Joyce Herzog taught in public and private schools for 25 years before moving on to encourage parents in the art of schooling at home. She has delighted crowds across the country with humor and candid homeschooling advice. Her most popular workshops have been “Secrets Teachers Never Tell,” “Hands-On Learning,” “Nifty Tricks” and “Learning in Spite of Labels.” She has often left her audiences laughing tearfully and swirling in new ideas to implement immediately.
Her years of experience with nontypical learners have given her a unique perspective of focusing on individuals rather than presenting subjects. Joyce has rescued thousands of children and hundreds of families from the lethargy and frustration of failure-oriented thinking absorbed by years of impossible unmet expectations. She believes that every child is designed to be a learner and, indeed, is learning something all the time. Children also have a built-in sense of justice and fairness and see early on that all people are different. The goal of a teacher, she says, is “to enhance the environment to nurture and guard the learning, encourage the child’s unique passions, and draw out the built-in God-design that prepares this child to accept and develop his calling.”
Neurotypical, gifted and challenged learners can best be educated in a small environment where they are nurtured and challenged. Most children, especially those under age eight, are big picture learners, benefit from touching and manipulating materials, laughing, playing with pieces and ideas and building vision and motor skills to handle future reading and writing demands. Reflecting this belief, her products are designed to be multi-age, logic-based, with all modalities involved in the practice sessions which are creative, varied and multitudinous enough to give the slowest learner and the most precise mom options that fit.
Though Joyce has a master’s degree in learning disabilities and a doctorate from her writings, she says, “Just call me ‘Joyce’. ‘Dr’. is a label and I wrote a book called Learning in Spite of Labels.” Joyce is the creator of The Scaredy Cat Reading System and author of more than 20 books, including Timeless Teaching Tips, Choosing & Using Curriculum, History in His Hands, and learning tools such as School in a Box, Dice in a Bag and Early Learning Kit ‘n a Bag.
Joyce believes that God has directed the family to be the center of education and that, not only are all individuals uniquely designed, but all families unique as well. The steamroller efforts of the average school tend to try to form all children into the same mold, making them good for little and excelling in nothing. Joyce has helped families all over North America find a new perspective on their children, their homeschool and their educational plans. She and her husband, Tom, live in Chattanooga, Tennessee with two small dogs, four garden spots and a swing under the first of two huge carports. They enjoy entertaining and playing with children. Y’all come.
JoyCom 