Thomas Milton Kemnitz founded Royal Fireworks Press in 1977 to develop curricula for gifted and talented children. He was a university professor with a specialty in Victorian England, but he was profoundly dissatisfied with how ill-prepared for higher education his students were. It seemed to him that students knew far too little about far too few subjects, and he sought to offer broader and deeper curricula choices. He has consistently tried to shape curriculum that is child-centered, demanding, creative, and filled with art, humor, and joy. Often that curriculum does not look like what he experienced as a child or what is offered in most classrooms.
When homeschooling became a viable option, Dr. Kemnitz quickly embraced it because he thought that what you could do only with gifted children in classrooms you can do with any child in the homeschool setting. He also has been impressed by the focus on pedagogy that homeschool parents share. Dr Kemnitz is the author of many books for children and parents/teachers. In the past year, he has concentrated on writing about the worlds of ancient Greece and Rome for students of the Royal Fireworks language arts curriculum by Michael Clay Thompson.
