Teresa Hanson from Fairbanks, Alaska, USA

(Homeschool Advisor of HSA)

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My name is Teresa Hanson and I came to Alaska as a child because my dad was one of the main designers of the trans Alaska pipeline back in the very early '70s. My husband and I met in the capital of Alaska which is Juneau and we got married and had four children.

In the winter of 1989 we had minus 69° F weather for weeks on end and the schools were closed and people's cars were breaking down taking their children to private schools. So we decided that our children's lives were not worth the extreme conditions of the winter here in Fairbanks, so we decided to homeschool.

We have four children and I homeschooled them from kindergarten through 12th grade. During that time I also finished my Bachelor's degree in history and got my Masters degree in circumpolar studies. Both degrees were earned here in Fairbanks at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. For my Master's thesis, I literally wrote the book on the history of homeschooling in Alaska during a time of great transition here.

Our oldest daughter is earning a living voice acting. Our second child is a son and a chef and has four sons. Our third child is a daughter and she is a wine Sommeiier and she writes magazine articles for travel and wine magazines and National Geographic. These articles are about traveling with children, which is not really written about. She has two children. Our youngest son works at a large gold mine north of Fairbanks and he is head of the assaying lab, they have two children. All together I have eight grandchildren.

During the years of homeschooling I participated, and then lead a Homeschool Curriculum Fair back in the days when there was no public funds for homeschools. This is where we would sell or swap our older curriculums, and it was a great social event for the children.

We live in Fairbanks, Alaska, where I have started my own business and we also keep bees and other livestock. I'm a great proponent of unit studies, which is something that I will probably talk about.

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