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Maura in NY

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Posts posted by Maura in NY

    Buying a gift for someone in Canada?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    My sister says she tried both BestBuy.ca and Amazon.ca. I don't know if the problem is with the credit card side or the store side, but Best Buy Canada will take the order, say it's all good, and follow up with an email a day later saying they can't fill the order. Actually,now that I think about it... I wonder if the problem is that she is trying to place the order by phone rather than online, and the customer service people just don't know how to handle the US billing and Canadian shipping address? (I just assumed it was online, but she is not really a computer person...) I'm also wondering if it could be that my sister is trying to use a credit card that won't let her purchase in Canadian currency. Clearly, I need more details from her.

     

    Thanks for the advice. I'll check out Future Shop, too.

    Buying a gift for someone in Canada?

    in The Chat Board

    Posted

    Does anyone know if it's possible for someone (me) who lives in the US to buy a TV online, for someone in Canada (aged auntie) and have it shipped to them?My sister has been trying to get this done through Best Buy Canada for weeks, and now she has put me on the case. (I'm starting to suspect we may need to have a Canadian cousin handle it, and reimburse them, but we'd prefer to handle it directly).

     

    Thanks,

    Maura

    Do I want the Miller Levine Biology app?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Assuming we're talking about the same thing -- This has the Macaw cover, and is technically an iBook. I bought it last year, when it first came out. My ds used it alongside the Dragonfly edition, mostly when traveling, or as reinforcement after a chapter. At first, it hardly ran on our 1st gen iPad. I just opened it and paged through to verify -- and it runs smoothly now. I don't know if they did something to update it, but initially it crashed/froze all the time. I just asked my son about it, and he said that he really liked it. (I never required it, but he reached "test readiness" however he chose, so he must have deemed it a useful tool.)

     

    It is very different from the online component (unless they've updated that to match). It's total eye-candy, with beautiful photos and illustrations dominating the text. There are many interactive elements - videos, spinnable models, lab demos, etc. Some (but oddly, not all) of the multiple-choice questions can be answered and checked. (Some of them are just non-interactive text). Each chapter has a "Chapter Mystery" video, with additional clues throughout the chapter.

     

    For $15, I think it's a nice supplement.

     

    JMHO,

    Maura

    PE Credits- how to write on transcript

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    When you say you need 2 PE credits --Do you mean a college being considered requires them, or your state requires them of your high schooler? I ask because in NY, we are required to have 2 credits of PE. BUT that's the state's homeschooling requirement for high school. So, it's on our IHIPs and quarterly reports, etc. It doesn't need to be on a transcript that way. If you are in a state with similar requirements, keep in mind that the transcript you develop doesn't have to match up exactly with the state paperwork. In fact, since I only report to the state the subjects they require each year, maybe 4 or 5 credits on the transcript were never on any state paperwork.

     

    Speaking directly to your question, I'm in the camp that would list PE on the transcript, and list the races on his extra curricular page. PE class credits don't really need to have any details. (Actually, I just looked back at ds's transcript from 2 years ago, and I didn't even include the credits as such. I just included a line at the bottom of the "Electives" section that says "Health & PE were taken pass/fail.")

     

    HTH,

    Maura

    Where do educational camps, seminars, and lectures go on transcripts?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I'll describe the son who is safely off to college. I can't yet say what I'll do for the younger one when the time comes...

     

    The transcript showed class grades and test scores only, giving all the strictly academic numbers on one page. Since we only had 1 non-mommy grade at the time of application, I wanted to get the test scores on that one important first page admissions would look at.

     

    We submitted a separate document (both when applying with Common App and when applying directly to the schools the old-fashioned way) that included sections for Honors & Awards, Activities, and Community Service. The first page of this document has separate tables for each of these categories. The second page has a few paragraphs of additional detail for some of the items on the first page, as necessary (indicated by * on the tables).

     

    My thinking was that extracurriculars, etc. wouldn't be included on regular school transcripts. In the deliberate balancing effort to provide information that looks "familiar" to the admissions offices, while still leveraging the homeschooling difference in order to stand out, we opted for this format. It gave us more room to highlight and detail unique activities, while keeping the "data" succinct enough to pass the first round of scrutiny. The "Activities" table had columns for Activity/Grade Level/Positions Held. This let us show any leadership positions, and indicate when activities were for just a summer, vs. when they were for all four years (indicating the desirable long-term commitment). The Community Service section had columns for Nature of Service/Organization/Dates & Details.

     

    (FWIW, we also included a 2 page reading list and an 8 pages of course descriptions.)

     

    Hope this excess of details gives someone a helpful idea or two :)

     

    Maura

    s/o: getting it done with a "mommy diploma"

    in The College Board

    Posted

    1st choice school - University of Notre Dame

    Mommy grades, mommy transcript, mommy course descriptions, reading list, activities "resume"

    Supporting data included NMSF (well, semi-finalist at time of application)

    SAT & ACT scores in top 25% of school's stats (except math, which was in the 50% bracket for the SAT)

    SAT II scores in Bio, Spanish & US History -- all required by ND at the time (these scores were not 800s -- high 600, low 700)

    He was taking 2 PA Homeschoolers APs his senior year, but no scores at application

     

    In addition to the test score corroboration, I think recommendations letters and a solid extra curricular list were important. (BTW, he didn't cure cancer or write a novel. Just consistent involvement in community and club activities, with service and leadership highlighted).

     

    He applied to 10 schools and was turned down by Princeton, waitlisted by W&M. All the schools he was accepted to, including a state school (SUNY Geneseo) offered merit aid. (Well, strictly speaking, ND doesn't do merit aid, but it amounted to the same thing). No full rides -- more in the $20K to $35K range.

     

    Just another data point. HTH

     

    Maura

    Movies As Literature-reasons to or to *not* use this?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    I used some of the Movies as Lit curriculum, as part of an elective for 10th grade (we called it "Beyond the Page" -- he was studying how literature is turned into plays and movies).

     

    Another source we've used with movie analysis throughout the years is called "Teach with Movies". http://www.teachwithmovies.org/

     

    You can take a look at some of the free resources, but it is really a subscription service ($12/year - no auto renewal -- I just checked). They have a nearly over-whelming amount of resources, sorted by age appropriateness, by theme, etc. While there are lesson plans for a wide variety of subjects, some that just use "snippets" of different films, we've pretty much stuck with the learning guides for complete films, in lit & history, along with some generic worksheets that can be used with any movie you choose. I notice that hey just added some worksheets for TV viewing, which I might try out...

     

    In case it matters to you, they are a "Character Counts" partner, so in addition to literary themes, etc., they talk about the values presented in movies.

     

    Maura

    Virtual notecards - any update or comparison of programs?

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    (Did you see that the Scrivener demo is a the full product, and lasts for 30 days of use, not 30 sequential days? That's enough to really give it a work out and see.

    Looking at the available documentation NoodleBib and Scrivener, it seems like the decision would depend on whether you are looking primarily for a researching tool, or a writing tool.

     

    NoodleBib helps you keep track of all your resources, create bibliographies and citations for any conceivable source (print, online, video, interview, etc. and every possible variety of these sources). It provides a note-taking platform that ensures your notes are linked to their corresponding sources. Notes can be exported to Word, or where ever your actual writing process takes place.

     

    Scrivener, from the looks of it (and I intend to take advantage of that 30-days of use trial), helps you organize the writing process itself. There's a line in the features pages that says: "Integrate your preferred bibliography management software into Scrivener’s menu system for easy on-demand access to your library of references."

     

    So, while there's some overlap (they both have card systems that let you easily categorize and rearrange your notes), NoodleBib handles tracking your resources and taking notes, while Scrivener handles taking notes and writing and formatting the paper.

     

    Hoping someone who has used both will jump in!

     

    Maura

    Freshman Math WWYD

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Concerning which sets your son is doing -- I would second the recommendation to do Set I, which sort of continues the lesson and eases into the actual problem sets.

     

    Sets II and III are "identical" in that the cover the same type of problems in the same order, with different numbers. The first problem in Set II will be the same kind and difficulty as the first problem in Set III, and so on. For that reason, I have always had students do Set II, and after grading the homework, they do the problems from Set III that correspond to any they miss on Set II. (Miss the 6th problem on Set II, do the 6th problem on Set III.) This would work well with the tutor, because after going over mistakes, the student can demonstrate understanding with the Set III problem.

     

    FWIW,

    Maura

    Anyone else frustrated by OSU German Online ....??

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    My 9th grader is highly motivated to learn German. He did one year of Spanish before this, and I could effectively teach either Spanish or French. I have absolutely no German background.

     

    Ds was teaching himself with some online materials, and convinced me to let him switch to German for his 3 year high school language sequence. Many people have positive experiences with OSU, so we went with it for German I. My son likes some elements of the program (Sabine, the videos,etc.), but is frustrated by the pedagogical approach. In some ways it goes too slowly for him (introduction of new vocabulary), and in other areas he finds it confusing (grammar information is mostly presented by example, without spelling out the specific rules).

     

    As far as the weekly tutoring call, the first 2 weeks he spoke with Sabine. For 3 weeks in a row after that, he was was told (by a student) that he shouldn't call unless he has questions. He never has questions that he can't figure out on his own, but I would like him to practice speaking. He felt like he was being told not to call.

     

    Ds has a 98% average through chapter 5. He is doubling up on the lessons to finish by Christmas so that he can switch to something else for 2nd semester. I think we both had high hopes for this program, and are disappointed.

     

    JMHO,

    Maura

    Reasons not to read the Grapes of Wrath....

    in High School and Self-Education Board

    Posted

    Wow - so much is the kid -- Kathy's (Rockala) post made me laugh. My son asked to stop reading Grapes (He was in 10th or 11th at the time) because he found it too crude. He was okay with Of Mice and Men, but really isn't a Steinbeck fan at all. This is a kid who will read pretty much anything and everything. The other book he balked at was The Invisible Man (Ellisons, not Wells -lol) -- a scene in the beginning that was too titillating for him to be comfortable.

     

    On the other hand, Pride & Prejudice is up there with with To Kill a Mockingbird on his list of favorite books (along with TSolzhenitsyn's A Day in the Life and Gulag Archipelago -- talk about bleak, but he was okay with that, because of the life affirming ethos.)

     

    I pretty much operate on a three chapter rule for most books. If they can articulate why they don't want to continue a book, I let my boys off the hook. There are a few exceptions each year that they have to read whether they want to or not.

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