Cultivating Connections  
Mini Conference
May 26, 2025

For the past 8 years, Peter has led HSLDA Canada, the national non-profit organization that serves the professional needs of home educating families with services such as insurance, legal defence, exceptional needs consultations, curriculum choices, a digital library, and expert staff who advise on everything from 'getting started' to 'successful post-secondary admissions'. Prior to leading HSLDA, Peter spent more than two decades on Parliament Hill advising MPs and cabinet ministers. Peter and his wife Tarah homeschooled their four children from their earliest years.

Janet is a marriage and family therapist working with parents, teens and children through all of life's challenges. Working in both private practice and publicly through Canuck Place Children's Hospice, her work centres around building resilience, strengthening relationships and navigating loss. She is a parent of 5 children ages 19 to 11, and married to a fabulous husband. Life has not been without its challenges and yet she feels so blessed to walk it together.

Pam is a homeschooling mama of 8 wonderful kids, ranging in age from 30 down to 14.  She has homeschooled them from day one, going in with fear & trembling but shifting almost immediately to joy & dancing in this wild & creative adventure!  Aside from homeschooling, Pam is passionate about the performing arts, so she started up Mountain Theatre over 15 years ago, putting on musicals WITH homeschooled kids!  A perfect combo!

Annabel fell into homeschooling completely unexpectedly when her two daughters were aged five and seven. From then on, her family homeschooled right through to graduation. As a family, they tried many different ways to school, from online book curricula to co-ops to self designed courses. Complemented by a number of extra curricula activities, the experience left Annabel a lifelong devotee of home learning. She loves to give back by supporting and helping others navigate their home learning journeys, sharing her experience and thoughts whenever she can.

Amy has been home educating her children for the last seventeen years and it has been a great joy and blessing. She is a little bit nerdy about books and information, which led her to pursue degrees in English Literature and Library and Information Management, both of which have been great assets in her homeschool journey. Amy has graduated two children out of home education so far and has learned many strategies to make home education through the grad years less daunting. She can’t wait to share some tips and tricks with you!