My Career

For kids When I was about as old as I am in this picture I decided I wanted to be a teacher. Every year in grade school (that's what we called elementary school back then) whatever grade I was in, that's the grade I wanted to teach. My favorite thing to play when I got home from school was --- school! When I finished college I wanted to teach math. I did that for a while. Then I decided I wanted to teach people who were becoming teachers how to teach math. I went to school until I could be called Dr. Christensen (but not the medical kind). I got married, too, and became a mom. My husband worked hard so I could stay home when our three children were little. I really liked being home with them.

When it came time for me to get a teaching job again, I realized that if I wanted to tell people how to teach elementary school, I should have some experience myself. Guess what! I discovered I liked teaching elementary students the best of all, especially the younger ones. I did that for 13 years. Not many people with "Dr." in front of their name teach Kindergarten-2nd grade, but I really enjoyed it. Along the way I discovered that God had given me a gift for making fun learning materials. Some publishers have liked my materials and thought other people would like them, too---so they've published 44 of my books and 7 of my math games. More than 500,000 copies have been sold. One of my books received a Parents' Choice Award, and another has received a Teachers' Choice Award. Being an author is hard because lots of times publishers decide they don't want to publish your materials. That's when you get rejections. I've had lots of rejections! I just keep trying. I'm writing full time now and am excited to see where God will lead me next. For Grown-ups (if you really want to know more)