John De Gree​ 

Founder, Teacher, Author, and Speaker

John De Gree is a veteran classroom and home school teacher, with over 22 years in the classroom and 16 years in the home school. He studied in a variety of colleges and language institutes on two continents, focusing in foreign languages, government, political philosophy, and history. He received his B.A. from the University of Redlands, studying for a semester in Washington, D.C., a semester in Vienna, Austria, and a semester in Schwabisch Hall, Germany. He then studied Czech and German in Prague, Czechoslovakia at Charles University. He earned a teacher's credential at Humboldt State and a Master's of Arts in Liberal Arts, with an emphasis in History at Cal State Dominguez Hills. John De Gree founded The Classical Historian in 2011, and is the company's principal author and speaker. His World History Detective, published by The Critical Thinking Company, has won numerous awards, including the Creative Child Magazine 2013 Book of the Year Award,  Homeschooling Parent's 2013 Seal of Approval, and the Tillywig Brain Child Award. Serving in the public school classroom for two and half decades and home schooling his children has enabled Mr. De Gree to create unique, interesting, and practical history curriculum and games that can be used in a variety of settings.

The Classical Historian Family​

John and Zdenka De Gree live with five of their seven children in San Clemente, California. John holds a Masters of Arts in Humanities; Zdenka a MBA from The University of Economics, Prague, Czechoslovakia. After marrying, John and Zdenka founded a windsurfing school in Turkey and taught German tourists on the Mediterranean Sea. For four years, they lived in the Czech Republic (Zdenka's home). At Charles University, John studied World and Czech history and taught English and History in various locations. Since 1996, the De Grees have lived in California. John has worked for over 26 years as an educator in private, public, and in home schools. Zdenka has been in charge of the De Gree home school of seven children. The children are the chief testers of new materials, as well as the fulfillment specialists.

---

To read about our  online teachers click here.

---