The High School Years - 10th Grade for them, an awakening for me

10th Grade was our first year out of the charter. After stretching the limits of the charter in my daughters' 9th grade year, we decided to go with a private ISP (independent study program). We looked at several ISPs and also considered filing our own affidavit, but ultimately went with EIE Academy in Monrovia, CA. I had known the Fortes for years via homeschool conferences and had spoken on a homeschooling panel with Martin. Their ISP seemed the right option for us.

In the fall of my daughters' 10th grade year, I taught an economics class to them and a couple of their friends. We used "What Ever Happened To Penny Candy". I highly recommend this book to anyone, adult or teen, to assist in understanding what 'economics' is. It was a great class, but what I didn't realize is that it was also the last homeschool class that I was to teach. My plan was to teach government in the spring, but with my daughters doing so well in college, when they decided to take a political science class in the spring, I opted not to teach government. As things worked out, my daughters decided to drop the political science class, but by that time, I had decided not to teach, so I didn't try to start it up again. I was sad to think that the economics class was the last class that I would ever teach to my homeschooled daughters... and I didn't know it, so I didn't know to 'savor' the moment. I'm sure that sounds funny... to savor a teaching moment in such a way, but when it was all over in hindsight, I just wish that I would have known. It's silly. I wouldn't have done anything different. I'm just being nostalgic.

As my daughters success in community college continued, I realized that I was done homeschooling. I was so pleased and proud of their abilities at the college level and with this realization, was my own awakening to the thought of 'what's next for me'. At this point, we are in the spring, or 2nd semester, of their 10th grade year. With the girls in college, I found myself wandering around my house with more alone time than I had known in years. It was a restless and thought provoking time. Although, I was still in 'shuttle' mode. ie: I still needed to get them to their classes and social activities. But, with their 16th birthday looming near, it was obvious that not only were my homeschooling days over, but soon, so was my responsibility of being chauffeur. With that thought in mind, I decided to look for work outside the home.

~Debbie in So. Cal.