Steve and Shari Barrett’s past and present ventures demonstrate their strong vision for educating the next generation. Shari was trained and received her degree in secondary education. She fully expected to be a classroom teacher until she began home schooling their oldest son in 1986. By their second year of home schooling, Steve became a very enthusiastic and involved home school father. Together, they instructed both of their children through high school. When their sons reached secondary level, Shari began to teach other home school students along with her own children. Steve has teamed with her to teach a number of classes and seminars as well.
Recognizing a critical need for strong composition instruction, Shari began to teach junior and senior high students to write. Her goal has been to prepare students for college and future careers. Wishing for a more user-friendly curriculum, she began transcribing her lectures in preparation for creating this course. Steve joined as her editor and number one encourager. Together, they have worked to complete this text over the last few years.
From this beginning, Barrett’s Bookshelf was birthed out of the need to publish and distribute Put That In Writing Level One. It is the Barretts’ hope that this teaching tool will equip those who are looking for a detailed, logical, and clearly-explained curriculum. Using this new tool, Shari currently offers numerous classes to home school students in the Portland area while Steve, who supports the family as a mortgage banker, also teaches classes and seminars with Shari in his free time.