JULY 21-22, 2023 || Traverse City, MI
A LIVING BOOKS EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE
featuring guest speakers
LIZ COTTRILL, EMILY KISER &
NICOLE WILLIAMS
A Delectable Education
MICHELLE HOWARD
Author of Truth Quest History
and Living Books Librarian
JESSICA BECKER
Speaker and Blogger
KELSI REA
Heritage Christian Academy
STEPHANIE ACKER
Blooms and Ewe
AWAKEN
schedule of events
Friday, July 21
Saturday, July 22
We are pleased to be offering FULL DAY Immersions! Spend an entire day with one of our speakers as you "immerse" yourself fully in the passion and wisdom that they have to share in their respective topics.
8:30-9 AM
Registration
9-3 PM
Full-Day Immersions
(Lunch 11:30-12:30pm - explore local lunch options on your own) choose one option
Liz Cottrill - The Natural Writer Immersion
Emily Kiser - Keeping Time
History and History charts
Nicole Williams - A Living Science Immersion
2-5 PM
Small group tours of the Children's Preservation Library
There is a VERY limited number of tickets available. Tickets are available at the time of online registration.
5-7PM
LIVING BOOK LADY CONSULTATIONS
Michelle Howard
Dinner
There are many lovely parks and restaurants in and around the Traverse City area. We highly recommend meeting up with fellow conference attendees at the HAVEN RETREAT CENTER for a picnic dinner on the patio.
Or perhaps you would prefer a peaceful, relaxing, solo evening on the beach before Saturday's amazing lineup of Keynote sessions and workshops.
7:30-8 AM
Registration, light refreshments
8-9 AM
Plenary
9:15-10:15 AM
Workshop A
10:30-11:30 AM
Workshop
11:45-1:00 PM
Lunch
Join us for a fresh catered lunch (included in registration),
created for unique and allergy-conscious diets,
to give you a taste of the gourmet side of Traverse City.
Additional time may be used for shopping
at our vendor tables, or enjoying a
relaxing conversation on site
1:00-2:00 PM
Workshop C
2:15-3:15
Workshop D
3:15-3:45 PM
Final break and shopping
3:45-5 PM
Closing Plenary
location
Bible Baptist Church
1915 Cass Rd.
Traverse City, Michigan
lodging
CONFERENCE LODGING AVAILABLE AT HAVEN RETREAT CENTER
This beautiful estate is set in the middle of a maple forest and features meadows, woods and pond views. Only a few miles from the conference location, this huge home has 9 rooms. We are offering spaces in each room. Choose to share a room with a friend, a spouse, or treat yourself and book the whole room!
For room details, click on the Buy Tickets Button.
Tickets are listed as a space in a room and the price listed is a TOTAL for THREE nights, Thursday-Sunday morning.
PRICE RANGE- $125 shared space to $350 king suite
Bathrooms are shared between rooms but there is ample space for all. To make it even more frugal, you can store or prepare your own food here. There are two kitchens, several lounge areas, a baseball/soccer field, paths for nature walks and PEACE. This truly is a HAVEN!
Photos of each beautiful room are featured on our app in the Lodging Group.
When it comes to food, Traverse City is known world wide for their unique local fare, niche restaurants and wineries. Visit our fleet of food trucks for a memorable (and quick) meal, or take your time and dine in a cafe or restaurant near the Bay.
Brilliant Idea: share a meal with new friends on the patio at the Haven Retreat Center, overlooking a field of sunflowers and a gleaming pond amid green fields that stretch into the woods.
vendors
tickets
FRIDAY IMMERSIONS
$65 | Early Bird Advance Rate
(March 1- quantity limited)
$75 Regular Rate
(March 2-July 16)
SATURDAY CONFERENCE
$125 | Early Bird Advance Rate
(March 1 - quantity limited)
$150 | Regular Rate
(March 2- July 16)
$25 | Babysitter/Lunch & Shopper tickets
Only includes lunch and shopping
Excludes ALL plenaries, workshops and demos
All tickets are transferable but non-refundable. If you are not able to attend the conference and plan to transfer your ticket, please email us. If you have a refund request due to sickness or death, contact the Coordinator at livingbooksconference@gmail.com
Speakers
Emily
Kiser
Emily Kiser
I am the mother of three boys, and a girl, and the wife of a literature teacher/aspiring writer. I was homeschooled for the first three years, attended public school until high school graduation then went to a private Christian college where I majored in studio art. I’ve always loved books and when I moved home after college I caught my mom’s enthusiasm for out-of-print children’s literature. A few years of collecting later we opened Living Books Library. My aim in life is to spread beauty; teaching others about Charlotte Mason, writing the Picture Study Portfolios, putting lovely books into the hands of eager readers, and seeing the world through my children’s eyes, all help bring me closer to this goal.
More info at www.adelectableeducation.com
A Delectable Education
Liz
Cottrill
A Delectable Education
A Delectable Education
A Delectable Education
Liz Cottrill
Liz Cottrill is mother of six and grandmother of ten who has been homeschooling for 32 years. Through her work with her daughter in their family-owned Living Books Library serving local homeschool families in southwest Virginia and because of her 25 year journey in discovering the beauty and purpose of a Charlotte Mason method of education, she has endeavored to communicate her experience and knowledge to others through teaching at workshops and conferences, the A Delectable Education podcast, and personal consultations with hundreds of families around the world.
More info at www.adelectableeducation.com
A Delectable Education
A Delectable Education
Michelle
Howard
Michelle Howard
Michelle is a veteran homeschooler, author, columnist, speaker, consultant, and founder/operator of two large "living books" libraries, rich resources for both areas (ChildrensPreservationLibrary.com in Michigan & LivingLearningLibraries.org in Florida). TruthQuest History was born from her own yearning to teach deep truth through history to her children, and from her work with the many families who learn through her libraries. She is available to give private consultations on implementing TQH for a family's unique children, or other home-education issues, and she also aids those founding "living book" libraries, or wanting access to her "living books" database, at LivingBooksLady.com. Michelle's children are now grown, but she has seven cute grandsons!
Truth Quest History
Nicole
Williams
Nicole Williams
I began homeschooling when my oldest child started kindergarten. I had a toddler at the time, and one on the way, but for those simple years it was just my little boy and me at the school table. Things became more complicated three years later, when a string of my siblings began homeschooling with us, all of them older than my kids, all of them damaged learners, and several with learning disabilities as well. Homeschooling all of these children (up to 7 at one time,) was like a trial by fire, and because of their various issues, I realized quickly that the only way to homeschool them successfully was by embracing Charlotte Mason’s philosophy and methods. Sometimes that meant venturing into areas that the CM community seemed to be avoiding, like high school science done in a “living” way, and adhering to a weekly schedule. Both of which I talk about extensively on my blog SabbathMoodHomeschool.com.
A Delectable Education
Kelsi Rea
Kelsi Rea
In 2019, Kelsi founded Heritage Christian Academy, Indiana's first Charlotte Mason micro-school in Mishawaka, IN on the campus of Bethel University. The Academy has since tripled in size and in 2022, Kelsi and her husband Rusty opened Heritage Meeting House, which is also the home of Heritage Children's Library, an 8,000+ volume Preservation library that is now open to the public, as well as a cafe + coffee shop and homeschool resource center.
Kelsi travels extensively, speaking at conferences and churches and consulting with schools and co-ops nationwide, offering leadership development and teacher training workshops in the Charlotte Mason Method.
The Reas live in South Bend, IN with their four children. Learn more at kelsirea.com
Heritage Christian Academy
Kelsi
Rea
Jessica Becker
Jessica Becker
Jessica Becker lives in the beautiful mountains of northeast Tennessee and spends her days homeschooling her four little women along with best friend and husband, Andrew. She has been on this journey for six years now, learning more and more each and every year. Aside from homeschooling, she spends her time serving in her local church through worship and women’s ministry as well as teaching at her local CM cottage school. Her passion is to encourage women to show up, stay faithful, and lean into the presence of the Lord in all things. You can find more of her writing and speaking at www.jessicalollarbecker.com.