Danielle Olander

AUTHOR/ HOMESCHOOL EDUCATIONAL CONSULTANT/ Homeschool Exhibitor/ Accomplished Instructor Danielle Olander, an IEW ® Accomplished Instructor, is the author of Rockets, Radar, and Robotics  and the Advanced Communication Series lesson plans. Married to her college sweetheart, Ray, and a homeschooling mom of five amazing children, she teaches several of IEW's online writing classes. After graduating from her parents’ homeschool in the pioneer days of homeschooling, Danielle graduated summa cum laude with her B.A. in English/History Education from Cornerstone University, Grand Rapids, Michigan. During and after college, she worked as a librarian’s assistant, which only increased her lifelong love of reading and writing as she discovered so many new means of locating fascinating facts. When describing her IEW journey, Danielle says, In 2000, I was a disheartened teacher, hiding in my job in the cataloging department of Aquinas College library, trying to recover from a dismal first year in a classroom. My husband and I had just celebrated our second anniversary and our son's first birthday. Desperately, I wanted to stay home, but we needed some income. A group of home school moms in our area had purchased the TWSS and placed an ad for a writing teacher. Although I had sworn to never teach again, a friend encouraged me to respond, saying that "God has not given us the spirit of fear." Upon advertising the class, we quickly grew from a single class of ten students to three classes of fifteen students each. Learning how to be a teacher from Andrew, I regained my love of sharing writing with students. I especially enjoy the reluctant writers who come back saying, "I don't love writing, but I know I can do it well." While I have always loved to write, I discovered the steps to joyfully teaching the writing process to my students through the TWSS and other materials.   Through my work with IEW, I've also realized my dream of writing and publishing curriculum with Rockets, Radar, and Robotics. From disheartened to abundantly blessed, I can't begin to express how much I appreciate working with the team at IEW.    Products: Advanced Communication Series Handouts Rockets, Radar, Robotics