Carrie Austin holds a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education with a middle school endorsement. She received her Master's Degree in Educational Leadership. Carrie has eleven years of classroom teaching experience. She is the author of Little Hands to Heaven, a preschool program for ages 2-5; Little Hearts for His Glory, an early learning program for ages 5-7; Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory, a program for ages 6-8; Bigger Hearts for His Glory, a program for ages 7-9 with extensions for grades 4-5; Preparing Hearts for His Glory, a program for ages 8-10 with extensions for grades 5-6; Hearts for Him Through Time: Creation to Christ, a program for ages 9-11 with extensions for grades 6-7; Resurrection to Reformation, a program for ages 10-12 with extensions for grades 7-8; Revival to Revolution, a program for ages 11-13 with extensions for grades 8-9; Missions to Modern Marvels, a program for ages 12-14 with extensions for grades 9-10; Drawn into the Heart of Reading, a literature program for ages 7-15; World Geography, a high school program for ages 13-15 with extensions for grades 10-12; and World History; a high school program for ages 14-16 with extensions for grades 11-12. Carrie and her husband, Mike, are the parents of Cole, Shaw, Greyson, and Beau whom they currently teach at home.
Mike, Carrie, Cole (1995), Shaw (1999), Greyson (2002), and Beau (2006) live in Dell Rapids, SD. We have been a home schooling family since Cole started preschool in 1999 and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. If anyone would have told us that we would home school our children just a few years ago, we would never have believed them. Our life took a drastic turn for the better when Cole was getting ready to go to pre-school.
Carrie had been teaching elementary at a public school for eleven years. We decided that it was time for her to come home full time and start teaching our "own" children. What a dawning! We realized that we could be in control of our children's education! As Carrie started getting ready to teach Cole, she decided to compile her reading program that she had been fine-tuning in her public school days and rewrite it for use at home. Eventually, we felt that God was calling us to share Carrie's program with other homeschoolers. So, we decided to self-publish what she had written ... Drawn Into the Heart of Reading was born in October of 2001!
Two years later, when Shaw was ready to start pre-school, Carrie felt inspired to write a Bible-based preschool program for our own little ones. She published Little Hands to Heaven in 2003. After using Little Hands to Heaven, we wanted to continue using a strong Bible-based program with our own children, so in 2004, Little Hearts for His Glory was published.
To continue on the path of Christ-centered education with our young ones, Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory was released in 2006, Bigger Hearts for His Glory in 2007, Preparing Hearts for His Glory in 2008, Creation to Christ in 2009, and Resurrection to Reformation in 2010, Revival to Revolution in 2011, and Missions to Modern Marvels in 2012, World Geography in 2013, and World History in 2015, U.S. History I in 2016 and U.S. History II in 2017. Needless to say, Carrie loves the opportunity that God has given her to be her children's teacher. Life gets very busy around our household, but we've never regretted our decision and feel very blessed to have had our eyes "opened". We owe a great deal of thanks to Carrie's older sister, Cindy and her family for paving the way with their 7 children who have been taught at home. We also owe Carrie's younger sister, Julie, so much! She is a wonderful editor, teacher, curriculum counselor, and helpmeet, and she is a big part of Heart of Dakota.
We give thanks to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving us the vision to train up our children in the Lord. It is our constant prayer that He be glorified through our work.
We hope and pray that our products are a blessing to you and your family.
God bless,
Mike and Carrie Austin
