Not Another Homeschool Blog

Already, it seems my relationship with my son has changed.  I am no longer his teacher, and I am no longer parent of a child (not that child anyway).  I am the parent of an adult male.  What a different animal that is. He's a little more forceful and assertive with me (is this what my momma meant when she said we were smelling ourselves?).  I also am a little more assertive and forceful with him in some ways... in other ways, I am giving him more leeway.  Our relationship is evolving, and it is good. The graduation speaker was a former graduate of the same homeschool program, and has also been a teacher there for the last 6 years.  His speech was very helpful to me, and probably to my son as well. He charged the students to: 1. Find a church and go there 2. Read their bibles every day 3. Seek elders for advice and don't listen to peers because "they are as stupid as you are". He also charged parents with not being so fast to step back and to b...

Remember that whole speech I made yesterday about doing personal finance math instead of Calculus or the like?  Well, the Board of Regents of the University System of GA has released guidelines that must be made to be considered entry into a GA state college, so if that is your goal,  any Personal Finance Class will have to be an elective, or perhaps you can use Economics/Business classes to satisfy the social science requirement. So, if a GA state college is your goal, (and this probably applies to many state colleges across the country, here is what your child will need to complete beginning the school year 2012-1013.  (As my kids are not applying to state colleges, this is not a problem for us. College Prep English:  4 units American Lit (integrated with grammar, usage and composition) English Lit (integrated with grammar, usage and composition)

For their senior year math classes, we had to make the decision for both kids whether they should take calculus or personal finance math.  In both cases we chose the latter. Firstly, the reason we chose for them to study personal finance math over calculus is because neither child is interested in going into a science or math field.  Therefore they really don't need to go beyond Geometry, but for college reasons they took Algebra1, Algebra2, and Geometry.  My son also took Trig.  Secondly, personal finance math is something they will be doing every day for the rest of their lives, so

Well, this was my son's last weekend as a homeschooler, he can now be considered a college man. ... I think I've harassed him sufficiently.   I don't have too much to say... I am really exhausted and am heading to bed.  Will post some graduation photos after we recharge the battery on the camera....  Meanwhile, here is one of him being annoyed that I wanted a picture of him at the piano. FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE   MY BUSINESS WEBSITE

Video Summary: Sharing my excitement about our upcoming graduation ceremonies this weekend. The college admissions process was actually pretty easy, and my best tip is to apply early. We've come a long way from the depressed child we pulled out of public school over 8 years ago. We are very happy to be graduating our first homeschooler... one more to go- next year! FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE MY BUSINESS WEBSITE

As long as I can remember I have been strange.  My family told me so.  The only problem is that they made it seem like a bad thing. First I was the quiet one in my family.... always thinking.  (yes, that was said negatively) Then I was the bookworm. (also an insult) Then I was the home-girl (which was a good thing in the 1980s' if you were hip and cool, but in my case, they meant it quite literal.  Everyone else was a homegirl, and I was a home....girl. get it?  Not funny.)   Then I was just strange (my mother's own words.... expressed after I brought home a creative writing assignment with A+ written on it.  It was a take on Tale of Two Cities where we were required to write from the viewpoints of either a Surf or Nobility.... I chose Nobility.) At this point, I'd have enough of my family of 11 pointing out how much I stood out from the pack.  I decided to embrace it.  Soon after, my mother was calling me strange based on something ...

Everybody makes mistakes but when we make mistakes we like to blame it on being homeschoolers (in jest of course). Today, we had two doozies! #1: After driving across the county twice, I stopped for a quick appointment that was supposed to take 5 minutes.  We were tired and out of gas, but it was important.  After 10 minutes waiting to see the person I had to speak to, I called my kids out in the car and told them to turn on the air conditioning, but watch the gas.  (Don't call DFACS, they're both teens).  As I walked back out to the car, I heard what sounded like someone trying to start a car, but the battery was dead.  Too bad I thought.  Then I found out it was my car.  To watch the gas, they only turned on the battery and drained it dead using the air conditioning and charging games.  We spent the next hour waiting, getting attacked by ants, and finally having someone other than roadside assistance starting the car. #2:  We get home a...

With my son graduating this year and my daughter graduating next, the end of my years as a homeschool mom are fast approaching. But people keep asking me "What are you going to do when the kids are gone?".... in a response, I do a little dance. Aren't you sad, they say... NO I reply.

Here are a few of the more interesting things my kids have reported about their homeschool friends (some of them lifted from facebook) Girl finds that someone put $70 Euros IN in her wallet.  A lightsaber duel breaks out in the middle of prom (it was the May 5... National Star Wars Day... May the Fourth be with you... never mind)  One girl has a notebook in which she records the most interesting comments.  Best quote of the year is probably "Who died and made you Jesus?" In a conversation about Ho's vs Bros, it was agreed that once a girl and guy become close, the girl moves from "ho" category to "bro".  There were very few actual dates at prom, most went in groups, and there were at least a couple brother-sister sets.... no one thought it was strange.  The Hunger Games are reenacted for a film class project.... lots of "blood" but no real deaths.  There's a serious discussion about dragons and unicorns in the bible A portable b...

Proms not over yet, just wanted to show what I accomplished today. A couple of girls conceived of an awesome mural for the prom but didn't have time to finish it. Here is the before photo when they had done as much as they had time to do. BELOW is the after photo, ... I spent 3 hours on it. I really should paint more often. I used to paint kids' rooms as a business before I started homeschooling. After remembering how much I loved doing this, I have to wonder if I should go back to it.... but, I don't like painting in people's houses. And I like free-reign over what I am painting... maybe not.... murals anyway. I will be painting more, regardless. FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE MY BUSINESS WEBSITE

My kids' homeschool prom is tomorrow.  SO THERE  for anyone who thinks the most important thing to discuss when you say you are homeschooling is "what about the prom"... really?  It happens. Now this is the 3rd year my kids have gone to homeschool prom, more appropriately dubbed, Spring Formal.   One of my kids loves it, the other hates it.  The hater, of course, doesn't like to dance... at all.  The other is a social butterfly, and so the prom is heavenly.  Regardless, they are both going.  I don't want him to someday regret not going. (Did I ever mention that my husband and my relationship started at prom.)  You never know what you may miss. Homeschool prom is quite atypical, as are homeschoolers.  First, there's the whole prom date issue.  While a

Today was my son's last official day as a homeschooler.  Unless, you count prom and graduation.  His homeschool (ARTS) classes ended today, though he does need to have his final project reviewed.   Yesterday, I reviewed all of his work for the year and calculated grades.  I even got the results of his last ACT exam yesterday.... grr... a few points short for max scholarship, but it will do! Anyway, he doesn't want to talk about it... or want us to talk about it.  Thank goodness I have this blog.  I feel like he's trying to process it all.  For him this is the end of freedom as he knows it.  He got to spend 4 out of 5 days home when other kids had to climb out of bed early in the morning, and do the same thing week-in, week-out. He got to choose what classes he would take each year, and he got to decide if he wanted to take a subject off on a tangent or into depth.  He has had a truly free learning experience. From here on out, though he i...