Ellen Gerwitz

English Program Lead

at The Lantern English Co.

 

 

 

Born in Rochester, NY, I attended both public and Christian schools during my educational years. I found school rather easy but boring because I could not learn at my preferred pace (as rapidly as possible). This situation was remedied by my father who provided me with ample resources for self-study at home and filled my ever-curious brain with as much information as he could possibly pass on. 

When I was 16 years old, I was an exchange student to Zaragoza, Spain. I spent nine months living with a family in that country while learning the language. To say that it changed my life would be an understatement. It afforded me the opportunity to learn a foreign language fluently, experience a completely different culture, and see that God was moving in other countries as well. 

After returning home, I entered college with the goal of earning a degree in translation. However, what I really wanted was to marry and have children. My husband and I were married in 1988 and blessed with three children in rapid succession. We began officially homeschooling the oldest child in 1994 and graduated the youngest 18 years later in 2012. 

It was while homeschooling my own children that I began teaching others. It started out with simple history and craft classes at our support group. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was teaching all levels of Spanish classes. I did not like any of the materials available on the market, so I decided to write my own. These courses, Spanish I and II, have been in use for the past 19 years. Shortly after graduating my last child, I also began working on a series of historical reference books for homeschoolers. Both my Spanish and history courses are published and taught under Honour of Kings.

As I neared the end of my homeschooling years, I had the opportunity to teach ESL for a French company. I helped adult foreigners to improve their English skills from 2007 to 2020. Having to teach a wide variety of levels each day forced me to find ways to make English grammar rules as simple and streamlined as possible. This led me to write my own grammar resources. I have used the same materials to help homeschoolers who struggle with overly-complicated curricula better understand their own language and its rules. Helping my students take ownership of their education and seeing them learn self-motivation and self-discipline is extremely rewarding. 

These days, my husband and I live in Florida. We both work from home and enjoy spending our days together. Our free time is filled with Bible studies and fellowship, visits to Walt Disney World, video calls with our seven grandchildren, and soaking up that wonderful Florida sunshine. 

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