I have long said I would never home school my kids because it would end badly…likely with me in jail for murder. Several factors brought me to that conclusion, not least of which was Oldest Son’s public school experience which was – in a word – exhausting. I freely admit to thanking my lucky stars all those years that I had go to work to...

Three years ago, I wrote about the value of a high school diploma. On this morning of Second Son's high school graduation, I'm proud to say he was one of the students who decided to flip the bird at me and cross over to the other side of the room.

Friday was the last day of school for my kids. Sweet Pea came over the Grandma’s Thursday evening with permission to stay the whole weekend, so she got to attend PDD’s awards assembly with me Friday morning. PDD received a total of 5 awards at the assembly: Honor Roll, Citizenship (her first time receiving this one!), Reading Achievement (for reading more...

Today is my last day of school – I’m out of days to sub. Yes, here in Oklahoma, we are limited as to the number of days we can substitute teach. But, I suppose it’s also because you can be a substitute teacher with only a high school diploma. I guess they call themselves limiting their liability that way. Whatever. I will be the first to admit that...

The first time I sub in a new class, I don’t care what subject, I tell them the following: “Here’s the real deal, folks. Getting a high school diploma today does not show the world you have received a basic education. It simply means you’ve proven you can put up with the BS of an outdated system for 4 years and get that required piece of...

That’s what this day has been like, so far. We’re in the last month of school, and the kids are interested in anything and everything but school. So substituting for an English teacher who’s in the middle of reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” was not fun. The not fun part was watching the kids blow this classic off. Of course, it...

Wednesday night, after all the dog and website drama here, Baby Sister came over to hang the curtains she’d made for my room and Second Son’s room, only to find we had the wrong length of rod for mine and Second Son’s she deemed too short (thanks to me trusting the contractor who told me that Second Son’s windows were the same height as the...

Today was my first day back in the classroom, and it was great. A far cry from the last day I spent in the classroom (Dec. 7th when the little buggers in the last class took my car keys and hid them from me so I had to spend 45 minutes looking for them before I could leave. Ugh!) Today, when I walked in, I was greeted with, “Hey! We missed you!” in every...

As I may have mentioned, I am a substitute teacher for our local public school system. This is my third year, and I really do love it. Why? 1. Back when I still believed life turns out the way you plan if you take the time to plan, I wanted to be a teacher. 2. No daycare issues. 3. I am not one of those glorified babysitter subs…I prefer to actually teach! 4....