About Passionate Homeschooler
Passionate about Homeschool
Passionate Homeschooler was started by educator, Dr. Deanna Heikkinen. After teaching college for over ten years, Deanna hung up her tenured professor cap to become a Homeschool educator and advocate. While teaching college humanities and history courses, she discovered that many students were not only ill-prepared for college in terms of their writing and reading abilities, many of them did not know how to reason through, analyze, or even understand a primary source text or great work of literature. This made her reassess her role as an educator.
In 2017, Deanna started a homeschool curriculum company that focused on teaching history and literature through an integrated approach. By using some of the greatest works of Western Civilization, she developed an approach to teaching that allowed students to understand the works in a larger context that focused on providing primary history readings alongside literature to offer a robust look at both disciplines. Although Deanna continued to teach as a private tutor for a few students, she missed teaching these works to a larger group of students. This is why she is launching the Passionate Homeschooler online co-op this fall. Deanna will teach courses alongside other educators and experts to bring enriching courses with a focus on the Western Tradition to homeschool students.
Parent Reviews
Success Stories
Parents have entrusted their middle school and high school student's learning to Deanna, founder of Passionate Homeschooler, for years. Read what they say about how she has positively impacted their child.
We have taken plenty of writing courses. What we both really liked in this class were the concrete examples. Too often instruction is given in general terms when it comes to writing. The concrete examples provide the student with great models to help them get started. We liked the chunks of information. The lessons on coherence and unity were very helpful. The section on conclusions was new for us and very helpful. When instructors tell students to write a conclusion at the end of the paper, they rarely tell the student how. They explain the purpose of the concluding paragraph over and over without teaching techniques. Deanna is strong in this department as it doesn't leave the student making it up as they go. Lastly - Learned not to use that word!!! Would have liked to take the class at a slower pace. We speed up at the end just when we were getting into new territory. Liked that the student is not judged on their writing - rather they are tested on their knowledge of writing rules and processes that they can continually apply to their writing. Is a support for classes that require writing/ doesn't burden the student with too much extra work. Visuals are GREAT! Loved the Pride and Prejudice embedded education!
- Sarah Froelich
I do not share about what Deanna is doing often enough. Her passion and attention to detail is bar none. She cares about you and yours and if you are looking for middle and high school educational resources, especially with a Classic Lit flair, she is your gal!
- Ammie Albers
Day over day, Deanna has provided my son the attention needed to truly identify his opportunities to improve in his school-based lessons and beyond. She routinely works with him to understand the 'how' and 'why' behind his academic struggles, then collaborates with him to develop and instill a plan for success, often going above and beyond to teach him new, unique methods for learning. She's proven to be kind and thoughtful in their shared sessions, even when my son is having a difficult time navigating our current academic reality. If you're seeking a truly engaged, personalized approach to supporting your child's educational practice, seek the support of Deanna — she's a gem of an academic guide for both my son and me.
- Alexandra Mattheisen
Curriculum for the soul
I know this headline sounds like an exaggeration, but this is the type of content that teenagers really need today: philosophy that gives them the framework to probe the questions that adolescence begs, rich literary classics that broaden both vocabulary and mind, and a sense of historical narrative that sheds light on what civilization "means". My high school-aged son has been using this curriculum for two years now and his response has always been, "finally - something I can sink my teeth into." So much of today's curriculum attempts to make things palatable for the students, when what they really yearn for is substance. And this is what Deanna offers.
- Jennifer Trulock