Meet The Teacher

My name is Charity, and I am a homeschool alumni with a bachelor's degree in General Studies and minors in Middle Years Education (with a concentration in English and Science), Spanish, and Linguistics. I like to say that I was homeschooled from birth and believe my unique educational experience influenced my passion and love for learning and teaching. I'm currently wrapping up certification in Education and have experience teaching beginning American Sign Language (ASL) at a homeschool coop, working as a student teacher in an urban school setting, tutoring and teaching and math camps and after school programs and teaching mathematics for an accredited online homeschool program for grades 4th and 5th. I love sharing my numerous passions (language learning especially!) with others. I believe that students learn best when their teachers show a passion and excitement for what they are teaching and that is the attitude that I strive to exhibit in my classes.

One of my greatest passions is language learning and I began learning ASL when I was two years old. When I was blessed with the opportunity to teach my first ASL class at just fifteen years of age, I discovered that I could combine my love for language and passion for teaching. I was astonished to see how my enthusiasm for the topic in which I taught could inspire and excite students as young as five and six.

Believe it or not, one of my favorite pastimes is lesson planning. I love creating lessons that compile aspects of several subjects into one so that students get the most out of their class time. No matter what the subject is, I am convinced that there are aspects of every subject that encompasses math, reading, science, history, and a plethora of other subjects. If you can learn more than one content area in one class, why not do so? Kill two birds with one stone as the idiom goes. I strive to include more than one academic subject into each of my classes so that students can make the most of their time and benefit from their learning experiences. I once participated in a book club and learned about the concept of "never introducing an idea that won't show up again later in the story," a concept I greatly appreciated and have applied to my philosophy on teaching. I think it's best to never introduce a concept without reinforcing it so that it may remain in a student's long-term memory. Thus, I make an effort to utilize themes and ideas that students are likely to come across in their educational or personal journeys as a means of reinforcing those key academic concepts that may prove useful in life.

My take on the importance of engaging and interactive learning stems from my own educational experience as a homeschooler and the passionate and enthusiastic examples I saw within my homeschool community. I want to share the joy and benefits of learning and encourage others to do the same. Above all, my hope is to positively impact the learners with whom I interact that they may discover and pursue their life calling, whatever it may be.