A Long & Winding Journey

I’m an experienced educator with a diverse background in teaching students from kindergarten to eighth grade (excluding 3rd grade!). I’ve also had the privilege of instructing pre-service teachers at the university level. My passion lies in teaching upper elementary and middle school grades.

Over 30 years ago, I embarked on a journey to create resources for integrating social studies into the curriculum. Motivated by the alarming trend of social studies being pushed out of the elementary school day, I collaborated with a mentor from the North Carolina Geographic Alliance to develop materials that seamlessly integrated into language arts lessons. We understood the importance of social studies and aimed to support teachers in delivering it effectively. Today, researchers are recognizing the significance of teaching social studies and its positive impact on reading skills.

Through this website, I aim to empower educators by providing high-quality resources and valuable insights for teaching social studies. Let’s reignite the passion for social studies in our students and cultivate their growth as readers.

My goal for this website: Social Studies Simplified: Empowering Educators, Igniting Readers. I want to make teaching social studies easy for you and fun for your students.

Join me on this exciting adventure!