Not Another Homeschool Blog

  There is a local YouTube sensation named Megan McGlover .  She starts out reporting (ranting) about the weather, then she goes off on tangents about other things in the news.  She usually ends her report with "don't be stupid".  She's got a point. Fifty years ago, Mr. Richard Eggers was stupid.  He was about 18 years old and he made a cardboard dime and used it to operate a washing machine. His "stunt" as he describes it landed him in jail for two days.  As far as anyone knows he has been a law abiding citizen ever since.  However, Wells Fargo, the bank Mr. Eggers worked for fired him for the 50 year old stunt . There's a whole bru-ha-ha about new FDIC laws about having people with criminal activity working at banks and banks being overzealous in weeding out

 Here I am drinking a Big Carl sized cup of water trying to force a tension headache out of my body.  I always get sick when I am excited... or when I am braiding my hair... both of which I am doing this week.  I am excited to be taking my daughter (and my husband and myself) to the Dragon*Con convention downtown.  It's funny how people react when I say I am going to Dragon*Con .  Makes me wonder if I should keep it to myself.  It's like I'm a great big freakazoid, going to hang out with the other freaks.  First of all, I never-ever professed to be anything less than completely crazy and wildly eclectic.  After all, I homeschool, don't I?  Isn't that a fringe activity?  My daughter did pageants during her tween years... another fringe hobby.  Why

Good Morning America announces homeschooling is going mainstream . But we already knew that didn't we.  The better news is that the piece, while a fluff piece, is overwhelming positive.  There's only one caveat:    " And while the homeschooling movement grows, educators are poised to see what happens when a new generation of homeschooled kids go away to college." Seeing that I know dozens of homeschooled young adults who have completed college and are now in the workplace, I gather they aren't looking hard enough.  Plus based on the number of homeschoolers at my son's college and they amount of visibility these kids have (there were tons helping with registration and orientation), i'd say homeschoolers are kicking butt on the college level, striving more so to be involved than than partying and obsessing over grades.   Still, it's good to have an honorable mention. FREE HOME EDUCATION WEBSITE   ahermitt.com

 This information is very timely seeing as I have a child just now starting college:  Going to college for the first time is never easy. Students have to say goodbye to their parents and prepare to begin their adult lives. Parents have to watch as their children leave the nest, potentially for good. This transition, however, can be even more difficult for parents who have homeschooled their children, sometimes for their entire lives. You are used to determining what your child will study, why and for how long, and it may be difficult to finally let go of the reins and allow your child to make those decisions. College is, however, one of the most special times in your child's life. So, once you get past the initial growing pains, the experience of supporting a college student can be one of the most rewarding transitions you've ever made. Here are some tips for starting out: 1. Try not to meddle in their coursework. Even though you are very accustomed to knowing exactly w...

 Now that my son is delivered safely to college (sob!), I can focus on my daughters senior year. I have been homeschooling for about a decade, and every August has been an experiment.  After all, I am a homeschool mom, not a curriculum expert, so sometimes I choose curriculums that don't gel with my child.  This year was no exception. This year the curriculum I had to shelf was at least free.  It was the packet from The Actuarial Foundation for Personal finance.  It is not a bad curriculum, but it does not do enough explaining, as it was designed for the teacher who actually already knows personal finance... not for the mom and child who don't really understand compound interest and mortgage amortization.  So we had a false start with math this year and

I looked back over my last post and thought "Oh my gosh, this year is going to crush my daughter!"  That's too much work! Then on  a yahoo group the question came up about how many hours the kids homeschool or are required to homeschool by law... so we did the math: In GA we are required to have an equivalent of 4.5 hours a day and 180 days.  That is 810 hours.  For academics, my daughter is doing about 600 working hours @ approx 20 hours a week.  She is working on 6 half credits and two whole credits, a total of 5 credits, so she is also meeting Carnigie requirements

We just got home from this years "school" meeting. We went over rules, regulations, dress codes, cell phone rules during class, and all that good stuff. We found out about all the new things that the homeschool program is rolling out. (Don't you hate it how things always get cooler and better just as you are done?... It reminds me of how mad I still get when I see the super-cool strollers that weren't available when my kids were babies.)  But they all grow up and things change. The most exciting news was Drama Club.. of course!  The fall play is undecided (almost decided) but it won't be held at our usual venue.  Instead, the kids will bring the play to the community.  They may do a nursing home, a school, a community theater, a major theater, or all of the above... who knows.  The second play will be a full school play... I won't say what it is just yet, but it will have kids of every age from

I've been asked a lot of question about my accelerated homeschooler lately.  The conversation tends to go like this. Them:  So, now that your son is starting college, you only have one child to homeschooling.  What is she now?  A Sophomore? Me:  No, she's a Senior. Them:  A Senior? Me:  A Senior. Them:  So, did you rush her through so you could be done? (knowing smile) Me: No. Both kids worked at their own pace and both were on pace to graduate at about 16.  My son decided at 11th grade level that he didn't want to graduate so soon, so he took longer.  My daughter made it

In my last post I lamented about not having traveled enough and not taking my kids on enough field trips as a part of homeschooling.  Seeing as how it bothers me so much, I think I might do something about it this year.  This year we are taking a lot of days off to explore.  We may even get out of the country.  Now, I am not looking to fly off on cheap holidays to Egypt (only in my dreams) but I am wondering if I can raise funds to go on the European tour with the homeschool program. Meanwhile, I am making a list of things we are definitely going to do this year:  Dragon*Con: The World's largest multi-media, popular culture convention, etc, etc,... in the universe.  The educational value for us is in the costuming tracks.  My daughter loves creating costumes and sewing.  JapanFest: Japanese Culture convention...  Girl loves Japanese culture New York: If we can't make the European Trip, this will be our consolation prize.  We will...

Overall, I am happy about our homeschool experience. But there are still some nagging regrets. Basically, when we started out there were some things that I just assumed would happen, but they just never did. They are: Travel:  We did get to Los Angeles, and SanFrancisco and to the Georgia Coasts and parts of Florida but we had hoped that since we were homeschooling, we'd get to see more of the country and even get overseas, two things stopped us. Scheduling.  Our schedule was not as flexible as we thought it would be.  Because the kids were in a homeschool program that met weekly, our lives weren't as flexible as we thought it would be.  Money.  They economy went screwy so flying a family of four around the country went from something that we didn't think twice about to something we didn't even think about.  You never know though.  Maybe we can squeeze in a big trip this year and get a good deal on flights to Sydney

Every year when blogs are ranked and the top 10 homeschool blogs are chosen, I get a little (a lot) insulted that I don't rank amongst homeschool blogs.  That means other homeschoolers really don't find me all that interesting.  But, I guess I always new that. I moved this blog to a homeschool blog site many years back, but only for a short while, because I realized that I was not being read.  I was preaching to the choir.  I really didn't have a whole lot to offer that wasn't already being offered in that environment, so I moved back to blogger.  I am not saying that I don't think my blog is useful, because I know it is.  It is just a whole lot more useful to the homeschool-curious and to brand new homeschoolers than to established homeschoolers. Based on the notes I have gotten regarding my homeschool blogs over the years, it is clear that people just starting on their homeschool journey appreciate my blog and are even encouraged by it.  So, that...

I noticed that a lot of homeschoolers don't really plan to send their kids off to college.  They've been homeschooling for the last 12 years... why throw them to the wolves now?  I guess I get it, but college was always the goal for our family.  At one point I thought they would accelerate through school and be leaving at 18 for Grad school, but my kids weren't that kind of gifted. They are more on the talented side.   But all the same, college was the goal. ... And I have one leaving in just over a week. Since my son is away on a man-cation adventure with his dad, my daughter and I took it upon ourselves to start his packing.  Here is everything except for clothing and computer. It doesn't seem like much, but then I remember I went to college with just one trunk and one suitcase, and I was fine.  He has two trunks a bin, and a bookbag, and we haven't even packed clothes yet.  Then there's the fridge and chair we will be picking up at the Walmart ...

Gabby Douglas, the athlete who just won multiple gold medals in the Olympics is a buzzing topic right now... because of the state of her hair. Wow. This makes me angry because too many of use are out of shape and unhealthy because we are worried about our hair. This young athlete has her priorities in order. Yes, her hair doesn't look like she just came from the salon, but have you seen how far that child can fly!

To be truly dedicated to Olympic training, young people need to be able to put all of their time and effort into training. Homeschooling allows them to do this as they can schedule their learning around their training.  Here is a list of current Olympic athletes who were homeschooled.  Congratulations to Gabrielle Douglas who is homeschooled and says it that homeschooling  helps to build self- discipline and time management  Other prominent Olympians who are or where homeschoolers are: Danell Leyva- Homeschooled from 2nd grade and self taught since seventh grade David Boudia- Homeschooled since 2nd semester of his Jr. year Haley Ishimatsu-Homeschooled and felt that "high school social life is really just over rated" Thomas Finchum-Homeschooled to have a more flexible schedule Kelci Bryant- Homeschooled for the last year Anna James- Homeschooled There are a couple of others who have been listed as homeschoolers, but I could not find proof.  If ...

My body clock is completely wacked out because I rose before the sun a couple days ago to work elections.  So here I am, in the wee hours of the morning awake... again.  To fill my time, I am going over my son's book list and printing a buying guide for him.  This will help him to know where the best deals are for the books he needs.  (some books of course... the ones well over $100 are college specific and need to be purchased at the school bookstore-or so they say.  Others are available for less at Amazon for way less, and

I thought this guest post was especially relevant because many of our kids are taking college level tests and CLEP exams.  We don't have to wait for college to take advantage of these "college apps". The iPad is such an amazing, new tool for education. Many homeschooling groups are now using this tool to supplement traditional book lessons. In addition to complementing current class content, the iPad can also help incoming college freshman prepare for their first year of college. The following five apps are perfect for helping high school seniors prepare for common first-year college courses. College Algebra This app has received top ratings from users who say that it helped them get through their college