Conference Speakers
The Rockwells
Jeff Rockwell's Biography will be posted soon...
The talks to be given by Jeff will be:
- 10 Reasons Why Home Educating is a Sound Investment (with Beth)
- Clarifying your Homeschool Vision
- What Homeschooling Women want (from their husbands)
- The Moral of the Story - Character Training and Educational Success
Beth Rockwell's Biography
A daughter and servant of the King, Beth has been equipped to teach and to administrate. She was saved as a child and has used her gifting to serve the Lord in various ways. Being a pastor’s wife and a home school mom has given her plenty of opportunity to be involved in teaching and mentoring children, women and parents. She has been involved in home education associations both locally and provincially for several years as a board member, organizer, speaker and administrative assistant. Beth also has training as an RN. She has been married to her best friend, Jeff, for 24 years and is mother to Adam, Ben and Katie.
The talks to be given by Beth will be:
- 10 Reasons Why Home Educating is a Sound Investment (with Jeff)
- Bull's Eye: Setting and Achieving Goals in your Homeschool
- What Home Educating Dads want from Their Wives
Cory McKenna
Cory McKenna serves as Vice President with HSLDA. The convergence of Cory’s experience as a sales professional, pastor, evangelist, and apologist enables him to creatively communicate truth and relationally connect with virtually all demographics. He specializes in teaching applied apologetics, worldview, leadership and evangelism. He and his wife Dawn live in London, Ontario with their homeschooled sons, Joshua and Caleb.
The talks to be given by Cory will be:
HSLDA: A guard at your gate and guide on your journey
Have you fortified your family against the legal forces that threaten your homeschool? In this session, Cory McKenna (Vice President of Home School Legal Defence Association) will provide you with “need-to-know” legal information and the important updates affecting homeschoolers in Nova Scotia
Time Leadership
We all share one hundred and sixty-eight hours in a week…but are we managing our time or is our time managing us? This session will give you the techniques and tools you need to take the lead on your time and more effectively accomplish all the goals in your homeschool and all the happenings in your household, too!
In-laws, Outlaws and Family Feuds!
If you have any family or friends who are “indifferent” or even flat-out negative about your decision to homeschool - this session is for you! Join Cory McKenna as he shares his own inspiring and informative story about how he not only diffused most of the criticism of the naysayers in his life…but even earned their support!
Stephanie Jackson
Stephanie and her husband Jeff reside in Lake Echo, Nova Scotia. Their family has been homeschooling since 1998. They have five children in grades 1 - 11. Stephanie has always developed an eclectic curriculum and is excited to watch as it grows through the high school years. Stephanie and Jeff have spent several years facilitating the HEMS support group in the Halifax Metro area and Stephanie now also organizes swimming lessons, field trips and a Science, Art & Technology fair for homeschoolers. Stephanie has been active in the Nova Scotia provincial conference over a number of years and enjoys helping those embarking on the homeschool journey. As Atlantic Representives for Math U See, Stephanie and Jeff have had the privilege of meeting and learning from some very experienced homeschool leaders across North America. They look forward to being a continuing resource for other homeschoolers.
The talk to be given by Stephanie will be:
Record Keeping & Portfolios
Scrapbooks and photo albums are a great way to immortalize the early years of our children's lives, but what are we to do when it comes to collecting grades and measuring achievements in the academic realm? In this workshop, we'll consider the pros and cons of a variety of record keeping styles as well as the increasingly popular portfolio.
Lori Harold
Scrapbooking
This workshop will run on Friday afternoon from 2 – 4. Children under 10 must be accompanied by a parent. Time permitting, each participant will complete two scrapbook pages. You will need to bring your own pictures. Pre-registration is required for this workshop.
Styles of Homeschooling Panel
Kristen Habermehl - Traditional
My name is Kristen Habermehl and I am a homeschooling mom of five. We have been homeschooling for 8 years now and I love the privilege of teaching our children. Our style is quite traditional as models go and has worked well for our family and my personality as the teaching parent.
Lisa Pattison – Classical
My name is Lisa Pattison and I have been homeschooling my 2 sons, aged 10 and 6, since they were born. I am a former public school teacher. In addition to homeschooling my sons, I support my family by maintaining a busy and active private piano teaching studio in my home.
The method that I chose to model my homeschool approach after is the Classical Method. While researching homeschooling I read many books including Homeschooling for Excellence and The Well-Trained Mind. These two in particular influenced my curriculum approach. My primary objective was to find a comprehensive and rigorous curriculum that reflected the individual needs and stages of the learner. Classical education was the right balance of these ideals.
Julie Laidlaw – Unit Studies
I have two children ages 11 and 12. My husband Rob and I have been homeschooling them since primary. We started our adventure into homeschooling with a unit study I created about birds. Since then we have used workbooks, books, life experiences, and unit studies to learn about our world. Unit studies always get us back to hands on learning, which we all enjoy. I look forward to sharing some things we’ve discovered about this type of education.
