About Me – retired

About Me – retired

Jennifer has been with her partner, Kirby for 25 years and has been a parent since 1996.  She has five wonderful children, three girls, 20, 18, and 11 and two boys, 17 and 15 (as of 2016)  She has had the privilege of homeschooling her children since the beginning.  Her two oldest are pursuing higher education and the three younger are still at home completing high school and junior high.

She was trained as a high school mathematics teacher and then worked as a recreation professional for a few years before embarking on her current parenting adventure.  She currently serves as President of the Manitoba Association for Schooling at Home, the largest and fastest growing homeschool group in the province.  In her free time she sews and creates costumes for theatre and cosplay, and tries to beat people up at her Meibukan Gojyu-Ryu Karate Dojo.

She is involved in a homeschool learning group with ten other families and together the parents and children create a learning environment that includes such activities as current affairs, book clubs, science groups, and the culmination of their year – a full-fledged production of a Shakepearean play performed in original text in full set and costumes at a local theatre production house.

She is also working with a wonderful group of women to create a secular, inclusive curriculum based on the original works of 19th century educator, Charlotte Mason.

She is a Facilitator-in-Training with the Neufeld Institute in Vancouver, under the guidance and tutelage of Dr. Gordon Neufeld and his incredible staff.  She had a long struggle to find a parenting “philosophy” that felt right for her and her family and was greatly relieved to stumble upon the Neufeld developmental approach in 2009.  Since then she has been studying at the Institute, and learning to be a better parent and partner.

She writes, “My greatest and most challenging role in my life has been that of parent. My children are all highly sensitive and have provided me with great insight into the alarm and anxiety paradigms, and lots of practice with making space for emotions and frustration!”

She is excited to share her experiences with others struggling to make sense of attachment and relationship.