Welcome, Homeschool Hoppers!

Welcome, visitors new and familiar from the Hip Homeschooling Hop!

I'm Susanne, and we're a family tucked into the mountains east of San Diego, California. Our eldest is enjoying her freshman year at Point Loma Nazarene University where I not only attended for undergraduate studies but also returned to teach after earning my Masters in English. Just last week she changed majors from Journalism to Literature (my old major), so I am so excited to have her in my old department among many of my former professors and colleagues.

We have three younger boys in grades 5, 8, and 10 at home. We're mostly a Sonlight family until high school when we transition to mostly ABeka. This year is our thirteenth year of homeschooling.

I also have both feet firmly planted in the evangelical Church as well as the more liturgical Christian tradition. Our family has attended Lake Murray Community Church, an Evangelical Free Church, for over 17 years. In addition, I have attended (usually with at least one child, sometimes more) a small conservative Anglican Church that is now under the auspices of the Reformed Episcopal Church, Alpine Anglican Church of the Blessed Trinity, for their Friday healing services. It's rather wonderful for me to see these two churches become more and more alike over the years as Lake Murray adopted weekly Communion and now has started a group of Scripture readers for each service while Blessed Trinity becomes more evangelical in their outreach and programs. The reason I feel drawn to more historical Christianity: the preponderance of Scripture read and prayed in the Anglican services. Yes, it all comes down to His Word.

After retiring from teaching Freshman Composition, Research Writing, German, and Ancient/Medieval Literature at PLNU, I started teaching writing courses at our home school group, Heritage Christian School in 1997. Soon I developed and wrote my own curricula for teaching high school writing. Currently I teach a college prep writing class as well as an honors level writing course. I also teach writing online to several age groups at Brave Writer where I have worked since 2002, currently a course on for high school students on writing the MLA research essay. I love teaching online courses to students and families around the world.

In addition, I offer an online grading service to homeschoolers at my website: Susanne M. Barrett: Online Essay Grading Service, where I not only "correct" essays but also seek to encourage students in the areas in which they write well. Teaching writing is definitely a passion of mine.

If you'd like to read more about our homeschooling journey, there's a page above labelled Home Schooling, along with other pages on My Favorite Writing Books, living with Chronic Illness, my passion for Liturgical Prayer, and even some of my Selected Poems.

So welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere! Leave a comment, and I'll come by to return your visit. We homeschoolers (especially we "hip" ones) need to stick together to encourage one another in this wonderful and frustrating and incredible lifestyle called home schooling.

Hopping with you this day,