This hasn’t been the easiest summer my family has ever faced. I’ll spare you the details, but things are about to settle down and return to some sense of normalcy. I’m thankful for that. For the first quarter of this school year, we–and by we, I really me I, because my wife has been finishing up her job in another city–have been engaged in one of the most difficult tasks I’ve ever faced: homeschooling. Officially, our kids are students at the South Carolina Virtual Charter School. We use their curriculum, which is provided by K12.com.

I have been told by homeschooling parents, “Oh, it’s a public charter school. You’re just doing it at home? Well, you’re not really ‘homeschooling.’” We’ve been doing school. We’ve been doing school at home. We’ve been homeschooling. We may not have used the Bob Jones or Abeka curricula many homeschool families use, but we’ve been homeschooling. And it’s been the most difficult job I’ve ever had. Harder than I ever expected it to be.

But now that we’re just a few days from enrolling the children in a brick and mortar school, I have some reflections on the virtual school process.

Excellent Curriculum

As an educator, I have been thoroughly impressed with the curriculum K12.com has provided for us. In fact, it’s superior to any curriculum our kids have ever used in any brick and mortar school they’ve attended. It’s challenging and well-rounded.

Excellent Teacher Support

You might think that, since we’re not in front of certified teachers everyday, there’s little accountability. Not so. Teacher support has been excellent. And in the online classes I’ve watched with my children, the teachers are highly qualified. Now, that’s actually an official term–”highly qualified.” All teachers with the SCVCS are “highly qualified,” meaning they’ve passed additional certification parameters above and beyond regular certification. But, from what I’ve seen, it’s true.

It’s Not All Online

Contrary to my earlier understanding, lessons for SCVCS involve a computer only about 25% of the time. The rest of the time is one-on-one learning with the parent/learning coach. So you’re not sticking your kid in front of a computer and coming back at the end of the day. Adding more students into the mix–we have three–adds to the “spinning plate” phenomena. It’s difficult, but doable.

Give It Due Consideration

I believe educational choices should be child-based. If a student is best served by homeschooling, homeschool that child. If a student is best served in a more traditional setting, then public or private school it is. The parent has to be the judge of that. And it could be that one sibling is homeschooled and another attends a brick and mortar school.

If you decide that homeschooling is something you want to look into, give the South Carolina Virtual Charter School a look. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Don’t be under the mistaken idea that it’ll be a cakewalk because it won’t be. But, I think the rewards will speak for themselves.

P.S.

Q: If SCVCS is so good, why are we sending our children back to brick and mortar schools? A: We both will be working full-time jobs soon.

I’ve been using Google+ from pretty early on the experiment. In fact, it has curtailed my use of Twitter. Not much, but certainly some.

One of the great things that has happened with Google+ is that photographers are using the app in droves to share their photography. People like Scott Kelby and Neil van Niekerk and Moose Peterson share their art and insight regularly. As a novice amateur not-very-good photographer, I love the interaction with these big time photogs. Of course, there are people who aren’t big names in photography posting their work, too.

Here are a few photographers I have circled on Google+:

• Scott Kelby is Scott Kelby. Not much more to say.
• Terry White is a tech writer, Apple enthusiast, and professional photographer.
• Moose Peterson is a wildlife and aviation photographer.
• Neil van Niekerk is a wedding photographer who teaches a lot about available light/single light photography.
• Jack Story is a police photographer from the UK. Fascinating shots that often look like they’re staged. They’re not.
• Thomas Hawk is probably the most prolific photographer on Google+, posting several images a day, all with unique perspectives.

If you’re on Google+, consider circling these names.

I debated for a long time whether or not I should post something about September 11, 2001. After all, like everyone else alive at the time, I remember specifically and vividly–and I can recall down to the minute–the events of that day. I smell the building. I see the people. I hear the sounds. In the end, I decided that my post wouldn’t add much to what everyone else was saying. It would simply be more of the same.

This morning, I came across this video courtesy of a Facebook friend. On Saturday, the Georgia Bulldogs hosted the South Carolina Gamecocks. At halftime, the bands joined to pay tribute to 9/11. The video speaks for itself. I’ll share an observation after the video.

Here’s my observation. Do you see the stands? They’re not empty. By and large, the fans weren’t in line for the restroom or concessions. They stayed to pay tribute, as well.

Aaaand South Carolina goes viral. Again.

So, it looks like Texas A&M is going to join the Southeastern Conference. I’m not really sure why this makes me so angry, but it does. There are certainly better things I could be–and am–concerned over. But this one just grates under my skin a little. No, a lot.

I have just one question: WHY?

Here’s the answer: MONEY!

It’s not about academics. It’s not about creating a “super conference,” especially when the SEC has won seven of the last eight national championships in football and the last three in baseball and several others in other sports in the last decade. The SEC is about as “super” as it gets when it comes to winning on the field.

Nope. This is about money. And it’s only about money. Specifically, it’s about making more of it. It’s disgusting and disgraceful. I say NO! to Texas A&M in the SEC.

But that’s nothing more than my opinion.

UPDATE: Now we’re talking about Boise State joining the SEC? Look. The only team that has a right to play on blue grass in the SEC is Kentucky. At least their blue grass is green.

Saturday night’s season opener for the South Carolina Gamecocks started off about as bad as any Gamecock fan could ever have imagined. I mean, did anyone really think there was a chance the Gamecocks would lose to East Carolina? Sure, we all said it could happen, but did we really think it would? No. And then there was the opening kick-off. And not too far beyond that, ECU was up 17-0 on the Gamecocks. Uh oh! The Gamecocks Twitter hashtag was running crazy with cries of, “Can we please have Garcia now?” and “You sure showed him, didn’t ya, Steve?”

Wait a minute! The last time I checked the rules of football, quarterbacks weren’t responsible for keeping the opposing team from scoring. “He fumbled once,” you say? Yes, he did. So did fan favorite Marcus Lattimore. Is anyone accusing him of nearly costing South Carolina the game? Crickets.

What about his passing stats? Shaw went 3 for 9 with only 21 yards of passing offense. Stephen Garcia, by contrast, went 7 for 15 with 110 yards of passing. He threw for one touchdown and ran for two more. But, let’s just say that the two receivers to whom Shaw threw deep passes, I don’t know, maybe actually caught the ball. The passes were, after all, in and out of the hands of both receivers. The passes may have been slightly–and I do mean ever so slightly–under-thrown, and I’m certain I saw defensive pass interference on the first one and probably the second one, but those were catchable balls. Any average high school receiver would have brought those things down. If the receiving staff had done its job, Shaw’s stats for one quarter would have been better–much better–than Garcia’s stats for three quarters: 5 for 9 and well over 100 yards passing. One of those passes would have been a touchdown, matching Garcia.

So, let’s put the blame for that first quarter squarely where it belongs: on the defense. That ECU was able to score 17 points so quickly is a disgrace for what should be one of the toughest defenses in the Southeastern Conference. And if that’s how they’re going to play, then I suggest Gamecock fans go ahead and drop their notions of another division championship and don’t even think about a dark horse national championship (talk of which I’m hearing way too much).

By the end of the game, the defense wasn’t much better; ECU should never have scored 37 points. But, the offense under Garcia’s leadership started firing. And I started getting greedy, hoping Carolina would beat the spread of 21 points (when I should have been satisfied merely with the win). And I started to see hints that maybe this season will be every bit as good as folks are hoping it’s going to be.

Should Connor Shaw be the starter for South Carolina? Probably not. Should Stephen Garcia even be a Gamecock? Absolutely not. But he is, and for now he should be the starter. But don’t blame South Carolina’s defensive ineptitude on Connor Shaw just because he’s an easy scapegoat.