I’m not a teacher, but I play one on tv.

Okay, I’m not on tv either, but when I was growing up my mom was a teacher, specifically teaching reading. I’ve always liked trying to help others learn by explaining things in ways they can understand.

So now, I’m a dad who hopes to support and supplement the teaching that my boys receive from their teachers in school.

In that way, I’m a parent-teacher. Sometimes I even set up conferences with myself, which are usually very informative, though sometimes I question the teacher’s pedagogical methodology and sometimes I question whether the parent has a healthy level of involvement in his child’s education.

Ultimately, I have children of my own that I hope will become life-long learners, and I hope I’ll be able to help teach them and learn with and from them.

Tate was born in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina.  He grew up outside Cincinnati where his mom taught reading and read lots of books to him such as Where the Sidewalk Ends, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and The Hobbit. He used to read the dictionary.  Seriously.

He attended the University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville, Virginia where he discovered khaki shorts. Who knew?  He studied economics when he was not playing frisbee on the Lawn or volunteering as a Young Life leader.  While at UVA, Tate met his future wife, and in 1999, they married and moved to Devon, England, where they lived for 3 years before moving to London.

Tate enjoys beauty in art, music, literature, film and creation.  He particularly enjoys impressionist art and likes words and languages. Whether it’s ordering tostas in Cascias or learning Mandarin characters, he considers himself “try-lingual.”

They have two children and miss their vanilla retriever, Pacey. Tate likes reading to his kids, making things up with them and teaching them Spanish. The younger one is learning how to read.