The Joy of Making

Just like so many others, Kerri Forney was introduced to the life-giving principles of Charlotte Mason through reading For the Children’s Sake. She and her husband, Scott continue to grow in their ability to live out these principles and currently live in Wake Forest, NC. She has graduated four children, and the last is a junior in high school. Besides leading a monthly CM study group for moms in North Raleigh, she enjoys rescuing used books, and mentoring and growing with fellow educators. Kerri works on the Alveary curriculum team, especially focusing on high school curriculum.

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As a Charlotte Mason educator for 20 years, teaching her five children has given Elizabeth Millar a storehouse of rich memories and a passion for Mason’s philosophy of education. This gentle but rigorous way of learning is a rich liberal education and a good life. Her many book shelves and handmade art throughout her home testify to these years.

Elizabeth spends most of her days finishing up a Doctor of Practical Theology program (McMaster Divinity College) where she is studying sacred storytelling and everyday spirituality. Her research project focuses on what women know about God through the practice of mothering. It only further confirms for her the power of storytelling (or some might say narration!) and the rich spirituality of everyday practices like mothering. Her theological interests include spiritual autobiographical writing, everyday spirituality, prayer, spiritual direction, and church history.

As a spiritual director, Elizabeth is confident that God is present in ordinary life and that God desires interaction with us. With a sense of joyful curiosity and prayerful attentiveness, she is a spiritual companion for those who want to know and experience God more. Elizabeth also works as the storyteller with Vision Ministries Canada, interviewing church leaders across Canada and telling their stories of God at work in their congregations and communities.

Elizabeth has experienced living in various settings (rural prairie, inner city, suburbia) and is now enjoying small town life on Prince Edward Island, Canada. She is married to a minister and backyard farmer, and is mother to 5 beautiful people. As a quilter, knitter, and soap maker, she delights in the art of making.

Amber O’Neal Johnston is the author of A Place to Belong, a guide for families of all backgrounds to celebrate cultural heritage, diversity, and kinship while embracing inclusivity in the home and beyond. She is a regular contributor to the Charlotte Mason homeschooling community, a frequent podcast guest, and a coveted speaker at homeschooling, parenting, and education conferences. 

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Amber lives in Georgia nestled among pine trees, hammocks and ziplines with her husband Scott and their four children. Her happy place is the back porch on a rainy day, preferably with a giant mug of hot tea and a good book. And although she was raised in the air conditioning, somehow the woods is where she feels most at home these days. 

When they have the chance, her family enjoys extended worldschooling trips to immerse themselves in other cultures, so you can often find her researching their next home away from home. Amber enjoys sharing diverse literary mirrors and windows onHeritagemom.com and @heritagemomblog (IG).

Shannon Whiteside (PhD University of Illinois at Chicago) is the Program Director for Charlotte Mason’s Alveary, a curriculum and teacher training program for homeschools, co-ops, and schools in the United States and Canada. She began her career as a classroom teacher and then decided to homeschool her own children. She discovered the principles of Charlotte Mason over 13 years ago and wrote her dissertation on the storytelling aspects of narration and how Mason’s educational theories compare to the classical model of education. She lives in northwest Indiana with her husband, Mark, and their three children.

Lisa is a mother of seven and grandmother of twelve. First introduced to Charlotte Mason in the early 1990s, she immediately started incorporating what she learned into her homeschooling. She later participated in the first Charlotte Mason email groups, including the one that became Ambleside Online, led a local CM support group for over a decade, and has regularly attended CMI’s annual conferences since they began. She served four years as Director of Education at Ingleside Tutorial, a four day week program in Chattanooga. She currently serves in Athens, TN as Director of Education for Blue Willow Tutorial, a program based on Ingleside’s model and founded by her daughter. In addition to her work at Blue Willow, Lisa  travels around the country helping others start and manage various models of Mason co-ops, tutorials, and schools.

Deani Van Pelt, an Ontario Certified Teacher, is President of Edvance Christian Schools Association in Ontario, Canada. Previously Associate Professor of Education and Director of Teacher Education at Redeemer University College, and formerly a teacher in both Christian and public high schools, she holds a B.Commerce (McMaster University), B.Ed. (University of Toronto), and Master’s and Ph.D. in Education (Western University). She was awarded a medal for excellence in graduate studies for her master thesis on Charlotte Mason’s Design for Education, and her article "For a Great Door is Opened: The Legacy of Charlotte Mason" draws on her studies during that period. She led an exciting international research collaboration, funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, at the Armitt Museum and Library that resulted in the Charlotte Mason Digital Collection, available worldwide through Redeemer University College and recently received CMI’s Charlotte Mason Tribute award for doing so. Van Pelt, a Cardus Senior Fellow and a Fraser Institute Senior Fellow, has researched and published frequently on aspects of school choice in Canada (including home schooling, charter schools, religious schools, and independent schools) and on education spending and school sector enrollments. She has served as an expert witness, presented at numerous academic and education conferences across North America, and her work has been regularly featured in Canadian print and broadcast media. She and her husband, Michael, raised their three children near Toronto, Canada and both are thankful to have “met” Charlotte Mason early in their parenting years.

Melanie Falick is an independent writer, editor, and creative consultant—and a lifelong maker. Her most recent book, Making a Life: Working by Hand and Discovering the Life You Are Meant to Live, was released by Artisan in Fall 2019, and it was named one of the best books of the year by Publisher’s Weekly. She is currently working on a follow-up book, tentatively titled The Maker’s Way. As the former publishing director of STC Craft/Melanie Falick Books, an imprint of Abrams, she guided the creation of many bestselling how-to and literary nonfiction works on the subjects of craft and creativity. She is also the author of Knitting in America, Kids Knitting, and Weekend Knitting, and the co-author of Knitting for Baby, with over 500,000 books in print. She lives with her family in New York’s beautiful Hudson River Valley.

‍Min Jung Hwang spends her days spreading a Charlotte Mason feast at home with her four creative children and, as a pastor’s wife, complementing her husband’s pastoral ministry at Pascack Bible Church in New Jersey. You may also find her painting, writing, leading a nonprofit ministry for mothers pursuing life-giving habits, podcasting at “Charlotte Mason For All” and “Charlotte Mason Volumes,” and bringing the feast to the children of her church as the Director of Children’s Ministry.

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When her eldest was a toddler, Min “met” Miss Mason and immediately scoured online used bookstores for the unicorn “pinks,” which were the only hardcopies discoverable then. Subsequently, she was swept off her feet by this Gospel-centric educational philosophy and methods. With fire in bones, she immediately began working to bring Miss Mason’s principles to every opportunity she had over the years. This included her work overseas during her season in university administration and education, serving international students and faculty families from over 60 nations. Then, later, as the Founder and Executive Director of a nonprofit with a mission to rescue and empower pregnant women escaping forced abortion, sexual exploitation, and sex trafficking.

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You will often find Min enjoy hosting book clubs, Charlotte Mason co-ops, and “mother nurture” workshops for fellow homeschool moms. Yet as an introvert, her favorite pastimes are dating her husband, Young (with Vancouver and NYC as their hometowns, they are foodies!), blissfully painting or reading away the day with a cup of tea, and exploring new terrain in God’s creation with her four adventurous children.

Timothy Willard is a writer, theologian, artist, creative consultant, and independent scholar. He has authored four books, including the critically acclaimed Veneer: Living Deeply in a Surface Society and his new book, The Beauty Chasers: Recapturing the Wonder of the Divine.

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Timothy received his master’s from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where his studies focused on theology, Christian thought, and church history. His master’s thesis was titled A Theology of Personhood. With a passion to disciple the minds of the emerging generation in faith and culture and to help people live like beauty matters, Timothy moved his family to Oxford, England, for two years, where he earned his Ph.D. at King’s College London and studied theological aesthetics, focusing on the topic of beauty in the works of C.S. Lewis for his doctoral thesis under the supervision of renowned theologian Alister McGrath.

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Through several viral blog posts, millions have read Timothy’s inspirational writing, which has been featured in Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, Patheos, Acculturated, The Huffington Post, FaithIt, Duke Divinity’s Faith & Leadership, ThinQ Media: Essays, Catalyst Magazine, Outreach Magazine, Relevant Magazine, and The Edges Collective. Timothy has been a featured speaker at Q Ideas, Catalyst Conference, Allume Conference, OCCA, The Oxford Center for Christian Apologetics, and various churches, including Carmel Baptist in Charlotte, North Carolina, Embrace Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and St. Aldates Church: Oxford, England.

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As a creative consultant and publishing collaborator, Timothy has worked on thirty books with clients ranging from Chick-fil-A, Sonic, Q Ideas, International Mission Board, Hobby Lobby, The Museum of the Bible, and Coca-Cola Consolidated to NYT bestselling authors, multi-platinum Grammy Award-winning artists, former NFL MVPs, to writers, pastors, home educators, and entrepreneurs. He lives in the woods of Waxhaw, North Carolina, with his wife, Christine, and three daughters, Lyric, Brielle, and Zion, and a goofy Goldendoodle named Cash—yes, after Johnny.  

Marie T. Cochran was born and raised in Toccoa, GA in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. She earned degrees from the University of GA (BFA) and the School of the Art Institute in Chicago (MFA). She received a post-graduate NEA fellowship in museum education at the Art Institute of Chicago.

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Cochran is a cultural pollinator and the founding curator of the Affrilachian Artist Project, an informal network of Appalachian artists and cultural equity advocates and organizations committed to the sustainability of a diverse region. Her awards include a NEA/Southern Arts Federation Sculpture Fellowship, NEA Fast-Track Challenge Grant, the “We Shall Overcome Fund” grant from the Highlander Center, and the Lehman Brady Fellowship from Duke University’s Center for Documentary Arts.

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Cochran is a visual artist, curator, and educator. She has taught at colleges throughout the Southeast. Her artwork has been displayed in these selected venues including the Asheville Art Museum, the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library & Museum, Austin, TX; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC; and the Studio Museum of Harlem, NYC. She is profiled in Southern Women: More than 100 Stories of Innovators, Artists, and Icons (Harper Collins 2019).

Brittany Couper graduated with a BA in History from BYU and an MSc in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where she met her husband Peter and started her family. They later moved to Utah with 5 of their 6 children where they spend time outdoors exploring the mountains and lakes as often as possible. Brittany discovered Miss Mason when her oldest son was 3. Since then, she has learned all she can about her philosophy, applied it at home and encouraged other homeschooling moms through a nature group and co-op that she founded. Last year, Brittany launched A Tailor Made Feast, a platform dedicated to empowering homeschooling parents to create a personalized feast of ideas for their family tailored to their specific needs and rooted in Mason’s principles.

Emily and Brynn are friends and sisters-in-law who were raised in the same small Texas town, and graduated together from a Charlotte Mason school (Ambleside School of Fredericksburg). Both have returned to teach at Ambleside, Emily also serving on the board and Brynn sending her own children there as students. Brynn is a certified CM Master teacher and graduate of ASI’s Master Teacher Training Program. Emily attended and spoke at the Centenary Conference in Ambleside, England last year. Emily and Brynn are co-authors of a monograph in the Centenary Series.

Erika is a NYC native and former public school teacher turned homeschooling mama. A firm believer in a multicultural education for all children through the use of diverse, living books, Erika uses her website, Charlotte Mason City Living, as a resource to help parents diversify their instruction and encourage others with how she creatively implements Miss Mason’s methods in the context of an urban family of color.  Along with co-leading and participating in CM book clubs and co-ops, Erika is a co-host on the Charlotte Mason for All Podcast.  She is also co-founder of The Art of Color Study (curated art appreciation resources showcasing artists of color) as well as the Children’s Church Director following Miss Mason’s principles at Elements Church in the Bronx. On any given day, you can find Erika taking pictures of nature treasures nestled in the city that often go unnoticed in the liveliness of urban life.

Jo Perez-Rey is a Chilean expat in the USA and an English-Spanish professional translator with a passion for Jesus Christ, children, and good books. She believes part of her vocation is to use her skills to make the Charlotte Mason Home Education Series available in (good and culturally relevant) Spanish as well as making it known and available through the first Spanish-speaking community of Charlotte Mason Educators in Latin America, Spain and the United States. Her vocation is complete by raising her children to love God and their neighbors just as they learn to love themselves—especially in regard their origins, their identity, and their history. Her life is a permanent praise to the God who gives us the honor to be part of such a beautiful tapestry of races, languages and cultures, for the glory of His Name.

LeAnn first discovered Charlotte Mason’s writings 16 years ago after a unique reading challenge from a friend. Since that day, Mason’s philosophy of life and education has guided her personal life and overflowed into the lives of her children, community, co-op groups, local school, and business enterprises. Her continued research in Mason’s philosophy and immersion in Mason’s methodology, along with her first-hand experience educating children with learning differences have developed a practical insight into the use of Mason’s work in the modern world of education, creating a deep desire to bring more visibility and accessibility to the beauty and richness of relational education for everyone. She has spoken at numerous CMI conferences and serves on CMI’s board of directors.

LeAnn and her husband, Duane, celebrated 20 years of marriage this year and enjoy working together daily as COO and CEO of their two companies. In 2020, they relocated to the little historic town of Salisbury, North Carolina, with their children, who range in age from 11 to 20. LeAnn seeks out green spaces, adventurous food, great books, and world travel, not in any particular order. She seems to be attracted to challenges and finds these are great catalysts for learning.

Nicole Cottrell is the founder and curator of Stories of Color, a community of homeschoolers and educators from over 100 countries centered on a love and appreciation of living books and the Charlotte Mason philosophy. As a decade-plus homeschooler of color, Nicole grew dissatisfied with the predominantly white, euro-centric book lists so commonplace among homeschooling communities and curriculums and decided to do something about it. When not homeschooling her three teenage children, she can be found curating diverse living books, laughing at her corgi, or watching true crime shows. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her husband of 18 years.

Priscilla Bell was raised on Charlotte Mason's principles and methods, graduated with a Bachelor's in Elementary Education and then taught in various school settings including public and private schools. When her own children entered school age, she became hungry for the education of her roots and dove into the Charlotte Mason philosophy with fresh eyes. In so doing, she rediscovered a unified philosophy that truly meets children at their core in beautiful relationship with our Creator. With this new passion, she founded Blue Willow Tutorial in 2020, a Charlotte Mason hybrid school serving homeschoolers four days a week.

Sandra Zuidema has been educating children, to her great delight, for the past 25 years. She is also a ceramic artist, and if you look at her work, you will notice that her pottery is frequently a series of lessons in nature, design and architecture. The Mason education she gave to her children has settled in to stay. Her medium is clay, wedged, thrown, carved and pierced just to the point it can stand before cracking. As she pushes the structural limits of clay, she strives to make a substance as hard as rock and sharp as glass feel weightless, as light as a leaf skeleton. Sandra holds Art and Education degrees from Redeemer University, homeschooled her children for 12 years, teaches Grade 5-9 art at Oakhill Academy and is a full-time potter in Hamilton, ON. Canada.

Over a decade ago as Stephanie began her home education journey, a friend introduced her to Charlotte Mason’s writings. When her family moved to Washington, DC, she was blessed to join a nearby community that hosted Charlotte Mason book discussions and a natural history club. Several key people informally mentored her in her understanding of Mason’s principles and methods and were examples of “education as a life.” She discovered how handicrafts and notebooking could be regular occupations for the educator, and she found joy in her own education as well as her children’s. The last five years, she has regularly read Parents’ Review articles and spent countless hours researching a particular PNEU member, Mary L. G. Petrie Carus-Wilson. Now a mother of seven children, she continue to home educate as she learns and grows from the work of Charlotte Mason and the PNEU.

After earning her bachelor's and master's degrees in Chemistry, Danielle pursued academic and pharmaceutical research for a number of years. When she and her husband, Jay, began looking for an educational alternative for their children, she stumbled upon Home Education. Due to her spirituality and her own nurturing by many inspired science teachers, the text immediately resonated and it was a natural switch from research chemist to Charlotte Mason educator. She and Jay have established their school on a little homestead in North Carolina. Danielle is the co-founder of CMI’s Blue Orchard Bee initiative which works toward a relational education for neurodivergent students and educators, and she develops science curriculum as part of the Alveary team.

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