About Hoot LeRoux

Hoot LeRoux creates thoughtful learning resources for homeschooling families with children ranging from elementary grades through high school. Our work is grounded in the belief that deep understanding grows when ideas are explored across disciplines, not in isolation.

We focus on integrating literature, science, and history into cohesive unit studies and resources that invite curiosity, careful thinking, and meaningful engagement. Rather than relying on busywork or surface-level coverage, our resources are designed to help students slow down, ask good questions, and build knowledge that connects.

Hoot LeRoux was founded by Melissa Bilyeu, MS, in response to a recurring challenge she encountered while homeschooling her own child: finding resources that were secular, academically rigorous, and genuinely integrated across subjects. While drawn to the promise of unit studies, she found that many available materials treated science as an afterthought or lacked the depth and coherence she was seeking.

With advanced degrees in animal science and reproductive physiology (and a chemical engineer husband), Melissa placed a high value on accurate, well-structured scientific learning alongside quality literature and history. After spending years adapting and supplementing existing curricula to meet these standards, she began developing original materials tailored to her child’s education.

Over time, this approach evolved into a coherent framework for thoughtful, interdisciplinary learning. Hoot LeRoux grew from that work, with the goal of offering other families access to resources that are rigorous without being rigid, integrated without being overwhelming, and designed to be used by families with students from elementary through high school.

Who is Hoot?

Long before there were lesson plans or unit studies, Hoot LeRoux began as a nickname. Before Melissa’s child was even born, her father started calling the baby Hoot LeRoux, in part because it rhymed with her last name. The name stuck.

Years later, when homeschooling led to a deeper commitment to thoughtful, integrated learning, the name felt just right.