About Us
Knowledge Box Central provides hands-on learning experiences for children of all ages.
Debra Haagen
Debra is a veteran home-schooling mother to four wonderful (and now-grown) children and the owner of Knowledge Box Central. She graduated from Milligan College (now Milligan University) with a B.A. in Psychology. After supporting her husband, Perry, in a fulfilling career as a Navy chaplain - and moving 16 times first with the Navy and then with the VA - Debra and Perry, who is now a VA Hospital Chaplain, live in beautiful East Tennessee. Debra loves home-schooling, music, scrapbooking, reading, writing, Beagles, and American Eskimo dogs.
Debra won a Blue Ribbon for Best Children's Book from The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew for her children's book, Amazing Animals by Design.
Email Debra: debra@knowledgeboxcentral.com
Cyndi Kinney
Cyndi Kinney, the founder of Knowledge Box Central, lives in Louisiana. Her interests include organics, holistic medicine, writing, crafts, quilting, reading, and traveling. Her undergraduate degree is in Nursing, and she is an R.N. Cyndi had intended to homeschool her daughter from the beginning, but she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and didn’t feel that her health would allow her to do that. She sent her daughter to public school for just a couple of years and soon realized that HOME was where she needed to be and knew that God would give her the strength, regardless of her disability. Cyndi began not only teaching her daughter, but also many other students in her local co-op, where Cyndi discovered that she really had a knack for writing. She began exploring and researching Color Psychology and using it to design Lapbooks for the students in her co-op. A history curriculum company, Tapestry of Grace, approached Cyndi about writing and creating Lapbooks for them, and soon Apologia followed. The rest is history! Well… I guess Science, Grammar, Literature, and Math too! Cyndi did many more years of study, which led to her earning a PhD in Education for her work in the fascinating Color Psychology area of study. She uses this information to help people around the world to improve the creativity, behaviors, and learning experiences in their homes, workplaces, and classrooms. Eventually, Cyndi changed her method from homeschooling to unschooling, and she soon saw her daughter’s love for learning escalate! Her daughter graduated high school at the age of 15 and college at 18. Cyndi is honored to write for Knowledge Box Central as a hobby. She has authored over 400 books, has had articles published in several magazines, and has served as both domestic and international Key Note Speaker on homeschooling and unschooling topics.
Amy Moses
Amy lives in Arkansas on a small family farm, surrounded by organic fruits, vegetables, and really loud chickens. She earned a Masters of Science in Education from Harding University in 2007 and has worked in the healthcare field for the majority of her professional career. She comes from a family of teachers and grew up going to public school, but she is a strong supporter of homeschooling if at all possible. Amy loves creating new products for Knowledge Box Central!
Candie Donner
Candie lives in dusty West Texas. She's a veteran unschooling momma to a young man who is all about photography, graphic design, painting, and survival planning. (If one day she is just gone, you can bet he forced the family to "bugout" and go off-grid!) She loves to read, garden, and craft, and feeds every bird in a 500 mile radius. Candie spent many years teaching and supervising in multiple Mother's Day Out programs and then moved on to Teacher's Aide, Office Aide, PTA President and VIP Chairman once her son started public school. When she finally brought him home in 3rd grade and started writing for Knowledge Box, she knew she had found her place. Writing had been her passion for many years and now she had an outlet that was helping other homeschool moms. She has written over 60 products and designed curriculum supplements for American Girl, Apologia ~ What We Believe Series, and others.
Judy Trout
Judy Trout is the illustrious mother of Cyndi Kinney and grandmother of Shelby Kinney Burns. Judy is a retired public school administrator who supports and understands the value of homeschooling in today’s changing environment. Judy holds degrees in Computer Science and Business Administration and works part-time as a GED Test Administrator. Judy has a passion for learning and enjoys writing lapbooks and journals for Knowledge Box Central.
She also enjoys spending time with family, traveling, cruising, camping, as well as spending time with their adorable dog, Chloe Anne, a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, who captures the heart of all who meet her and is often the brunt of Cyndi Kinney’s jokes about being the “Spoiled Princess Chloe”.
Shelby Kinney
Shelby Kinney Burns wrote the adventurous children’s book Spot, Come Home! as an 8 year old homeschool student. She graduated high school when she was 15 and went straight to college, where she graduated at the age of 18. Throughout high school and college, Shelby worked as a Volunteer Firefighter and Certified First Responder, as well as amateur photographer. When very young, she had the opportunity to be a Background Extra in a missionary film series, and she fell in love with the film industry. She has worked as a Background Extra, Cast Assistant, Stand-In, and Production Assistant on many moves and television shows. In 2015, she pursued stunt training and has performed stunts in several productions. She now works as a firefighter for a rural district in Louisiana and has a successful professional photography business. Shelby loves spending time with her family and friends. She loves the outdoors, especially if mud is involved! She also co-authored many other Lapbooks with her mother, Cyndi Kinney. She is a very well-rounded young woman who has a very adventurous and creative spirit.
Melissa Noll
Melissa Noll has been a homeschooling mom since 2002. She has always loved to write, but can't quite get that Great American Novel together. Instead she writes lapbooks, making life easier for other homeschool moms.
Matthew Haagen
Judy Zschocher
Judy is a CPA in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Robert. She homeschooled all three of her children from kindergarten through graduation, and now it is her goal to help other parents who want to homeschool. She is active in her community and her church and loves to sing in the choir!
Sarah Critz
Sarah Critz is a homeschooling girl-mom of four. She is married to her high school sweetheart, a United States Marine. Sarah and her family have experienced an adventure-filled life, living in vastly different areas of the country and finding beauty everywhere they go! Sarah has always enjoyed the art of creating. As a child, she enjoyed woodworking, sewing, and painting. As an adult, she has developed her skills as a communicator and photographer with the ability to capture and convey the God-designed beauty of daily life. This is reflected in the design of her books.