The More Things Change
Annandale, Virginia | May 2015
The more they stay the same! Yup, lots of changes going on around here, but still sporadic in my posting. I have started probably close to a dozen posts but have yet to complete one. Good intentions and all that. I am hoping by getting this one up and out, that will free me up to pick one and run with it (was spending too much time contemplating...is this too serious a post after so much time away? Too light of one? Will I have time to keep up once I start? What do I want to write about anyways?)
So yes, changes are happening. Kyle had some big shifts this year. He applied for and got a position as an Animal Care Volunteer at the Hidden Oaks Nature Center. He spent 2 hours each week feeding and caring for the amphibians, reptiles (and a couple small mammals) which call the nature center home. He taught himself to play ukulele and is working his way through the online requirements for getting certified for SCUBA diving.
But the biggest change is that Jason has officially graduated. I started this blog back when he was 8. He is now 18. Yikes. What a wild ride it has been (and it is not over!) He had a fantastic "senior" year and successfully did what I feared would never happen when he was an 8 year old "who only wanted to play video games"—he has taken over responsibility for his education.
He was duel enrolled in 4 classes at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) this year (History of Western Civilization II, Introduction to Political Science, American Politics and Introduction to Philosophy), participated in a fantastic year long Teen Lit Club and worked independently on math and other areas. I mostly helped him with time management type things and driving him places, nothing content-wise which was quite a change (and wonderful to watch as he rose to the occasion).
It has been a bit of a whirlwind the last couple of months, especially with Jason's senior year activities. Yes, homeschoolers can and do go to prom and have a fantastic time and they can and do have graduation ceremonies (sometimes multiple).
What I find interesting is watching Jason...his experience of graduating seems to be a fairly gradual and fluid one...it is not one of "being in high school" one day and "being graduated" the next. He turned 18 in December and as I mentioned, he has pretty much taken over responsibility for his education. He plans to spend at least one year at NVCC and then hopes to transfer to a four year college (so we are just dipping out toes into the college admissions water). Either that, or he might do the "guaranteed admissions" path to a four year Virginia college. We'll see how things shake out. So his next year is going to be fairly similar to this year, except that he will be taking a full course load.
I do feel that taking the community college route has made his path to college seem less daunting. He will have his homeschool transcript (complied by me) which highlights the uniqueness of his homeschool education and his community college transcript to show that he has the ability to do college-level work. And he gains classroom experience which has been helping him transition gradually into a more formal academic environment.
Needless to say, I am back. Hopefully I will have time to continue posting. In the meantime, I will leave you with some photos from Jason's whirlwind last couple of months.
