Melanie Petersen

Melanie Petersen is from Caldwell, Idaho. As a youth she enjoyed music, sports, camping, drama/speech, and writing. After graduating from Caldwell High School, she spent a year in Hamburg, Germany, as an exchange student. Her undergraduate studies took her to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she received a B.S. in Pre-Physical Therapy, with minors in German and Psychology. She pursued graduate studies at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, School of Physical Therapy, and she received her Certificate in Physical Therapy in 1980. She worked in Physical Therapy in Arizona and Kansas and is presently working on a contract basis.

The Petersen family began homeschooling in 1991. One of her children was as a challenged learner, which led Melanie to take a number of classes from the Fundamental Learning Center on how to assist challenged readers and spellers; she now offers this information to students at Northfield.

Melanie is married to Darwin Petersen, and they have six children: Cheyenne Harris, Hyrum (Northfield Class of 2007), Ezra (Northfield Class of 2009), Heber, Adam, and Esther. Darwin and Melanie became involved with Boy Scouting because of Scouting’s emphasis on character and leadership development, and the opportunities that it presents to young people to challenge themselves and serve others. Melanie has been a District Trainer for the local Quivira Council since 2002.

Melanie enjoys history and government, Scouting ideals and personal development, reading (especially historical fiction and non-fiction), and church service.

General Science (Grammar I)

General Science (Grammar I) explores the scientific method; scientists of the past; applied science in simple machines; foundations of earth science; and life science, emphasizing the human body systems.

Wordsmithing

The method used is called Multisensory Reading and Spelling and it systematically presents the history of the English language and the reliable spelling patterns to enhance decoding/encoding, and fluency in reading. MRS emphasizes spelling patterns, especially those from the Anglo-Saxons; homophones; and words considered Pattern Breakers.