Hewitt Homeschooling Resources

I have a B.A. in history (specifically medieval history) and an M.A. in medieval studies. I have been working at Hewitt fulltime now for about five years, but I was assisting Hewitt with student evaluations and curriculum development for about five years before that. The real joy of this work is being able to help students develop their talents and skills. The thanks I get from students and families, and the stories of continued success in a variety of areas, both in school and out, are thanks enough (almost).

My academic passion is, of course, medieval history, particularly early medieval British history. (That covers roughly the first millennium A.D.) Students should be careful about asking me the implications of burial practices for religious or ethnic identities, and should stay away from questions of possible reflections of group identities in minor variations in church architecture. I could go on for days on those topics. When my head isn’t in the clouds (or the burial mounds) of Anglo-Saxon studies, I enjoy reading science fiction (Isaac Asimov, Roger Zelazny, etc.), mysteries (Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, etc.), biographies, and American Civil War history.

When I am not reading or studying, I enjoy cooking (trying to become an iron chef in my own right) and watching films. I particularly like film noir (the mysteries and thrillers of the 1930s and 1940s, especially those starring Humphrey Bogart) and foreign films (for example the early German films of Fritz Lang and the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa). Of course, recently I have been spending a lot of time helping to develop Hewitt’s new English program, Lightning Lit. & Comp.

I have always loved traveling. The most exotic place I have been so far is Taiwan. I have been various places in Europe on a number of occasions, but love Great Britain especially. I spent three years there while working on my M.A. and doing further studies. In fact, it was while we were both working on our Masters degrees that I met my wife, Alex. She is also a trained medievalist, though working now in a different field.

For a few of years now I have been able to work from my home. This is a good thing, since the Hewitt office is in Washougal, just east of Vancouver, Washington, and I live in a small town in Wyoming. But wherever I may be living, I am always available for my students, to answer questions or simply pat them on the back (figuratively).

-Michael Gaunt

(Michael is a fulltime high school evaluator for Hewitt; he also evaluates Latin.)