Online registration is now closed. Registration at the conference is from 8:30AM-9:15AM. Fee is $10 for adults, kids are free.
Speaker Bios
Betty Granata
Betty is a homeschool mom of 2 teen age boys. She has been homeschooling for the past 5 years in CT. Betty’s boys have been to public and private schools, prior to being homeschooled, with very little academic success. Betty is the Chapter Development Manager for Smart Kids With LD. Smart Kids With LD is a non-profit organization that seeks to educate and empower parents so their children can succeed.
http://www.smartkidswithld.org/
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Roy and Diane Speed
Roy and Diane have been home educators for the last 15 years, tutoring two children from preschool through high school.
Diane has a heart for helping other homeschooling families through their journey. She has tried to meet the needs of the homeschooling community by launching various homeschool groups and conducting various workshops throughout the year:
http://www.classicalkids.net/The Classical Kids Network
http://hscollegebound.com/HS College-Bound
The Blend - A high school & honors-level instruction of History, Science, Math, and Foreign Language, which meets in Bethel CT.
Roy is a writing consultant in the business world. For more than a decade Roy has been teaching middle and high school students close reading of complex works, including Shakespeare, Chaucer, Herodotus, and more. His online Shakespeare courses have proven popular with students all over N. America.
Roxanne Meade
Roxanne was a certified pre-k to 6th grade teacher. She now homeschools her 2 children. Roxanne has experience tutoring kindergarten to adult in literacy skills, writing and speaking. Roxanne is also a Barefoot Books Ambassador..
http://www.barefootbooks.com/?bf_affiliate_code=000-24gr
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Donna Person
TEACH - CT
Donna has served on the board of TEACH since 2000. She is also an affiliate of the National Alliance of Christian Home Education Leadership. Donna has had the privilege of homeschooling 5 of the best children in the world for more than past 20 years.
Bill Chagnon
Acting Director of Admissions at Norwalk Community College.
http://www.norwalk.edu/default.asp
Dr. Kelly Raymond, Ph.D.
Dr. Kelly B. Raymond is the owner and co-director of Raymond Educational Center. She received her Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University in School Psychology and is a Certified School Psychologist and Licensed Professional Counselor. She is currently pursuing her certification in the Orton-Gillingham approach. Dr. Raymond specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of students with learning disabilities. She and her husband have homeschooled their two daughters through high school.
http://raymondeducationalcenter.com/
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Dr. Randall Raymond, Ph.D.
Dr. Raymond earned his Ph.D. in School Psychology from Penn State University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor. He has owned and directed the Raymond Educational Center in Ridgefield for over 20 years, where he has specialized in the assessment of learning styles and needs. Dr. Raymond has extensive experience helping homeschool parents develop personalized educational programs to meet their children’s unique learning styles. He and his wife have homeschooled their own children through high school.
http://raymondeducationalcenter.com/
Vanessa Byrne
Homeschool mom since 2012; BA in Theatre from Indiana University - Bloomington. Owns South Kent Cabinetry LLC with husband of 25 years. Vanessa is looking to open The Litchfield Hills Sudbury School in New Milford, CT in 2017.
Catherine Fraise
Catherine is a former high school teacher, Montessori 3-6, 6-12 and Adolescent Guide and project-based homeschooler. Cathe is the founder and Executive Director of Workspace Education in Bethel, CT.
http://workspaceeducation.org/
Claire Fraise (High School)
Claire attended Montessori school until age 8. She was homeschooled using an eclectic curriculum and interest-based large-scale projects. Now a senior, Claire is a published author, writes for Wilton magazine, helps run an NGO in Madagascar as well as a full load of traditional curriculum online at Western Connecticut State University.
Lora Sant
Lora is certified to practice therapy in NY. She has a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. She also counseled as a pastor’s wife.
Lora is a mother of 3 children (girl 16, boy 13 and girl 9) who have been homeschooled since birth. She knows the challenges homeschoolers face in our area. She desires to be an encouragement to others.
http://www.lorasant.com/index.html
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Silvana Hebert
Silvana is in her fifth year of homeschooling using the Classical Christian model. She is a mother of two lovely young girls. One of her lovely daughters was diagnosed with Down’s Syndrome at the age of 5. Since the diagnosis, Silvana has taught both of her daughters side by side at home. Silvana has a heart for sharing her methods to deciding what curricula to teach and the method in which to teach, her special needs child.
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Elena Zaldumbide
Elena started her homeschool journey in sixth grade. She graduated from homeschool in 2015. Elena currently attends community college and works full-time for an ophthalmologist.
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Elisa Zaldumbide (High School)
Elisa had been homeschooled for over nine years and is a senior in high school. She will be graduating in May and plans to attend college locally in the fall.
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Alexandra Fitzpatrick (High School)
Alexandra was homeschooled from 6th-8th grade (in NC and CT). She is the oldest of 3 girls. Alexandra attends a public high school in CT, and is in the 10th grade. She has enjoyed participating in high school sports, especially golf. Alexandra will be embarking on her first international missions trip to Panama this summer. Although Alexandra is no longer homeschooled, the homeschool community and her friends from the homeschool community are “her people”.
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Ryan Raybuck (High School)
Ryan was a member of Classical Conversations (in CT and Texas) from 6th grade through 9th grade. He is now in the 10th grade in a public high school in CT. He enjoys playing football and made the JV and Varsity football team at his high school. Ryan is the oldest of 3 boys. During the summers, Ryan and his family lead missions trips to Kenya. Ryan, like Alexandra Fitzpatrick, continues to embrace and maintain his homeschool friendships.