Featured Speakers
2010 Featured Speakers
We’re excited to have some of the best homeschool speakers in the country. Their expertise and experiences cover a wide range of topics, from beginning homeschooling and curriculum choices to information on how to teach specific subjects to encouragement for understanding why we homeschool and how to not only educate our children, but to impact their hearts and lives as well.
Susan Wise Bauer was born in 1968, grew up in Virginia, and was educated at home by pioneering parents, back when home education was still unheard of. She learned Latin at age ten, worked as a professional musician while still in high school, and wrote three (unpublished!) novels before she turned sixteen.
Since then, Susan has toured with a traveling drama group; galloped racehorses at a Virginia racetrack for spending money; taught horseback riding; worked in ghostwriting and newspaper ad sales; learned enough Korean to teach a Korean four-year-old Sunday school; and served as librarian and reading tutor for the Rita Welsh Adult Literacy Center in Williamsburg. Currently she runs Peace Hill Press, writes in a restored chicken shed, lectures on writing and history, helps run the farm, and cooks huge meals on a regular basis.
Susan and her husband now live in rural Virginia, where Peter serves as the minister of a nondenominational church. They have three sons and a daughter; five dogs; three horses; two cats; and a variable number of chickens.
Todd Wilson, author of Lies Homeschooling Moms Believe, Help! I’m Married to a Homeschooling Mom, and The Official Book of Homeschooling Cartoons, is a dad, writer, conference speaker, and former pastor. Todd’s humor and gut-honest realness have made him a favorite speaker at homeschool conventions across the country and a guest on Focus on the Family.
As founder of Familyman Ministries, his passion and mission are to remind dads and moms of what’s most important through The Familyman Weekly (a weekly e-mail sent to thousands of dads), seminars, and books that encourage parents.
Todd, and his wife Debbie, homeschool their eight children in northern Indiana.
Israel Wayne is a homeschooled graduate who is leading his generation in defending the Christian faith and developing a Biblical worldview. He is the author of the book Homeschooling from a Biblical Worldview. Israel is a regular columnist for Home School Digest and Brush Arbor Quarterly, published by Wisdom’s Gate, where he currently serves as the Marketing Director. He is also the site editor for ChristianWorldView.net.
Israel is a popular conference speaker, and a frequent guest on national radio programs discussing home education and cultural issues from a Biblical perspective. Israel’s family began home educating in 1978 and has been featured in national and international publications including TIME Magazine, The Arizona Republic, The Boston Globe, and The Wall Street Journal. Israel has been featured as the keynote speaker at various state homeschool conferences, with up to 5,000 in attendance.
Israel and his wife Brook were joined in marriage without dating and share their testimony of God’s faithfulness on an audiobook titled, What God Has Joined Together. Israel and Brook, also a homeschool graduate, are home educating their five young children, and Brook is a regular columnist for An Encouraging Word magazine.
Jim Weiss has been a storyteller for over 25 years. In June, 1989, Jim decided to do something more with the craft that he had formerly practiced solely for pleasure. He and his wife, Randy, formed a production company, Greathall Productions, and have thus far produced forty three (43) storytelling recordings with enticing titles from classical literature, such as Greek Myths, King Arthur and Sherlock Holmes. Jim’s Greathall line is the recipient of more than 80 major national awards from:
- The American Library Association
- Parents’ Choice Foundation
- NAPPA
- Parents’ Council
- The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio
- The Film Advisory Board
- Parents’ Guide to Children’s Media Award
- and more!
Weiss’ newest releases are “Julius Caesar and the Story of Rome” and “Carry On, Mr. Bowditch.”
Jim is a favorite speaker at the Southeast Homeschool Expo. Visit the Greathall website for more information about his recordings.
Randi St. Denis, Director of Home Educators Encouragement Alliance (HEEA), is an educator, popular homeschool speaker, and a seasoned homeschooling mom. Using her degree in Educational Psychology, Randi works as a consultant to public, private, and homeschool families; providing teaching expertise and assistance for all types of children. She is recognized as an expert in the technical aspects of learning that allow every type of child, from special needs to gifted, the opportunity to learn well.
Randi and her husband have homeschooled their seven children for the past 22 years; six of whom have gone on to college. The youngest is currently homeschooling.
Erin Brow
n Conroy, is the author of four books and other materials on parenting, healthy living, and the teaching of reading, spelling, and writing. Erin’s books include 20 Secrets to Success with Your Child, “My Kid is Driving Me Crazy!” — 14 Realistic Expectations that Make Parenting Easier, and 40 Days to Balanced Parenting; How to Get your Busy Life Back into Balance. Erin is also a national speaker, parenting and family coach, and 24-year homeschooling mom of 13 children. For over 30 years, Erin has taught young and old — in groups and one-on-one, in formal schools and in ministries. Erin is the writing instructor for Patrick Henry College’s Distance Learning program and is the author of their online writing courses. Erin served as an instructor for Cornerstone University’s Professional and Graduate Studies Division for eight years in writing. In 1996, Erin researched and developed The complete Mastery Reading and Spelling Program – a reading program for children ages 3 to 16 integrating hands-on-learning, solid research, and the disciplines of language development, brain-based learning, memory systems, and child motivation. Erin and her husband, Shawn, live in Michigan, where they home school six of their children who are still at home.
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Lisa Brown
Kelly Ling
