Online Schools. A Solution?

This is a review, but I would personally appreciate your input if you homeschool!

Homeschooling has never scared me. I've taught high school, Community College, prison inmates, and various Adult Ed programs, so my own kids? Piece of cake. Until we start talking about high school.

Homeschooling at the high school level kind of freaks me out.

Suddenly I have to worry about documenting and proving every thing we do and making sure our studies align with certain standards and expectations. I have to create a transcript and worry about colleges accepting our Homeschool Portfolio.

That's a whole lot of pressure, ya'll.

I've heard about Virtual Schools but to be perfectly honest with you I completely dismissed them. If I didn't want to be in charge of my child's education, then why even bother to homeschool, right? Our choice to homeschool was based on a desire to provide our children with a quality education and instill a love of learning, so I never even considered handing the reins over to someone else.

Then I was asked to review Online School Solutions.

And I am about to eat crow.

In Georgia, our Online School Solution is The Keystone School, which offers complete middle and high school education. I have spent the better part of today clicking around the website, viewing demo courses, looking through the course catalog, and educating myself about this option. And I have to admit, I am quite impressed.

The Keystone School is accredited, and offers a high school diploma and transcript. That alone is a huge benefit, since that takes all the worry out of homeschooling at the high school level. The coursework looks impressive as well; there's traditional textbook work, online activities and supplements, writing assignments, and more. Students can take up to twelve months to complete a course, so there's plenty of flexibility. Keystone has fully licensed teachers to assist you and your child, which is nice for those subjects I'm not so strong in (Like Geometry!).

The biggest selling point for me? The ability to take Honors and AP classes. It's possible to provide those in a traditional homeschool environment, but it can be next to impossible to "prove" to a College or University.

Poking around The Keystone School today has introduced a middle ground that I had never considered before. I can still homeschool my children, but with the support of a fully accredited online school. I can still offer my children the flexibility they need to meet their interests and abilities, while ensuring they receive a well rounded College Prep curriculum. By being accountable to another teacher, and having to manage deadlines for assignments, my kids would be easing into the "real world" while still having me next to them for support. It's starting to look like a perfect middle ground between homeschool and College.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you homeschool would you ever consider an Online School Solution like The Keystone School? Why or why not? Head over to Online School Solutions and select your State to learn more about online schooling in your area.

Keeping it real: This is a compensated review, through Mom Select.

Claiming My Ten Minutes for the Sake of Sanity

I need alone time like I need air to breathe. Like I need food in my belly, or blood in my veins, I need time to be by myself. I think everyone feels this to some degree; I imagine I feel it so strongly because I was an only child. I grew up alone so that's my "normal".

As a wife and mom it can be next to impossible to have alone time. Somebody is always clamoring for my attention, night and day. And being in the throes of potty training...well....I have to be observed every time I use the bathroom now too. Pooping for an audience is not something I ever thought I'd be doing, but there you have it.

I try to sneak in little me moments throughout the day. Maybe I hop online to check Twitter or Facebook while the kids eat lunch. Maybe I play a quick game of Rush Hour on the iPod while the kids are playing nearby. If it's a really good day I'm able to get both kids to nap at the same time and I have a nice chunk of alone time.

As much as I long for an entire day alone, it's probably not going to happen any time soon. So I have to grab my time when I can get it. Most often that's at the end of the day when everyone is tucked in bed and the house has finally quieted down. I sit on the couch, have my Skinny Cow Ice Cream bar that I don't have to share, and put my feet up. Even if I only spend ten minutes chilling out before I head to bed, it's ten minutes alone. Ten minutes of relaxation. Ten minutes to take a deep breath and just be.

Is ten minutes enough? Not in the grand scheme of things. But ten minutes here and there throughout the day keep me going. My husband can tell the minute he walks in the door at night if I've been able to carve out those ten minutes for myself, believe me.

Are you able to find ten minutes a day for yourself? How do you spend those precious minutes of solitude?

Sprint has just launched Gaming on the Now Network™, bringing you the first wireless 4G network from a national carrier.  Sprint and JuiceBoxJungle have sponsored me to write about what "ten minutes" a day means to me.  

The End of an Era (Alternate Title: I Am A Prisoner No More)

When we moved to the swamp over three years ago, my husband worked just up the road. He could have walked there if he'd felt the desire. Instead, he drove a beat up old Toyota pick up that was as old as he is. I could hear the exhaust rumble from the moment he started the engine until he parked at work.

We aren't fancy people, so it worked for us.

I had the car, and Mister Aiden and I came and went without a care in the world.

Unfortunately, my husband's job not only had no guarantee of forty hours a week, but also no benefits. Not a good position to be in with a family and a brand new mortgage.

When offered the opportunity to interview for a new job, my husband jumped on it. A very large company, guaranteed forty hours, incredible benefits, and plenty of room for advancement...what wasn't to love? Ohhh yea....the fact that the job was an hour away.

The ratty ole Toyota wasn't up to snuff for that commute.

We made the decision that the job was too good to pass up, and we'd just have to make do with one car until we got a little more settled.

That was three years ago.

Do you know how long three years can be when you're stuck at home, in the swamp, with no hope of going anywhere all day long?

Let me enlighten you....three years can feel like an eternity. Three years can beat you down, make you question your sanity, and lead to an overall feeling of being completely out of touch with the world.

Every so often we'd reevaluate things, crunch the numbers, stroll around a few car lots. But we just weren't "there" yet. I've had my fair share of emotional breakdowns over the years. It's hard to go from being an independent self-sufficient single professional woman to being stuck in the swamps with no car....very very hard. I constantly reminded myself why we chose this...where we might be in life if we hadn't  gone in this direction  (my husband's former employer has laid off almost the entire workforce, so we'd truly be up a creek if he had stayed there). Yet no matter how much I tried to keep myself focused, cabin fever always seemed to take over.

But.

The times? They are a changin.

We bought a second car.

I have my very own set of wheels again.

We can go the grocery store if I need a loaf of bread. We can go to the park. We can visit the library. We can go where ever we want to now, because I have been paroled.

I have three very long years to make up...

What's Going On Around Here 06/17/10

If you've poked around the Blogosphere or Twitter this week I'm sure you've heard the news about the SV Moms Blogs. They will cease to exist as of July 1, 2010. The news came as a huge shock not only to those of us who write on the numerous SV Moms platforms, but also to the blogging community at large. I've genuinely enjoyed my time at Deep South Moms, and I'm quite sad to see it end.

Ironically, I began a new writing venture this month. I'm excited to announce I'm the new Editor for the Teen Moms section at Type-A Mom! If you were a teen mom I'd love your input! Feel free to leave a comment on my introductory post at Type-A Mom and let me know what you'd like to see in future articles.

Over at Like It A Latte:
1.  I enjoyed the Sex and the City 2 Soundtrack....at least the first half. Then it got a little awkward.
2.  I'm giving away a huge box of Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix bars and a gift card to Sam's Club! (ends June 24)
3.  I'm giving away five codes for the Arithmaroo App in iTunes. It's a really cool educational game that teaches counting and pattern recognition. (ends June 18)
4.  Come learn some tips for protecting your eye health in the Digital Age, and how the Amazon Kindle can help (feel free to use your eye health as justification for treating yourself to the Kindle. You're welcome!).

Motherhood Versus the Woman Within

I just finished watching the movie Motherhood.

Yes, I'm a little late.

I adored it. Truly and utterly adored it. I completely related to the harried, frazzled, shell of her former self mom. I saw bits and pieces of my own life played out on the screen...at least until the end. The end? Was so completely Hollywood and fantasyland that it left me feeling defeated and hopeless. What was intended to be a happy ending was so far from reality for me, that I was left anything but happy.

If you haven't seen the movie, it's basically about this mom who used to be a fabulous writer, edgy cool chick, yada yada yada. She has a few kids, becomes a stay at home mom, loses all her fabulousness as she melts into the monotony of motherhood. Oh, and she's a blogger. Cue the emotional breakdown, the plea for some alone time to formulate original ideas and pursue long forgotten passions. **SPOILER ALERT** In the end the husband sells a rare book for a huge chunk of cash and tells her to put the youngest kid in day care for a few years so she can write.

Mmmkay. You lost me there. I was feeling the emotional breakdown. I too yearn for the days when I used to have coherent thoughts on things that mattered. But we don't have a rare book sitting around. Believe me, if we came upon $24 thousand dollars we'd be buying a second damn car, never mind preschool for a few years. Oh, and we choose to homeschool, so there goes that preschool idea anyway.

So. Big Hollywood Producers? I'd like a rewrite.

I watched Motherhood with tears in my eyes, feeling so understood and acknowledged. I wanted to raise a sippy cup in solidarity with all mothers struggling to retain a shred of their former identity. But then I'm pretty much told that the only way to truly reclaim my passions, the only way to be really happy and sane and not be screeching at everyone is to not be home with my kids. There's even a few lines thrown in the dialogue about how working makes mommies happy....mommies who work are nicer and don't yell and blah blah blah. Yea. I hate working. Bite me.

I'd like to see a movie showing a mom reclaiming her passion while staying home with her children. I'd like to see a mom nurturing herself and her identity while she also nurtures her family. Don't insinuate that the only way to find this blissful Nirvana is in the working world, because I'll call that bluff.

Staying home is hard.

Going to work is hard.

Being a mom is hard.

Remembering that I'm a woman; a fun, feisty, intelligent, sarcastic, witty woman who just happens to be a mom? That's the hardest of them all.

What's Going On Around Here 06/09/10

Over at Deep South Moms:
1.  Contributing to Delinquency or Contributing to Death?
Who's responsible when a house party goes deadly wrong?
2.  Who's Afraid of a Big Bad Label?
Why are so many people against having young children evaluated? Isn't getting children the help they need more important than the label they might receive?

On the Graco Heart to Heart Blog:
1.  Mommy Dates
How do you find time to give each child your undivided attention?

Over at Like It A Latte:
1.  Check out our video review of the new Play-Doh Poppin' Movie Snacks playset.
2.  I've got a giveaway for Father's Day cards by Love & Luck (ends Thursday!)
3.  I haven't stopped working out! I just finished KettleWorx Advanced and it was awesome, ya'll.
4.  If your little ones like things on wheels they'll love Playskool Wheel Pals.
5.  I found a few more good reads! If you like scrapbooking you'll love the latest in the Scrapbook Mystery Series by Laura Childs, Tragic Magic.
6.  If you enjoyed the first Maternal Instinct Mystery by Diana Orgain be sure to pick up the second, Motherhood is Murder.
7.  It's bathing suit season and I discovered the best suit for little girls! It's a one piece with snaps! Check out my review of Snap Me Swimwear.
8.  Do you like Michael Bolton? I know, I know...I would have said the same thing. But I was asked to review his newest release One World, One Love and I was quite surprised. Check out a special preview on my post.

Updates on my Frigidaire Dishwasher:
1.  Check out all the cycles and wash options available!
2.  Read my final thoughts after using this dishwasher for the last three months.