Monthly Contributors

Analia Capurro

Analia Capurro is the designer and owner of Ingles360.net® and the author of all the educational resources sold in her website. After 20 years of teaching children she found that the only way children love learning is if teachers love learning and teaching, too. Promoting a learning environment where laugh, fun and friendship and companionship are as important as any language structure, are the things she had in mind while designed her bilingual resources.

Amy Roberts

Amy Roberts is the homeschooling mother of 6 living children and one precious little girl named Emily being held in the Lord’s arms. Her days are filled with giggly girls, rambunctious boys, and sticky baby kisses. At night she writes about it all at Raising Arrows, a blog dedicated to homeschooling, large family living, and hope for grieving hearts. It is her deepest desire that out of the overflow of her heart, her mouth should speak…and her fingers type.

Aubrey Lively

Aubrey is a homeschooling mama with a loud one-room classroom filled with four children, aged ten to two. She likes a Saturday morning with her husband and his guitar, a good cup of coffee, and a fresh sheet of paper. She has a BA in Literature and a MEd in Teaching, but more importantly, she thinks outside the box. (She believes the box is a conspiracy.) Visit Aubrey online at http://aubreylively.blogspot.com.

Barbara Postma

Barbara and her husband, as they homeschool their 7 children, are finding out that no two children are alike! Between lessons and lunches, Barbara blogs at Fuel by Barbara.

Belinda Bullard

Belinda is a wife and homeschooling mother of three, Belinda is an author and the owner of A Blessed Heritage Educational Resources, a literature-based history curriculum featuring African-American presence in history, as well as the contributions of other races to American history. A chemical engineer by formal education, she also serves as adjunct faculty for college distance learning programs. Belinda blogs at Simply Belinda and Chronicles of a Blessed Heritage.

Bethany LeBedz

Bethany is a veteran homeschooler, professional editor, writer, and speaker. You can check out her business website at www.bethanylebedz.com. Bethany contributes regularly to Heart of the Matter Online, has a regular column in the Home School Enrichment magazine, and occasionally writes for other magazines, websites, and newsletters. She lives in North Carolina with her family and she enjoys music, reading, scrapbooking, sewing, genealogy, and keeping up with friends in her spare time. Be sure to follow her blog, Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom, at www.bethanylebedz.blogspot.com.

Carol Barnier

Carol is a fresh, fun and popular conference speaker unlike any you’ve heard before. Her objective is to have the wit of Erma Bombeck crossed with the depth of C.S. Lewis, but admits that most days, she only achieves a solid Lucy Ricardo with a bit of Bob the Tomato. She is a frequent guest commentator on Focus on the Family’s Weekend Magazine broadcast, has been a guest on many radio programs and is a speaker to conferences nationwide. She’s the author of three books about dealing with (or possessing) a non-linear mind in a linear world: How to Get Your Child Off the Refrigerator and On To Learning, If I’m Diapering a Watermelon, Then Where’d I Leave the Baby?, and The Big WHAT NOW Book of Learning Styles. Her main websites are CarolBarnier.com and SizzleBop.com. You can also find Carol at her blog for moms with distractible kids at SizzleBop. And for fun, see her church humor blog at CarolBarnier.

Carol Topp, CPA

Carol is an author and accountant bringing cents and sensibility to families, small/micro business owners, and nonprofit organizations. Through her writing, speaking and consulting, Carol converts tax rules and business language into clear, easy-to-understand English. She is the is the author several books including the Micro Business for Teens series, Homeschool Co-ops: How to Start Them, Run Them and Not Burn Out and is currently working on Business Tips and Taxes for Writers for release in June 2011. Carol worked for the US Navy as a cost analyst before obtaining her CPA license in 2000. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two daughters, both homeschool graduates. You can visit her site at Carol Topp, CPA

Carletta Sanders

Carletta is a loving wife and homeschool mom of four. Her mission is to share information, ideas and inspiration with homeschoolers at each stage of their journey. To learn more, please visit her website, Successful Homeschooling or her blog.

Chris Worthy

Chris is mom to Caroline (16) and Nolan (11) and will soon celebrate 21 years of marriage to her favorite person, John. Chris practiced law before becoming a writer and stay-at-home mother more than 10 years ago. She enjoys cooking, crafting, spoiling dogs, green living and rummaging though old books. Follow along at www.chrisworthy.com.

Christine Hiester

Christine is a Christian, homeschooling mom to three boys and a girl, ranging in age from 9 to 2 years old. She is a musician by trade, eclectic in homeschool style, and continues to grow and learn along with her children in this journey of life and discipleship at home. Visit her blog at Fruit in Season.

Cindy West

Cindy West is an eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of three who loves learning alongside her children. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her nature study curriculum at Shining Dawn Books.

Dana Hanley

Dana is homeschooling her five children while moving to the country. You can follow her plans and adventures while seeking to live life more abundantly at Roscommon Acres.

Deb

Deb is a knitting, cooking, home schooling mom. Who is way cooler than that sounds. Really. She blogs about all sorts of random and sometimes even mildly interesting things at Not Inadequate.

Debbie Strayer & Dr. Ruth Beechick

Debbie is a veteran educator, speaker, author and home educator. She enjoys spending time with her husband of thirty-two years and her grown children.

Dr. Ruth Beechick, too, has spent many years teaching and writing on education. She specializes in curriculum and in how children learn. She is mother of two and grandmother of four and loves working together with Debbie because they think alike on education matters. For more books and articles, see debbiestrayer.com.

Debra Anderson

Debra has three sons ages 11 and younger. Her passions are education, mentoring, her husband, writing, church ministry and missional living — not in that order. She has her seminary Masters degree in Christian Education, is married to her pastor-husband of 16 years, and resides in their newish home in Denver, CO. In spite of moves between four different states, she has always home educated her boys — even on the hard days. She maintains a blog at www.emergent-homeschool.blogspot.com.

Elizabeth Curry

Elizabeth Curry is on year 14 of homeschooling her 9 children (with #10 arriving via China at some point next year). Devoted bookworms all, it’s not surprising that much of the learning that happens centers around whatever chapter book is being read. When she isn’t taking care of children or reading, she enjoys sewing, cooking, and writing. Her life of following Jesus with many children in the Big, Ugly House is chronicled at www.ordinary-time.blogspot.com.

Erica

Erica is a daughter of Jesus, a wife, a mom, and a homeschooler. She likes to digiscrap and dabbles in graphic design in her *free* time. She authors Confessions of a Homeschooler and would love you to drop by for a visit anytime!

Hannah Hagarty

Hannah is a relaxed homeschooling mama of six. Her and her family are big on the outdoors, big on family days, and big on making memories in everyday small ways. She loves handcrafts, iced lattes, re-arranging furniture and counts falling into bed exhausted a sign of a really great day. She and her husband make a home in upstate New York with their energetic children and a menagerie of animals. Hannah blogs at Cultivating Home and you can connect with her on the facebook page, Cultivating Home.

Heather

Heather is a homeschooling mom of four kids ranging from middle school to early elementary age and wife to a chemical engineer (aka: homeschool dad extraordinaire). Before raising a family, she taught middle school and high school biology and has an MS in curriculum and instruction secondary education. Now teaching at home means the chance to provide the extraordinary for her children. She’s been homeschooling six years and you can read about those adventures on her blog, Blog She Wrote.

Jane Maritz

When she’s not battling too-sticky play dough and untangling herself from the hot-glue webs surrounding her too-cute felt ladybugs, Jane contemplates how to instill in her four-year-old daughter a heart to change the world for Jesus. Her family has circled the globe and landed in rural Oregon where the grass is green and the sky is blue, though not usually at the same time. Their eclectic homeschool adventures are chronicled at Mozi Esmé.

Jamerrill

Jamerrill is the daughter of the King, and wife to Travis of 13 years. They have five beautiful children so far, ages 6 months, 2, 5, 8, & 11. By dawn of the morning, she works out the joys, struggles, blessings and challenges while authoring Holy Spirit Led Homeschooling. When she’s not lost in a wonderful book with her children, taking them on a travel adventure or catching frogs by their pond, she likes to garden, write and collect stained glass windows.

Jamie

Jamie is a wife, homemaker, home educating mama, adoption advocate, and professional photographer. Her blended family includes three kids: one by birth, one by marriage, and one adopted as a teen. She tries never to venture too far from a steaming hot cup of tea. Visit with her at See Jamie Blog!

Jenn

Jenn is a happily married, Christian, homeschooling mama of five little ones (ages 7,5,5,3,3). Yes, two sets of twins! She has a BA degree in Mathematics and holds a masters degree in Education. A former high school math teacher, she now uses all her education to teach her own kids! In her “spare” time she enjoys scrap-booking, though blogging seems to be taking its place. She currently has five blogs. Mama Jenn is her main blog. Education Cubes features customizable learning blocks. The Homeschool Resource List is a collection of free online resources. The “Brown Like Me” Book Review showcases books featuring “brown” characters. The Living Math Book List is a collection of living math books.

Jenny Penton

Jenny Penton is a homeschooling mother of seven children and loves the closeness that being home with them provides. Un-schooling is how they live and learn and she blogs about their learning experiences at Homeschoolingbelle.com. Jenny also has a passion for inspiring women to become master life planners and that includes menu planning. Check out her sites for life planning and her inspiring recipes on her food blog at plannerperfect.com and plannerperfectmeals.com

Jimmie

Jimmie is a former public school teacher turned homeschooling stay-at-home-mom. Her only child, Sprite, is a creative middle school student who loves the arts and living books. Jimmie uses a loosely Charlotte Mason approach with lots of notebooking and field trips. Visit her blogs Jimmie’s Collage and The Notebooking Fairy.

Joyce Wheeler

Joyce is the mother of three and has been homeschooling since 1997. She has one daughter, already graduated, a son she is homeschooling through high school, and the other is a junior high student. Currently she is re-organizing her nonprofit organization, Education Jump-Off. Her mission is to aid in the education of the world’s greatest natural resource, the children, and “never stop learning” is her personal motto. A blogger and free lance writer you can find her at Homeschooling High School and Baton Rouge Homeschool Examiner.

Karen DeBeus

Karen is married to the love of her life, Steve, and a homeschooling mom of 4 children ages 10-2. She was called to homeschool when her oldest was kindergarten age after thinking, “I could never do THAT!” Now she is passionate about encouraging others on their homeschool journey. She is also working on simplifying all areas of her life, including homeschool, and putting God first in all she does. Read more about her journey to simplify at www.simplylivingforhim.com.

Kimberly Bredberg

Kimberly has been a homeschool mom for 16 years and is an advocate for reform in education. Her book, Habits of Being: Artifacts from the Classroom Guild, is forthcoming this spring. She is a founding partner of Blackbird & Company Educational Press and CollectiveBanter.com and is a regular contributor to fourandtwenty.typepad.com as well as being involved in developing an innovative line of curriculum. Her writing and visual art students have received numerous awards including regional and national recognition by the Scholastic Alliance for Arts and Writing and have been published in online and in-print journals. Long ago the California resident, mother of four, received her Bachelor of Arts degree in biological psychology and fine art, graduate training in clinical art therapy, and more recently earned her MFA in creative writing.

LaToya Edwards

LaToya is a homeschooling, single mom of two beautifully busy boys, one that has been diagnosed with SPD. She has a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Development, will soon have her law degree and aspires to run her own adoption agency in the future. She is a very busy woman, but wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s loves music, poetry and reading fiction stories. But mostly she just loves spending time with her boys. LaToya get real over at Christian Momma, where she blogs about the struggle and journey of being a single christian woman and mom.

Lisa Nehring

Lisa has been homeschooling her 5 kids (2 of whom have graduated) for the past 20 years. She holds Master’s degrees in Human Development and in Marriage and Family Therapy. Lisa has been involved in creating co-ops, class days, and camp experiences for homeschoolers, and was instrumental in bringing TeenPact to South Dakota. She writes regularly for the Homeschool Village as well as other magazines, websites and newsletters. Lisa and her husband of 25 years, David, a Christian Psychologist and Biblical Counselor, speak on marriage and parenting, education and homeschooling. Lisa blogs regularly about “crafting the extraordinary from the ordinary” at http://goldengrasses.blogspot.com/

Lisa Van Dong

Lisa has been teaching her two sons since 2004 and attempts to incorporate study, work, service, and play into their homeschooling days. She takes an eclectic approach to homeschooling and enjoys reading, writing, editing, and essential oils. Lisa blogs publicly at Pockets of Time and privately at Scooter and B.

Meg Wilson

Meg is a devoted wife to her husband, Ken, of 10 years, and mom and homeschooling teacher to her 6-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter. When she’s not writing or creating something, Meg loves to cook for, host and entertain friends and family. She also enjoys reading, the outdoors, eclectic music, yoga, and studying history. You can read all about her adventures (and misadventures) at her blog, Muses of Megret and read her product reviews at Electric City Academy.

Melinda Boring

Melinda has been married to Scott for 25 years and has three homeschooled children. Her 22 yr. old son and 21 yr. old daughter graduated from home school in 2006, leaving Melinda an “empty desker” of two along with her 17 year old daughter who will graduate in 2011. Two of her children and her husband have been diagnosed with AD/HD. The children also deal with auditory processing disorders and sensory processing challenges. The name “Boring” just doesn’t fit this family, and Melinda shares many humorous moments in her speaking and writing endeavors. Melinda is the author of Heads Up Helping and has been a contributing author to multiple publications. She is a workshop presenter with a passion for helping struggling learners and providing practical strategies, compassion, and understanding for those with special needs. Melinda is also a speech/language pathologist with over 25 years experience and the owner of Heads Up, a company with products for those who learn differently. You can find her blog at the Heads Up website, where she writes as “Heads Up Mom”.

Melissa Morgner

Melissa Morgner is a happy wife of 17 years to her college sweetheart and mother to six loud, but lovable children ranging in age from 13 down to three. After ten years of homeschooling and sampling way too much curriculum, she takes an eclectic approach in their little schoolroom, choosing resources that best suit the children and the teacher. Her busy household puts her gifts of juggling and winging it to the test each day. She steals moments here and there to write on her blog, Half Dozen Mama, about the lessons she’s learning from the Lord in the routine but privileged tasks of mothering and homeschooling.

Misty Krasawski

Misty is the overly-blessed mom of eight children whom she homeschools in sunshine-y Florida. She has been clinging ferociously to the hand of her Lord since she was knee-high to a grasshopper, homeschooling for the past thirteen years, and has eighteen more years ahead of her with the children who are glad she will have done most of her experimenting on those who went before. Her wonderful husband Rob has much treasure laid up for him in heaven for having been called to such a daunting task. After the house goes to sleep she can sometimes be found gathering her thoughts at www.encouragingheartsathome.com

Montserrat Wadsworth

Montserrat is completely devoted to her wonderful husband, Joseph, and their eight children (seven girls and one boy!). They live on a 4,000 acre alfalfa farm nestled in a small Northern Nevada valley. They’ve been homeschooling for 11+ years. Montserrat enjoys, photography, cooking, crafting, chocolate, and sloppy goodnight kisses. She strives to live each day as God would have her do following Mary’s biblical supplication, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” (Luke 1:38) You can find her at her blog Chocolate On My Cranium.

Patty Thompson

Patty is a homeschooling mom to 4 kids and wife to her high school sweetheart. She has been homeschooling for 4 years and loving every minute of it. Future plans include Homeschooling through high school. Her kids range from Kindergarten through 8th grade. Her style is very eclectic and believes in going with what works! She is rarely seen without a book in her hand. She loves to plan lessons and unit studies. She has started working with a co-op group and has enjoyed teaching group classes. Her hobbies include Genealogy and card making. She has often been found lost in thought on her blog. Catch her there and take a moment to feed their school mascot, Shiver, at Shiver Academy.

Rhodema Cargill

Rhodema lives the parenting adventure with Calvin, her college sweetheart. They have two adult daughters and two teenagers still at home, a girl and a boy. Their homeschool style is eclectic with a great love of living history books. Rhodema is a freelance writer and speaker. Visit with her on her blog: MommyLife.

Tara McClenahan

Tara is a devoted mom to a two-year-old “little man” and enjoys discovering how God has “packed his suitcase”. As an associate with iBloom, she has a heart for inspiring, encouraging and equipping moms to become “Proverbs 31 mamas” and raise their children according to Biblical principles and guidelines using the Bible and other tools. Tara adores falling leaves, sweatshirts, Starbucks White Chocolate Mochas and the first curly BBQ chip from the bag! Make sure to visit www.MommyMissions.com to download your free Christian mom resource!

Tricia Hodges

Tricia gave up life in the drive thru lane for the joy-filled road home. She homeschools five children from preschool to middle school. You can find her facing that daily dose of chaos at Hodgepodge. There she writes about practical schooling strategies and shares how she is saving bucks and her sanity with the frugal recipes of her Southern roots. Tricia is also known as Hodgepodgemom.