Interview with Momie Tullottes: Homeschooling Mom, Content Producer, Writer and More

I recently had the opportunity to interview AC Content Producer Momie Tullottes. She was one of the first people I met when I joined Associated Content and now have the pleasure of calling her friend (and neighbor - at least in Houston, TX terms). Momie Tullottes is her pen name, she has been writing for Associated Content for approximately a year and has earned Clout Level 9 and Top 1000 Content Producer 2008 status. While she writes on several subjects close to her heart, you can be sure to find home schooling and safe toys information whenever you visit her one of her blogs or AC homepage.

Momie, thanks for telling us more about you. I just have a few questions, so that we can learn more about one of Associated Contents favorite home schooling and safe toys specialty author on Associated Content.

First, please tell us more about you.

I'm a happily married stay at home mom. I have 6 kids total. There are 4 natural and 2 "gifts". I call my step kids my gifts or my kids, simply because I don't believe in calling them "step" kids. The only "step" for me is to love them like my own.

I was born in upstate New York, but grew up mainly in Denver, CO. We just moved to Houston about a year and a half ago and love it here. I currently home school 4 of the kids and will possibly be adding another soon. Writing and teaching are passions that I've had since I was a kid.

I'm what you could call old-fashioned, even though I'm only 30. All of our meals are homemade by yours truly. I like to do everything natural or homemade wherever possible.

What are some of your favorite hobbies and activities, when you aren't home schooling or writing for AC?

Most everything I do involves my family. Our family likes to take nature walks and even go camping. We don't go the cabin or camper way, however. We like to "rough-it", so to speak, with a tent. We also like to sing karaoke together or with friends, attend church, and even get outside and play football.

Backyard barbecues are a given on the weekends, as long as the weather is permitting. When I need quiet time, I like to write just for fun or curl up with a good book. I don't watch a lot of television, but if I'm watching, you might catch me viewing basketball, football, forensics shows on Court TV, or something educational or inspirational.

I also enjoy listening to music and enjoy many genres, with R&B, Gospel, and Reggae being my favorites. I will pretty much listen to anything positive or reflective. My favorite sports are basketball and football. Although, I will watch or play most others as well.

What are some other sites that you currently write for?

AC is my primary focus. However, I also write for helium.com, constant-content.com, and have my own website for private offers. I also manage several websites and blogs, creating all of the written content. I have also been published on mommy.com.

Why do you home school?

When I had my first child, you never could have told me I'd be home schooling. It didn't even cross my mind. However, when one of my daughters was struggling in math with little help from public schools and both girls were way ahead in everything else, I started to wonder if there were more options.

The school had no options for us, so we tried finding extra programs or tutoring that might work, but none of that worked out well. I then started supplementing the children's learning experience with home school resources and saw some improvement. I decided that since I was already doing it partway, I may as well go all the way.

Our decision to continue home schooling is based on many factors, including better educational opportunities, more positive social skills and environment, flexibility of learning, easier opportunity for the children to take college courses before graduating high school, and many more reasons.

What are your favorite home schooling resources?

The number one resource I feel all home schooling families should be aware of is the HSLDA (http://www.hslda.org). After that, there are many, many quality resources available both online and off. The library, museums, zoos, and the internet are all very essential to home schooling, in addition to regular schooling materials. Some of my favorite websites that help to supplement schoolwork are iknowthat.com, internet4classrooms.com, mathslice.com/, dsc.discovery.com/, history.com/, nationalgeographic.com/, and scholastic.com.

How did you get involved in writing?

I've been writing since I was a preschooler. I even won a writing contest and had a story published in a small newspaper when I was only in first grade.

What are your favorite topics to write about?

Parenting, education, natural living, and medicine are my passions. However, I have an interest in a wide variety of topics and plan to start adding many of those to my AC library in the near future.

What are your favorite resources for writers?

Associated Content's forum has a wealth of information on writing for the web. I have learned so much just from browsing forum posts as well as asking questions in the forum. There are many friendly and helpful CP's here at AC. I generally don't have to go elsewhere for writing information. I also enjoy reading articles from Yuwanda Black on AC. She does pieces related to writing and also has an excellent blog on the subject.

You recently wrote a book, what is its title and tell us a little more about it.

My book is titled "Positive Parenting Tips for Every Week of the Year". It is a collection of positive tips that parents can apply to their everyday life.

How can we purchase this book if we are interested?

The book is located in my personalized Lulu Marketplace bookstore at http://stores.lulu.com/momietullottes, as well as in the Lulu Marketplace at http://www.lulu.com/content/1454566.

What do you hope to accomplish with your book?

It is my hope that parents can use what I've learned along the way to help the raise their children in a more positive manner. Too many people forget to take the time to appreciate the simple things and to take the negative and turn it into a positive. That's what I hope my book will help parents do. Everything about children is a blessing and I want more people to remember that.

What projects are you working on that we can look forward to?

I am always working on parenting and home schooling articles for AC. I also plan to add articles in a variety of subjects to my AC library. Though AC is my main focus for articles, I do write for a few other websites as well. I also take private offers at ArticleWriterForHire. In addition, I am working on some lesson plan books, some children's books (one due to come out soon), a couple books on home schooling, and more. I always have a variety of projects under my belt when it comes to writing.

What are your future goals?

I plan on opening up an early learning center for children 5 and under whose parent/s would not be able to afford quality early childhood education. I also plan to continue home schooling my children through high school, as well as pursue my writing goals.

What piece of information would you like to share with parents?

Treasure every moment. Be positive in everything you do. Always show your kids you love them.

What advice would you like to share with other writers?

Write what's in your heart and never give up.

Thank you again so much for letting us have a look into your busy life as a writer, mother and teacher. I wish you all the best on your future endeavors; we know that your success on Associated Content is only a window into the future success we can expect to see from you.