veteran Early Childhood Educator who specializes in working with early learners who have diverse learning needs.
2pm -- Instilling Power
Live Panel (50 minutes)
Worldschooling: Taking the Show on the Road (Jade Weatherington; Sherri Mehta,PhD; Dannielle Davis, PhD)
Traveling abroad is a dream that many families share but figuring out how to traverse across the continents (or even the next state over) with children in tow while homeschooling can feel overwhelming and even impossible. In this session, panelists discuss what learning away from home entails and how regular everyday families can make it happen on a budget. Panelists will consider the question of how to raise globally-minded children when traveling outside the country isn’t a realistic possibility. The answer may surprise you!
Coffee Talk (20 minutes)
Interest-Led Learning (DeShaun Silas)
Every child has unique interests, talents, and gifts that can become powerful tools for learning. In this workshop, parents will discover how to harness their children's passions whether in gaming, music, entrepreneurship, law, science, sports, technology, art, or history—and transform them into rigorous, meaningful educational experiences. Learn the Passion-to-Purpose Planning Framework to turn your child's interests into a comprehensive, academically rich unit study or learning pathway they can begin implementing immediately.
DeShaun Silas is a homeschool advocate, curriculum reviewer, and educational content creator who specializes in designing interdisciplinary lessons that blend history, literature, science, culture, and real-world learning. Her educational approach emphasizes project-based learning, African American studies, leadership development, and personalized instruction that meets students where they are while encouraging them to reach their highest potential.
Coffee Talk (20 minutes)
From Pre-Teen to Teen: The Arc of Instruction (Matthew Rankin, PhD)
This talk spotlights the observations, challenges, and opportunities homeschool parents may encounter, as their child(ren) enters their preteen and teenage years.The preteen and teenage years represent a natural pivot, not only in terms of childhood growth and development, but in homeschool instructional dynamics. During these transitional phases, learning processes can undergo gradual shifts from parent-driven endeavors towards child-driven exploration. This talk lends support and encouragement to homeschool parents who are currently experiencing these gradual shifts, while also foreshadowing these shifts for homeschool parents of lower school-age children.
Dr. Matthew Rankin earned his doctorate from Emory University’s Department of Sociology. His research examines the motivational, curricular, and instructional dynamics of Black families’ homeschool praxes. While completing his graduate studies, he, his wife, and two children became homeschoolers themselves. Since 2020, he has assumed primary teaching responsibilities for his son, 12, and daughter, 7. In 2025, he and his wife founded Homeschool for the Culture—a social media platform designed to illuminate their experiences and perspectives, as a homeschool family.
Coffee Talk (20 minutes)
Writing is Not Dead! Cultivating a Writing Practice in an AI World (Jade Weatherington)
When homeschool parents think about writing, the focus is often on essays, research papers, and grammar. While those skills are important, many graduates will quickly discover that writing extends far beyond the classroom. This talk addresses the writing skills students are most likely to use after graduation, whether they plan to attend college, enter the workforce, learn a trade, or start their own business. Topics will include essay writing, professional emails, college application essays, requesting letters of recommendation, resumes, cover letters, and other forms of real-world communication.
Jade Weatherington is a longtime homeschooling parent who homeschooled her daughter for over a decade. Her daughter recently graduated early from the family's homeschool, and is now beginning her journey at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). As a single parent, Jade Weatherington also built an online writing academy where she teaches writing classes to students ages 8-18.
3pm -- Building Agency
Live Workshop (50 minutes)
The College Admission Process: A One Stop for All of Your Questions (Natalie Mack)
The workshop reassures parents that homeschooled students can successfully enter college and provides guidance, strategies, and resources for planning high school academics and the college admission process with confidence. Natalie Mack is a veteran homeschool mom of 5 homeschooled children who she homeschooled to college over a 23-year period. She is a homeschool consultant, author, speaker, and nonprofit founder.
Coffee Talk (20 minutes)
Finding Your Village: Friendship, Nature, and the Power of Community (Sherri Mehta, PhD)
Explore the importance of friendship, community, and outdoor experiences in the homeschool journey, including emerging research on how time spent outside supports children's physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Beyond the benefits of nature itself, outdoor spaces create room (both literally and figuratively) for children to connect, collaborate, explore, and grow. Dr. Mehta will share her own experience using social capital, relationships, and community connections to help build a homeschool co-op and create meaningful opportunities for my children to develop friendships and confidence. She'll share how small connections can grow into thriving communities, and how our children flourish when they have the space to learn, play, and belong.
Coffee Talk (20 minutes)
You Matter, Too, Mama! Mama Culture for Homeschooling Mamas (Amber O'Neal Johnston)
Motherhood is a journey of constant giving, often leaving little room for mothers to focus on their own intellectual and emotional needs. Mama Culture offers a way to replenish that well, providing mothers with an opportunity to learn, reflect, and grow.
This talk is presented by author, speaker, and workschooling mama, Amber O’Neal Johnston. She helps families create culturally rich, life-giving home education. She is the author of A Place to Belong and Soul School, and the editor of Homegrown. Through books, storytelling, and thoughtful learning experiences, she encourages families to celebrate heritage, cultivate belonging, and explore the world together.
Coffee Talk (20 minutes)
Benefits of Dual-Enrollment (Khari Dawson)
Khari Dawson is a third-grade teacher and published writer based in Baltimore, MD. She was homeschooled off and on during her P-12 years, graduating from her family's homeschool in 2021 while also earning an associate's degree from the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) as a dual-enrolled student at 17 years-old. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and minor in Film Studies in 2024 from the University of San Francisco at age 20. Her creative work has been featured in POETRY magazine, McSweeny's Quarterly, and the textbook, Conjuring Worlds: An Afrofuturist Textbook for Middle and High School Students, edited by B. Sharise Moore. Khari will discuss the ways that dual-enrollment enhanced her homeschool experience and prepared her for her transition to university across the country from her hometown, and, ultimately, into the greater world as an adult.
The College Admission Process: A One Stop for All of Your Questions (Natalie Mack)
The workshop reassures parents that homeschooled students can successfully enter college and provides guidance, strategies, and resources for planning high school academics and the college admission process with confidence. Natalie Mack is a veteran homeschool mom of 5 homeschooled children who she homeschooled to college over a 23-year period. She is a homeschool consultant, author, speaker, and nonprofit founder.
Coffee Talk (20 minutes)
Finding Your Village: Friendship, Nature, and the Power of Community (Sherri Mehta, PhD)
Explore the importance of friendship, community, and outdoor experiences in the homeschool journey, including emerging research on how time spent outside supports children's physical, emotional, and cognitive development. Beyond the benefits of nature itself, outdoor spaces create room (both literally and figuratively) for children to connect, collaborate, explore, and grow. Dr. Mehta will share her own experience using social capital, relationships, and community connections to help build a homeschool co-op and create meaningful opportunities for my children to develop friendships and confidence. She'll share how small connections can grow into thriving communities, and how our children flourish when they have the space to learn, play, and belong.
Coffee Talk (20 minutes)
You Matter, Too, Mama! Mama Culture for Homeschooling Mamas (Amber O'Neal Johnston)
Motherhood is a journey of constant giving, often leaving little room for mothers to focus on their own intellectual and emotional needs. Mama Culture offers a way to replenish that well, providing mothers with an opportunity to learn, reflect, and grow.
This talk is presented by author, speaker, and workschooling mama, Amber O’Neal Johnston. She helps families create culturally rich, life-giving home education. She is the author of A Place to Belong and Soul School, and the editor of Homegrown. Through books, storytelling, and thoughtful learning experiences, she encourages families to celebrate heritage, cultivate belonging, and explore the world together.
Coffee Talk (20 minutes)
Benefits of Dual-Enrollment (Khari Dawson)
Khari Dawson is a third-grade teacher and published writer based in Baltimore, MD. She was homeschooled off and on during her P-12 years, graduating from her family's homeschool in 2021 while also earning an associate's degree from the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) as a dual-enrolled student at 17 years-old. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and minor in Film Studies in 2024 from the University of San Francisco at age 20. Her creative work has been featured in POETRY magazine, McSweeny's Quarterly, and the textbook, Conjuring Worlds: An Afrofuturist Textbook for Middle and High School Students, edited by B. Sharise Moore. Khari will discuss the ways that dual-enrollment enhanced her homeschool experience and prepared her for her transition to university across the country from her hometown, and, ultimately, into the greater world as an adult.
4pm-Closing
