Debra Oldar

Oldar earned a master's degree in education, and with her husband, she began home schooling their kindergarten daughter. Then, as she also began teaching their second child, Oldar became involved in Konos co-ops. Finding a writing program for her son proved challenging, so with Kim Kautzer, she began sorting through various curriculums. Not finding a program that satisfied the needs of their home schooled children, Oldar and Kautzer began writing their own weekly lessons. These lessons became WriteShop, a method of teaching writing to middle school children to prepare them for high school composition. The two women teach WriteShop in classes in Southern California. Their success shows in the long waiting list for entrance into the classes and that Cathy Duffy chose WriteShop as one of her 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum in 2005. Oldar and Kautzer also offer workshops that enable parents to better teach their children writing at home.