Facilitators
Our family began on July 29, 1983, when Daniel and I were married. Today we serve our Lord in Lac La Biche, Alberta. God has given us 5 treasures to nurture. Our five children are happily married and we rejoice in nine grandchildren and 4 more on the way!
Our home education journey, 2000 - 2014, was a blessing as we worked at each child’s pace, learning style and interests. Really, we were all learning and growing! We know what working with learning differences and dyslexia means: we enjoyed many “rabbit-trails” (spontaneous fun) while thinking outside the box, yet we have also known many tears in the learning-to-read process (for both children and Mom)! Our vision is to be a family who glorifies God and draws others to Him.
My wife, Joyce, and I have been blessed with six children, all of whom are grown and gone from home. We are thrilled to now have grandchildren on their home education journey and to walk alongside the second generation of home educators!
My background includes studies in the sciences, employment as a park warden in National Parks, and dairy farming, before pursuing a career in education. I then taught grades 9 - 12 (primarily industrial education) for 16 years.
Dominique grew up on her family farm in Westlock County, Alberta. Her passion for homeschooling started at a young age as she was homeschooled with Wisdom Homeschooling from Kindergarten to graduation. Her homeschooling experience blessed her in many ways. From books to the barn, Dominique attributes her passions and faith to her home education, allowing her to authentically discover and develop herself.
After high school, Dominique ventured to Washington, DC for two years to do mission work. She then attended St. Therese Institute of Faith and Mission for three years of study in Theology, Philosophy, and Scripture. It was not until after St. Therese that Dominique felt the call on her heart to become a teacher. After 5 years of study at the University of Alberta, Dominique has recently received her Bachelor of Secondary Education with a major in English and a minor in Health. She feels beyond blessed to have the opportunity to accompany families in their homeschool journeys through a homeschool board that is close to her heart and has been an instrumental part of her journey.
Home education has been tremendously healing for our family. My sensory overloaded son has found peace and equilibrium. My fall-through-the cracks son receives the individual instruction he needs. Our family relationships have thrived!
I was born and raised in Sherwood Park, Alberta, and attended traditional school from grades K-12. During my CALM 20 job exploration assignment, I declared definitively that I would NOT become a teacher and went on to enrol in the Human Ecology Department at the U of A, earning my degree with a major in Family Studies. The first part time job I landed upon graduation was… teaching preschool. A lightbulb I didn’t realise was inside of me lit up during that season and four years later I was back at the U of A completing my Bachelor of Education After Degree. I loved teaching first grade in Mundare, Alberta for 6 years before leaving the public school system to raise our family in Edmonton. While our two boys were young, I launched and operated a preschool of my own for seven years.
Since 1992, Glenn has held a variety of positions within the educational field along with working extensively within the homeschool community as a homeschooling facilitator with WISDOM. He seeks to serve homeschool families by encouraging parents in their capacity to form their children with excellence and to achieve the goals that have been placed on their minds and hearts.
He and his wife have always homeschooled their children and all three of their children have successfully navigated the high school years and found multiple post-high school options available to them, including post-secondary study, trade school and a variety of mentoring and work experience opportunities to use their talents for the Glory of God and the enrichment of their fellow man. The success Glenn and his wife have found in preparing their children for a future after homeschooling only serves to strengthen their conviction that homeschooling has been one of their best decisions they have ever made for their family.
Brian and Teri have seven children and have been homeschooling for nearly thirty years in BC and Alberta. They felt pressed by a sense of duty as stewards of God’s children and responded by homeschooling. It became their daily means to nurture faith, build values, and preserve childhood innocence for “a little longer.” Their homeschooling approach is still a work in progress. They’re presently practicing a more classical approach with a Charlotte Mason influence, still holding onto the structure of a traditional math textbook.
While homeschooling has been enjoyable and rewarding, it still requires steady effort and sometimes proves challenging. The ongoing support and validation from WISDOM Home Schooling and the Alberta Home Education Association have been invaluable to them.
For Paul and his wife Mary and their seven adult children, home education – and especially Socratic discussion - has been a way of life for over 30 years. Socratic discussions happen several times every day (during tea times, meals, or while driving) because, as Mary says, "we have a deep commitment to classical education including philosophy and logic. It is a part of our life, every day."
Mary recalls first considering home schooling: "We saw that home schooled children were whole and good and even holy. Home schooling families spent time together and grew together as a family. We wanted that!"
Catherine van Kampen is happy to be a part of the WISDOM team. She has had a variety of teaching positions. She began teaching in Taiwan in 2004 and that was an adventure! Next, she moved back to her hometown of Saskatoon and taught Kindergarten while subbing in other schools on days off. Eventually, Catherine ended up in Calgary, her husband Peter's hometown, and taught at both Bishop Grandin High School as well as Father Lacombe High School. All of these jobs taught her new things...but none prepared her for the next mission she would undertake: homeschooling her own children. From 2013 to the present Catherine has been both delighted and stretched by the process of homeschooling. Each child being so unique, she is always adjusting, learning to listen, and trying to laugh often. Peter and Catherine have five children. They enjoy camping and hiking, reading and singing... and thank God for their cozy little house in a big clump of trees. Maybe it looks more like a zoo than a home on some days, but Catherine trusts that good things are growing, and she loves this life!
Peter grew up in Spruce Grove, Alberta, where he was schooled through the institutional model of K-12. He went on to the University of Alberta where he completed a Bachelor of Secondary Education, majoring in Physics with a minor in Mathematics. Upon completion of his first degree, he was called to the Seminary, where he attended the Seminary of Christ the King in Mission, BC, which is conducted by the Benedictines of Westminster Abbey. Peter describes this as, “one of the most fulfilling and most valuable experiences of faith and community formation one could ever ask for.” Peter completed his Pre-Theology degree majoring in Philosophy and he says that he doesn’t know his minor as he had to take equal amounts of minor classes in Ecclesial Latin, Koine Greek, and Catholic Religious History. While in Mission, his passion for hockey seemed to be contagious as he also managed to help get a new outdoor asphalt hockey rink built for intramural street hockey, of which he found himself the Commissioner and ran the league. He is proud to have taught Fr. Matthew, the seminary vice-rector, how to enjoy playing roller hockey.