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daijobu

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Everything posted by daijobu

  1. daijobu
    Stock picking is a poor investment strategy. Your students are better off learning about the benefits of diversification and choosing a selection of low cost mutual funds.
  2. daijobu
    I hate poorly procedured science experiments. It got to the point that I would thoroughly research the labs, checking various websites with their procedures, watch any youtube videos looking for tips. Then I would run the experiment by myself without the kids present so I could work out the kinks. I remember one experiment that demonstrated Brownian motion. You were supposed to suspend mud/clay particles in water and view under a microscope. I tried and tried and didn't see anything. So I looked up "Brownian motion experiments" on the internet and found one that used whole milk. Success! This reminds me why elementary/middle school was such a busy time for me. Much of that time was spent on perfecting science experiments. So glad that's over now, though I was called upon to twirl some metal washers attached to the end of a string over my head (I wore a bike helmet because I kept getting hit) for AP physics last week.
  3. daijobu
    You can take the SAT in 7th grade to qualify for Duke TIP. The details on registration are fuzzy, but you can learn more here. (I think you can also qualify with the ACT.) I had my kids take the SAT in 7th grade because that's what my DH and I did in 7th grade. The nice thing about taking the SAT early is it completely demystifies the experience, especially if you get a reasonable score. The best way to prepare for an exam IMO is to take older versions of that exam.
  4. daijobu
    I will also add that this video by Richard Rucszyk informs my thinking about homeschooling math. I've watched it a few times.
  5. daijobu
    What's going at SD? Is it housing, or not enough sections of classes? Too big classes? Wasn't it UCI that admitted too many students, then rejected them, then admitted them again? I wonder how that campus is coping? Such a mess.
  6. daijobu
    If I may ask, which UC? Is there a plan to return to the UC again after a year or two at CC?
  7. daijobu
    Think again. I know some pretty serious students who graduated there. I will always remember the beautiful trees and dirt paths between buildings. It ain't called Uncle Charlie's Summer Camp for nothing.
  8. daijobu
    "You keep using that word, asmtSessionParticipantId." I do not think it means what you think it means."
  9. daijobu
    Ha! We just saw that again last week. "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you." "You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die."
  10. daijobu
    There have been several posts lately, of a mathy nature, that could really benefit from some nice math formatting options. Could someone add Latex functionality to the list of board enchancements?
  11. daijobu
    I'm new to Great Courses, and I'm wondering how do college admissions officers view these sorts of classes in a course description. Do they even know what GC is? Is it viewed negatively, positively, or neutral? Do MOOCs have more cachet with them? These questions aren't so much about reality as perception by college admissions.
  12. daijobu
    I like Cal Newport's blog. I'm guessing he's in his 30s, but his posts are directed to people of all ages. Here's a good example of his his message.
  13. daijobu
    LOL, what are the questions like? I heard there are logic questions?
  14. daijobu
    This is an excellent point. For example, if your goal is to go to med school and become a physician in private practice (not academia), then probably your best best is to attend the school that's the cheapest and where you can be the biggest fish possible. And one with some sort of easy access to the state med school. In that very specific situation, you'll be hurting yourself by paying lots of money to attend a name school with lots of competitive students.
  15. daijobu
    Hanging out with big fish has advantages. DH attended a name school and met lots of big fish who went on to become even bigger fish in the larger world. It's not uncommon for me to read a newspaper article and have him say, "Oh, I know him/her," where him/her=CEO/CTO/founder of some company you've heard of/semi-famous professor doing innovative stuff/author of some best-selling book.
  16. daijobu
    The Stressful College List website looked a little click bait-y, with slow load times and lots of ads. One dad I know wanted his son to attend a college where he would be in the top 25%. So not the smartest kid at the school, but succeeding relative to most of the students there.
  17. daijobu
    True, but you can walk away from a bad mortgage or have your car repossessed or file for bankruptcy. You can't walk away from a student loan.
  18. daijobu
    This guy struggled to put his daughter through Stanford and HMS and the other in Emory, and I don't think he's happy with his decision. "And then, on top of it all, came the biggest shock, though one not unanticipated: college. Because I made too much money for the girls to get more than meager scholarships, but too little money to afford to pay for their educations in full, and because—another choice—we believed they had earned the right to attend good universities, universities of their choice, we found ourselves in a financial vortex. (I am not saying that universities are extortionists, but … universities are extortionists. One daughter’s college told me that because I could pay my mortgage, I could afford her tuition.) In the end, my parents wound up covering most of the cost of the girls’ educations. We couldn’t have done it any other way. Although I don’t have any regrets about that choice—one daughter went to Stanford, was a Rhodes Scholar, and is now at Harvard Medical School; the other went to Emory, joined WorldTeach and then AmeriCorps, got a master’s degree from the University of Texas, and became a licensed clinical social worker specializing in traumatized children—paying that tariff meant there would be no inheritance when my parents passed on. It meant that we had depleted not only our own small savings, but my parents’ as well."
  19. daijobu
  20. daijobu
    Good homeschooling parents do not necessarily have good classroom management skills. I'm one of them, and teach a small group that includes one very vocal student who does not want to be there. And I'm like a deer in the headlights. Fortunately the site has a hall monitor to whom I can send this kiddo so he can burn off some steam on the playground while the rest of us learn. If you have newbie teachers, you'll want to have someone to back them up. I'm really glad I have one!
  21. daijobu
    Not all students who attend 4 year colleges are strong in STEM. This NY Times article documents cheating among aspiring computer science students who lack the chops to complete their assignments legitimately. Among the universities specifically mentioned: Purdue Stanford Brown Harvard Yale
  22. daijobu
    Lots of good stories about double majors in this thread. My kids aren't old enough to major in anything yet, so I'll balance by linking to Cal Newport's review of how double majors can ruin your life, lol.
  23. daijobu
    Thank you for this recommendation. What do you think are the main takeaways of the book?
  24. daijobu
    Our pace for all the AoPS books was one section per day and then 2-3 days for review problems and another 2-3 days for challenge problems at the end of each chapter. I worked through all the problems on paper to demonstrate and model good mathematical documentation (lining up equal signs, labeling geometric figures, no stream of consciousness equations). I'm tutoring a boy who also doesn't enjoy putting pencil to paper, and even when he does he still makes mistakes. My latest strategy is to work the same problem with him side by side and compare answers at the end. I want to walk the line between not rubbing it in so much as to be mean, but also pointing out the easy points he's losing due to sloppiness.
  25. daijobu
    The median (middle) score on the 2016 AMC 8 was 9 (see page 2). Scoring 14 could put him close to the top 10% This isn't the middle score of all students in the US of A. Really, only the best math students are taking the AMC 8, so if you are scoring a 9, you right in the middle of the pack among the best students. Scoring 14 puts you way at the tippy top. Unless he's sad because he was scoring higher than 14 on practice tests? ETA: added the link to the statistics document.
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