SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT: Amanda Bennett

Amanda Bennett is always a HUGE hit with our convention attendees, and we’re grateful that she’s back with us again this year!

Married for 27 years with 20+ years as a parent and 17+ years as a homeschooling parent, Amanda has a wealth of experience and laughter to share! Holding a degree in engineering from the University of Florida, she worked in engineering and professional research before turning home to raise and educate their three children. She is the author of 33 books for families, and is a much sought-after speaker. She uses both humor and candor to share her message of encouragement as well as practical help for homeschooling parents trying to find a better way to educate their children.

As a home educator, Amanda was motivated to develop a more effective means of learning for children and a more interesting method of teaching for parents, which resulted in the creation of several series of unit studies. Her unit studies and conference presentations have become extremely popular with homeschool families from coast to coast.

Amanda shares encouragement and helpful information from her heart, using her own trials and tribulations as examples. She has survived two serious automobile s and numerous surgeries in the past few years while homeschooling. As such, she is uniquely qualified to share the ups and downs of reality family life and homeschooling. Because of her experiences, Amanda can relate to audiences not only as a teacher, parent and homeschooler – but as a compassionate and understanding friend.

Planned sessions with Amanda at this year’s convention include:

Unit Studies 101: The basics and beyond
Wondering about unit studies? Want to learn what they are and how they can be used in homeschooling? Come join Amanda Bennett, author of Unit Studies 101, and learn the basics of this highly effective educational tool. Having written several series of unit studies, Amanda is uniquely qualified to share what she has learned about writing and using unit studies. If you have struggled with textbooks and workbooks and are looking for new direction or a refresher on unit studies, come and listen as Amanda shares her knowledge and her experience about success with unit studies.

Gifts and Talents – In My Child?
One of the most difficult things for many parents to identify can be their own child’s gifts and talents! Each of our children is so uniquely talented and every child is gifted. One of Amanda’s favorite sayings is “Every child is gifted and a gift – you just have to figure out how to unwrap the package!” Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to notice gifts and talents in others than in yourself or your children? Recognizing these gifts is not always an easy or simple task, and Amanda spends this time helping you understand some of the practical, basic concepts and categories, along with ideas to help foster their development. Gifts and talents – we’ve all been given them, and God doesn’t give us talents that He doesn’t intend for us to use!

Top Ten Tips for Successful Homeschooling
After 17 years of homeschooling, let Amanda share her top ten tips that will help you enjoy homeschooling as part of a family lifestyle, instead of one more thing to trudge through on your daily list of TTD (Things To Do). After being asked repeatedly about what her “secrets” were to raising such self-motivated learners, Amanda has put together her list of favorite tips. Bring along pen and paper – you won’t want to miss these. Learn from Amanda’s trials and triumphs to help make y our pathway to success easier and brighter!