Good Morning America Announces Homeschooling is going Mainstream

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.

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4 Tips for Transitioning from Homeschool Parent to College Parent (Guest Post)

 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 what your child is studying and how they're doing,

False starts, do-overs, and adjustments

 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

Counting the hours

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

A new school year and a roving play

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

Questions about my accelerated homeschooler

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

Trying to come up with field trip ideas for this year

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 see at least two plays.  Hopefully Wicked and Book of Mormon, but we're not that picky. 
• High Museum: As many exhibits as we can stand

Thinking about:

• Washington DC
• Seeing a performance of Japanese Myths called Iwami Kagura

Can't think of anything else right now.  Can anyone come up with some fun and educational things to do in  the South-East?  I'm looking for Single day trips (Metro-Atlanta) and weekend trips mostly.

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