I'm sure that any of you visiting have noticed the blog hasn't been updated since 2009. I briefly moved to a hosted Wordpress blog, but that didn't last very long. This blog is still available to read and maybe one day I'll read through it as well and remember all the fun things I did as a homeschooling mom. Currently William, my son, is now 18. We moved to Alabama in 2010 and at that point he decided to get his GED. So our homeschooling days are now done. So did I "fail" as a homeschooling parent since William decided to go the GED route? I don't think so. Getting a GED is just the option that was chosen for him to finish his education. There are other options. But upon discussion as a family we all decided that it would be in his best interest to obtain a GED. The primary reason for this was for better job opportunities in the future. Some companies and schools would not accept a homeschool diploma, and while I still believe that inclusion of homeschooled families should be recognized and fought for, we felt that going ahead and getting the GED to stop any problems down the road would be the best thing for William, and he agreed. I look back with several fond memories of the field trips, the lesson plans, the experiments, the people I met, the blogs I followed. I enjoyed those years so much and I don't regret even one of them. If you are trying to decide whether or not to homeschool your child, I urge you to truly look into yourself and ask yourself some tough questions. Homeschooling can be a full-time job. I enjoyed the years I homeschooled, but there were always times of doubt, always times of struggle, and that was with just one child! Trying to homeschool as a working parent also had difficulties all its own. No matter what your decision for your children's education - homeschool, private school, charter school, online public school, regular public school or any other variation thereof - be an involved parent. Know what your children are doing from day to day. Keep up with your child's teachers. Many offer contact through email today, but don't abuse that contact. Go to parent teacher meetings and join the PTA or board if you choose private school. Let your children know that their education is important to you. Helping them with homework is much more important than watching television or doing something online. Plan an educational component into family vacations. Go on a walk or a hike or just play with your kids. Learn about child development. Does your two-year old really NEED a preschool program? (IMO, no, they don't. But that decision is up to you as their parent.) Thank you to everyone who joined me for the years I homeschooled. I will never forget them and I am so glad I have those memories today.

Labels: fail homeschool, GED, homeschool high school, involved parent

You can now find Routon Family Homeschool at routon-family-homeschool.com. All the posts have been moved as well, so come join us in our new home :)

I'll be updating more in July as I start planning in earnest, including updating my family site with my lists of supplies, etc. I haven't updated that site in a while and my ISP changed from Alltel to Windstream and I haven't corrected my links or anything at this point, so I have a lot of work to do. But come the second week in July I think I'll be fixing things and changing things around a bit.

I posted in January that we would be starting high school this fall. That is still the plan, even though we are probably going to be moving at some point within the next six months.

To gear up for the new year I've been reading a few books about homeschooling high school. One of my favorites is Homeschooling: The Teen Years by Cafi Cohen. I've read this book three times already! I've also been reading Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook also by Cafi Cohen. I've learned a lot about planning for high school courses, what tests he needs to take and when, and how to integrate his goals for the future into the schooling plan. His goal right now is to become a police officer, so I will try to integrate some of what he will need, such as leadership skills, physical fitness, logic and writing skills.

It's will be good to be blogging on homeschooling again and getting caught up on other blogs I was reading before.

Planning will start in July for the new year, so be on the lookout for more posts and information.

Labels: Cafi Cohen, high school, homeschool high school, homeschooling

We are still homeschooling and plan to start high school next fall! Stay tuned for more info as we plan and get things arranged!

We had no idea of the amount of people that attended a sci-fi convention. We learned fast though.

We wanted to get there yesterday by 1pm to see the Mythbusters team, and we got to the hotel at 12:50 - just in time to get in line and stay there for THREE HOURS! We came close to giving up and probably should have as we ended up only spending about 3 hours at the con before leaving.

We got there early Sunday morning, though, and only stood in line for tickets for about 45 minutes. I'm glad the Mythbusters team was still there to sign autographs because William was able to get this:



He was so struck he couldn't speak. We had Grant sign a photo showing him working on R2-D2 as well. William is now thinking about studying robotics so he can either be on Mythbusters or work for M5 one day.

Today I was able to also get autographs from John DeLancie and Brent Spiner from Star Trek:TNG. William and I also attended the Next Generation panel. Brent Spiner is soooooo funny. If you've only seen him as Data, you're missing out.



We learned some lessons and will definitely do things differently next year.

Labels: dragoncon, Mythbusters, pictures, Star Trek

Here is a post I made in January 2004:

Predictions
I am not a psychic but there are some things I want to make predictions about as I think about these things pretty often.

First, Ross and Rachel will be together when Friends ends. Even if they break up later we don't have to know about it : )

**I know it was pretty obvious they would have to be together as all the fans wanted it. So I was right. **

Piper and Leo on Charmed will also be together by the time this season ends. Why they had to break up is beyond me.

**I was right again :) **

Harry Potter will grow up, graduate Hogwarts, and will be offered the job of Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher. He will be the only one to stay in the position more than a year. Also, Sirius is alive, just in another dimension maybe. And Ron will marry Hermione.

**So I was right about one thing. Can't win them all. Well, I guess I got more right. I said Harry would grow up, and he did. So 2 things right. **

Just a few thoughts rattling around in my head.

// posted by Christina in GA @ 1/11/2004 07:57:00 PM
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