About Me

picture... I'm Maria Johnson, the writer and teacher behind White Horse Literature. I'm a second-generation homeschooler, having been educated at home by my parents, and now am teaching my own lively crew with the help of my left-brained, science-minded husband. I graduated magna cum laude from Franciscan University in 2004 with degrees, minors and honors in theology, British literature, communications and Great Books of Western Civilization. I am thrilled to combine those disparate interests in online literature and writing classes for homeschooled teens.

What are my credentials for talking about Tolkien? I've destroyed two different copies of Lord of the Rings with repeated re-thumbing, I attended the midnight showing of Peter Jackson's Two Towers dressed as a hobbit (complete with fake furry feet,) and I convinced my staid sister to wear pointy elf ears.

I've taught online literature classes since 2002, beginning with Les Miserables while I was still in college, and have had students go on to honors programs in multiple colleges. One student won Aquinas College's 2016 Tolkien and Lewis High School Essay Contest with her paper written for the Lord of the Rings course.

When I'm not teaching, I can be found curled up on the couch with a mug of tea and a child or two, pouring over picture books. I also enjoy baking, sewing and (if you ask the kids) ordering people to clean up their mess. With five-soon-to-be-six rambunctious boys and one rambunctious girl, these hobbies are indulged-in often.

copyright 2016 White Horse Literature - design by ego-surf.net & schuhe