"Watch this film and get in on the world's best-kept secret: labor and borth can be pleasurable - even ecstatic. Better yet, pleasurable birth enhances the health of both mother and baby and creates a positive foundation for a lifetime." - Christine Northrup, MD

Note: this beautiful film contains numerous graphic images of nudity and birthing... appropriate for all ages, of course!



ABCs OF HOMEOPATHY with Joyce Allenberg
Have you heard of homeopathy and its remarkable success in treating a wide range of acute and chronic health issues, but don't know much about it or how it works? Joyce will share all the basics: from the origin of homeopathy to its fundamental tenets, how it works and a range of homeopathic remedies and how to use them for what types of ailments. She will share resources and offer expertise on your health problems and questions.



FULL SPECTRUM HEALTH with Quinn Eaker
This is for anyone who wants to upgrade their alertness, strength, balance, coordination, flexibility, energy levels or any aspect of health imaginable. Whether you want to perform better or feel better, its all up-gradable. This is great for finding out what really matters and accepting rather than judging ones condition. Every body is different, so having a connection to one's body is key. This is great for those with new interests in health to those who are pro athletes. Health is an absolute passion and connection for me and I am aligned with possibilities that are accessible to any level of existence. This is beyond diet, beyond exercise and is instead a focus on full spectrum health from a point of understanding oneself rather than following another's dictates.


HEALING DIETS FOR OPTIMAL LIVING with Daphne Osunlade Edwards
Are you noticing all of the conversations about Autism, ADHD, and other issues that seem to be on the rise? Are you or is someone in your family dealing with candida, sluggishness, moodiness, foggy brain, so-called behavioral issues, etc. and you suspect that it may be related to food allergies, diet, environment, or the like? Join this informal and inspiring discussion as I share some of the healing dietary methods that I have used to turn our family around, even in the face of a long list of autistic symptoms, inexplicable depression, and listlessness. Let's share ideas, recipes, support, questions, and answers, addressing our needs and those of our loved ones to further our optimal well being.


BREASTFEEDING AND ECOLOGY with Jody McLaughlin
Everything going on in a mother's life not only effects her breastfeeding relationship, but the breastfeeding relationship effects everything in a child's life afterward! From interpersonal qualities of cooperation, empathy and kindness to the development of intuition, creativity and resourcefulness, the breastfeeding experience sets the course for it all. Let's take a deep and impassioned look at this critical stage of love and bonding between mother and child.



TRYING TO KEEP TOO MANY "BALLS" IN THE AIR? WHAT ARE YOU JUGGLING? ARE YOU DROPPING THE BALL? DISCOVERING BACH FLOWER REMEDIES with Lisa Price
Today's society would have us think we have to "do it all" in order to be considered successful. However, instead of being successful, juggling too many activities can become very stressful and can result in increased anger, frustration and resentment.
Learn about Bach Flower Essences, a safe, natural approach to help you manage emotional demands of everyday life by bringing negative emotions and attitudes back into balance and perspective.

Bach Flower Essences-Introduction to the "Worlds Best Kept Secret!"



Rethinking Spirit


WHAT IS YOUR DREAM? with Daniel Armstrong
Daniel's session for parents last year at RE was a huge success so he's back to host Round Two! He will work with you to develop talents, interests and passions, help you determine a dream and how to get started making your dreams a reality-immediately. This workshop will be interactive, and empower each person with psychological tools to overcome obstacles and inspire them to greatness. You will leave knowing how to write your own personal plan of action to make your dreams a reality.



SELFDESIGN LIFESPIRAL with Brent Cameron
We are all on a journey that began with our conception and that will end with our death. It is the journey of human awareness in a body from one cell through the development of our life to maturation. It is a long unfolding of our understanding, it is a one-way journey. Although we are all on this journey, we seldom get to think about it, we are often too busy. Even more important we do not have a good map nor an overview of the process. Using the mathematics that nature uses to unfold its beauty and its integrity, the SelfDesign LifeSpiral is an experiential journey on a lifesize timeline to discover a new way of thinking about our entire lifelong learning journey.


RETHINKING THINKING with Oren Harris
Is a radical shift in the entire thinking process. This session will focus on 3 areas thinking: 1) what we think and how it affects us, 2) The actual job of the mind , and 3) Life beyond thought.

Life beyond thought is about embracing the possibility of a new life operating system based on intuitive guidance and an energetic relationship with life. This does not replace or conflict with thinking, but rather supports and enhances the effectiveness of it.

Thinking is linear, sequential, and can be very circular. It has limitations when not kept in perspective. When you are in the flow and have an energetic relationship with life, you can process a lot more information alot faster, access infinite intelligence, your creative genius flourishes, and you can allow your personal evolution to significantly accelerate.

In Rethinking thinking we have the opportunity to move from an operating system that is primarily based on logic and perception to one that is more intuitive and based on expanding awareness. Our decisions will no longer be primarily based on what we think, see , hear, and think we know. We are evolving into new states of being and doing and it's time to Rethink Thinking!

Some of what you may learn in this session include:
· How to tap into super-accelerated learning
· How to stay connected to your internal guidance
· Moving from linear to non-linear thinking
· "Downloading" information vs. processing
· Living In The divine flow
· Unlocking your genius



HO'OPONOPONO
Ho'oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian process, updated for today's use, that allows for the RELEASE of problems and blocks that cause stress, imbalance and dis-ease within the Self. Translated, it means 'to make right' or 'rectify an error'.

In this process we begin learning to cleanse and release thought forms that are stored in the unconscious mind. These thought forms were created, accepted and accumulated from the beginning of our Creation - from the time we separated ourselves from Divinity. They are the cause of our problems - within our relationships, families, health, environment and society. Each of us is responsible for our own problems. The causes are within. Only by releasing the cause can changes be made. The answers are always within: Divinity is within.

Come and experience amazing energy shifts as you release blocks and old ways of seeing things...while creating more peace, balance, wisdom, love and freedom within yourself and in your relationships, your communities, and your world.



FAMILY EMPOWERMENT with Angel Carlton and Louise Kimbral
FREE 2 B U, an evolutionary family empowerment program inspired by the principles found in Neale Donald Walsch's Conversations with God series, brings enlightening new concepts to parenting today's generation.

Free 2 B U provides family-friendly resources and guidance to practice core life principles, such as honor, responsibility, honesty, respect, abundance, self-discipline and demonstrates how to experientially apply these practical concepts into daily life. Building a solid family foundation by honoring one another creates confident children, a harmonious and respectful home environment, deepens an appreciation for life and greatly impacts the quality of the world as a whole.

This inspiring session introduces a variety of interactive ways for families to express their inner-wisdom, natural gifts, creativity and passions that awaken the essence of the family spirit. Experience a sampling of the Free 2 B U Family Empowerment Kit's gentle reminders of life's most important lessons and the illusions that hinder our growth. Reminders such as, "there is great healing in acknowledging 'mine is not a better way, mine is merely another way'; the illusion of superiority denies us unity and creates separation. Remind your children that they live in a world of magnificent abundance, that there is enough for everyone and that it is in sharing the most that the most is received; insufficiency is an illusion. Remind your children that there is nothing that they cannot do; ignorance is an illusion. Remind them that they are connected to all of Life; separation is an illusion". These important concepts lead to being a loving, responsible, caring person for self and others.


FAMILY VISION BOARDS with Angel Carlton and Louise Kimbral
Turn your Sweet Dreams into a Tasty Reality!

Does your family set goals? Have aspirations? Dreams? Then this is the place to put them into action! Share these visions with one another and show the Universe you are ready to receive! Join this interactive workshop as we play together in creating the reality of each family member's deepest heart's desires. Come make your family vision board and take home a keepsake that will continue to inspire your family as you collaborate and co-create your future together. Bring the whole family so you can co-create something magical and powerful together.



DIDGERIDOO JOURNEY with Quinn Eaker
Journey with the primal powerful sound vibrations of the Didgeridoo!! This is designed to be a focused Silence Within Sound experience. For groups or individuals sitting or laying on the ground around a crystal alter. Burning of sage, copal, sweet grass, and other ceremonial essences is involved. I will flow the breath through the didgeridoo, bringing life to the impactful sound. Generally 1-1 1/2 hours is optimal with bliss time afterward with those who wish to bask afterwards!



LUCID DREAMING with Augustine Frizzell
A lucid dream is a dream in which the person is aware that they are dreaming while the dream is in progress, also known as a conscious dream. When the dreamer is lucid, they can actively participate in and often manipulate the imaginary experiences in the dream environment. Lucid dreams can be extremely real and vivid depending on a person's level of awareness during the lucid dream.

Not only can lucid dreaming help a person overcome nightmares but it holds many other lesser known benefits that can help improve ones life outside of the sleeping realm. In this session, we will discuss the benefits of lucid dreaming, common techniques used to help achieve a lucid state and spend a little time on dream interpretation. If you have a dream journal, feel free to bring it along.



GONG MEDITATION with Elizabeth Holman
Have you ever been gonged? Often people find it very relaxing. It is also beneficial in releasing energetic blocks in the body and mind and inviting shift in consciousness. We will do some gentle stretching, moving and breathing to prepare for the gong. We will also explore some chanting. Wear comfortable clothes and perhaps bring a blanket.


THE BIRTH OF MIRTH: LAUGHTER YOGA with Elizabeth Holman
… dropping the ego and living in the moment
Laughter IS the best medicine and it's FREE! It reduces stress hormones, increases the immune system's response, and naturally boosts endorphins. The same set of 'happy chemicals' are released whether you laugh at a joke or for no reason at all. Self induced laughter relaxes the mind and steps you into 'living in the moment.' This class is a set of easy, fun, accessible exercises that will assist you in moving and breathing freely, dropping the mind, and laughing for no reason at all! Any physical level (including those who need to sit in a chair) and even hard core stoics are welcome. A time of rest and integration will also be included.



TANTRIC SEXUALITY AND THE PATHWAY TO THE BELOVED (Part I) with Johnny & Patricia Stout
We hold our sexual destiny inside of ourselves. We cheat ourselves and our partner when we search outside to acquire pleasure and fulfillment rather than creating it and sharing it from within. So Let's Make Love! Let's open the pathway to the Inner Beloved and then extend that path outward, between us, in pairs. Let's breathe and visualize and embrace and touch, smell, taste, hear, feel and see how much love we can generate within ourselves and toward our partners in 90 minutes!!!

Tantric Sexuality I and II are complimentary and independent sessions designed for teens, young adults, and all adults, so come to one or both! The teachings will overlap but will not be repetitive. Each session, in its own way, will provide a context for Tantric sex; practice in meditation and breathing skills specific to Tantric union; hands-on partner exercises to increase intimacy, trust, and desire; and teachings of specific sexual techniques to practice at home when you are both ready, or maybe even tonight!

While Tantra tends to focus on the polarity between male and female, it is not limited to heterosexual relationships. Each person and each couple has a shifting balance between masculine and feminine energies that can be explored regardless of gender. We will be doing both individual and partner exercises in the session. You may attend without a partner and find one at the session. If you have a beloved at the conference with you, we hope you can both attend! This will make for easier practice together in your everyday lives.

INTIMACY AND ULTIMACY (Part II)

Tantra joins sexuality and spirituality so we can go deeper and higher! In her book, The Art of Sexual Ecstasy, Margo Anand likens the typical genital experience to rowing a small boat on a windy day lots of bouncing up and down, in a hurry to get somewhere. In contrast, the ecstatic state could be compared to the soft ripples of a quiet sea reflecting the sun. In High Sex, we learn to row more skillfully and to enjoy the sunlight on the ripples. To master this, we learn to see with the eye of the heart. Tantric Vision is one of wholeness, of embracing everything, whether pleasant or unpleasant. We learn to see opposites as compliments, not contradictions. Let's cultivate Intimacy (INTO-ME- SEE) to reduce the games that get in the way of trust, so we can be deeper lovers. In Tantra, we also open to Ultimacy, our connection to all-that-is, the Ultimate reality called by many names, including God. Let's practice linking the energy flow from the Universal Source, through our hearts (and parts!), and into each other!



MOVING THROUGH BLACK HOLE EXPERIENCES with Dayna Martin
Dayna has lived a life of extreme contrast. As a child and teen she dealt with poverty, abuse, abandonment, and even rape. Dayna will share her experiences and beliefs about how damaging modern psychotherapy and drugs truly are, because they keep people in a devastated, victimized mindset. Dayna has learned to transform her perception of the past and not only forgive, but actually be grateful for having gone through all that she has. She will even share how she sees now that she attracted everything she experienced into her life and why. Learn how you too can rise above old thought patterns and live in Gratitude for what you may view as negative experiences in your own life.



Rethinking Sustainability


RETHINK EVERYTHING Keynote Address with Daniel Quinn
In almost every Q&A session I'm asked to explain how I happened to get on the track that ended with the writing of Ishmael, The Story of B, My Ishmael, and Beyond Civilization. Although this question can be answered briefly, I have never attempted to answer it fully. Answering that question fully is what I'll be doing in this "Rethink Everything" session--since rethinking everything is exactly what I was doing in the fifteen or so years before I began working on the book that ultimately became Ishmael. And always, when I meet with a group in a session like this, my hope is that not only will your horizons be expanded but that mine will be stretched and enhanced as well by your questions and our dialogue. For it is only in understanding how to question that anyone can truly discover solutions.



HUNTER-GATHERER CONSCIOUSNESS with Scott Noelle
At the beginning of my parenting journey, the book that most dramatically influenced my thinking about how to parent was The Continuum Concept, by Jean Liedloff. In case you haven't read her book, it is an account of her experience living with "Stone Age" people in the jungles of South America, and what she learned about human nature from humans whose way of life was closer to that of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Although she never intended the book to be a parenting manual, her lucid exposition of the advantages and wisdom of primitive parenting made her book a hit with open-minded parents back in the late 1970s. John Holt, who coined the term "unschooling," was so impressed by The Continuum Concept that he said, "I don't know whether the world can be saved by a book, but if it could be, this might just be the book." And William Sears was influenced by Liedloff's ideas before he started the Attachment Parenting movement.

My enthusiasm for The Continuum Concept led me to contact Jean Liedloff and help her spread the word through the Internet, which at the time was still very new. (See www.continuum-concept.org.) I and other "CC" parents established an email-based discussion group to support each other in answering the question, "How do you apply the wisdom of hunter/gatherer parenting in the modern world?" Over the years I noticed a pattern: the parents who were most successful at CC parenting were those who integrated the consciousness of hunter/gatherer parents and not merely the superficial behaviors like cosleeping, breastfeeding, babywearing, etc. In other words, the successful strategies of hunter/gatherer parents were inextricably linked to their mindset and worldview.

With that awareness I was led to the brilliant work of anthropologist E Richard Sorenson. He led a project called "The Study of Child Behavior and Development in Cultural Isolates" and published his findings in Anthropology of Consciousness. That work, which was later summarized in a paper called "Preconquest Consciousness," describes the cycle in which the hunter/gatherer way of nurturing gives rise to a kind of consciousness that perpetuates that way of nurturing, and so on.

In this session we will talk about understanding, cultivating, and integrating hunter-gatherer consciousness with our modern sensibilities. What would "the best of both worlds" look like for you?



RADICAL FORGIVENESS with Dayna Martin
Many of us on this path choose to let go of the cultural mindset of victimization. This is easier said than done for many people. It takes a complete shift in thinking to release the world as the cause of your circumstances in life, especially if you have experienced your share of unhappiness and hard times. True Forgiveness is letting all the people off the hook you thought did you wrong. This is so self-empowering because when you no longer blame others for the circumstances in your life, you are acknowledging yourself as the powerful creative Being that you are. Join Dayna for this uplifting session where you will learn to accept all of your creations, even the ones that you would never have consciously chosen for yourself.



ABUNDANCE IS with Quinn Eaker
A word-based journey exploring existing within a reality of abundance. Abundance is everywhere. Tapping into and allowing that abundance to flow through one's life is not a matter acquiring, saving, or working hard. It is a matter of allowing the unlimited universe to orchestrate synchronicity beyond our personal doing. It is a matter of believing we deserve abundance and knowing that it is OK to be abundant. There is always enough!


SUSTAINABLE & FREEDOM BASED LIVING with Quinn Eaker
This is a large spectrum topic. It will focus upon that which is most important to those who attend the session. Main foci are living in an environment where the things we need and the aspects of life that are important to us are provided by the individual or the small or large community involved. Recycling, reusing and taking advantage of abundant and free resources that are all around us. Simplifying and letting go while enhancing the really fulfilling and enjoyable important stuff. Exploring materials and skills that provide us with the ability to create and sustain the important aspects of life.

When I say FREEdom I mean living in a place where the essential costs of life are provided and traded for within the home. Living free of time schedules set by outside forces. Living free of mandates, rules, acceptable and unacceptable conduct, commutes, waste of time, focusing on subjects and or projects that are not of a fulfilling nature and much, much more. Embracing interests, strengths & passions in a creative efficient manner. Creating in huge leaps or small steps a lifestyle that pays for it self without those draining aspects but with fulfilling and enhancing aspects. This is for inspiration, empowerment and creation of the unique way in which it works for any individual.



THE BUSINESS OF ROCKSTARDOM with Aaron Reeves
Are you making music you love but haven't quite figured out how to make it sustainable, or even profitable? Make a point to attend this fabulous session. You will meet rockstars Aaron Reeves and A.J. Amyx and learn how they have transformed their band, Trade Cities, from a fun hobby to a busy, sought after, profitable rock band with a real future.

Aaron and A.J. will share some quick video and sounds from their band so you can see what they do before sharing what they have learned about the music business, publishing, copyright law and the use of law of attraction.

Who says there's no future in being a rockstar? No one here, that's for sure!



UNSCHOOL YOUR MONEY FOR PARENTS with Stephen Epstein
Stephen Epstein is the founder and creator of MoneyCamp, a company that teaches parents how to successfully navigate the confusing world of money and personal finance. Stephen's high-energy approach teaches critical money lessons in a fun and relevant way. Stephen teaches "The Why" not just "The How." Stephen believes financial problems can ruin your health, personal relationships, and creativity, while financial peace can enhance health, relationships, and creativity and allow you to passionately pursue your dreams.



Private Money Coaching with Stephen Epstein
Do you have a financial plan? Do you have trouble with a budget? Are you empowering your kids and teens in their money management?

Stephen Epstein will be available for FREE consultations, with no strings attached.

Stephen is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF) and host of nationally syndicated Dollar Talk Radio, and he brings his expertise in private consultations with you in money skills management.

Parents: create a family budget if you don't already have one. Find out what's working and what's not working in how you handle credit cards, spending plans, debt elimination, credit score issues and whether or not you need loan modification for existing loans. If you've been distracted by money issues due to a lack of tools and skills, Stephen can provide you with valuable information regarding money skills management that will support you and your family's goals.

Teens: it's never too early to learn about money skills and managing teen income from a part-time job, allowances, or gift money from relatives. Stephen puts you in the driver's seat.

Kids: when you know exactly what you want and when you want it, you can learn to save your money to purchase the fun things in life with a plan.



ACTIVISM 101 with Susan Smylie
Come learn how you can become the agent for change in your community. The focus will be on the anti-genocide movement; however, the skills can be applied to any cause. Learn how to lobby your elected officials (even if you do not like them!) Find out how age does not have to be a barrier to effective activism (either youth or old-age.) Discuss strategies to avoid burn-out, so that you can stay with your cause and not become another "drive-by" activist. Bring your thoughts, ideas, questions so we can all learn together.



FREE YOURSELF & FREE YOUR HOME OF TOXIC CLEANING PRODUCTS with Nina Jones
My name is Nina Delifus Jones, but you can just call me, "The Tidy maid". I live with my extraordinary husband Anthony, our 3 Wild Explorers (Coston, Braeden & Aria) and our two cats , Lola & Fiona. Guess who is responsible for keeping the house tidy ... You guessed it, "The Tidy maid". My family will help clean, but the only issue we all had was amount of chemicals it takes to clean our home. I began dabbling around with a few store bought natural cleaning products. I soon realized that I had to figure out how to do this with out spending a lot of money on products that claimed to be all natural. I grabbed a few books, went through my kitchen cabinets and got to work. We now have a clean fresh home with out toxic chemicals.

We can all live free of chemicals by learning how to make products for our everyday cleaning routines. Would you like to learn how to make your own safe non-toxic household cleaning products?

I would like to show you how to make basic cleaning supplies of your own and I will even share recipes with you. If you have non toxic ideas to share , come on and share with your community of friends.



THINKING & PLAYING OUTSIDE THE BOX with Susan Smylie
Come show your solution to these problems, some purely hands-on, some purely-verbal, some a combination of the two. You might be asked to build a tower, tell a story, or invent a new way to do an old task. There are no right or wrong answers, just different ways of doing things. This is truly about looking at things in different ways and seeing where your imagination takes you. Some problems will be solved by teams, others as individual efforts. The games will be appropriate for just about everyone over 5, especially teens!



THINK OUTSIDE with Jim and Kerry Lemon
Jim Lemon is a canoe outfitter/guide,homesteader, and outdoor enthusiast. He has learned the healing effects of the outdoors as a relief from job-related stress and "industrial disease". He has built a village of log hexagons where his children were loosely homeschooled. He raises rabbits, chickens, vegetables, and honey bees.

It will be the intent of this workshop to blend his skills with those of his wife, Kerry, who directs environmental camps for 4 to 16 year olds. She will offer activities and games to encourage laughter and an enlivening of our senses. Jim will share his knowledge and respect of the natural world.

Join us as we step outside the climate-controlled hotel onto the grounds with the goal of becoming aware of who is in residence within the plant, animal and bird communities. It is hoped that our time together will foster awareness and appreciation for the source of all our sustenance, Mother Earth.



RETHINKING FOOD - URBAN GARDENING with Kim Pickens
If you have a sunny spot in your yard or in your community, then you can start a garden. Grow your own veggies, fruits and herbs so you know where they come from. Learn to build a raised bed garden and compost your kitchen waste. Gather friends for a community garden and find out about farmer's markets to sell what you don't eat yourself! All ages welcome!



GREEN BUILDING with Quinn Eaker
This is a journey of the simple and local materials and skills needed to build dwellings, art studios, community space, sheds, and many other useful structures. It is possible to build homes by one's self and or family and friends. How to access and use local materials not made in factories for a very small amount of money. This is great for anyone who wishes to explore the possibilities and realities of green building. It feels great to be a hands on part of ones home and it feels inspiring to live in a solid, grounded natural home!



ALL ABOUT BATS with Dottie Hyatt
The session will cover myths and facts about bats, discussion of bat houses, bat facts, bat projects, how to attract bats to your yard, bats and the environment, echolocation, virtual bat project, bats and military, and more. Dottie will also be bringing a few of her bats currently being rehabilitated for you fall in love with.



Rethinking Retirement


RETHINKING RE-FIRE-MENT, OR, LIVING TO (NOT ON) THE EDGE with Laurence Becker

"Are You Retired?"
"No, I'm Re-FIRED!"

"It is not the easy or convenient life for which I search, but rather life lived to the edge of all my possibilities." - m.a. hersey

We will build our day from Roy P. Fairfield's GET INSPIRED! Releasing Your Creative Self at Any Age, and get further inspiration from Oriah Mountain Dreamer's "What We Ache For," Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way," Clark Moustakas' "Creative Life," William Romey's "Consciousness and Creativity" and Lynn Stoddard's "Educating for Human Greatness."

We will consider "change," "creativity," "curiosity," "Synchronicity," and "courage" and create our own Common Place Book, a joint collection of comments, wisdom, poems, quotations, etc. that have meaning for us and our topic.

To experience synchronicity: Surround yourself wth Art, Beauty, Books, Films, Music, Quotations, Pictures, Poetry, Pottery, Stones, Symbols. Remove from your surroundings: The Garbage and The Negative People. When negative thoughts come, focus your thoughts on your surroundings. "Carve, not crave, a time and place for royal, purple dragonflies to rest." Continue to look toward the light, live with hope and joy. "Happiness is where you are and what you want it to be."

Participants are encouraged to bring their own resources to share. We may have a "creative" lunch break. Stay tuned.



c. Friday Immersions


INSPIRED IMMERSION: JOURNEY TO UNSCHOOLING with Sarah and Chris Parent
Are you new to unschooling? Are you drawn to unschooling but unsure of how it will fit into your life? Are you wary of how your children will learn, be socialized, or utilize appropriate judgment if they lack curriculum or structure? Do you wonder how unschoolers function when they get into the 'real world'? If you answer 'yes' to any of these questions, this session is for you. We'll be spending a fun, relaxed, thought provoking and challenging day discussing our own notions of necessity and success and how they relate to raising free individuals. We'll discuss the full spectrum of unschooling from how it translates into learning and successes for our children to what raising free children means to family dynamics and traditional parenting styles. This is more than education! It's liberating our children from an antiquated system to be the change agents of tomorrow… and today!

Sarah's husband Chris will stop by to address concerns from a Dad's perspective. Sarah and Chris will talk about how they came to unschooling from a very traditional societal and familial mindset and the challenges they have faced along the way. Chris will talk about his evolution from a "respect thy elders" perspective to understanding and respecting each person as the individual they are, why whole-life (radical) unschooling is imperative to the educational component, and what role dads play in the unschooling process.

This session is about identifying your guiding principles for the support of your children, trusting in their innate desire to learn, facilitating that, and altering your previously conceived notions of societal success. We are engrained to believe that we are responsible for our children's 'outcome' which insinuates that we are creating them when, in fact, they are unique and talented individuals right now! Why, with all that we know about genetic individuality, do we continue to assume that we hold the onus of handing them each bit of content that will somehow complete the basis of their knowledge- content that is neither individualized nor particularly pertinent? We hold only the responsibility to honor who they are and protect and support that individuality in any way they deem necessary. Let's discuss why and how unschooling just makes sense so you can be the support that your children need… NOW!



INSPIRED IMMERSION: TEENAGE LIBERATION - THE JOURNEY OF UNSCHOOLING TEENS with Maria Whitworth
What happens when your unschooled child becomes a teenager?

What occurs to some surprises both the unschooling parents and the child. Without understanding in advance what is happening, complex emotions creep in which can abruptly end the unschooling process. The commitment to unschooling becomes compromised for a "safer" way when parents begin to worry "what will happen to my child" and decide "it's time to get SERIOUS about their schooling."

This all-day open forum session will help bring to light these doubts, fears and apprehensions. No topic will be avoided; we will give voice to, explore the validity of, and engage in honest discussions about everything -- from academics to sex, drugs, video games and social behavior. Fixed beliefs and cultural pressures about growing up will be challenged as we visit our own teen years and reframe our feelings. You will FACE YOUR FEARS in this bold and radical Teenage Liberation session.

Through specific exercises and sharing stories, the evidence will bring clarity to your own unschooling process. You will understand that as long as you continue to honor her/him, your teen will not only survive &hellup;but will FLOURISH in who they are. You will leave with confidence, knowing that nothing will empower your child to live his authentic life better than continuing the unschooling journey through the teen years.



INSPIRED IMMERSION : LIVING BY THE FOUR AGREEMENTS FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION AND INNER PEACE with Linda Ball
Written by Mexican author Don Miguel Ángel Ruiz,The Four Agreements is a simple but life-changing book. It's been heralded on Oprah and sold over 4 million copies, but you'll find its value in that for nearly any life situation that is causing you or family to suffer anxiety and angst, within its pages there is a solution. Bring your greatest stressors and let's put them to the test!

Your children, too, will want to learn how the Four Agreements is a map for finding one's own integrity and personal freedom, a way to cast off conditioned beliefs about ourselves and others that are creating conflict and unhappiness in our lives. The Agreements are made only with yourself, and if you honor them you will experience more peace and self-compassion.

A near death experience impelled author Ruiz to question his own life choices. Once a surgeon, he found his passion in teaching the ancestral traditions of the Toltec in which his mother was a curandera (healer), and his grandfather a nagual (shaman) who, after death, continued to teach Ruiz in his dreams.

Ruiz himself wrote the following summary of Toltec wisdom, the Four Agreements. Post it on the refrigerator so that when your children feel unhappy, they can point to which broken Agreement has resulted in their suffering. We will use Ruiz's accompanying workbook to apply the book to your life patterns, relationships and difficult situations.

The Four Agreements - Don Miguel Ruiz's Code for Life

agreement 1
Be impeccable with your word - Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

agreement 2
Don't take anything personally - Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

agreement 3
Don't make assumptions - Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

agreement 4
Always do your best - Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.



INSPIRED IMMERSION: RETHINKING RE-FIRE-MENT, OR, LIVING TO (NOT ON) THE EDGE with Laurence Becker

"Are You Retired?"
"No, I'm Re-FIRED!"

"It is not the easy or convenient life for which I search, but rather life lived to the edge of all my possibilities." - m.a. hersey

We will build our day from Roy P. Fairfield's GET INSPIRED! Releasing Your Creative Self at Any Age, and get further inspiration from Oriah Mountain Dreamer's "What We Ache For," Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way," Clark Moustakas' "Creative Life," William Romey's "Consciousness and Creativity" and Lynn Stoddard's "Educating for Human Greatness."

We will consider "change," "creativity," "curiosity," "Synchronicity," and "courage" and create our own Common Place Book, a joint collection of comments, wisdom, poems, quotations, etc. that have meaning for us and our topic.

To experience synchronicity: Surround yourself wth Art, Beauty, Books, Films, Music, Quotations, Pictures, Poetry, Pottery, Stones, Symbols. Remove from your surroundings: The Garbage and The Negative People. When negative thoughts come, focus your thoughts on your surroundings. "Carve, not crave, a time and place for royal, purple dragonflies to rest." Continue to look toward the light, live with hope and joy. "Happiness is where you are and what you want it to be."

Participants are encouraged to bring their own resources to share. We may have a "creative" lunch break. Stay tuned.



INSPIRED IMMERSION: HO'OPONOPONO with Mary Husar
Ho'oponopono isan ancient Hawaiian process, updated for today's use, that allows for the RELEASE of problems and blocks that cause stress, imbalance and dis-ease within the Self. Translated, it means 'to make right' or 'rectify an error'.

In this process we begin learning to cleanse and release thoughtforms that are stored in the unconscious mind. These thoughtforms were created, accepted and accumulated from the beginning of our Creation - from the time we separated ourselves from Divinty. They are the cause of our problems - within our relationships, families, health, environment and society. Each of us is responsible for our own problems. The causes are within. Only by releasing the cause can changes be made. The answers are always within: Divinity is within.

Come and experience amazing energy shifts as you release blocks and old ways of seeing things...while creating more peace, balance, wisdon, love and freedom within yourself and in your relationships, your communities, and your world.



INSPIRED IMMERSION: SELFDESIGN LIFESPIRAL with Brent Cameron
We are all on a journey that began with our conception and that will end with our death. It is the journey of human awareness in a body from one cell through the development of our life to maturation. It is a long unfolding of our understanding, it is a one-way journey. Although we are all on this journey, we seldom get to think about it, we are often too busy. Even more important we do not have a good map nor an overview of the process. Using the mathematics that nature uses to unfold its beauty and its integrity, the SelfDesign LifeSpiral is an experiential journey on a lifesize timeline to discover a new way of thinking about our entire lifelong learning journey.


d. Just Plain Fun

The following are just a sampling of the fun stuff going on this year. Be sure to check out the Kids and Teen/Young Adult Program links for more of what's going on this year.



GRANDPARENT GATHERINGS with Mike McKenzie
A discussion group just for grandparents will be held every day. In addition, we've got some developing ideas in the works … we'll keep you posted as the ideas gel. In the meantime, if anyone, especially a grandparent, has any ideas they'd like to see take shape, then contact Barb at barb@rethinkingeducation.net or 817.540.6423.


Join me for an hour of playing with the dance form we know best in the west as Belly Dance! We will explore the Modern Egyptian Style with its lifted and elegant dialect of movement.

I will do my best to fit in everything, starting with a brief warm-up to get us going. We will go over essential belly dance moves and spend time experimenting with putting the movements together with music.

You are invited to do what one of my teachers calls, "Fake it tell you make it". I dance and the class follows. This is an opportunity to just get in to it and explore the sensual movement of your body. This structure works for mixed level classes. So if you have a lot of experience, or it is your first time, I hope you will join the fun!

Wear a skirt or some easy to move in pants. Hip scarves if you have one and a shirt that shows your belly or you can tuck up easily. (This is optional based on personal comfort.)

Belly dancing has been a passion of mine for Thirteen years. I have now danced longer then I haven't in my life. Dance is something that has always come naturally for me. It's something that I have always excelled at learning, and found fulfillment and overwhelming happiness in performing. I have also done lots of Swing, Blues, and some Tango; but Belly Dance was my first love affair with the world of dance. I have been performing Belly Dance at a professional level since I was Fifteen years old.

I'm excited to share with everyone interested!



PONY RIDES, FOR AGES 1-ADULT with Misty and Dianne Condarco
Rancho Condarco is dedicated to introducing and building skills in caring for, handling, and riding horses in a fun, interactive environment. Our goal is to educate children using a natural horsemanship philosophy. This means that a relationship of respect, communication, and cooperation will be formed between the horse or pony and the handler. Riding is the bonus.

Come join us for some time with our ponies in a handled pony ride. We will have signup sheets on Monday morning for pony rides on Tuesday, September 8th from 10 am - 1 pm. Stay for some informative time after in a mini class about ponies and horses from 1 - 1:30 pm.

We will be offering 3 sessions of 45 minutes of riding each, allowing 15 minutes rest for ponies and handlers. All parents of riders will be required to sign a waiver and permission to ride. Each session will have 25 "tickets" of different colors given out at sign-up.

We are fully insured and have current health records for all of our ponies/horses. We were just awarded a Safety Award by the "North American Horsemen's Association" for Outstanding Safety Record and Safety Management in Horse Operation for 2008. Find more about us on our website at http://ranchocondarco.com.



Horse Play with The Condarco Family
Horses are highly social herd animals. They prefer to be in groups with well established dominance hierarchy. This social order determines which herd member leads the others, which eats or drinks first, and all other interactions and activities within the herd. It is important to understand this behavior pattern when interacting with horses, because it influences their relationship with humans. When a horse views a human as a herd leader then it is less likely to show dominant behavior that can lead to a dangerous situation. It is important to know their natural tendencies and nature. Understanding the way that horses interact and communicate is essential to safe horsemanship and riding. It is also the key to a fabulously sun time with any horse!

With all of this in mind, we decided to offer a session that would allow learning all of this through actual experience. We will be providing some ears, manes, and tails for some role playing fun. The horses will be given a role, gender, temperament, personality, breed, size, and age. We will act out real situations that these animals encounter; from feeding, fending off predators, getting handled by a human, and more. So come be a part of this wild herd and discover the world of the horse.



FACE PAINTING CLASS with Brooke Patten
Bring a friend or a family member and learn how to paint faces! It's a fun way to pass the time. No experience necessary and fun for all ages. Brooke will provide the supplies; you supply the clean, smiling faces.



MODELING - from the Inside Out with Emily Reeves
Ever wanted to work as a Model in the Fashion Industry? Have questions or ideas you want to share? I've been in the Industry for 7 years and work as a full time Model. I would love to share information, stories, answer questions, or of course if you just want to see my work, I would love to show you!



MAKE A BEANIE AND THE KNITTIN' NOOK with Laura Ofeno
The "Knittin' Nook" - a place for knitting/crochet/felting, etc. Bring your projects to share and yarn to contribute. Throughout the weekend there will be scheduled "mini seminars" on beginning knitting, checking gauge, answering questions and a special session on "Make a Beanie". The pattern will be provided and needles available to use. If you've got needles, the hat calls for sizes 10 and 10.5. Yarn, unless donated, will be available to purchase. (If you want to bring yarn from home for the beanie, the weight is bulky and the gauge is 14 st. and 19 rows to 4" in stockinette stitch with larger needles.) With all the new yarns available and internet blogs, knitting has become widely popular with many patterns available for free online. Join us to learn, to hone your skills or just to enjoy the camaraderie!



DAD'S NIGHT OUT with Stacey Patten
Join Stacy and other Dad's for cold beer and some free flowing conversation about unschooling, family, work, or whatever else is on our minds. Stacy has hosted this nightly ritual for 2 years and really enjoys meeting and visiting with other unschooling Dads. Stacy will bring the icy beer…a small donation would be appreciated.



MOM'S NIGHT OUT with Brooke Patten
Come join Brooke and other Mom's for some wine and conversation about our children, our lives and our unschooling experiences. The Dad's have been doing it for years. Now it's our turn! Brooke will bring the wine and glasses…a small donation would be appreciated.



IIWII - SUFI WORLD PERCUSSIONISTS
Will perform and inspire and teach on one of our nighttime's together. This will be a very special treat, as this group is world class and performs a variety of African, Indian and other drumming rhythms. http://www.myspace.com/itiswhatitispercussion



NIA: DANCING THROUGH LIFE with Beth Noelle
Nia is a pleasure-driven movement form that celebrates the Body, Mind, Emotions, and Spirit. Integrating many dance forms with elements of yoga, martial arts, and more, Nia is unlike anything you've ever experienced. It's for people who love to feel good, who love to move and play with life in a conscious, artistic, and sacred way.

Nia is for people of all fitness levels and ages (although younger children may find it too structured). You might want to bring a bottle of drinking water with you. Wear clothing that allows you to move comfortably.

Please read my bio for more about Nia and how it changed my life. To see Nia in action, go to http://www.nianow.com/nia-in-action



LET'S DANCE! with Rachel Bliven
Join me for an hour of playing with the dance form we know best in the west as Belly Dance! We will explore the Modern Egyptian Style with its lifted and elegant dialect of movement.

I will do my best to fit in everything, starting with a brief warm-up to get us going. We will go over essential belly dance moves and spend time experimenting with putting the movements together with music.

You are invited to do what one of my teachers calls, "Fake it tell you make it". I dance and the class follows. This is an opportunity to just get in to it and explore the sensual movement of your body. This structure works for mixed level classes. So if you have a lot of experience, or it is your first time, I hope you will join the fun!

Wear a skirt or some easy to move in pants. Hip scarves if you have one and a shirt that shows your belly or you can tuck up easily. (This is optional based on personal comfort.)

Belly dancing has been a passion of mine for Thirteen years. I have now danced longer then I haven't in my life. Dance is something that has always come naturally for me. It's something that I have always excelled at learning, and found fulfillment and overwhelming happiness in performing. I have also done lots of Swing, Blues, and some Tango; but Belly Dance was my first love affair with the world of dance. I have been performing Belly Dance at a professional level since I was Fifteen years old.

I'm excited to share with everyone interested!



SWING DANCE FOR BEGINNERS with Melissa Cantrelle
Get your swing on! Learn the basics of East-Coast Swing ... a delightfully fun and easy dance to upbeat, snazzy tunes. In just an hour you'll learn the basic repeatable steps, a couple of fun turns, and the cut-the-apple move. No partner required -- we'll all pair up into lead and follower roles as desired.



FENCING DEMONSTRATION & DISCUSSION with Rob & Seana Saxon
Come watch and stand clear as we run you through with just a few points of our fascinating, if not-quite-accurate, history of how people figured out how to kill each other with long, pointed pieces of metal (foils/epees, sabers, some sword) -- up-close and personal! There will be Q&A afterwards (for what it's worth), and if time and interest permit, a walkthrough of some basics of learning foil/epee with a focus on theatrical fencing.



BARN RAISING
This old-fashioned word is a metaphor describing the result of what we will do each day at the conference: all interested will gather, each taking a turn expressing their deepest wishes or requests for information and all others in the group will offer relevant experience, wisdom and possible action to take. Last year's experiment with this was electric!


FAMILY VENDOR FAIR
An open invitation for all families to bring, display and sell their handmade products, talents and services. Come and explore all of the out of the box arts, gifts and services unschooling families have to offer. Register your family for their own table or booth or just bring your family and share in the magic. Email Barb if you want to reserve a table. There is no charge to do this. barb@rethinkingeducation.net


TALENT SHOW
Can you believe it? It's our 13th annual Talent Show! Come to share with everyone your most fabulous talent or non-talent, or just join us in celebrating all of the amazing and funny talents our attendees perform, guaranteed to blow your mind! Huge applause for everyone. Sign-up sheet on Monday at the conference.


SILENT AUCTION
is back for another year! Do you create or offer a service that the RE audience would love to see and bid on? Donate now! All of the auction's proceeds are used to enable families who would otherwise be unable to attend RE do so. Thank you!


DRUMMING
Bring your drums of all kinds and join us for our oh-so wonderful and powerful drumming circles.


MASK MAKING
This was such a hit last year we have to do it again! Use plaster coated gauze to create a face mask that will fit you exactly right for any fun occasion. Once it dries you can decorate it too.


NEEDLE FELTING
With clean, colored wool and extremely sharp steel, barbed needles, you will be able to experiment with crafting beautiful, soft critters, beads, or anything that strikes your fancy. What results is felted wool, and no water is used. Come prepared to stab yourself (accidentally!) at least a few times and make something wonderful.



e. Speaker Bios, listed alphabetically



JOYCE ALLENBERG

Is in private practice as a consultant in homeopathy and as a homeopathic medical assistant in the Dallas area. She is the current president of Texas Society of Homeopathy and co-founder of the Dallas homeopathic study group.



DANIEL ARMSTRONG

While living in Ghana, West Africa, Daniel Armstrong, the founder and president of Find A Tree, met a set of twins, Jonas and Jonathan Atingui, who dreamed of having a school of their own, but they had no money or facilities. Armstrong advised them to "find a tree and start their school there." These young teachers soon had nearly 100 students coming to their school under a tree. Seeing their success, a businessman in the community gave them a new building to use as their school.

Daniel realized that most people do not understand how to implement their dreams. In response, he wrote How to Live Your Dreams: Find a Tree and Get Started. Armstrong has been credited with transforming the lives of many young people, teaching them how to identify with their dreams and take the necessary steps toward achieving them.

Daniel has been a small-business owner, operating a sanitation business firm - "The Dirt Patrol" - and a basketball training program - "To Be A Champion." He has served as an aide to former United States Senator Alan Cranston, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Ron Brown, and former A&M Records President Gil Friesen.

Raised in Compton, California, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Columbia University, where he organized a campaign that led to the withdrawal of the school's multimillion-dollar investment in apartheid South Africa. Armstrong also holds a Juris Doctorate and a Master in Business Administration, both from UCLA. While at UCLA, Armstrong founded the International Black MBA Student Association. Despite Daniel's very fancy education, he has come to not believe very much in formal education, finding it restrictive and conforming.



KIM ASHBY

Kim Ashby earned a BS in Nursing from The Catholic University of America and, when she worked outside the home, was a Certified Emergency Nurse with a special interest in trauma nursing. She lives in Raleigh, NC with her husband and sons. The Ashbys began home educating their children in 1999. They graduated their oldest son in May 2007. He is attending UNC Wilmington. Kim continues to home school her younger boys.

Her oldest son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was in the public school system in the second grade. Her second son has cerebral palsy which has resulted in multiple/global developmental delays. Her youngest son has undiagnosed, mild auditory processing issues.

Kim is the Area Manager of Creative Tutors, Wake Co, NC. She is the founder and President of the Board of Directors of GIFTSNC, Inc., a home schooling special needs support group. Kim has presented workshops at a variety of state home school conferences as well as local support group parent meetings. She is a Steering Committee member and former Treasurer for Dayspring Homeeducators in Cary, NC and served on the Board of Directors for the Family Support Network of Wake County. Kim has co-instructed graduate level courses at UNC Chapel Hill for ST/OT students and Early Intervention students. She holds a North Carolina Wildlife Permit for Small Mammal Rehabilitation and enjoys working with orphaned and injured wildlife.



JAMES BACH

(son of author Richard Bach) met the best teacher of his childhood at 11, began a revolt against school the next year at 12, was thrown out of his home at 14 (after a fight with his step-dad), quit high school at 16, became an emancipated minor. Just before his 21st birthday, he became the youngest engineering manager at Apple Computer.

Today, James is a consulting software tester with an international practice. He is the author of Lessons Learned in Software Testing, and of the newly published book Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar: How Passion and Self-Education Can Lead to A Lifetime of Success.



LINDA BALL

discovered a passion for Holistic Healing nearly twenty years ago, when she was relieved of pain by her first Reiki Master Teacher following the difficult breech delivery of her son, Michael. Now the long-time Owner of "Lighten Up Healing Therapies" in Dallas, Texas, Linda serves as a Wellness Coach, assisting clients with conditions ranging from cancer, chronic pain, migraines and fatigue to anxiety, confusion, grief and depression. She serves not only as a hand-on healer, drawing from expertise as a Therapist in Reiki, Massage and CranioSacral but is also sought after for her sensitivities as a psychic, medium and spiritual counselor.

A Reverend since 1991, Linda has pursued the connection between physical healing and spiritual transformation, convinced that illness begins in the psyche long before it manifests in the body, and that we have a spiritual blueprint of our atomic pattern, vibrant with perfect health, which we can access to return to wellness at any time.

Having studied and experimented with different diets and many alternative modalities to enhance health, Linda has concluded that no one approach is perfect for everyone; rather, it benefits each person to learn how to identify the needs of his or her own body, as well as that of one's child. Following this approach, Linda's immediate family has been able to thrive without prescription medicines, her grown son having never needed a shot, antibiotics or even painkillers except when hospitalized for a broken bone. She is an advocate of Integrative Medicine for those who find comfort in a more traditional medical approach but wish to learn alternative ways of managing stress and preventing future illness.

Linda is presently writing books on her Journey as a Healer and Gaining Energy Through Intentional Breathing. She is also producing Meditation CDs for Speeding Up Healing, Transforming Stress, and Identifying One's Major Life Path and Lessons. Currently she is teaching classes on Reiki, Improving Couples' Connection & Communication, and Moving Meditations for Longevity and Health. You may contact her at Linda_ball@mac.com or 214-417-HEAL(4325).



LAURENCE BECKER

received his Ph.D. in 1980 from the Union Institute & University. He has worked with autistic savant artists Richard Wawro, Scotland (since 1976), Christophe Pillault, France (since 1996), Ping Lian, Malaysia (since 2005), and Rohan Sonalker, India (since 2008). He has worked (since 1992) with prodigy, Marshall Ball, author of KISS OF GOD, The Wisdom of a Silent Child, (1999). In 2000 Dr. Becker directed an International Gathering of Savants. He has served on numerous Ph.D. committees as an adjunct professor in such areas as creativity, art therapy, psychology, the humanities, and education. His publications include poems, essays, books, and film: "The Discovery of Pattern: 'The Jilting of Granny Weatherall,' "Katherine Ann Porter; "A Threat or an Invitation"; Characteristics and Identification of Gifted and Talented & Program Design and Development of Gifted and Talented with Dr. Fredrick Tuttle; With Eyes Wide Open (international, award-winning documentary film); "Foreword" for Kiss of God, Marshall Ball; "A Way of Seeing" (film course exploring the gifts of extraordinary people); "Autism and Nutrition" in The Official Autism 101 Manual; "Gifts Along the Spectrum: The Portrayal of Disability in Film" in KALEIDOSCOPE Magazine; and "Living in the Spectrum" a Mindscape Productions audio CD. WHAT'S OLD, WHAT'S NEW: BOOKS & FILMS WORTH KNOWING, Autism at Home Series published by Autism Today, 2008-2009 (monthly).

Laurence has been joyfully attending and enthusiastically participating in the Rethinking Education conference for many years.



RACHEL BLIVEN

I am twenty three years old and live In Santa Fe NM with my sister, Tess, and my mother, Elizabeth. We have a special relationship with each other in which I feel an unexplainable level of love and safety.

Our relationship began in a remote area of northern New Mexico. From our small house, the skyline went as far as the eye can see in every direction. The high desert was beautiful, still and full of freedom. This environment naturally supported me to know my inner voice. My parents never sent us to school. Rather they gave us permission to take hold of life through our instinctual desire to grow and learn and master the world around us. My two older brothers, my little sister and I raised ourselves, and each other, to a larger degree most people could ever imagine. We had no prescribed home schooling curriculum and no testing. Rather, we each had our uninterrupted process of interacting with life. We where encouraged to follow our strengths, and do what we loved!

My father's main rule was that we could do whatever we wanted except be stupid! We lived with rattlesnakes in the summer and could run through the sage brush, as long as we never stepped where we could not see. We could scale the walls of the Rio Grande Gorge, as long as we followed each other closely enough to not have a loosened rock fall with force against someone below.

Every evening the world opened beyond our own when my father read to us. Through listening to the huge variety of books he read, I learned more then I can tell you about the way in which the world and people work. Our sense of history came from reading what people have gone through, and how all of life is a learning experience!

When my oldest brother could drive, he and I began to commute two and a half hours to Santa Fe to pursue things we were interested in. When I was fifteen, the two of us moved there and I began my performing as a professional dancer. I took care of my teacher's baby in exchange for classes and privates.
Even with the love of my brother and dance, entry into city life was not totally easy! My unusually developed gifts and strengths amazed people, but such things as my inability to spell freaked them out. I became susceptible to others opinions that I was missing something very important. They would say things to me like, "You are such an unbelievably amazing person, you are unlike anyone I know. If you had only gone to school you would be perfect!" I remember thinking to myself, "Yes, but the amazing-ness that you are recognizing never would have survived school. I am the way I am not by some miraculous default, but because I had the childhood I did; because I didn't go to school!"

Over the next years I continued to dance and do what master what I loved. But the conditioning directed at me from those around me took me further and further away from my self and my inner knowing. I was pressured to do this... and that to be ok in this would. I went for it and found the more I pushed the crazier my life got. The day after I turned nineteen I moved to Los Angeles to 'make it' as a professional dancer.

The pressure of proving myself in the LA dance world and a relationship I got involved in, became a complete disaster. I returned to Santa Fe a year later totally burnt out and overwhelmed. I created a home with my mother and sister, where life continued to fall apart (in a good way) as I cleared the cultural conditioning I had taken on. Through love and support my inner truth is emerging again. I have learned so much by being around my family and processing all my experiences.

My siblings and I took up a form of astrology called Human Design, which shows one how to find and live from their inner authority. As we live our own designs more and more accurately we have involved a group of young people around us who are now clearing their conditioning to live by inner authority. We have naturally influenced many to drop out of a school system they were not prospering from. Every Sunday night we host a home cooked meal and study group. We have influenced over 50 young people through this venue.

We are gradually building community from the inside out.



BRENT CAMERON

As a young child Brent enjoyed the mutually entwined adventures of playing and fantasy. As a student he haphazardly got good marks, the tips of icebergs in a sea of day dreaming. He wondered why he felt like he was spending time in jail for innocence.

University was the continuation of his jail term and his confusion turned to despair and then to anger. After reading Summerhill he decided to reform education and enrolled in Education after receiving an undergraduate degree in Sociology. Around this time, he realized that his education was motivated by intimidation and that the 'F' for 'failure' really stood for 'fear.' He intentionally decided to fail a course for the first time in his life and discovered that 'F' no longer stood for 'fear', it stood for 'freedom'. In his teacher training program in 1970, he got 2 A's for his practicum - his ability to work with children, and in his enthusiasm, he got a total of 6 more F's in the rest of his courses. Returning to summer school to raise his marks, his D in that course allowed him to become a teacher with a Grade Point average of 1.8 out of 4 the lowest possible graduation grade.

He was a radical educator and was politely asked to leave every one of the three different public schools he taught in. He realized that although he loved learning - he hated teaching, he hated classroom management of a group of people who had not chosen to be there. He left teaching and education forever back in 1976.

In 1977 he and his partner had a daughter. They were transformed by the experience of watching a joyful and enthusiastic young person engage in the world and learn her first language. They purposefully created a family that lived in mutual respect. At age 5, she walked out of kindergarten because in the short time of the first two weeks she realized that there was a distinct lack of respect in a classroom. A year later, instead of going to grade 1, she asked her dad if he would be her teacher, stating that they could learn at home and keep doing what they were doing which she stated was very 'insturding'. Having been absolutely inspired by his daughter's natural ability to learn and by her demonstration of learning a language through play and discovery, he agreed and started Wondertree with one student in 1983. Every learner that joined the program chose to be there, and stayed there because they felt that this was absolutely the most exciting place to be virtually every day. The program developed a philosophy of natural learning with an emerging and experiential curriculum.

When he started the program out of respect for his daughter, he did not know what to do. He wanted to answer the questions, "What does an ideal learning environment look like and what are optimum learning relationships?" In his search for tools to help him in this realization of the ideal, Brent discovered Neuro-Linguistic Programming and trained with John Grinder for several years. Brent's insights into human learning gave him the tools to transform learning into an epistemological and ontological adventure. Over the next 10 years, the 12 or so students he worked with won numerous local and regional awards and three major national awards in educational innovation.

In 1993, with colleague Michael Maser, Brent founded an innovative Virtual High program founded on the same principles of self-directed learning and consensus. The program won several more national and international awards over its short four year history. For the next seven years Brent researched and wrote a book on what he had learned about the epistemology of learning. It was published in 2006 with the help of his partner River Meyers who helped translate the book from "Cameroneze" into English.

In 2002 the Ministry of Education in British Columbia allowed Brent to start an online learning program with 100 learners. He joined together with a small group of colleagues and created an online program that incorporated the learning insights of the Wondertree and Virtual High programs. This online program, called SelfDesign Learning Community, has now grown to almost 1000 learners. With approximately a $5 million dollar budget and with 40 special education learners SelfDesign now has a staff of almost 400 specially untrained educators working with the learners and their families. We are an unschooling program enfranchising the legitimate right of every child to learn according to their own interest and enthusiasm. SelfDesign is a program beyond both schooling and home learning, taking learning into the domain of human experience in the world. To design our own learning in the realization of our infinite intelligence is the heart of the SelfDesign program.

In the fall of 2008 we began offering our SelfDesign program to learners around the world through SelfDesign Global. Our program is focusing on the dynamic balance between the self-realization of each individual and the synergistic ecology of the planet. Brent recently researched 27 graduates of his three programs, learners from ages 18 to 33, and wrote his Ph.D. thesis on SelfDesign at the University of British Columbia. He is currently living in the country near Nelson, BC with his partner River Meyer and their SelfDesigning daughter, Lia. Brent's first daughter, now 31, is a musician living nearby in Creston, BC.



MELISSA CANTRELLE

A joyful dancer at heart, I learned East-Coast Swing in college to fulfill a physical education requirement. (I've been unschooling and unjobbing myself ever since.) I loved the dance so much that I repeated the class to learn how to lead. Then I hit the happenin' dance floors of Seattle and swung my little heart out. I've since moved to Carrollton, Texas to live with my sweetie (who promises to join us). And whenever I hear swing music I tend to grab anyone who's willing and twirl them around the floor. Watch out! You might be next!



ANGEL CARLTON & LOUISE KIMBRAL

Born and raised in a strict Catholic upbringing, Angel shares her story of how shifting her spiritual belief system has created a more fulfilled, liberated and harmonic life. Angel's quest for a greater spiritual understanding began when her 11 year-old son was born and she set aside her professional life for one dedicated to the joys and trials of motherhood. Inspired the most by Neale Donald Walsch's Conversations with God book series, she found the freedom to believe another way and ultimately changed her entire perspective on life. This awakening led to a deeper passion and desire to develop a way to introduce these core life truths to our children in hopes of creating a more peaceful coexistence for humanity and for the generations that follow. Believing the outcome of our future depends upon our children, Angel's focus is to empower our children and inspire the adults in their lives by introducing an inspiring new parenting paradigm called Free 2 B U.

Louise Kimbral began her spiritual journey over two decades ago with two questions she wanted an answer to; "Who am I and What purpose do I serve in life?" Louise found great interest in the topic of Intuition. The entrepreneur in her developed a business in which she presented workshops for business groups entitled, Using Intuition in the Workplace. The workshops became her work for the next three years. In the early 1990's, her focus changed to women's issues that led to the creation and development of Women's Empowerment Workshop. She attracted business and professional women from the Dallas/Fort Worth area to the workshops designed especially for them.

In 2001, Louise founded the Conversations with God (CwG) Center of Dallas, Inc. She serves as Director and spiritual teacher/facilitator of weekly study groups featuring inspiring authors such as Neale Donald Walsch, author of the Conversations with God book series, and many of the well known writers and teachers from the spiritual community today.

In 2007 a new opportunity appeared that enlarged the scope of the Center programs, known today as the Free 2 B U Family Empowerment Program, created by a handful of dedicated and passionate individuals whose only desire was to make available the spiritual messages of Conversations with God for the family to use in the home. This enlarged the program of the Center to include children, parents, grandparents and child care givers. Louise serves as co-director with Angel Carlton in this part of the Center programs.

The answers to the two questions she asked herself early in her life are now answered. The purpose that fills her every intention resounds in these words: Be the Change You Wish to See in Your World.



THE CONDARCOS

The Condarcos are a very close family of dreamers, innovators, and story-tellers. We are all addicted to "knowing". The concept of self-education has been ingrained in our family before we had a name to call it. Beyond our drive to acquire knowledge is our desire to share it with others.

Recently my Mom and dad (Dianne and Ross Condarco) welcomed my daughter (Harley) and me (Misty) into their home - which happens to be a horse ranch and the motivation for their pony riding business, Rancho Condarco llc. After spending so much time in the throws of common society dogma, we are very pleased to now be able to live, love, and learn in such a supportive, open environment.

Harley and I, along with Nana, attended the RE conference last year for the first time. It was our first year of homeschooling and our first taste of "Un-ing" of any kind. We all came with the hopes that this might be a path to help heal Harley and myself from our past hardships with public school. We immediately realized that many of the concepts were fairly close to what we were already doing. We had a name for it now - "Un-schooling". If that wasn't enough, we also discovered that my folks were "Un-jobbing" through their pony riding business. After all, the business was birthed from the love for their own horses and the joy it brings them to share that with others.

All three of us left with a new appreciation of each other and a reignited enthusiasm for our lives - past, present, and future. We can't wait to find out what we might be Un-doing this year.

You can find out more about us on our family's business website at www.RanchoCondarco.com.



STEVE COOPERMAN

continues to spend as much time as possible in the gap between work and play.

While reading 'Teenage Liberation Handbook' several years ago, I discovered that I was a lifelong adult unschooler, and so did the obvious -- began unschooling myself about unschooling! That spark led me to work on staff at Not Back to School Camp (NBTSC), attend Rethinking Education, and co-organize unschooling events in Iowa and Tennessee. I also helped launch a center for unschoolers of all ages in Fairfield, Iowa, which led to the purchase of a building last October that became the home of the Bonnell Building Project (www.bonnellproject.org), a non-profit that provides physical and psychological space for community members to pursue their interests and passions. We are currently setting up a business development/consulting collective as an experimental business model that would also provide real-world experience for young people.

In true Gemini fashion, I have led a peripatetic professional life, with stints as newspaper editor, school teacher, marketing manager, corporate trainer, organizational development consultant, business coach, and entrepreneur; I have called New Hampshire, Massachusetts, California, Iowa, Arizona and Colorado home. My current interests include swing dance, music, reading, sports and games of all kinds, Human Design and Spiral Dynamics.



SUNDAY COTE

This is Sunday's 4th year in attendance at the RE Conference and she is so grateful for the opportunity to share and learn with this amazing community of Unschoolers. Living an Unschooling life is a powerful personal growth experience and she has gained tremendous insight and spiritual growth as the parent of two beautifully unschooled boys.

Professionally, Sunday is a spiritual teacher at her core who is always finding new and exciting ways to help others connect with their authentic joy. You can find out more about what Sunday is up to at www.vibrationalmarketing.com. You can also join her unschooling yahoo group at www.heartofunschooling.com.



QUINN EAKER

I am facilitating sessions at RE this year because I think its important to rethink everything often. I feel that our ability to evolve is accelerated when we spend time intensely focused in an effort to understand, expand and evolve the skill, or acquire knowledge of an aspect of life. We are all specialists at one or many things in life and when we all share openly with each other we evolve at light speeds. I am holding space in my sessions for experiences that I feel highly competent in and which are useful attributes in life. Come gleam and evolve from the focus I have put forth and let's upgrade collectively by leaps and bounds.
DAPHNE OSUNLADE EDWARDS




lives in Dallas and has attended the Rethinking Education Conference for 5 of each of the 6 years that her family has been on the learning without schooling journey. She is the mother of two amazing and inspiring whole life learning sons - Ifayemi, 13 and Muntu, 5.

She describes parenting and family as her main spiritual practice, and relies on processes like meditation, yoga, the Work of Byron Katie, and E.F.T. to help support her in this area. Her other roles and titles in life include: loving partner, good friend, traditional African spiritual healer, New Thought practitioner, metaphysician, spiritual lifestyles counselor, professional writer, dancer (African), entrepreneur, holistic mamma, foodie, organic cook, and lay herbalist. She is always open to expanding into new and creative roles. Embracing her creativity has been a journey in and of itself.

Daphne/Osunlade is also well known in cultural circles for her commitment and pride in her ancestral heritage. Finding ways to expand despite some of the thought patterns of the collective consciousness is one of her favorite topics to discuss with positive African American families on the unschooling path. Her pride in her community and it's upliftment runs deep.

[Osunlade (Yoruba) - Oh-shoon-lah-day - The spirit of love, fertility, beauty, joy and abundance reigns supreme; Ifayemi (Yoruba) - ee-fah-yay-me - The Wisdom of God/the Universe blesses me; Muntu (Bantu) - mun-too - the spirit of God/the Universe in man]



STEPHEN EPSTEIN

Stephen Epstein is the founder and creator of DollarCamp, a company that teaches students and young professionals how to successfully navigate the confusing world of money and personal finance. To teach critical money lessons in a fun and relevant way, DollarCamp offers high-energy and high-impact educational materials, illustrated course books, audio series, budgeting software, and online learning and certification courses that appeal to young adults.

Stephen is also the author of The Financial Survival Guide for Students and host of DollarTalk Radio, a nationally syndicated radio show that teaches people how to get out of debt. He has appeared as a guest on Jean Chatzky's show (Oprah's money expert) and worked closely with the Charles Schwab Foundation for financial literacy.

Stephen's commitment to getting the message out is nowhere more apparent than in his DollarCamp speaking engagements. Dressed in the diamond and gold encrusted hip-hop ensemble of his alter ego, Sir Blings-A-Lot, Stephen speaks at high schools and colleges to raise the level of financial awareness among young people. As part of his nonprofit lecture series, he gives many presentations at schools in communities spanning the socioeconomic spectrum.

During interviews Stephen is quick to point out the sobering statistic half of all college-age students start their professional lives with high-interest credit card debt that creates financial and personal problems. DollarCamp believes financial problems can ruin health and personal relationships, destroy personal creativity, and trap people in jobs that keep them from realizing their full potential. The opposite is also true: financial peace can enhance health and relationships, cause creativity to flourish, and allow people to freely and passionately pursue their dreams. DollarCamp teaches young adults how to create the financial peace that will serve as a solid foundation for a successful life.

DollarCamp relies on the help of parents, leaders, and teachers to raise the level of financial awareness among young people. To learn how you can transform the lives of young people or to book a DollarCamp speaker for an event, please visit www.DollarCamp.com or contact Stephen Epstein at (415) 839-2083, 411 Green Street, Suite 2A, San Francisco, CA 94133, Stephen@DollarCamp.com



MISTY FELNER

has been married for 12 years and has two young daughters. She has practiced attachment parenting and unschooling for 5 years, and elimination communication since the birth of her second child. She has used American Sign Language to communicate with both girls during infancy and throughout the toddler years. Through her company Sign For Baby she shares her knowledge of infant signing. In addition to her roles as wife and mother, she teaches sign language classes and gives lectures for local hospitals and baby fairs on communicating with your baby.



AUGUSTINE FRIZZELL

My name is Augustine and I'm a dreamer. I spend the majority of my waking life in dreams and I spend a fair amount of my dreaming life in lucid thought. I'm hosting the Lucid Dreaming Workshop at this years Rethinking Education Conference. My 10 year old daughter Atheena and I have been unschooling for the past 4 years. This will be our 5th conference. I spend the rest of my time as an actress, yoga instructor and fun maker. Atheena and I enjoy eating vegan food, prefer the outdoors, could spend a full day in the movie theater(and often do) sing, dance, read (the Twilight series currently) paint, listen to music and love the movie Twilight. As of this bio, we've seen it 8 times. :)



OREN HARRIS

began his conscious spiritual journey after leaving a successful teaching and coaching career to pursue the burning passion he felt inside. His biggest fear and internal motivator was reaching the end of his life unfulfilled with a bunch of "what if's" plaguing him. He stepped out on pure faith and desire and started his own business and got into acting, both with no prior experience or formal training. Although he had some success in acting, booking over 60 TV commercials, films, etc. and turned his business from nothing into a good living, he still felt a void.

After he proved to himself that he could do anything and create from nothing, he began to ask the question "What do I really want?" He interviewed one of his successful competitors and she recommended her life coach. After being humbled by a startling realization in his first life coaching session he asked "What else do I think is true about myself and the world that is not?"
With his openness came a voracious appetite for self knowledge and understanding of life. He began unlearning everything that he had previously blindly accepted as truth and began questioning every belief he had about himself and life.

Somewhere amid all his self exploration he had a significant experience of "The Flow" which later became the foundation of his message. He realized that the less he tried and the more he let go of what he "Knew", the easier his life became. Miracles and synchronicities became more frequent… which led him to the question "Can I live my life like this in every area, all the time?"

Over time, this reality proved to be true for him. The more he let go and embraced the unknown, the more life revealed a startling simplicity to him. Trying, effort and struggle were quickly leaving his life along with all of his IDEAS about who he was.

With the rapid loss of identity, the next great question arose "Who AM I"? Along with the question also came a sudden decline in his interest in personal and spiritual development material. He gave up on seeking and eventually began to relax into a total acceptance of himself and life. During this period he felt a sort of death process but didn't have the energy or desire to return to seeking knowledge or saving the world.

Although it happened over time, it seemed like all of a sudden, one day he woke up and everything he was previously seeking suddenly started making sense. The person he once was seemed to fade away. It was shocking that just when he didn't need to understand anymore and nothing made sense, everything became clear. The sense of self that seemed to die was replaced with a knowing and trust that couldn't be explained in words.

An unspeakable joy, peace, freedom, clarity, and contentment overcame him. After a period of solitude and traveling he decided once again to share his messages with the world mostly in an experiential format.

Oren is a Life Transformation coach/mentor that has worked closely with many authors and speakers such as Neale Donald Walsh, Dr. Demartini, and Dr. Dennis Waitley, which all appeared in the ground breaking DVD, The Secret.
He has helped thousands of people transform their lives. He currently mentors spiritual and personal development leaders/coaches, aspiring teachers, and those who are ready to harness the incredible power of THE FLOW. Despite his impressive accolades and accomplishments, his greatest asset is the living of his message!

Oren has a way of taking universal truths that can be difficult for the mind to understand and communicating them in a way that is profoundly simply and applicable to life. Even more impactful than the words, is the space that he holds that allows individuals to have an experience that goes beyond understanding and belief into KNOWING.



ELIZABETH HOLMAN

has enjoyed teaching 'drool' yoga (as named by affectionate students) in the Dallas area since 1993. Elizabeth's major influences are Valerie King, Gurmukh, Kripalu style yoga as taught by Yogi Amrit Desai, and Kundalini yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan. Her greatest teachers, though, are her little GOO-ROOs, Nathaniel and Liam.



MARY HUSAR

Mary has been evolving her work as a massage therapist for over 18 years. What began as a love for massage and health has grown into a passion for healing the whole person: body, mind, spirit and soul. Mary is a Certified Huna-Aloha™ teacher, and has been honored with the title of 'Kumu'. Mary is also a Certified Progressive NLP Trainer (NeuroLinguistic Programming), and a Certified Trainer in Sourcing™.



DOTTIE HYATT

is a Project Manager by trade but has been a wildlife rehabilitator for over 30 years working with everything from bunnies to manatees in her native Florida. After learning about the plight of bats, Dottie decided to devote all of her rehab time to the most misunderstood animal on the face of the earth as over 50% of N. America's bats are endangered despite the fact that they are the single most valuable animal on the planet. Dottie says. "My first bat came to me under the guise of a hairball. I thought the cat hat spit it up and when I reached down to pick it up with a paper towel that beautiful draped wing appeared. The rest is history because here I am 10 years later up to my elbows in guano (so to speak)!"

Working with people and bats is where it gets interesting, like when she instructed a new rehabber over the phone to 'hand fly' the bat (holding the bat in your hand and moving it through the air to exercise a debilitated wing). He misunderstood what she was telling him. Later his wife phoned to ask if there was another way to rehab the bat as she thought her husband might become injured running through the yard so the bat would get wind under its wings! Another instance would be when an individual in a colder climate phoned, during the summer, to ask how to get the bat out of his bedroom. Dottie instructed him to open the window, the bat will echolocate and leave. In October he phoned back to inform me that it was getting very cold in his part of the country and could he please close the window now.

Because bats have been considered the mysterious creatures of the night for generations, unfortunately ridiculous myths about them are abundant and when you are knowledgeable about bats, some of the things people come up with are very funny indeed.



ANNETTE IOTT & RUTH MINTLINE

Annette (who will be known to our RE kids as "Fewie", pronounced ""Phouie") has 30 years of professional experience working with children from birth through college age. My teaching experience includes both teaching and tutoring in large and small groups, in public, private school, college and in -home situations. I started rethinking education when every teacher prep course began with "expect 1 in 10 students to learn what you teach." A fantastic goal for the mediocre but for a teacher of future leaders?

I am a weaver of fun-filled, self-study learning approaches. From backyard lizards to a child's name; using the internet, library, and imagination, I develop ideas for learning around any interest for any age. My mantra for any study, day or life is: may it be filled with LAughter, WOnder, and MUsic, (Lawomu, a Harmony Ranger greeting).

Contact me: Phone: 757 286-7666 E-mail: fewami@sbcglobal.net


Ruth Mintline has spent a lifetime exploring what a learning environment feels like. I have found it in the kitchen, bathroom, every room in the house, all outdoors and in the community. Once sought in a loving, logical way, learning happens everywhere.
I have volunteered in my children's classrooms putting on plays, doing science and botany (gardening). I became interested in John Holt and Marie Montessori and read much of their work in the 70's. I was introduced to the Waldorf method briefly at that time but did not pursue it until in 1992, my youngest daughter, Erin, became an 8th grade self educator. At that time I began attending the Rethinking Conference. I went to Joseph Pearce workshops and read his works. I found Alfie Kohn and Howard Gardner and read their books. I attended 3 intensive Educational Kinesiology (brain gym) workshops and was introduced to Carla Hannaford.

In 2001 I decided to pursue my life long passion. I opened an in-home daycare to provide a laboratory where I could test all these theories first hand. I observed children from infants to age six picking up reading from an environment rich in words, word games, writing and reading. Simple math is a part of life as we measure, weigh, add, subtract and multiply our way through the dinner preparation and grocery shopping. We also observe evaporation, condensation, liquids, solids and gasses as we work our way around the kitchen. Floor maps and puzzles are a fun way to learn geography. We have a garden and observe the phases and parts of plants.

I have Mastered creative diaper changing, introducing ABC's, numbers and reading in the bathroom. I have a PHD in toilet repair with 2 yr olds. I have earned the highest degrees in keeping the mess to a minimum and playfulness and joyful learning a maximum.
Learning happens then you live. Annette and I are sisters, run our in-home daycare together, and have attended too many Rethinking Education conferences to count. All of the activities we host will be punctuated with Brain Gym and Heart Math exercises so we can get the most out of everything we do.



COSTON JONES - Greeter

Hello, My name is Coston Jones . I am 9 years old. I live with my family in Murphy,Texas. I enjoy riding my "Rip-Stick", playing video games & park days with my unschool friends. I am a builder. Building Bionicles is my favorite thing to build. I am very excited about the conference this year. I am so excited, I wanted to do something special. I plan on Welcoming you all with my smile and something special. I am counting down the days til September. See you soon...



JIM & KERRY LEMON

Jim Lemon moved from the city of Ft. Worth to the piney woods of East Texas over 30 years ago. Since then he has lived on his 8 1/2 acre parcel of woods moving from a teepee, to a small mobile home, to a one room hexagonal log cabin, and finally into an expanded hand built home that includes separate houses for his children as well as a chicken coop and rabbit hutch. Currently, Jim is doing vocational counseling with mentally disabled and mentally ill adults. His most recent employment project is a cedar furniture business called "Less than Perfect".

Twenty years ago Kerry joined Jim in the woods. They have shared their unique living environment with their two children, Maya and Forest, now 19 and 15 years old. The family learned together from their life experiences, outside of the mainstream education system. About 3 years ago, Maya and Forest each chose to enter the world of traditional education and experience what that contrast has to offer them.

Kerry is presently pursuing her passion and love of the natural world with other children and families through summer camp, after school, and family weekend programs offered in conjunction with the SFA University Pineywoods Native Plant Center.

Jim and Kerry have gained much knowledge about living simply without electricity and developed a wide outdoor skill base after numerous hours camping, hiking, canoeing, and exploring in nature. Viewing life as an adventure, they have traveled with their children extensively around the U.S., made three journeys to Mexico and had one spectacular trip to Greece. They are practiced in the creative art of balancing with a foot in many canoes and adapting to whatever comes their way.



DAYNA MARTIN

is a Radical Unschooling Advocate who rocks the reality of everyone she meets. She loves to hold up new lenses for others to look through and gain inspiration from. Dayna and her husband Joe became Unschooling Celebrities when they appeared as the featured guests on the Dr. Phil Show in 2007. The Martin's also appeared on Fox News this year in a segment about Unschooling with John Taylor Gatto. Dayna is regularly interviewed by various radio shows and magazines and she really gets off blowing people's minds when they hear about Radical Unschooling philosophy.

Dayna has an unexciting, but informative, YouTube video series where she rambles on about what Unschooling is all about. She has been a supporter of all that is outside the box for over a decade. She is a La Leche League Leader, a Natural Birth Educator, Attachment Parenting mentor and Doula. She founded The Babywearing Project featured in Mothering Magazine and recently developed a ground-breaking new birthing method called, Attraction Birth. Dayna thought that the world could use a resource like LLL, but for Unschooling, so in all of her spare time, she started www.UnschoolingUnited.com

Although it may seem like she is crazy-busy, she really is not. She and her family live life in the slow lane and thanks to her husband Joe, who works at home with his biz, www.WillowToys.com they lead a very mellow, relaxing life. Most of the time they do not know what day or time it is.

Dayna's personal website is www.UnschoolingAmerica.com and she can also be found on her blog, www.TheSparklingMartins.blogspot.com where she loves to share about her rockin' life with her family.



MIKE MCKENZIE
a.k.a. MooMoo
Biographical Notes - 2008

My name is Michael Ward (Mike) McKenzie, a.k.a. MooMoo. Born on March 27th, 1948, my home is Tulsa, OK. Married 34 years to wife Toni, we have two children; stepson Sean (40), and daughter Brooke (very much younger than her brother). Brooke, and son-in-law Stacy, Patten are parents of our five grandchildren: Reid (11), Finn (deceased), Greta (7), Eli (5), and Seth (3).

Schooled as a child, I became an early "achiever", i.e. a good test-taker, knowing how to make the adults in my life "ooh" and "aah", and grew up qualified to become a part of the Little Boxes culture. I graduated from the University of Tulsa, with a Business Degree in Management.

Proof of the cultural exposure is in my career endeavors, which included Finance, Administration, Systems Development and Project Control for companies specializing in Oil & Gas, Banking, Manufacturing, Computers, and Telecommunications. I completed 24 years with an international computer manufacturer, and 10 years with an international telecommunications company, both of which were Fortune 500 listed, and I'm currently with an international Oil & Gas Pipeline company involved in Global Project Controls.

Activities include; Spelling Bee Champ ('54, '55, '56), Flying (Soloed '62, that would be 14), Chess (Reykjavik, Iceland '72 Spasskij/Fischer), Munich Olympics ('72), Baseball, Softball, and Soccer (National '84), Golf (2 Net 59's, and not one Hole-in-One), Old Bones Band ('92, '93), Rethinking Education ('05, '06, '07, '08).

Other interests include; Computer Mystery Games with the grandkids, Crosswords, Sudoku, Cryptograms, Ciphers, Board Games, Trivia, and generally anything that feeds my Obsessive Compulsive drive/habit to solve something. I'm one of those types that would alphabetize the Pantry, if allowed (and Toni doesn't) … you see, it just makes sense to me that all the Fat Free Key Lime Yogurt should line up. But, helping me break this habit are my Inspirations*.

Favorite Quote: "Second to the right, then straight on till morning." (J.M. Barrie, 1904)

My Mantra: "It's not about you!" (Unknown Author)

I made the transition from world view to child-led learning several years ago. One night in 2003, during a weekend sleepover, I was engaged in some game playing with granddaughter Reid. We were involved in a rather focused session of a Nancy Drew Mystery Game on the computer. At one point, after we had made significant progress towards finding the "culprit", which requires successfully solving puzzles to gain clues, Reid decided to repeat a puzzle we had just completed. I remarked: "No, Reid, let's not play that puzzle, again. We already have that clue; let's go on to the next part of the game." To wit: "MooMoo, it's supposed to be FUN!" Where had she been when I was preparing for all those "Dog and Pony Show" presentations for corporate? Not that I hadn't read, and heard it many times, before, I absolutely had a life-changing experience, at that moment.

Soon after, I heard Brooke and Stacy, talking one evening, and I asked them to explain some more of their concepts about "Home Schooling" (my term, at the time) to which they almost tripped over each other's response, both echoing like twins, simultaneously: "Dad, it's not Home Schooling … it's child-led learning in a family environment!"

I've been hooked ever since, and my reading this past year has taken a definite turn towards an interest in the writings of John Holt, John Taylor Gatto, and in re-reading Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography and Thomas Payne's Common Sense. I am a Rethinking Education veteran, where my new world view is annually reinforced with the interaction of children, parents, and other grandparents who are on this path of instinctive learning.

I'm an unschooling grandparent, and I enjoy sharing my experiences, and discovering in the process, with anyone who may be open to the prospect of becoming a support mechanism for learning … I guarantee you will enjoy it, because being an available support mechanism for someone else's needs and desires always makes you feel better … it's the right thing to do … and, after all, "it's supposed to be FUN!"

*My Inspirations: Reid, Greta, Eli, Seth.



SCOTT NOELLE

My obsession with the inner workings of all things -- especially abstract things like creativity, learning, and relationships -- goes back at least to the age of two. My grandmother, who worked in the field of early child education, would take me for a stroll and was perplexed by my long periods of silent observation. By today's standards I might have been labeled "high-functioning autistic," but back then I was just plain weird. Fortunately I learned to appreciate my weirdness and avoid the pressures of conformity enough that I was able to make a number of unconventional choices. At age 19, long before I heard of "unschooling," I dropped out of college and decided that real life would be my education and the whole world would be my school.

Through my 20s I worked as a singer, vocal arranger, and voice teacher. Music was the context in which I met my beloved partner Beth, a world-class singer and pianist. And helping adult singers fulfill their dreams of authentic self-expression provided much of the foundation for my current work as a parenting coach.

The birth of our first child in 1997 ignited my latent interest in children's development. After reading The Continuum Concept, I worked with author Jean Liedloff to create an online support organization for readers of her book. Daniel Quinn has said that The Continuum Concept is like "a companion piece" to his Ishmael, that it "shows why Leaver children grow up sane and healthy." (See the description of my session on hunter/gatherer consciousness.)

Over a period of several years, my work with the Continuum Network evolved into a career as a parenting coach. While many parenting coaches focus on behavior management, my focus is helping parents cultivate a shift in consciousness that makes behavior management more-or-less obsolete. Not surprisingly, many of my clients are unschoolers.

I've always been interested in metaphysics and spirituality. In 2005, I was re-introduced to the Law of Attraction through the work of Esther and Jerry Hicks (a.k.a. "the teachings of Abraham"), and I was amazed at how well it fit with the conclusions I had come to in the process of applying Liedloff's continuum principles. Since then I've been working on integrating the two perspectives (natural and metaphysical) in an approach I call Attraction Parenting. Last year I published my first book, The Daily Groove: A Creative Parents' Guide to the Art of Attraction Parenting. (Signed copies will be available at the conference.) You can get a brief excerpt from the book emailed to you every day by subscribing to The Daily Groove mailing list.

Beth and I are blessed with two wonderful girls who will be 8 and 12 at the time of the conference. Unschooled from the beginning, their education continues to be entirely pleasure-driven. We currently live in Port Townsend, WA, a small town with a sizable population of cultural creatives.

My main website is called EnjoyParenting.com.



BETH NOELLE

My life changed 10 years ago when I discovered Nia -- a joyful, healing movement form that celebrates the Body, Mind, Emotions, and Spirit.
As a child I had struggled to hold onto my innate joy of being. The world, it seemed, had no place for the wild energy that flowed through me. My body became my enemy.

School only added insult to injury. I did everything I could to crawl into myself and hide for emotional survival. Music and singing were the only "acceptable" things that kept me connected to authentic pleasure and joy. This led eventually to a career as a musician and voice teacher, but I remained tragically disconnected from my body.

After the birth of my first child and a bout of postpartum depression, a friend suggested I try Nia at our local community center. I went, and right away I knew I had found something extraordinary.

I can't begin to describe the release I felt at my first Nia class. The gentle movements that were grounded in the sensuousness of my bare feet, the seductive music that melted and invigorated my heart, and the inspired teacher who was leading me on this journey, all contributed to an internal knowing that I could heal my relationship with "me." Tears of joy streamed down my cheeks as I finally claimed my birthright of pleasure and joy through movement.

Nia opened me to profound Connection. My desire to share Nia with others came to fruition in August of 2008 when I became a certified Nia instructor, and I now teach Nia classes at a local movement arts studio.

In partnership with my body, I've learned to live a life grounded in Pleasure, Freedom and Love.



LAURA OFENO

Her life is a field trip - emphasis on trip; no.... emphasis on field; well, it's been an odyssey. With her husband Vincent and kids Nicole and Quinn, ages 23 and 16, she has followed a path to illuminate truth and to know stuff. The road has been interesting and observations abound. You never know what you'll hear, but it may make you think.

As a horticulture and biology major in college, she "branched" out into an interest in environment and a houseplant hobby. Observing the effect of nurture on all living things, once babies came, it was only natural to nurture, to seek truth about nurturing and to question the experts. This led naturally to unschooling as the only nurturing path to authentic learning.

Most important in her expanding circle are friends, community and music. She is the cantor at her church and learned to play the pennywhistle in her car while waiting for trains to pass in Saginaw, TX. One dog and a cat round out the household, a new minimum in the 4-legged, or 2-winged family membership. Meet her and find out more fun facts at the 2009 conference. This family has attended every one since 1996. Laura is also a knittin' and crochetin' expert!



NICOLE OFENO

is a 24 year old unschooler temporarily living in Ft. Worth, TX apprenticing with barb Lundgren to learn about event organizing.
Nicole was living in Portland, Oregon enjoying mountains, friends and life. (Of Course) having experimented with travel and many different kinds of relationships she has really grown to know and love herself the only real way one can, by just living! After the 2009 conference Nicole plans on backpacking with her best friend Brenna (Barb's daughter) through South America for one year.



SARAH & CHRIS PARENT

Sarah is Elijah (6.5) and Sadie's (5) whole-life unschooling Mama. She enjoys practicing Reiki, gardening, physical challenges, and long walks on the beach. But mostly she just loves the guilty pleasure of bearing witness to, supporting, and having the most wondrous of journeys- those of her family. She began as stellar student then a labor and delivery (in no way like pizza) nurse of 10+ years with a Master's and a mission to do it all. And she does… as a stay-at-home-unschooling mother who blogs her family's adventures at www.clanofparents.com and hosts Humans Being- a podcast about unschooling and gentle parenting at www.werhumansbeing.com.

Chris is the whole-life unschooling Dad to Elijah and Sadie. His traditional philosophies of life and parenting were flipped on their ear by his love and understanding of these two incredibly rational and intuitive individuals (and his crazy wife). Beginning with marked passages in dog-eared books and natural magazines read on porcelain thrones, Chris began to seriously re-think…everything. He is a Principle Systems Engineer (read: Computer Geek) for an investment company by day (and many nights and weekends). Little do they know- he's 'radical'. He's happy to talk about it. How long do you have?



BROOKE & STACEY PATTEN

are the parents of Reid (11), Greta (7), Eli (5), and Seth (3). They live a happy existence in Tulsa, OK and have always unschooled. Stacy is a Network Engineer for Hilti, Inc. and Brooke facilitates her kid's interests (of which there are far too many to list) and dabbles as a face painter on the side.



KIM PICKENS

is a radical unschooling mama to 4 boys (ages 3-7) and wife of musican/artist/thinker, Rajolei. I am an artist/activist who spent over a year learning how to farm inside the city limits at The Last Organic Outpost. We are currently working on a guerrilla gardening project next to our unschooling cooperative, The Real School. I believe all struggles are intertwined and am glad to be a part of this Rethinking Everything conference!



LISA PRICE

As a Bach Foundation Registered Practitioner with more than 8 years experience, Lisa Price delights in sharing her passion - knowledge of the Bach Flower Essences (BFE's). When not seeing clients in her practice, educating families (from newborns to grandparents) regarding the simple use of the BFE's as a natural alternative to maintaining balanced emotional health and handling everyday stresses--simply, effectively, and safely-- without the side effects of drugs, is her second passion.

Through talks and workshop presentations, Lisa has introduced the "worlds best kept secret" of Bach Flower Essences to a vast array of audiences including expectant parents, new mothers, doula groups, nurses groups and herb clubs. Of just over 1700 Bach Foundation Registered Practitioners worldwide, Lisa is currently the only Bach Practitioner in Dallas, Texas to be included on the register, as maintained with the Dr. Edward Bach Foundation in Oxfordshire, England. Registration with the Foundation indicates that practitioners have "attained a world-wide standard of competence and have agreed to work to the highest standards of professional practice."



DANIEL QUINN

grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and studied at St. Louis University, the University of Vienna, and Loyola University of Chicago. During a twenty-year career in educational and consumer publishing in Chicago, he was a writer, editor, materials developer, and executive for companies such as Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corporation, Science Research Associates, and the Society for Visual Education, producing materials for both children and adults.

This varied background played its part in the quest that led him to the writing of his best known work, Ishmael, the novel that in 1991 won the Turner Tomorrow Fellowship, established to encourage authors to seek "creative and positive solutions to global problems." Ishmael has been in print continuously since its publication in 1992 and has been made available in more than 25 languages. Throughout the U.S. and Canada and in other countries Ishmael is used as a text in a broad range of classes that include anthropology, ecology, history, literature, philosophy, ethics, biology, and psychology, at age levels from middle school through graduate level.


He followed Ishmael with an autobiography, Providence; then came The Story Of B, a novel that continues the philosophical and religious exploration begun in Ishmael; and My Ishmael: A Sequel, in which it's learned that, unbeknownst to the narrator of Ishmael, Ishmael was working with another pupil, a twelve-year-old girl. Other works include Beyond Civilization , a nonfiction work that explores, among other relevant topics, tribal ways of making a living that work here and now; After Dachau, a novel that critics have compared to Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, and 1984; The Man Who Grew Young, a graphic novel that tells the unique and fascinating story of a man who lives backward through time and history; The Holy, a metaphysical thriller which won the 2003 Independent Publisher Award for Mystery/Suspense/Thriller of the Year; Tales of Adam, written as part of an early version of the book that ultimately became Ishmael; Work, Work, Work,), a children's book with Quinn's own illustrations; and If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways, in which Quinn investigates the source of his own ideas (which so many readers have found mysteriously alien).

He instituted the Stateville Penitentiary Writers' Workshop (1969-71) and served on the Board of Listeners of the World Uranium Hearing, Salzburg, Austria, convened in 1992 to hear testimony of victims of uranium mining, nuclear waste disposal, and nuclear power disasters around the world. He has addressed students and faculty at the University of Massachusetts, the University of Texas, Trinity University, Portland State University, Salisbury State University, Elon College, Baylor University, Texas A&M, the University of Georgia, Roger Williams University, Kent State University, Rice University, the University of Oregon, St. Louis University, and other colleges and educational institutions. He has been a keynote speaker for conferences and meetings for groups such as The Minnesota Social Investment Forum, St. Martin's College World Population Forum, Systems Thinking in Action, Vision 2000, Iowa State University's Institute on World Affairs, the North American Association for Environmental Education, The Foundation for Contemporary Theology, and EnvironDesign3.

Like most people who have found a way to make a living that doesn't involve the 9-5 ratrace, Daniel loves "living over the store"-with no separation of work and life.



AARON REEVES

is living proof that you can unschool yourself at any stage in life, which is just what he has done. Many of you will know Aaron as the (Barb Lundgren says: gorgeous, wonderful) husband of longtime attendee Emily Williams, now Emily Reeves since she and Aaron married a few years back. Turned on totally to the amazing potential of life as an autodidactic, he began the journey toward self-direction when he was just 17.

He instinctively knew then he was wasting time making money for other people while he could be making the money for himself. A few jobs later, he became a solopreneur and started repairing 18-wheelers and running a lawn care business. Typically he was over-booked, over-stressed and making money hand over fist. Tired of being tired he began to expand his business and money making skills by starting yet another wildly successful business, Reeves Transport Services, a Green-focused company which he still owns and manages today.

Turns out Aaron also has a love affair with music, and he started his own band in 2006. A "shy guy" in person, he's a dynamo when on stage and rocking it. He loves sharing what he's learned about the fascinating world of music performance and production.



EMILY REEVES

I am a life learner and always have been (having escaped the school system in 3rd grade!) I have a life full of versatility and enjoy every aspect of my many lives! I am into- (in no particular order) spirituality, animals, fashion, my precious husband, riding my bicycle, changing the oil in my wicked awesome GTO, thrift store shopping, gardening, going to the drag strip, playing with my dog, chatting on LS2GTO.com with my car friends, eating yummy lunches with my mom, chillin' with my fabulous grandparents, camping, eating sushi...I could go on? Nah!

I've been strongly impacted by the Rethinking Education Conferences for 12 years. Through this event I have gained experiences that mean more to me than words can describe. I believe in positive affirmations, the power of intention and many alternative ways of thinking. Have a new window for me to see the world through? I'm in!



HOWARD STRAUS

Education: Bachelor of Science, Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1964

Military: Lieutenant (junior grade) United States Navy, 1967 - 1969

Served as Research Officer at Fleet Numerical Weather Central, Monterey, CA

Family: Mr. Straus is the grandson of Dr. Max Gerson,
originator of the Gerson Therapy for Cancer and other Degenerative Diseases, author of A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases. He is the son of Charlotte Gerson, founder of the Gerson Institute and author of The Gerson Therapy: The Amazing Nutritional Therapy for Cancer and Other Diseases and Healing the Gerson Way: Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases.
Mr. Straus had a long and productive career as a Computer Systems Analyst, and often turns his technical talents and skills to the benefit of the Gerson Therapy.

Highlights of Mr. Straus' career in service of the Gerson Therapy:

Served for fifteen years on the Board of Directors of the Gerson Institute.
Healed his fiancée, Sally, of basal cell carcinoma using the Gerson Therapy. She has been his wife for over 18 years, and remains cancer-free Founded the Power Nutrition Seminars in and around Carmel, CA Served briefly as Assistant Administrator of Hospital Meridién, Tijuana, BC, Mexico, a Gerson facility.
Served as Vice President, Communications of the Gerson Institute, arranging seminars and lectures in the United States and Canada, appearing on radio interviews.
Lectures with Charlotte Gerson and other Gerson Institute personnel in the United States and worldwide on administration of the Gerson Therapy, its opportunities and pitfalls
Has lectured on the Gerson Therapy in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia
Consultations with patients in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia Consulting with Medical School Professors and senior MDs on proper application of the Gerson Therapy in Japan
Initiated Gerson Institute's presence on the WWW in the Web's infancy
Serves as Editor-in-Chief for over eight years of the bimonthly Gerson Healing Newsletter, the membership organ of the Gerson Institute, contributing many articles and editorials.
Founded and served as Administrator of the Gerson Healing Center in Sedona, AZ
Founded Cancer Research Wellness Institute to disseminate information about the Gerson Therapy nationally and internationally
Appears regularly on both local and nationally-syndicated radio and television interviews and debates on the Gerson Therapy and the cancer industry in the United States
Author of Dr. Max Gerson: Healing the Hopeless, the first definitive biography of Dr. Max Gerson, MD. Favorably reviewed in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine
Published Charlotte Gerson's series of Healing … The Gerson Way booklets introducing the Gerson Therapy and very popular with patients and prospective patients
Authored article and editorial by invitation for the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, April '03, July '03.
Co-scriptwriter and technical consultant for The Gerson Miracle, a prize-winning 2004 documentary on the Gerson Therapy by cinematographer Steve Kroschel. Put The Gerson Miracle on the WWW for worldwide free access.
Technical consultant for Dying to Have Known, cinematographer Steve Kroschel's 2006 documentary sequel for The Gerson Miracle; also appeared in the movie
Arranged for showings of the two above documentaries on dozens of nationwide and local broadcast public interest television channels.
Technical and script consultant for The Beautiful Truth, Steve Kroschel's third documentary on the Gerson Therapy, produced in 2007. Appeared in the film, as well. Helped to arrange worldwide distribution and financing for the film.
Published Charlotte Gerson's second book, Healing the Gerson Way: Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases, in 2007. Managed contracts for translation and publication into seven languages as of 2008.



KALEY STEPHENSON

HI! I'm Kaley. I love acting, writing, singing and song-writing, creating websites and web shows, filming movies and organizing plays. I'm 12 years old and have 2 younger siblings, Makenna and Travis, who are unschooling with me. I'm always very busy with something-or-other, like memorizing play scripts, writing screenplays or stories, camping with the Girl Scouts, or maybe just reading a good book on the living room couch. I've been in 14 plays and musicals and want to do this forever. Most of the time, you'll find me thinking hard about something or trying to get my friends to work with me on my next big project. After going to Montessori and Waldorf school for a little while, I told my parents I wanted to homeschool because I never had time to do the things I love to do. I've had the best time designing my own education by doing what I love for the last 2 years.



JOHNNY & PATRICIA STOUT

Johnny Stout lives with his wife, Patricia, and 17-yr old son, Shad, in the Greater New Orleans area just north of Lake Pontchartrain. Also named One Man, he has Comanche, Irish, and Cheyenne heritage. He has the distinction of being the only well-known fine art nude photographer in the conservative suburban town where he's lived for 19 years. The back story: as a part of an ongoing journey of recovering from the Viet Nam war and then from alcoholism, he returned to Indian practices such as smudging, sweat lodge, pipe ceremony, and the medicine wheel, which helped him heal and trust again. He shared these gifts with his wife and son. Sobriety saved his life, and 26 years in 12-step programs, Breathwork groups, men's retreats, and other healing circles has enriched his soul. He began discovering that he was an artist in 1990. He is a partner in Ft. Isabel Gallery where his art is displayed. He has never regretted quitting his commuter job and devoting his full attention to photography as his work and artistic passion.

Since his marriage has ebbed and flowed and at times vibrated with energy for over 21 years, he figures that for better or worse, he has learned a lot about love and commitment! Knowing what true love really is, he has delved deeply into the spiritual, physical and emotional aspects of a healthy relationship.

For fun, he also enjoys being the Drum Major for The Kilts of Many Colours Pipes and Drums. Shad and Patricia are both in the band as well (on bagpipes and tenor drum). It has been a great honor and a blast to be leading the band in Jazz Fest performances and Mardi Gras parades, including the final climactic Rex Parade on Fat Tuesday, in post-Katrina New Orleans.

You can find Johnny (One Man) in a tie-dye shirt and ponytail at any time throughout the conference.

Contact info: (985) 264-8137 odysseyimages@bellsouth.net


Patricia Stout is gratefully self-employed in her dream field of holistic psychotherapy and Integrative Breathwork. In her private practice, Breath of Life, she offers counseling, groups, workshops and retreats locally and regionally since 1991. Her social work research began on the streets as a teen run-away, exploring first- hand how various American and Canadian cities deal with their homeless and youth. She definitely could have used the support of a conference like this one for her unschooled high school years. (In those days, it was called dropping out.)

After receiving a GED and later graduating Summa Cum Laude with Bachelors and Masters degrees in Social Work, she began post-graduate studies in Psycho-Spiritual Integration, LSD modern consciousness research, and other juicy stuff they didn't teach in school. She was certified as an Integrative Breathwork facilitator through the Eupsychia Institute for Well-Being. Meanwhile her interests expanded into yoga, Tarot Reading, Native American ceremonies, and women's moon teachings.

The study and practice of Integrative Breathwork inspired her to consider having a child, after all. Breathwork and Tantric sexual healing practices enabled home birth and natural delivery, which were followed by other outside-the-box decisions such as baby-led breast- feeding (he might actually know when he's hungry!), self-employment, homeschooling (starting in the 3rd grade) and eventually, by default at first, unschooling Shad, who is now 17.

Giving Shad the freedom to be who he really is has helped the whole family thrive more and follow their passions. Each family member is challenged to take conscious responsibility for life rather than follow society's prescribed roles.

Patricia's sobriety (24+ years now) has led to an effort toward conscious living on a number of fronts. Conscious breathing, conscious working, eating, spending, conscious parenting, and Conscious Loving, this years' topic for our sessions! (We look forward to seeing you there!)

Contact: (985) 264-8089 breathwork@bellsouth.net


As a Couple: Together, Patricia and Johnny have explored deepening love and heightening bliss through many venues: couples' therapy, Growing Close--a Tantric Weekend Retreat, Retrovaille--Marriage Rediscovery and Dialogue Techniques, Sensate Focus, home-study of Tantric lovemaking, Breathwork for Couples, and more.

They actively nurture their marriage as a key ingredient to joyful and effective parenting and vibrant community life. They are active members of the North Shore Unitarian Universalists, a church of free thought.

Regarding homeschooling turned unschooling, Patricia says: Trust the process. I wish we would have started unschooling even earlier, but it's never too late. Johnny's words: I wouldn't have done it any other way. Shad is my greatest teacher.



KRENIE STOWE, M.D.

describes herself as "a mother and activist first, a physician and attorney second." Grounded in a lifelong commitment to social justice, she is a tireless advocate of sweeping health care reform. After graduating cum laude from Phillips Academy in 1977, she attended Yale, receiving her BA in 1981. She received her MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1985. Following a pediatric internship at New York University Medical Center, she attended Harvard Law School, graduating magna cum laude in 1990. She then returned to New York to complete pediatric residency training at Montefiore Medical Center's Residency Program in Social Medicine. Committed to providing medical care to underserved communities, she moved to North Dakota in 1992 to practice on a remote Native American Territory.

Newly aware of the crisis in rural health care, she sought an underserved, demographically complex region in which to implement a unique plan. Texas, ranking near last in the health status of children, fit the profile. She relocated there in 1994 and, with her mother, Dr. Maria Stowe, co-founded the Frontis Project, a non-profit health care facility that provided medical care, emergency assistance, and social support and advocacy services to 11,500 children and their families.

In 2004, she resigned that position to pursue her dual passions of health care and educational reform by writing and consulting. In 2005, she founded HEAL, Health Education, Advocacy & Literacy, and is now working on growing The Real School, an unschooling co-operative. She also practices with a small group, MFC Clinic, in The Woodlands. She published her first book, A Doctor's Story: A Personal Journey & A Call For Reform, in 2006. She has been honored by the Houston Young Lawyers Association and the Center for the Healing of Racism. Her work has been featured in the Houston Chronicle and numerous local newspapers. She has done dozens of radio and television spots, and can be heard frequently on local radio station KPFT. Although she has lived in Texas for over 14 years, she remains a member of the New York Bar. Her 12 year old son, Isaac, a lifelong unschooler, is the center of her universe.

Krenie Stowe will offer eight consultations during the conference weekend, at a cost of $100 for 1/2 hour. To make an appointment with her, call her directly: 713.201.6704.



MARIA FRONTIS STOWE, M.D.

received her B.A. from Columbia University in 1972 and her M.D. from Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1977. Prior to medical school, she worked for the City of New York for 7 years as a youth worker and program planner in urban ghettos focusing on at-risk adolescents such as drug addicts and pregnant teens. While in medical school, she worked in areas of abject poverty in rural Mexico and also arranged to do clinical rotations at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. The contrast proved truly educational. Following medical school, she worked extensively in the field of obstetrics and gynecology in Mexico and opened a maternal and family health care clinic in Juarez. After leaving Mexico in 1980, she worked as a family therapist for 12 years. In 1994, she co-founded the Frontis Project, as described above, and functioned as its Executive Director for 11 years. Dr. Stowe has extensive experience in the areas of psychotherapy, addictive behaviors, sexuality, breastfeeding, and family planning. She is passionately interested in the evolutionary history and psychology of sexuality and reproduction and their effect on reproductive decision-making. She plans to write and further develop theories on these and related topics. She is currently working on an autobiography.



SUSAN SMYLIE

has been learning about unschooling from her children for 16 years and is finally figuring out how to do it herself, learning what she needs to know to enter the world of web development after a 16-year break from employment (hmmm, a theme, centered around 16 years, also the age of her first-born.) She has four children, ages 20, 16, 13, and 5 (the 20 year old joined the family when she was 16, making her the oldest and 4th child and the only one to attend school, prior to joining the family. She rebelled and stayed there for a while, finally joining the unschooling ranks as a high school Junior.) Now the next kid is rebelling, entering college full-time the week before the RT conference begins! (Couldn't he wait until he was 18 like other kids?)

Susan's volunteer work has included La Leche League Leader, foster parent, Odyssey of the Mind Coach, Council of Stewards and Youth Director at her church, and for the last 2 1/2 years, anti-genocide activist. This year she was selected as one of twenty Genocide Intervention Network Carl Wilkens Fellows. Carl Wilkens was the only American to stay in Rwanda during the genocide there in 1994 (where he and his wife, Teresa, homeschooled their kids). The Fellowship is part of Genocide Intervention Network's strategy to create a permanent anti-genocide constituency in honor of Wilkens.

Since becoming an anti-genocide activist, Susan has met some amazing students who are truly the leaders in this arena. She has also learned an enormous amount about how to be an effective advocate for a cause and has seen first-hand the difference individuals can make in the world. She looks forward to sharing some of these experiences at the conference.



AMYSUE VOGEL

is an unschooling mom to two nature-loving boys and one new baby. As a kid she was constantly lost in thought outdoors somewhere - befriending animals or building forts with her brother. Nowadays, AmySue lives with her firefighter husband out in the country in North Texas. They enjoy their many pets, run an all-inclusive homeschool group and volunteer for a rabbit rescue group.

AmySue was a school teacher back before she had children. She veared away from public schools and found private schools to work in that would let her be her creative self. Once she became a Mom - she knew right away that being at home and learning with her kids was where she needed to be. She quit teaching the outside world and quickly came home to learn with her own. She has never looked back.



MARIA WHITWORTH

A writer, online and offline marketer, graphic designer, innovator and speaker, Maria Whitworth first learned of and began applying the law of attraction in 1977, homebirthed her 3 children between 1981-1986, became a natural learning advocate before the word "unschooling" was even thought of, and has been confidently doing things before they were "cool" her entire adult life. She and her husband Devin live in Dallas, Texas, and have been successfully married while successfully unemployed for over 30 years. They freely give lots of valuable tips and strategies for living well doing what you love through their Meetup® group at http://unjobbing.com.

For the most part, they stayed out of the way of their bright and spirited daughters, who are stamping their uniquely creative, conscious footprints from coast to coast. Maria's radical insights on parenting and "say YES!" approach to life are dominant themes in her articles and workshops. She is writing and will one day finish (soon, we hope) her how-to parenting manual on raising joyful, self-reliant, free-thinking kids in our not-so-free-thinking world.



EVAN HUNTER WRIGHT

is the Director of the Education Empowerment Project, which provides services for the unschooling community. He is an Unschooling Coach and mentor, and a Senior Staff person for Grace Llewellyn's Not Back to School Camp who has worked with hundreds of unschoolers and their families.

Evan began studying unschooling when he read The Teenage Liberation Handbook and left school at 15. Instead of traditional classes at high school or college, he explored the British Museum, worked at a London soup kitchen run by nuns, taught himself web design by studying raw HTML code, raised Harbor Seal pups, disentangled sea lions from fishermen's nets in Mexico, and assisted in research of 5-foot long Green sea turtles in Costa Rica. Without school, he learned about project management by creating big projects, and explored the writing of educational visionaries and critics.

Evan loves supporting and mentoring unschoolers along their journey, and is currently particularly excited about his new role as a Producer of a brand new podcast about unschooling called AudioDidact.
www.EducationEmpowermentProject.com