Diane Allen
Diane has home-schooled her three children for a total of 14 years. Her additional educational experience includes teaching high school science; tutoring and teaching in the community college; and tutoring privately for 9 years. Tutoring a variety of students with learning differences, as well as her own children, challenged her to understand learning differences and adopt a variety of teaching methods. Since 1998 Diane has provided the Woodcock-Johnson Achievement Battery to home-schooled families and helped parents select curriculum for their specific needs. For many years Diane served on the steering committee of a large homeschool support group and directed Homeschooling 101 seminars. Diane and her husband live in Fuquay-Varina. Their oldest son is a college graduate working his way into graduate school, their second son is currently enrolled in college and their daughter is in the seventh grade. In addition to home-schooling, running a business and washing the middle son's laundry, Diane cares for two "grand-pets" - a very large hunting dog and a very long corn snake.
Nicole Aponte
Nicole is a home school mom to three boys, soon to be ages, 5, 6 and 7 yrs old. She is happily married to Jason, her husband of 11 years. She began home schooling preschool in 2005 with her oldest son. She became convinced that this was a path the Lord was leading her to follow and filed with the state of
Being offered the opportunity by fellow friends and teachers to participate, Nicole has completed many teacher workshops and conferences concerning Autism.
She has experienced the grace and miracles of the Lord in watching her child with Autism transform from non functional language, no eye contact, withdrawn, depressed and unreachable into an outgoing, curious, charming, loving chatterbox he is today. He is now barely meeting the diagnostic criteria required for Autism!
Nicole enjoys singing for the Lord at her church in the children's and adult's music ministries. She volunteers for Habitat for Humanity as a window dresser for their Thrift Shop. She also loves to decorate, play keyboard, shop, research, and read books on Autism and biomedical/ health. It is her dream to go back to college at
Teresa Anderson
Teresa Anderson is a wife and a mother. She's mom to four sons and a foster daughter ranging in age from 8 to 19. She has been home schooling for 10 years and currently home schools her three youngest sons and one other young man. Since discovering two years ago that her youngest two have dyslexia and dyscalculia, Teresa has given herself to an intense study of how to teach and minister to the unique needs of her children. She counts it a privilege to share her knowledge with others and prays that it will bless them. Teresa has a BS in English Ed. with a minor in Political Science and a partial masters in Christian Counseling. Her interests include: nutrition, herbal medicine, off-the-grid-living, soccer, wreath-making, thriftiness, her pets, and enjoying the outdoors. Her loves are Jesus Christ, her family and several close friends. Teresa and her family live in western
Kim Ashby
Kim earned a BS in Nursing from Catholic University of America. Her family is beginning their 10th year of home education. Barry and Kim have 3 boys. Her 19 year old graduated from
Matthew Bass
Matthew is a twenty-six-year-old homeschool graduate. He was home educated K-twelve alongside his younger brother and has lived in many parts of the country, but currently calls Wake Forest, NC, home. As a teenager, he was involved in tutoring an autistic child. He graduated with a B.A. in Computer Science in May of 2005 through Thomas Edison State College's distance learning program. He has spoken at the
Lisa Blocker
Lisa is a homeschooling mom of 4 children all with varying special needs including ADHD, CAPD, Autism, Sensory Integration Disorder, and Velocardiofacial Syndrome. She has a background in special education. Married to James for 18 years, originally lived in
Carlita Boyles
Three years ago, Carlita was happily homeschooling her three children (now ages 10, 13 and 14), trying to keep up with all the normal activities of a wife and mother, having no idea of the journey she would be taking. Just over two years ago (at the request of the moms in her homeschool group who wanted to teach math like she does), she and her husband, John, began work on Math on the Level, capturing the teaching approach she developed while homeschooling her own children. This year, their family has traveled from
Before she became a stay-at-home homeschooling mom at the birth of her oldest daughter, Carlita was a public school teacher. She has a BS degree in Child Development, an MA degree in Special Education and holds California Multiple Subjects and Specialist in Learning Disabilities credentials. For over 12 years, she taught classes for learning disabled and language disabled children, served as a Resource Specialist, and had a brief stint of teaching regular sixth grade. She also has experience teaching severely and profoundly disabled children as a substitute teacher. This background in teaching children with special needs was the foundation of her homeschooling when she left the public school system, and ultimately became the foundation of Math on the Level.
Carlita and her family live in
Debbie Brown
Debbie has been the authorized Math-U-See Representative to the
Patricia W. Collins (Patsy)
Patsy holds a PhD with a concentration in School Psychology (a hybrid between psychology and special education.) She is a Licensed Psychologist – Health Services Provider – Psychologist.) Patsy is the Director of the Psychoeducational Clinic at NCSU. Her areas of interest include learning disabilities, attention deficits, giftedness, behavior management, and autism spectrum disorders.
Anna Cunningham & Lynne Taylor
Collectively, Lynne & Anna make up the duo of "The Fieldtrip Gals!" Lynne lives in
Alisha Davis, DC, CACCP
Alisha is a family wellness chiropractor that has been practicing in
Lynne is currently an Assistive Technology Consultant for the South Central Region of the North Carolina Assistive Technology Program. Lynne has worked for N. C. Assistive Technology for more than 8 years. Her office and center are located in
Sarah DeNome, MSW, LCSW
Sarah provides psychotherapy for children, adolescents, adults, and families at Therapeutic Alliances located in
through the
Sarah specializes in family therapy with children and adolescents. She also specializes in the utilization of play therapy techniques within her practice. Additionally, Ms. DeNome has clinical experience including working with Autism and related disabilities,outpatient therapy with youth and adults, intensive in-home therapy, and community support services. She is also an active member of the National Association of Social Workers (since 2002), the Association for Play Therapy (since 2004), and the National Association for Self-Esteem.
Melanie Edwards, MS. OTR/L
Melanie is an occupational therapist with experience in private practice and schools settings. She is currently a full-time mom and homeschooling her 6 year old daughter who has a diagnosis of pervasive developmental delay diagnosis and significant learning challenges. Ms. Edwards facilitates a group for parents and professionals to offer support to families using the DIR/Floortime approach.
Susan Faulkner
Susan resides in
Susan attended a private Christian college in
Susan has remit/relapse Multiple Sclerosis since 1996 but, only in the last two years has she had multiple and severe relapses that have left behind many permanent disabilities that have given a first person experience in many special needs areas, effecting the way she now currently parents and schools her home schooled children. It's given her a personal insight to what many of our children live with everyday and taught her better coping skills when teaching her children.
Cindy Gaddis
Cindy is the mother of seven children, ages 7-21, whom she has been living and learning from through homeschooling since 1992 with her husband Weston. Her family has recently settled on 15 acres in a log home in central
Susan Harris
Susan has been married 21 years, has three children (20g, 15b, 11g), and has homeschooled for a total of eight years. Her oldest graduated at age 16. She continues to homeschool her other two children. Her middle child, now in highschool, has been diagnosed with Aspergers, CAPD, severe dyslexia, apraxia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, dyscalcula, ADHD, and sensory issues. She started on her homeschooling journey when the public school system and a private school told her her son would never be able to read. She is active in her local homeschool community assisting others who have children who "learn uniquely" to homeschool.
Ann B. Herrick
Ann grew up in
Maria Troiani-Howard
Maria has been homeschooling her 12 year old son since September 2001. Maria has a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering, and worked as an engineer/computer analyst for 13 years before homeschooling. She has gained her "teaching" knowledge from awesome homeschool moms, knowledgeable professionals, therapists, conferences, and books. Maria's philosophy is to have fun with your child and listen to them, they are also our teachers. Her son, Matthew, has Down Syndrome and developmental, fine motor and speech delays and sensory issues. Maria believes in inclusive community, so she and Matthew are involved in many community activities. Maria lives with her husband Benny and Matthew on a family farm and she enjoys caring for her animals, taking modern dance, playing African djembe drum and Native American flute.
Pam Hunsinger
Pam lives in
Robin Hurd
Robin is the mother of 4 boys, ages 15, 13 and 10(twins). Three of her children have special needs, including physical disabilities, lack of speech, autism spectrum, anxiety, special diets and ADHD. Because of her children’s disabilities, Robin has educated herself about ways to help her children and others like them learn. Robin and her husband have worked with NASA’s educational initiative to increase awareness of the needs of students with special needs and ways to help teach science and math more effectively. Robin volunteers for the AAC Institute and enjoys gardening and crafts.
Linda Johnson
Linda is a homeschooling mother of 3. She graduated from
Kathy Kuhl
Kathy began homeschooling in 1997, after trying for years to help her son succeed in school despite learning and attention problems. She homeschooled him for grades 4-12, and now encourages other homeschooling parents with her writing, talks, and consulting. She is the author of the book, Homeschooling Your Struggling Learner, and of the website www.LearnDifferently.com. She graduated from William and Mary, where she earned teaching certificates in secondary mathematics and English. She has a wide range of teaching experience, and currently teaches algebra and geometry to homeschooled teens. Kathy and her husband Fred have two grown children and live in
Fiona Last-Powell
Fiona has been a homeschooling mom since 1992. Prior to that she taught elementary students and Montessori preschool in the UK.She majored in Psychology as an undergraduate with a minor in Language Acquisition. Her Masters in Education focused on Early Childhood Development. She has three sons. The oldest has graduated from their homeschool and is currently at college. The younger two continue to be homeschooled. All three have a variety of learning differences including ADD, dyslexia, dysgraphia and rightbrain dominance. Fiona enjoys the continual opportunities to learn alongside her children afforded by homeschooling.
Colleen Leonard
Colleen is the mother of two adopted children. Mason adopted from a Russian orphanage at 7 months is now age 8 with multiple diagnoses - birth brain injury called PVL (periventricular leukomalacia), mild cerebral palsy, ulcerative colitis, mitochondrial disorder, and cortical visual impairments. Sarah is 3 years old and neurotypical. Colleen's been married to David for 14 years now and they live in
Winona Leonards
Tammy Lessick
Tammy is a homeschool mother of two. Her oldest is 9yrs old and autistic. He is nonverbal, has sensory issues, OCD and his fine motor skills are around a 2 1/2 year old. They have been homeschooling for a year and a half, and in that time my son has made a great deal of progess.
Ketchie McCallum
For four years, Kechie has been sharing Discovery Toys products and services with families all over the
Debbie McCarthy
Debbie McCarthy, Executive Director of the Augustine Project (www.augustineproject.org) which is an outreach ministry of Holy Family Episcopal Church in
Linda McDonough
Linda has been a reading tutor for over twenty years using the Orton-Gillingham technique. She is the founder of the Augustine Project, a program which provides free intensive tutoring to low income children with reading problems. She continues on the board and as a tutor trainer. Presently she works as both a private tutor and a contract tutor for school systems, specializing in kids with special needs. She has worked with dyslexic, down syndrome, autistic, and behaviorally challenged children. She is presently pursuing her
Brenda Murphy
Brenda, mother of five sons, author, speaker, creator of Sail Away Learning Systems, and founder of
In 1994, a fellow home schooler asked Brenda to help teach her child to read. Informal training with one mom mushroomed into language arts workshops and seminars for home school parents and public and private schools. The success of Brenda’s unique, creative instructional methods attracted enough students to open The Murphy-Cates Learning Center in 1997. Since then, the
When the Christian Booksellers Association organization decided to address the growing needs of the home school market at the 54th CBA International Conference in
Sue Patrick
Sue is a home school mother of two. Her son has autism and for the last eight years she has worked to develop a structured and specialized teaching system for home schooling. She believes that no matter how few skills or language, how fidgety, energetic or distractible a child is, he or she can be taught depth, understanding, and to be more independent in their school day.
Anita Pandey
Anita Pandey is Associate Professor of linguistics, and Coordinator of Professional Writing in the Department of English at
Andrew Pudewa
Andrew Pudewa is the director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing and a homeschooling father of seven. Presenting at conferences and seminars around the world, he addresses issues relating to teaching, learning, writing, thinking, spelling, and music with clarity and insight, practical experience and humor. His seminars for parents, students, and teachers have helped transform many a reluctant writer and have equipped educators with powerful tools to dramatically improve students' communication skills.
Andrew is a graduate of the Talent Education Institute in
Andrew was awarded The Old Schoolhouse magazine "Homeschool Speaker of the Year" award for 2006 and 2007.
Sharon Puryear and Debbie Jackson
Sharon and Debbie, of Live & Learn Press, are homeschool moms who have over two decades of experience between them, having schooled children from kindergarten to graduation.
Lusi Radford
Lusi taught in the Wake County Public School System's V. I. program for twenty-three years and was the first blind teacher the county ever hired. She retired in 2005 to become a full time home school mom to her daughter, Dasha, who was the second blind child in
Leslie Rosenberg
Leslie is a visual perceptual therapist and reading specialist. She has 15 years experience working with and trained by Developmental Optometrists. She is trained to test and remediate ocular motor (tracking), visual motor, visual spatial and visual perceptual disorders that may interfere with learning. She treats a variety of students with all types of reading disorders. She now runs her own specialized
She is trained in and uses techniques from traditional Visual Perceptual Therapy, and Visual information processing skills programs, Specialized Reading Improvement Programs, Cognitive skills improvement techniques, Programs designed to improve memory and other sensory integration therapies. She also has very specialized training in Dyslexia correction. She uses unique and specially designed programs to improve handwriting and spelling.
Paula Scicluna, MT-BC, NMT
Paula is a board-certified neurologic music therapist with over 18 years of clinical experience working with children having developmental, neurological and behavioral/emotional disabilities. She authored a chapter regarding the neurological impact of music on sensory integration in an internationally published book covering international Music Therapy concepts in neurorehabilitation and is the director of Rhythm & Rehab LLC, a neurologic music therapy agency in
Sandra Selling
Sandra, a home school mom, has experienced first-hand the transformation of children from reluctant writers who resisted writing assignments into those who now eagerly write twice what is asked and are proud of the results. Her passion for teaching this method is appreciated by overflow classes of moms and their children. Her practical workshops provide the tools you need to awaken a love for writing in your students. She has also worked privately with students with learning disabilities and developmental delays.
Dori Staehle
Dori is the owner of Creative Learning Educational Services in
David Taylor
David is a 24 year old who lives on his own and has multiple disabilities. He is achieving his dream of being his own boss. In 2004, he went to North Carolina DVR and asked for assistance in developing his own business as a drink vendor at various venues including NASCAR races, street festivals, etc. He was originally told that he should consider other employment options as owning a business would be impossible for him. He did not take "No" for an answer and pushed the system to take another look. He was able to demonstrate his true potential with the appropriate support systems in place, to make a real go of it.He has been in business since September 2006.He is also a presenter for his workbook, 25-Steps on How to Write a Business Plan, (NC Changing the Rules). In his spare time, he volunteers for numerous advocacy organizations including the NC DD Council, NC APSE, NC TASH, Youth 4 Advocacy, Statewide Consumer and Family Advocacy Council.He is active in Kawanis, Civitan and church.In 2006, the North Carolina DD Council awarded him the Jack B. Hefner Memorial Award in recognition of his many contributions as a self-advocate. He also won the NCAPSE Personal Achievement Award 2008.
Russell Thomas
Dr. Thomas, PhD is a practicing psychology in
Stephen and Amy Thompson
Stephen and Amy have been Professional Parents to more than 50 children over the past six years. Stephen and Amy have been nationally recognized for their work by the Teaching Family Association which awarded them the Practitioners of the Year Award in 2003. As Professional Parents Stephen and Amy have taught parenting classes and helped families problem solve issues within their home. In their last position as Family Teachers they reached the Family Teacher III- Mentor level where they mentored new professional parents and assisted as trainers during preservice training for new employees. Over the past six years the Thompsons have worked with children with many diagnoses including ADD, ADHD, ODD, OCD, bi-polar disorder, as well as abuse/ neglect children and Juvenile Justice.
The Thompsons moved to
Jan Wells
Jan has been an Elementary teacher for 26 years and has taught in
Jan is a reading specialist who has used the Guided Reading method to teach both competent and struggling readers. She enjoys introducing new literature to children of all ages. Her favorite children's author is Mem Fox. Jan lives with her husband in
S. Michelle Whichard
Michelle has a Ph.D. with a specialty in School Psychology, and she is a Licensed Psychologist-Health Services Provider-Psychologist. She currently is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology in the School Psychology program at NC State University (NCSU) where she works in the Psychoeducational Clinic at NCSU. She has been employed as a school psychologist in the NC public school system in the past. Areas of interest include: Psychoeducational Assessment, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity, Learning Disabilities.
Susan R. Whitehead
Homeschool mom, biological mom, adoptive mom, foster mom, grandmom! REAL MOM!
Susan and her husband, Mike, are celebrating 35 years of marriage this year. They have 4 children (all adults now); two sons who are married and two daughters who graduated last year and are continuing their education at home. They have six (soon to be seven) grandchildren, who are also homeschooled.
Susan loves to encourage others based on their personal experiences which are homeschooling, foster care, fostering to adopt, older child adoption, special needs, dealing with attachment issues, adopted children grown up, secondary infertility, multiple miscarriages, ectopic pregnancy, heartaches and most important, BLESSINGS!
The Lord brought them their daughters through foster care and adoption. Because of their developmental delays and special needs, Susan and Mike decided to homeschool. What a blessing that has been and continues to be, now for thirteen years! Homeschooled since first grade and 2007 graduates, both are continuing their education at home, serving the Lord in their family, church and community. They've especially enjoyed real life learning and love building websites to encourage and help homeschoolers.
Their family loves to travel, especially with the camper and have been to all 50 states and 5 countries! Mike co-leads a whole family Bible Class at
Marilyn Zecher
Marilyn Zecher, M.A., CALT is a former school teacher, certified academic language therapist and a nationally recognized presenter in the field of multisensory strategies for educating students who have language based learning disabilities. She is an instructor at the