I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

In July.

My daughters Drama Club is doing White Christmas.  The show will run the first week of December.

Auditions are soon.  I'll be picking up a copy of White Christmas the movie and the Broadway recording so she can prepare for auditions.

I think the role of Martha would be perfect for her... spunky and with a big voice.

 I'll be crossing my fingers for her.

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It's almost time for school! Homeschool that is.

The new school year starts in a couple of weeks. 

For my kids, their online classes (just a couple) start and their choir practice and drama club rehearsals also start the second week of august.  I will start their other studies once they get into the swing of things.

I already have the kids doing a little work to get them ramped up.  They are both doing test prep stuff and my daughter is halfway through her geometry curriculum. 

I am looking forward to this 2011-2012 school year with excitement. 

Are you ready?


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Crazy about online curriculum

I just updated my curriculum page, and listed my favorite curriculum from over the years (scroll to end of page).  To my surprise, most of them ended with .com or .org. I have a thing for online curriculum.

The downside to that is that we end up buying new computers... often.  My daughter seems to be able to trash a laptop in 18 months.  My son's last longer, but his choices are more expensive.

Fortunately, I fill in the blanks with free home education resources such as those found on my  FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE

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Choosing GA Virtual School over Ga Cyber Academy

It may seem odd that I have chosen to use a public school program to help homeschool my kids.  I have always been against public school at home, so I guess I should make a statement about this.

First,. because we could not get dual enrollment for my son's senior year, I wanted something to show to colleges that he was at the same level as high school kids.

Second, while Georgia Virtual School is sponsored by the state, it keeps the parent in control of what the child will take and even gives flexibility in scheduling.

Third, it is not Georgia Cyber Academy, in which the school makes all educational choices for the child.  I strongly dislike Georgia Cyber Academy because kids who are struggling in school, would almost never be successful in it.

Anyway, we chose to take a couple of online classes this year through Georgia Virtual School.  My son is taking Physics, Spanish, and a math class.  As I am not equipped to teach the spanish or physics, I had to find something, and this is free... more  money for college.  My daughter is taking Mandarin Chinese... there is no way I can help her with that.... for this reason, I am finding individual classes at Georgia Virtual School quite useful for my needs.


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Update:  Didn't have an awesome experience with Georgia Virtual School.  I only recommend if your kids can follow a typical school schedule... which sucks all of the fun out of homeschooling.

You've gotta have a plan B

I just updated my son's plans for the new school year.  It looks like Dual enrollment at the local college is out of the question.  I find it interesting that non homeschoolers have gotten in with ACT scores lower than his, but he does not qualify for dual enrollment. It is also interesting that his current scores WILL get him into the four year colleges that he really wants to go to. 

On the other hand, if he is not fully ready for college math, as they say,  then we have another year to prepare him for it.  That is a good thing.  I remember losing my love for math in the 11th grade and struggling miserably my first year in college.  I don't want that for him. I want him to hit the ground running.

 So... it looks like we are going to use Georgia Virtual School which are online classes provided by the state (Not to be confused with Georgia Cyber Academy which is public school at home).  Homeschoolers are still in charge when they use GVS.  GVS has have been allowing one credit per semester  (2  half credit classes) for a few years now, and have recently opened it up to 6 per semester. I wouldn't recommend taking that many classes online at once.   I like to mix it up a little and keep some of the homeschooling at home.


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Online options for high school students

I don't know if my son will get accepted for dual enrollment for fall due to his late ACT Date and the later score release date.  For that reason, I have been exploring my other options for his senior year.  I have found two great possibilities.  

The first is Georgia Virtual School: http://www.gavirtualschool.org/

Not to be confused with Georgia Virtual Academy, Georgia Virtual School provides a teacher led, virtual classroom environment.  Apparently homeschooled students have now been approved by the state to take 6-half credits each semester for free.  I don't know how I feel about it because it is public school at home, and I preferred a college course, but it will help my son get his last high school requirements out of the way in one semester.  

The second is BYU independent study.  Kids can take college and high school level credits and the cost is cheaper than most virtual schools.  It is "a distance education program that offers almost 600 university, high school, junior high school and personal enrichment courses to people throughout the world. BYU is accredited as an institution by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). The BYU Independent Study High School Program is accredited by the Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC) and by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC)."  I am really intrigued by this one. Since I found out about it, I am a lot less stressed about my son's senior year.  If he gets dual enrollment, great.  If not, he can do a combination of CLEP exams and online study.  

Is any of this even necessary?, you might ask.  Well the point of doing some dual enrollment in his Sr. year is to give him a taste of what college might be like.  He has taken course with teachers all along, but the last 2 years have been primarily for arts related courses.  I want him ready for an intensive college level class.

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Each in his own time

Today is my daughters 15th birthday.  At exactly 8:10 this morning, she had her learners permit in hand.  She kind of lives that way... accomplish as much as possible as soon as possible.  This is why she'd already driven by noon.
This is why she will be graduating before her 17th birthday.

Her brother lives at a more deliberate speed.  He likes things slow, easy, and careful.  This is why he does not have a drivers licence yet when he will be 17 soon.  This is also why he opted to take another year of homeschooling instead of taking one more class last year to graduate at 16 like his sister.

Now that she is driving, he demanded that we pay for lessons for him.  He says we make him nervous and he wants a real instructor... so be it.  He is finally ready to drive, partly because it is time, and partly because his sister is putting a little pressure on him.

So what does this have to do with homeschooling?  Lots.

There are some kids who will read at 4 years old, some at 7, and some as late as 11. (the same with certain math skills) There is no shame in that, and pressure should be minimal to prevent the child from feeling inadequate by his lack of readiness.  This is not to say that you shouldn't work on pre-reading skills like reading to the child from and early age and teaching the alphabet and basic phonics rules.  Still, we shouldn't become panicked and distraught that the hard work has not paid off just yet.  Each child matures at his own pace.  They will learn in their own time.


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Since when did public school get so expensive?

Never mind the $200 bill most parents get at the start of the school year after buying T-shirts, paying activity fees, and a case of Kleenex on top of the usual school supplies.  I can't speak for other school districts, but here in Gwinnett County GA, the public schools seems to have an excellent money making vehicle... summer school.  They appear to barrel through the curriculum during the school year, and if the student can't keep up and fails the class, they have to go to summer school at $250 per course.  If the child fails 2 or 3 classes, they are out of luck.  Few parents can fork over that kind of dough for summer school with the 3 week notice they are given between the time the child fails the classes and summer school fees must be paid.

Can't pay for summer school?  Maybe you can take the online class.  This can also be costly.  For many students these classes are the only thing keeping them from flunking out of school.  If you can't afford to pay the fees, then you may find yourself repeating the 12th grade.

I never needed summer school growing up, but my brothers did.  (Back in the day.)  It was free. What happened?


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Integrity in Homeschooling in Light of the CRCT Scandal

Fear and pressure are being blamed as the cause of the humongous CRCT cheating scandal in GA. Watching the results of the probe unfold has me asking and reviewing my own fears and pressures regarding homeschooling.  For instance, it is time for college applications for my first born.  The college applications and acceptances are essentially the litmus tests as to whether or not his homeschool years were in fact, successful.

I have seen the pressure of ending homeschooling strong bend the most die-hard relaxed homeschooler into behaving like a drill sargent to make sure that student crams in everything they are suddenly afraid that they may have missed.  Then there is the opportunity to grade the child on an invisible curve in order to make them presentable to colleges.

We as homeschoolers must be extra diligent to not let the pressures of competing with public education (who are clearly cheating) take away our integrity to the process we have previously set forth as well as the integrity of our own hearts.




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Reasons why I am glad we homeschool: CRCT fiasco

So, yesterday, it was announced that a probe on Atlanta public schools proved that the majority of principals and administrators in Atlanta Public Schools altered test scores and otherwise cheated on the CRCT exams to make schools look good and to increase pass rates on the tests.

Story here: http://www.ajc.com/news/school-by-school-crct-1001745.html?cxntlid=brkng_nws_bnr

I don't for a minute believe that such a phenomenon is not spread across the entire state, including my area.  It makes me glad I homeschool, but sad because I know many kids who could be affected by this.

Still, they want homeschoolers to test, test, test to prove we are doing a good job.  That's not even working for the public school kids.  Perhaps testing should stop so kids can get actual instruction?

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Areas of weakness should be allowed

When I was in highschool I used to get pretty bent out of shape about studying and grades.  I had to understand every single concept in my math or science book (the areas I struggled in) or I would become distraught.  I remember my mother asking me, if I thought I might not pass a test, as I always passed my tests.  I would reply "Of course, I am going to pass the test, but by how much". I had to have A's.  That is how I was wired.  Yeah, I was high strung.

I am wired differently now.  Somewhere along the way, I learned that there would be areas where I would absolutely excel, and there are some areas, that I struggle in and I am OK with that.  As the parent of homeschoolers, I know that there are some areas where my kids deserve A's, some areas where they deserve B's, and some areas where they deserve C's.  Sometimes this is due to a lack of enthusiasm and effort.  Mostly, it is due to a weakness in a subject matter.

Sure I want my kids to always do their best, but I would rather them to really, really excel in one area than to do have them do satisfactorily in every area.  This is what makes us individuals.



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Is it even worth it to apply to a state college?

So here's my dillema. 

Son wants to go to SCAD Atlanta (Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta).  He has for a couple years now.  He is willing to look at other schools to apply to as a back-up, but he wants to go to SCAD so won't actively look for other options.  He as asked me to spearhead the search for backup colleges, and I have.  There is one other smaller, less expensive Christian college that he likes and beyond that, there is a big party college, where he can get a decent arts education, and the main campus of the state college (UGA) also has what looks like a very good art school.  The last two he would only apply to for giggles and grins, just for the sake of saying he applied to more than one or two colleges.

Here's the thing, we are not worried about him getting into SCAD.  We are only worried about paying for it. We are also not worried about getting into the second choice as they love homeschoolers.  But the State college... they want us as homeschoolers to jump through an ungodly number of hoops to get in...  A 3.7 GPA or close to it.  25-30 average ACT score.  Extra exams (SATII) or multiple AP tests.

That would add alot of extra work to my son's senior year, when his personal goal is to work on his portfolio and to get out a little more into the world.

Is it even worth it to spend the extra time studying for SATII's (when he has already passed CLEP exams).  Is to worth it to keep taking the ACT every test date to push for the highest score when he already has a Score that will get him a scholarship at another college?

Is this state college really THAT elite? or are they shooting themselves in the foot by making it difficult for homeschoolers to get in?



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Ready for a New School Year

It is July, and it is time to get going with the new school year.  


Daughter is getting a jump on Geometry to have enough of it under her belt in time for the PSAT.  
Son is finishing his art portfolio to get his college applications out. 


I have posted and updated our book and program choices for the year.  
For daughter, I decided to assign her reading.  Normally, I choose every other book for her to make sure she gets a good dose of classics.  However, I looked at a 100 books list that you should read before college and realized that she's only read about half with 2 years to go.  Then I realized that I owned  Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces and it contained many of the books that I wanted her to read, so that's that.  She must read the full anthology, and since she can put away 100 pages a day normally, she will be finished with it by Christmas.  Then she can read whatever she ants.  


For son, I am waiting to hear from the college who is waiting for his last ACT test scores... they are held up for some reason.  If they don't accept him (GA state schools hold homeschoolers to a higher standard) then we he can take the dual enrollment classes online at a private college. 


I am hoping to have everything finalized soon.


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