Melinda Boring, despite her last name, has been a popular workshop speaker for over 10 years. She enjoys having the privilege of sharing her personal and professional experience, humor, and compassion with others. Her presentations are packed with practical suggestions and her personable style gives fresh hope and perspective to experienced homeschoolers and newcomers alike. A willingness to openly relate her personal anecdotes leads to a special connection with the audience. Very often attendees’ feedback boils down to: “How long have you had a hidden camera in my home, because that is exactly what we deal with every day?”

Melinda is also an authorized Joyce Herzog workshop presenter and she is available to offer six of Joyce's workshops in addition to her own. We expect more to come!

In addition to presenting workshops in multiple states, Melinda is also an accomplished author. Her book, Heads Up Helping! has been a source of encouragement and hope for hundreds of people. For the past several years she has also been a regular columnist in the Ohio Home School Companion, a bimonthly publication of Christian Home Educators of Ohio. Her articles have been reprinted in a number of other magazines, online newsletters, and state homeschooling publications as well.

Armed with a degree in education and her M.A. in speech/language pathology, Melinda and her husband felt led to homeschool their children. Recognizing that two of her children were struggling learners, Melinda applied herself to find ways to meet those needs as well as those of her typically developing child. Despite her many prayers, Melinda’s children continued to present her with challenges that made her become a better teacher than she wanted to have to be! As only God can, He now uses those challenges to bless others through Melinda’s presentations as she shares over 17 years experience as a homeschooler and 25 years as a speech/language pathologist. Melinda’s first two children graduated from their home school in May 2006, and although she is adjusting to life as an “empty desker” of two, she continues to homeschool her youngest child.

Melinda is owner and president of Heads Up! and can be reached at the address below or through the website www.HeadsUpNow.com.  

Melinda Boring Presentations
(Click any presentation to see description.)

Helping the Distractible Child – Part One (through primary grades)

Helping the Distractible Child – Part Two (late elementary onward)

Helping the Distractible Adult

Sensory Integration

When Socialization IS An Issue

Adapting Curriculum for Struggling Learners

Speech Articulation Skills

Developing Receptive and Expressive Language Skills

Melinda L Boring is an approved presenter for the following Joyce Herzog workshops:

Secrets Teachers Never Tell

Choosing and Using Curriculum

Multi-Level Teaching is For You!

Teaching Reading With Success

Motivating Reluctant Learners

Nifty Tricks

Learning in Spite of Labels

Helping the Distractible Child – Part One (through primary grades)

Does your child fidget, seem to be in constant motion, or frequently go off on tangents? Maybe your child can sit still just fine but seems to be in his own little world rather than attending to the task at hand. Does a twenty-minute assignment take two hours at your house? Come and learn the best teaching tips for working with distractible children as well as ways to tweak the learning environment and develop your child’s awareness of time passing.
(Return to Presentation List)

Helping the Distractible Child – Part Two (late elementary onward)

Have you ever considered recording your voice so you wouldn’t have to keep saying the same things over and over? If you feel as though you are constantly redirecting your distractible child, it may be time to teach some strategies to promote self-monitoring and greater independence. Find out how using a menu can help identify areas of distractibility, encourage your child to take responsibility for using strategies, and learn ways to tackle projects and get them done on time.
(Return to Presentation List)

Helping the Distractible Adult

Melinda and Scott Boring, married for 21 years, team up for this lively presentation about distractibility issues for adults. Melinda loves organizational aids, structure, and planning in advance. Scott loves spontaneity, creativity, and procrastinating. How did these two ever get together!? Find out how this couple found strategies that work. Includes question and answer time with attendees.
(Return to Presentation List)

Sensory Integration

Is your child an extremely picky eater, hypersensitive to sounds and smells, or irritated by clothing tags or sock seams? Or does your child seek out stimulation and sensory experiences? Is she a messy eater, or does he seem extremely clumsy? Do they love to be hugged tightly, or hate to be touched in any way? These are just a few of the common issues when a child is experiencing difficulties with sensory processing. Come and learn how to identify sensory issues and how to find strategies and resources to help deal with their impact on your child and family.
(Return to Presentation List)

When Socialization IS An Issue

Does your child have difficulty when trying to join an activity? Does your child fail to make eye contact or respond inconsistently to others’ interaction attempts? Perhaps your child tends to monopolize conversations or has a limited number of subjects he prefers to discuss. Children with special needs such as Learning Disabilities, Autism, or Attention Deficit Disorder frequently need extra practice and specific instructions to develop important social skills. Learn how to identify specific aspects of social skills and ways to gently teach them through daily activities and games.
(Return to Presentation List)

Adapting Curriculum for Struggling Learners

You’ve planned a great lesson, you’re enthusiastic, and then before you even begin your child asks, “How long is this going to take?” Or maybe you like to go with the flow but your child persists in wanting to know a schedule for the day. Take the next step beyond identifying basic learning styles to recognizing ways teachers and students may differ in their approaches to processing information and completing assignments. Learn proven teaching strategies and techniques for adapting and modifying curriculum to maximize your time and effort.
(Return to Presentation List)

Speech Articulation Skills

Is your child’s speech unclear? Do you find yourself interpreting what your child says because others couldn’t understand it? Maybe your child has difficulty with specific sounds, but you don’t know if you should be concerned about it or just wait and see. Experienced speech therapist, Melinda Boring, will explain different types of speech sound errors, which sounds tend to be the last and hardest to develop, and simple strategies to help your child have better speech intelligibility.
(Return to Presentation List)

Developing Receptive and Expressive Language Skills

Speech therapist Melinda Boring will share tips and methods used by professionals to help children develop their receptive (what is understood) and expressive (what is conveyed) language skills. Learn practical strategies to help your children increase their comprehension and express themselves effectively as they interact with others throughout daily activities.
(Return to Presentation List)

Melinda L Boring is an approved presenter for the following Joyce Herzog workshops:

Secrets Teachers Never Tell

Learn SECRETS that will simplify your life AND enhance your teaching! Learn how to begin the year, what months are more conducive to learning, what to do when the year isn't long enough, how children learn and so much more. Joyce draws from over 30 years experience to present concepts that that make your job more effective and reduce stress. You'll laugh, you'll learn, and a LOAD will be lifted from your shoulders.
(Return to Presentation List)

Choosing and Using Curriculum

Understand your curriculum choices so you can choose more effectively! Joyce presents principles to consider as well as specific comments on many available materials and their effectiveness. This will help you understand your needs better so you waste less money on materials that don't work! We will address special needs, but have much to offer every parent making curriculum choices. Confused about educational styles, grade levels, or what your learner can do independently? Want to know the pros and cons of various reading and math curricula? Come and hear this before you spend your budget!
(Return to Presentation List)

Multi-Level Teaching is For You!

Learn three simple-as-ABC ways to get started into multi-age teaching. Experience teaching and learning in a new way. How can you successfully teach more than one child at very different levels without "reinventing" everything all the time? Receive a list of questions to spark learning on any topic. Learn what it means to "really" teach. Participate as it works with a really large group! Learn the steps of good teaching. And have fun - but you've got to listen fast! One hour chuck-full of learning!
(Return to Presentation List)

Teaching Reading With Success

Learning to read CAN make sense and be fun! Look at why so many methods leave your learner struggling to read, spell or both, and get strategies that lead to success. All ages, all learning styles, even special needs can learn to read and even spell better!
(Return to Presentation List)

Motivating Reluctant Learners

Look BACK, see what happened. Then turn it around! Insights that you will appreciate, plus techniques and strategies to help you move forward and prevent problems with your younger ones.
(Return to Presentation List)

Nifty Tricks

Great ideas that will revolutionize HOW you teach and your effectiveness. See how to use graph paper to simplify the teaching of everything from printing to addition, to perimeter and square root! Learn ways to reuse any workbook, instantly improve reading for some children, make learning math facts fun and easy, record progress and more!
(Return to Presentation List)

Learning in Spite of Labels

See the heart of your learner and improve his learning.
(Return to Presentation List)