Heidi Blanchard

As a teenager, I encountered the persuasive power of writing well. My parents and I disagreed about whether or not I should attend a family event or a track meet, and, instead of arguing with them, I wrote them a letter. They were convinced and let me choose. Writing provided a canvas on which I could explore complex, controversial, and confusing ideas; I often felt as if I were holding an idea up to the light and rotating it to see the different angles and perspectives through my pen.

I sought different perspectives, dropping out of college for a time to hitchhike through Canada and live and work at a monastery on Cape Breton Island. As part of my return to Drew University to complete my degree in English, I studied abroad in South Korea and spent a summer hitchhiking, camping, and bathing in rivers throughout Europe with my (now) husband. I realized that I loved words, ideas, and teaching even more than travel, and I obtained my Masters Degree in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard University in 1996.

As a young high school English teacher, I taught my students how to write thoughtful, persuasive letters to their parents. Some even wrote back! As we began homeschooling, our children learned early that writing a letter or proposal was often the best way to get our attention. Over the last year, our family has watched multiple PowerPoint presentations on why my daughter needed a dog. After the first “not yet”, she redoubled her efforts, incorporating statistics and primary source research results into her presentations. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we adopted our newest family member, a border collie puppy, Scout, a month ago. She’s named after the youthful narrator in To Kill a Mockingbird. Words indeed have power. 

I’ve been homeschooling for 18 years now and have graduated three sons. I watched my eldest receive his college diploma a few weeks ago; my middle son is a college senior, and his brother is a college sophomore.  I’m still teaching our 15-year-old twin daughters at home. At our homeschool co-op, I’ve taught a variety of classes including high school physics, chemistry, and biology. I’ve also run a middle school engineering lab, teach Sunday school, and tutor. I look forward to exploring the power of writing with your teens!

Heidi Blanchard's Classes: