Come in here for a class of 2010 reunion! :) (Moms and students welcome!)

[Halftime Hope]

Several have posted that their kids are home from their freshman year, but I'm wondering how *everyone* from the Class of 2010 is doing, moms and students alike!

 

Several questions:

 

1) How was the year for your student? What did they enjoy, lament, find different than they had expected? Funny or awesome things they experiences or learned?

 

2) How was the experience for you as a mom? Any surprises, brags, lessons learned?

 

3) How has having them out of your homeschool changed your life or your perspective?

 

4) If they are more of a "young adult" now, how is the change in their relationship to you (if any) working itself out?

 

5) By all mean brag if you'd like--we'll rejoice with you!

 

 

I'm interested in any and all of these changes, as dd is my first to leave, although I have one who is older.

[Halftime Hope]

I'll go first.

 

 

1) How was the year for your student? What did they enjoy, lament, find different than they had expected? Funny or awesome things they experiences or learned?

 

Dd had a great year and is loving being a college woman, primarily because she has built herself a great little "posse" of friends that hang together. When she is home this summer, she will miss them terribly. She appreciates my cooking a whole lot more! Her classes have been challenging but "doable." She writes constantly, so I'm glad she was well-prepared for that.

 

2) How was the experience for you as a mom? Any surprises, brags, lessons learned?

 

I learned that college professors don't grade writing as intensively as I do, at least not the professors she has had so far, and that includes profs for 3 honors liberal arts classes and one freshman English class. :glare:

I missed her *more* before she left than after I had her happily settled on campus. Go figure!

 

3) How has having them out of your homeschool changed your life or your perspective?

 

Not sure if it has, with the exception of feeling that I am more confident in my ability to do this well. I prepared one for engineering, but liberal arts was a whole 'nother story. I wasn't sure if we had served her well.

 

4) If they are more of a "young adult" now, how is the change in their relationship to you (if any) working itself out?

 

We're feeling this out, and there will be more this summer, no doubt. She and "the posse" came here for Easter weekend, and she was concerned about the hours they'd keep. She nearly dropped her teeth when I told her that we'd still like her to text (check in) when leaving the late night concert, but they could set their own hours, as long as they were quiet and respectful of her brother's need for sleep.

She picked where she'd like to work for the summer, not our choice b/c it is low pay and very long, physically hard hours, but it will be a good life lesson.

 

5) By all mean brag if you'd like--we'll rejoice with you!

 

She didn't get the RA job, but she worked 15 hours/week and still managed 31 credit hours of straight A's. Woo, hoo--a big relief since her merit scholarship rides on an ongoing GPA requirement.

 

[Alyce]

1) How was the year for your student? What did they enjoy, lament, find different than they had expected? Funny or awesome things they experiences or learned?

 

My son loved it. He particularly loved his critical thinking and argumentative research courses. It was funny to come home and here him complain about how lazy his class mates were because he had been the same way the last two years of school. I had to push him hard to get his school work done. He also complained about how "stupid" they were. This made me feel better because I knew my son was handling himself well. I think he had a better perspective on just what we had done for him when we homeschooled and although he had been told that homeschoolers did well in college, he never really believed it. He was always talking about how disrespectful and lazy the other kids were to their professors and how they never did any of the course work.

 

 

 

2) How was the experience for you as a mom? Any surprises, brags, lessons learned?

 

It was good for me because I still had him around. It was interesting the way our relationship changed. He'd come home and actually talk to me about his classes and not get angry when I was asking him questions.

 

 

 

 

 

3) How has having them out of your homeschool changed your life or your perspective?

 

 

It made me look back more and see where I could have done better but it also made me feel good that I had actually prepared him for life as a young adult. You know we all have those "am I really doing the right thing?" kind of moments. This made me feel great because I finally didn't have to ask myself those questions anymore and indeed I had.

 

 

 

 

4) If they are more of a "young adult" now, how is the change in their relationship to you (if any) working itself out?

 

 

Mine has matured a lot over the last year and is no longer as "huffy" as he used to be. We interact more as adults. I think he also feels more like an adult. Shortly after he started CC I commented on how well he was doing in school. He said he knew he would and that he didn't mean to offend me but he did so bad at home the last two years because he was just tired of being around me and being at home 24/7. He said it felt good to have others teaching him. This from the mouth of a boy that when asked, at the start of each school year, if he wanted to go to a different school, answered no.

 

 

 

5) By all mean brag if you'd like--we'll rejoice with you!

 

 

I am so grateful that we decided to hold him back from college for one year and have him attend CC. He matured so much during that time and was able to figure out more of what he wanted. When he started CC I just knew he was going to fail because I had to pull teeth to get him to write a paper and even then they were not very well done. I couldn't believe the first paper he wrote got an A and then I read it. Wow! never thought he could right that well. He 4 courses each semester and only got one B. This fall he will be going to a 4 year college as a transfer student and he is actually excited himself. last year he wasn't sure what he wanted to do or if he could actually do well at school. Now he's eager to get there.

[Cedarmom]

Several have posted that their kids are home from their freshman year, but I'm wondering how *everyone* from the Class of 2010 is doing, moms and students alike!

 

Several questions:

 

1) How was the year for your student? What did they enjoy, lament, find different than they had expected? Funny or awesome things they experiences or learned?

He loves college! Differant-he said the english prof's were easier graders than mom.

 

2) How was the experience for you as a mom? Any surprises, brags, lessons learned?He is studying computers(no surpirse there) But what surprised me was that even though we never formally studied computer programming he was well prepared for it. He said doing Latin, Logic , sentence daigramming helped him know how to think through solving the problems. Go WTM!

 

3) How has having them out of your homeschool changed your life or your perspective? I am now done homeschooling. I miss it. I'm glad I did it.

 

4) If they are more of a "young adult" now, how is the change in their relationship to you (if any) working itself out?He is still at home, so we've had to work on him acting like an adult and me treating him like one. It's a work in progress, but I think we're both getting there

 

5) By all mean brag if you'd like--we'll rejoice with you!

It's been a great year. I am so proud of the young man he has become.

 

I'm interested in any and all of these changes, as dd is my first to leave, although I have one who is older.

 

1) How was the year for your student? What did they enjoy, lament, find different than they had expected? Funny or awesome things they experiences or learned?

He loves college! Differant-he said the english prof's were easier graders than mom.

 

2) How was the experience for you as a mom? Any surprises, brags, lessons learned?He is studying computers(no surpirse there) But what surprised me was that even though we never formally studied computer programming he was well prepared for it. He said doing Latin, Logic , sentence daigramming helped him know how to think through solving the problems. Go WTM!

 

3) How has having them out of your homeschool changed your life or your perspective? I am now done homeschooling. I miss it. I'm glad I did it.

 

4) If they are more of a "young adult" now, how is the change in their relationship to you (if any) working itself out?He is still at home, so we've had to work on him acting like an adult and me treating him like one. It's a work in progress, but I think we're both getting there

 

5) By all mean brag if you'd like--we'll rejoice with you!

It's been a great year. I am so proud of the young man he has become.

 

I'm interested in any and all of these changes, as dd is my first to leave, although I have one who is older.

[djkapp]

Several have posted that their kids are home from their freshman year, but I'm wondering how *everyone* from the Class of 2010 is doing, moms and students alike!

 

Several questions:

 

1) How was the year for your student? What did they enjoy, lament, find different than they had expected? Funny or awesome things they experiences or learned?

 

DD had a wonderful year! While still keeping up her pre-med pre-reqs, she has discovered the classics. Latin and philosophy were her favorites classes, and next year she plans to add Greek. There were plenty of frustrations -- primarily with professors who threw in last minutes assignments and failed to get papers, tests, and other materials back in a timely fashion -- but they were a lesson in patience. She was blessed with a tremendous group of friends, a wonderful dorm situation, a part-time job (which she had not counted on) working for a professor, a great church -- on one visit home, she told me that she was happier than she had ever been. Can't ask for much more than that!

 

2) How was the experience for you as a mom? Any surprises, brags, lessons learned?

 

Having our first one leave home was easier than I expected. The biggest surprise was that dd didn't feel the need to check in all that often. We talked at least once a week but certainly not every day. Her biggest lesson learned was how expensive it is to fill up a car when you are solely responsible instead of sharing with a sibling.

 

3) How has having them out of your homeschool changed your life or your perspective?

 

With four still at home, our life didn't change much; however, I did realize how thankful I am to have had the opportunity to homeschool!

 

4) If they are more of a "young adult" now, how is the change in their relationship to you (if any) working itself out?

 

Our young adult is home for the first half of the summer -- so far it is going fine. She does express her thoughts and opinions far more readily and persuasively -- that's a good thing! We also find ourselves asking for her input with family dynamics and realizing that she has some great insights.

 

5) By all mean brag if you'd like--we'll rejoice with you!

 

My brag -- 4.0 both semesters and in honors college!

 

 

From our point of view, the year couldn't have gone better -- we are so thankful! DD#2 will be attending the same university next year although with a very different course of study. We trust her experience will be as good.

[Jane in NC]

Although my son wrapped up his first year of college two and a half weeks ago, I had hesitated to post in this thread because I have yet to see My Fine Young Man who is off on other adventures. Fortune smiles on the lad who has a paid summer internship at an historic museum.

 

 

1) How was the year for your student? What did they enjoy, lament, find different than they had expected? Funny or awesome things they experiences or learned?

 

Great! He went to college to study archeology and he has declared this to be his major.

 

2) How was the experience for you as a mom? Any surprises, brags, lessons learned?

 

The surprise came yesterday during a Skype conversation in which he told me that he has two books for me to read. The first is his Logic textbook, because he knew I would be interested in content. The second is a book from his Archaeological Methods course. He told me that he wants me to read it so that I "will understand what he is doing".

 

The tables are turning. He will now educate me. How's that for a successful homeschool?

 

 

3) How has having them out of your homeschool changed your life or your perspective?

 

Things are quiet in this empty nest. Another story completely.

 

4) If they are more of a "young adult" now, how is the change in their relationship to you (if any) working itself out?

 

I really have to hold off on the other questions since I have yet to share some space with my dear one. Skype and emails reveal only so much.

 

 

5) By all mean brag if you'd like--we'll rejoice with you!

 

I continue to toot the horn for TWTM!

 

In the two and a half weeks since wrapping up exams, my son has burned through a stack of books. One was from Archaeological Methods, a book that he said he needed to reread to solidify his understanding. This after receiving an A in the course. I'm glad that he does not close a book and claim to have mastered it.

 

Another author in the stack was someone that I assigned back in 9th grade, Josephus. He read War of the Jews before realizing that he wants to be a classical archaeologist. He is revisiting this work with new eyes.

 

I suspect that there will be more to add to this post later in the summer. Where did this past year go?

 

Jane

[Beth in OH]

 

1) How was the year for your student? What did they enjoy, lament, find different than they had expected? Funny or awesome things they experiences or learned?

 

Dd #2 goes to school at DePaul (Lincoln Park, Chicago) as a violin/performing arts management major. Her biggest life lesson? She's up to the challenge of conquering the city and life!

 

2) How was the experience for you as a mom? Any surprises, brags, lessons learned?

 

I knew this dd was ready to move on and would handle it well, so it wasn't a surprise that she did. What has been a pleasure, though, is watching her discover her abilities and own them. Her confidence has soared!

 

3) How has having them out of your homeschool changed your life or your perspective?

 

I became an empty nester suddenly this year when 15 yo dd also left to go to a boarding arts academy. Homeschooling abruptly ended! My life changes have been focused on me after so many years of focusing on my dd's. I've begun to figure out what is next......The job market in my field is not strong, and truth be told, they don't want to hire someone who has been out of the field for as long as I have (despite some strong resume building volunteerism/public service during the break from paid employment). I'm looking at how I can use my lifetime of developing youth :) in a positive way for kids who may not have the same opportunities my kids had.

 

This past year, I volunteered two afternoons a week as an assistant teacher in a free afterschool program for low/moderate income kids. This summer, I have a full-time paid gig as a lead teacher in the same program. I'll be teaching 2nd graders! I've been having a great time figuring out the best stuff from my homeschooling days and incorporating it into my planning!

 

4) If they are more of a "young adult" now, how is the change in their relationship to you (if any) working itself out?

 

I love it! All of my dd's are becoming wonderful young adults, and am truly enjoying being their peer. They teach me so much! I miss their wonderful humor when they're not here, but I've also gotten to be a part of their lives through Facebook, which is great fun.

 

5) By all mean brag if you'd like--we'll rejoice with you!

 

Two brags: First, dd at DePaul got a wonderful internship in her field and will be staying in Chicago this summer. (I'm envious of Jane's son, though, as dd is working for free :glare:.) Dd was one of 300 applicants from all over the country and received one of 10 spots. She's 18 and just finished her freshman year--the other interns are all upperclassmen and recent graduates. The company president recently told her that she and two others are the three people they had predicted would become the "core" of the internship program.

 

The second brag relates to homeschooling. Both #2 and #3 dd's this year have said that they are so thankful they were able to homeschool because it allowed them to become the persons they wanted to be--comfortable in their own skin. Both of these dds have spent high school time in schools--jr./sr. year for dd #2 and all of high school for dd #3. Nonetheless, their hs foundation served them well in getting through those years and giving them perspective and independence. I truly believe that dd#2 won her internship because of the confident person she has become and because she spent many years while hs'ing listening to the very bands her management co. now represents. She was allowed to follow a passion. Yay, SWB, and all of you for supporting us through this process!

 

 

.

[Halftime Hope]

I continue to delight in hearing what each student is doing and how some of the mamas are moving on as well. Some of us are simply reinventing school for another, uniquely different student--that's good, too.

 

Blessings on each and every one this summer!

[flyingiguana]

 

 

The surprise came yesterday during a Skype conversation in which he told me that he has two books for me to read. The first is his Logic textbook, because he knew I would be interested in content. The second is a book from his Archaeological Methods course. He told me that he wants me to read it so that I "will understand what he is doing".

 

 

Hey! Aren't you going to tell us what books they are so we can join in?

[Jane in NC]

Hey! Aren't you going to tell us what books they are so we can join in?

 

He has the books and I will not see him until July. :sad:

 

It will be fascinating to see his Logic text which I suspect may be of interest to some of our high school parents. You just have to wait with me until next month!

[mcconnellboys]

1) How was the year for your student? What did they enjoy, lament, find different than they had expected? Funny or awesome things they experiences or learned?

 

My son had a good first year and I am so, SO thankful! I believe that he made the best choice for himself from among the schools where he was accepted. He is close enough to come home whenever he feels the need; he's not minding the small town atmosphere too much where he's located; he has adjusted well to the routine of life on campus.

 

What did he enjoy? I think he enjoys being part of a community of people his own age who behave in somewhat more adult ways than those in high school did, while still having fun. He is very social, although he is not a leader or one who would stand out in a crowd. He wants to be immersed in the midst of other people all the time and he's getting that there.

 

What did he lament? There is only one cafeteria on campus; but there is also a grill off of it that is open more hours. He mostly ate at the grill because he came very quickly to detest the cafeteria food. There really aren't many other restaurants around in the town within walking distance, which makes it difficult for him to access decent food when he's hungry and doesn't want to drive off campus. I was hoping that he'd live in an apartment this upcoming year so that he'd have a kitchen, but that's not happening so we have another year of food conundrums to look forward to....

 

Find different than he expected? I'm not sure there was really anything we hadn't already talked about. No big shocks. I had tried to bring up lots of topics to think about because he has some processing glitches that make settling into new circumstances difficult for him. While he knew that he was going to be living in a small town, I think the full realization of what that meant was a little surprising to him. Trips to the local Wal-mart always bring comments....

 

Funny or awesome things he experienced or learned? Welllllll, he's a trickster, so he's always involved in fun and games. I've heard so much about them streaking 'round a statue on campus that I'm not sure how much is real vs. fantasy. They carried a friend's bed down from about the third floor and put it in the lobby one day. He pledged a fraternity and during that pledging period there were high jinks going on almost daily.

 

He seems to be finding his classes awesome and I am thankful for that. He likes his professors and he feels that the small classes are really helping him to be able to express himself better verbally (since they must talk/discuss in class all the time).

 

2) How was the experience for you as a mom? Any surprises, brags, lessons learned?

 

It has been fine. I thought I really wanted him to go to (what I thought was) a better school, further away, but I found I'm glad for him that he's closer to home (still at a good school). He came down with a very, very bad case of flu during January term and actually came home and was in bed for about a week while we plied him with every remedy to get him back on his feet again. If he'd been further away, I'm not sure how things would have gone for him. He also fought an ear infection almost all year (he's a swimmer), because he did not treat it timely and appropriately when it first appeared. So I think perhaps it's good to be closer to home when out learning life lessons.

 

I have been very pleased that he likes his classes and is doing well (for him) in them. He's never going to be a top of the class, straight A sort of student and I just have to get used to that. With his processing problems and his problems with tests, I'm just thankful that his GPA is above 3.0 and he's retaining his scholarship. He's interested, engaged, and he's thinking about career opportunities and regularly talking to us about his options. I'm very glad to see that.

 

3) How has having them out of your homeschool changed your life or your perspective?

 

Well, he finished up his last three years of school at a private school here, so he was not homeschooling with me at the end. Having him out of the house has, of course, freed up more time in my life to concentrate on my younger son and his activities/needs. (Just in time, too, as he's hitting puberty and has been having some major anxiety problems this year.) I am beginning to look to my own future and what I'm going to be doing with my life after children....

 

4) If they are more of a "young adult" now, how is the change in their relationship to you (if any) working itself out?

 

He is more adult in many ways. He is somewhat more respectful and less disdainful, in general. He seems more thankful for the things we provide to him, not just stuff, but our time and consideration, as well. He has had a house key since before he began driving. He comes and goes pretty much at will. If he stayed out late or disappeared for long periods of time, we might not be so trusting, but he's never away long and we generally know where he's at and what he's doing. He doesn't go out doing wild and crazy things; his is a pretty tame lifestyle, so we don't worry. His friends are nice kids, too. They are around us on a regular basis and we talk to all of them, go out to eat with them, etc.

 

When he was moving back in for the summer, he initially said that he wanted to put his fridge and microwave in his room. No way! He still eats and drinks up there, but I certainly don't want him cooking up there! (We have carpet upstairs.) I know that he had gotten used to his dorm room and was just trying to recreate that same little micro-environment he'd lived in all year. He also fretted about the drawers and closet not being the same on the day he arrived home. He couldn't seem to figure out how things would fit, so I helped him put his things away. This is just part and parcel of his processing problems. He is now settled in and quite happy (we just got them both new furniture for their rooms). In fact, he was telling his Dad just last night that he'd really like to just live with us forever, LOL (and that would be okay with us, too)....

 

5) By all mean brag if you'd like--we'll rejoice with you!

 

Well, I don't know that I have anything to brag about. I'm just happy that my son is happy, healthy, and home. He has a supervisory role in his lifeguarding this summer, so I hope that will teach him more skills for the workplace. He didn't get to schedule all that many hours for June, but as we suspected, he's being called in a lot over and above his schedule, so he is getting in a decent number of hours. He's talking about starting to look for internships next fall to line up something more related to what he might like to do for a career for the following summer, so that's a good thing. He is going to swim next year, and seems to enjoy the routine and social group that gives him, even though he's not a superstar swimmer by any means. But that means he is going to swim long course this summer, which should be starting this week. He is living in his frat house next year and I hope that is going to work out okay. I think he has a good roommate who is much like him. As I've mentioned, the school is small and so is the town, so they're not all that wild as some fraternities are on some campuses, which is why I haven't minded him joining. He is so social and this is just another social outlet for him. He looks up to the older students and takes his cues on career planning, grad school, etc. from them, so that hasn't been a bad thing, either.

 

I think the thing that has helped us most is that I started taking him for college visits early, to a variety of different size/type schools, so that he would have time to process the differences. And I talked, talked, talked to him about all the topics I could think of that might come up in his daily life on a college campus. Because he also processes better from reading than from listening to oral conversation, I found a book called The Naked Roommate and bought that for him. Reading through bits of that helped him to bring up other topics with me - although early on, LOL, he told me at one point that he just had to put it in a drawer because he was so freaked out by all the things in it. When I asked what he'd read that upset him, he told me "The Index". LOL! It is a topical index which provides short phrases about the contents of each chapter. Even that was too much information for him! I've noticed he's had it out again since he got home; I guess he's cross-referencing from his first year to see what he thinks....

[mcconnellboys]

Wow, I'm so impressed to hear about kids working and supporting themselves, handling their scheduling, etc. and still going to school full time. It sounds like she has a very sound head on her shoulders!

[Moira in MA]

Okay, since this has been revived, I'll try again to post.

 

1) How was the year for your student? What did they enjoy, lament, find different than they had expected? Funny or awesome things they experiences or learned?

 

Overall, it was really a good experience. She had room mate issues that were never resolved but she'll be off campus next year with friends who've had lots of discussions about life style and expectations. There were 8 of them looking for apartments so they had a psychologist friend design a questionnaire for them. She suggested living arrangements based on their answers. They ended up as a group of 3, nicknamed 'communists' because they wanted to do things together, and a group of 5 which includes my dd -- 'the independent ladies'.

 

She's learned a lot about how to get what she wants in a bureaucracy -- 'nuff said. :D

 

2) How was the experience for you as a mom? Any surprises, brags, lessons learned?

 

Well her sister says dd1 never left but just moved into our computer. We had some other changes here at the same time so it's hard to say how much of the change is due to dd's departure. The net seems to be good so far. I think the real change will come when dd2 leaves in fall 2012.

 

3) How has having them out of your homeschool changed your life or your perspective?

 

I'm finding that time sometimes hangs heavily. I have to be here for dd2 in case I'm needed but she is very independent in her studies this year. Next year I should be more involved as I'll be handling her history and English courses whereas this year I only covered her math -- my main achievement all year has been figuring out the TI89 so that she doesn't have to deal with the frustration. That is one opaque calculator!

 

4) If they are more of a "young adult" now, how is the change in their relationship to you (if any) working itself out?

 

She has definitely become a stylish young lady. Students in Montreal are very stylish; it must be the French influence. She's become my style consultant.

 

5) By all mean brag if you'd like--we'll rejoice with you!

 

She seems to have found her place. She was nominated as "best first year student in an arts undergraduate society." She didn't win but was really flattered to have been nominated. She added to her stage death experiences -- this time as Kassandra in Agamemnon.

 

~Moira

[Halftime Hope]

1) How was the year for your student? What did they enjoy, lament, find different than they had expected? Funny or awesome things they experiences or learned?

 

My son had a good first year and I am so, SO thankful! I believe that he made the best choice for himself from among the schools where he was accepted. He is close enough to come home whenever he feels the need; he's not minding the small town atmosphere too much where he's located; he has adjusted well to the routine of life on campus.

 

What did he enjoy? I think he enjoys being part of a community of people his own age who behave in somewhat more adult ways than those in high school did, while still having fun. He is very social, although he is not a leader or one who would stand out in a crowd. He wants to be immersed in the midst of other people all the time and he's getting that there.

 

What did he lament? There is only one cafeteria on campus; but there is also a grill off of it that is open more hours. He mostly ate at the grill because he came very quickly to detest the cafeteria food. There really aren't many other restaurants around in the town within walking distance, which makes it difficult for him to access decent food when he's hungry and doesn't want to drive off campus. I was hoping that he'd live in an apartment this upcoming year so that he'd have a kitchen, but that's not happening so we have another year of food conundrums to look forward to....

 

Find different than he expected? I'm not sure there was really anything we hadn't already talked about. No big shocks. I had tried to bring up lots of topics to think about because he has some processing glitches that make settling into new circumstances difficult for him. While he knew that he was going to be living in a small town, I think the full realization of what that meant was a little surprising to him. Trips to the local Wal-mart always bring comments....

 

Funny or awesome things he experienced or learned? Welllllll, he's a trickster, so he's always involved in fun and games. I've heard so much about them streaking 'round a statue on campus that I'm not sure how much is real vs. fantasy. They carried a friend's bed down from about the third floor and put it in the lobby one day. He pledged a fraternity and during that pledging period there were high jinks going on almost daily.

 

He seems to be finding his classes awesome and I am thankful for that. He likes his professors and he feels that the small classes are really helping him to be able to express himself better verbally (since they must talk/discuss in class all the time).

 

2) How was the experience for you as a mom? Any surprises, brags, lessons learned?

 

It has been fine. I thought I really wanted him to go to (what I thought was) a better school, further away, but I found I'm glad for him that he's closer to home (still at a good school). He came down with a very, very bad case of flu during January term and actually came home and was in bed for about a week while we plied him with every remedy to get him back on his feet again. If he'd been further away, I'm not sure how things would have gone for him. He also fought an ear infection almost all year (he's a swimmer), because he did not treat it timely and appropriately when it first appeared. So I think perhaps it's good to be closer to home when out learning life lessons.

 

I have been very pleased that he likes his classes and is doing well (for him) in them. He's never going to be a top of the class, straight A sort of student and I just have to get used to that. With his processing problems and his problems with tests, I'm just thankful that his GPA is above 3.0 and he's retaining his scholarship. He's interested, engaged, and he's thinking about career opportunities and regularly talking to us about his options. I'm very glad to see that.

 

3) How has having them out of your homeschool changed your life or your perspective?

 

Well, he finished up his last three years of school at a private school here, so he was not homeschooling with me at the end. Having him out of the house has, of course, freed up more time in my life to concentrate on my younger son and his activities/needs. (Just in time, too, as he's hitting puberty and has been having some major anxiety problems this year.) I am beginning to look to my own future and what I'm going to be doing with my life after children....

 

4) If they are more of a "young adult" now, how is the change in their relationship to you (if any) working itself out?

 

He is more adult in many ways. He is somewhat more respectful and less disdainful, in general. He seems more thankful for the things we provide to him, not just stuff, but our time and consideration, as well. He has had a house key since before he began driving. He comes and goes pretty much at will. If he stayed out late or disappeared for long periods of time, we might not be so trusting, but he's never away long and we generally know where he's at and what he's doing. He doesn't go out doing wild and crazy things; his is a pretty tame lifestyle, so we don't worry. His friends are nice kids, too. They are around us on a regular basis and we talk to all of them, go out to eat with them, etc.

 

When he was moving back in for the summer, he initially said that he wanted to put his fridge and microwave in his room. No way! He still eats and drinks up there, but I certainly don't want him cooking up there! (We have carpet upstairs.) I know that he had gotten used to his dorm room and was just trying to recreate that same little micro-environment he'd lived in all year. He also fretted about the drawers and closet not being the same on the day he arrived home. He couldn't seem to figure out how things would fit, so I helped him put his things away. This is just part and parcel of his processing problems. He is now settled in and quite happy (we just got them both new furniture for their rooms). In fact, he was telling his Dad just last night that he'd really like to just live with us forever, LOL (and that would be okay with us, too)....

 

5) By all mean brag if you'd like--we'll rejoice with you!

 

Well, I don't know that I have anything to brag about. I'm just happy that my son is happy, healthy, and home. He has a supervisory role in his lifeguarding this summer, so I hope that will teach him more skills for the workplace. He didn't get to schedule all that many hours for June, but as we suspected, he's being called in a lot over and above his schedule, so he is getting in a decent number of hours. He's talking about starting to look for internships next fall to line up something more related to what he might like to do for a career for the following summer, so that's a good thing. He is going to swim next year, and seems to enjoy the routine and social group that gives him, even though he's not a superstar swimmer by any means. But that means he is going to swim long course this summer, which should be starting this week. He is living in his frat house next year and I hope that is going to work out okay. I think he has a good roommate who is much like him. As I've mentioned, the school is small and so is the town, so they're not all that wild as some fraternities are on some campuses, which is why I haven't minded him joining. He is so social and this is just another social outlet for him. He looks up to the older students and takes his cues on career planning, grad school, etc. from them, so that hasn't been a bad thing, either.

 

I think the thing that has helped us most is that I started taking him for college visits early, to a variety of different size/type schools, so that he would have time to process the differences. And I talked, talked, talked to him about all the topics I could think of that might come up in his daily life on a college campus. Because he also processes better from reading than from listening to oral conversation, I found a book called The Naked Roommate and bought that for him. Reading through bits of that helped him to bring up other topics with me - although early on, LOL, he told me at one point that he just had to put it in a drawer because he was so freaked out by all the things in it. When I asked what he'd read that upset him, he told me "The Index". LOL! It is a topical index which provides short phrases about the contents of each chapter. Even that was too much information for him! I've noticed he's had it out again since he got home; I guess he's cross-referencing from his first year to see what he thinks....

 

Oh, Regena! My "buttons are about to burst." It probably means very little to have a "stranger" say that they would like to have you for an IRL friend, but I sure would! You and your son are lucky to have one another. I'd love to have you be my mentor! :)

 

And I, too (the other post), have to start thinking about what I'm going to do in the next chapter. I expect it'll require some new education, so I've got to start moving, even while I'm finishing up my last student who is a rising junior.

 

Best wishes!

[Halftime Hope]

Okay, since this has been revived, I'll try again to post.

 

1) How was the year for your student? What did they enjoy, lament, find different than they had expected? Funny or awesome things they experiences or learned?

 

Overall, it was really a good experience. She had room mate issues that were never resolved but she'll be off campus next year with friends who've had lots of discussions about life style and expectations. There were 8 of them looking for apartments so they had a psychologist friend design a questionnaire for them. She suggested living arrangements based on their answers. They ended up as a group of 3, nicknamed 'communists' because they wanted to do things together, and a group of 5 which includes my dd -- 'the independent ladies'.

 

She's learned a lot about how to get what she wants in a bureaucracy -- 'nuff said. :D

 

2) How was the experience for you as a mom? Any surprises, brags, lessons learned?

 

Well her sister says dd1 never left but just moved into our computer. We had some other changes here at the same time so it's hard to say how much of the change is due to dd's departure. The net seems to be good so far. I think the real change will come when dd2 leaves in fall 2012.

 

3) How has having them out of your homeschool changed your life or your perspective?

 

I'm finding that time sometimes hangs heavily. I have to be here for dd2 in case I'm needed but she is very independent in her studies this year. Next year I should be more involved as I'll be handling her history and English courses whereas this year I only covered her math -- my main achievement all year has been figuring out the TI89 so that she doesn't have to deal with the frustration. That is one opaque calculator!

 

4) If they are more of a "young adult" now, how is the change in their relationship to you (if any) working itself out?

 

She has definitely become a stylish young lady. Students in Montreal are very stylish; it must be the French influence. She's become my style consultant.

 

5) By all mean brag if you'd like--we'll rejoice with you!

 

She seems to have found her place. She was nominated as "best first year student in an arts undergraduate society." She didn't win but was really flattered to have been nominated. She added to her stage death experiences -- this time as Kassandra in Agamemnon.

 

~Moira

 

 

Isn't it fun to see them tackling and resolving problems, concerns, even choices. They are becoming their best selves! :) We've done our jobs well, haven't we.