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Mark (unofficial Mt. Diablo Climbing Guide) at the foot of Jam Crack, Yosemite.  The photo is of his back because he was terrorizing everyone with his dialysis access tubes in his chest.  I’m happy to report boy and new kidney are recovering happily — a huge relief for me because I didn’t want to see the tubes pulled out of his juggular during a climb…

Scott (the other unofficial Mt. Diablo Climbing Guide) doing his amazing acrobatics on a very hard, overhangy climb in The Pit at The Grotto (near Sonora).  Man, that guy never gives up!

Left to right:  Yvonne, her fiance Humberto and me at the foot of “The Bubble” on Mt. St. Helena, CA.  We took a wrong turn on the long hike up, but the view was amazing!

Hey Everybody!

The purpose of this blog is to be a place where we can chat about my favorite “non-mom”, “anti-stress” activity — CLIMBING!  Please feel free to comment, say hello, post photos, plan trips, or whatever.

I’ll start:

This picture here is still my favorite climbing photo (of me, anyway).  It was my first outdoor trip with Rob and his wife Rebecca.  They introduced me to climbing through a single’s activity the first time I visited my church.  (Thanks Rob and Rebecca — I’ll miss you guys!)

This one is on Amazing Face (5.9), Mt Diablo in the rain.  Those of you who climb there will be relieved to know that because it was the first rain of the season, it had just started so we didn’t break any holds on the sandstone!

If you haven’t climbed there and you live locally, I highly recommend that climb, along with the more difficult others next to it:  Bolt Route (5.10b — missing some holds), and Dire Blow (5.11b — hard beginning).  Amazing Face is the longer of the three (90 feet).  It is very easy to set up top ropes, thanks to the secret Bolt Elf.  Make sure you say hi to Mark and Scott, the designated volunteer Boy Scout Rocks guides (unofficially, of course)

If you’ve never climbed, it’s fun to just go there and watch.  The place is peaceful and the climbers are a down to earth, diverse and friendly bunch (with a few grumpy exceptions).  Just park across the street from Rock City.  Walk down the trail next to the sign with the map.  Go to the right, through the big boulders with the “No Dogs” sign and keep going until you see a little trail on your right going up a hill and leading to a big rock wall with some little caves in it.

Be safe and have fun!

Susan

Come on in to Susan’s Home Schooling Blog!  My intent is to offer support and provide a sounding board for those who’ve chosen to nurture their children at home (read “nurture”, not “control” or “indoctrinate”).  Heck, I’d even invite those who think we’re a little crazy to comment and ask questions.

For the sake of discussion, I’ll introduce myself, then I want to hear what you think!  Go ahead and click the “comment” button and speak up!

Having raised 6 children (5 boys, 1 girl) since the birth of my first son in 1988, and having been a single mom since 2001, I’ve run the gamut as far experience in this area… and I like to think I’ve grown as much as my children have!  I have two sons in college so far.  Both are maintaining a 4.0. I can’t believe it myself, to be honest… They are amazing, intelligent people – all of them!

Why do I do this?  First of all, I have nothing against the “school system” (I help teach an after school program these days).  For me, it was a natural decision based on the temperaments of the individual members of my family.  This is never a choice to be taken lightly. It really isn’t for everyone, but it is important to point out that whether you choose to home school, or to send your kids to any other form of school, you are making a decision. Not making any choice really is making a decision to give that power over to another human being — as in all aspects of life, especially parenting! I think we can all agree that we are thankful to live in a country where that choice is possible.

What’s my philosophy in education?  There are as many ways to do this as there are parents and children. Variety is a good thing.  You will, undoubtedly hear some strong opinions on parenting in general (because for anyone to do anything against the general flow of society, one must be compelled to do so with some strong convictions) but you will not hear right vs. wrong in terms of curriculum type or brand — at least not from me, though I might recommend something that’s worked for this or that particular child in a specific situation.

My main conviction, after all of this time is that children deserve respect, unconditional love, and the right to make their own choices as far as their own education (believe me, it makes things much easier for the ”parent/teacher”) and I’ll state that in as many ways as I can, even though I know I’ve fallen short many times.

So there you have it! Let’s see where this takes us…

With Love,

Susan