Here is a rationalization for the educational use of Webkinz. My dd is now 13 and doesn't play with Webkinz much now, but she used to. She has about 20 of them. She would play with them in a very elaborate way. They all have different names and ages. They each have different personalities. They each had a different voice and she would talk for each of them. She had them all sitting in her little school at their desks, and she would teach them. It was her own one-room school. They were at all different levels for different subjects. As homeschooled kids know, they weren't necessarily working at their grade levels and the level they were working at in various subjects often varied. She had appropriate conversations with her students. So, it was a complex environment. Many different variables and personalities. Sort of like the complex social environment we deal with in various settings- work, school, church, etc. Dealing with complexity is a very important skill. For me, that is vital. The ability to deal effectively with a complex environment is much more important than memorizing specific facts. Learning specific facts is simple- not complex. So, I considered this to be a great educational activity for her. She also made elaborate towns with blocks, dolls, etc. There were houses, stores, school, library, etc. and people would travel around and interact in her little town. This is another example of complexity in play. If I just sat her down and we did flash cards and learned the names of the states or something, that would be simple. It wouldn't build the brain in the same complex way- to learn to deal with lots of variable and people. Anway, her Webkinz play started with a few Webkinz and then on the internet, but progressed to the complex sort of play I described above. I also appreciated the fact that there was a lot of care-taking involved with the Webkinz. I think we have lost sight of this to some extent in our culture. Taking care of others is important for children to learn. Life is not all about individual achievement. We have to serve others. Children need to learn to serve others- it's not all about them. I think we often do our children a disservice because we unwittingly teach them that it is all about them. It's all about their grades. It's all about what college they get into. It's all about what job they get. We are creating self-centered people and then we complain they are self-centered. We need to give them opportunities to serve others, IMHO. When they are young, they can pretend to serve others through play. Then, they can start serving others as soon as they are able.

Of note is that the article refers to violent felonies, not crime overall. There is still plenty of crime, but much of it is misdemeanor. And it is hard to compare rates of misdemeanors because many are not reported, and also because there are new crimes that are on the books that weren't crimes 20 years ago. For example, here in New York, driving with a suspended driver's license wasn't even a crime, but a traffic violation, whereas now, it is the most charged crime. Criminal sentencing, like eduction, is a topic that everyone feels they know about and don't hesitate in offering you their opinion, despite the fact that they know little about the subject and haven't read widely on the topic. In the past 20 years, we have learned a lot from recent research about what sentences tend to reduce crime for certain offenders and what sentences tend to increase crime for certain groups of people. So, there are many more programs in place, however, still little of the research is being applied in practice, so not sure if this is a factor or not. Drug courts were not available 20 years ago, but now there are over 1600 drug treatment courts across the country, and this has been found to be effective in treating drug addicts who commit crimes (the majority of repeat offenders are drug addicts). Interestingly, incarceration has no real effect on recidivism, but for low-risk offenders, it increases the risk that they will commit a crime in the future. Mixing low-risk offenders with high risk offenders either in jail or in programs can result in increased risk for future criminal behavior for low-risk persons, who may be adversely influenced by the criminal culture they are immersed in. Incarceration does serve as incapacitation though- while in jail, it is unlikely that the inmate is committing crimes in the community. Researchers have identified certain criminogenic factors that are most predictive of the likelihood of criminal behavior. They are: -low self-control, i.e. impulsive behavior -anti-social personality, i.e., callousness, lack of empathy -anti-social values, i.e., disassociation from the law-abiding community -criminal peers -substance abuse -disfunctional family Programs that address a particular person's criminogenic needs will help lower the chances that the person will commit crimes in the future. For example, cognitive-behavioral therapy has been shown to be very effective for many individuals. If you combine cognitive-behavioral therapy with other interventions, such as conditions that he not have contact with anyone on probation or parole, and that he have drug screens and attend substance abuse treatment, the chances that the person will re-offend go way down. The typical high-risk offender costs taxpayers over $1,000,000 over a lifetime. If you can find a way to reduce the number of criminogenic factors in these individuals, you can easily cut crime rates way down. Just jail or just probation or just a fine (traditional sentencing options) do little to reduce the criminogenic factors of a criminal. However, effective and targeted programs do help in decreasing the odds that someone will commit another crime. All this research is new and much of it isn't even being implemented yet, so I'm not sure if this explains the reduction in crime. However, it is certain that if the research is really followed, both crime rates and costs will be greatly reduced. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of money being wasted on ineffective programs, such as boot camps and wilderness programs that have proven to be ineffective. Ineffective programs and sentences sometimes actually increase crime. And some good effective programs are not being fully implemented. For example, judges rarely have information on the criminogenic needs of an individual at sentencing time. And judges rarely have information on what programs are effective for what types of individuals. So, much of this information obtained through research is not being applied. Much more remains to be done in the area of having research-based sentencing of criminals.

Unlike other professions (law, medicine, etc.), teachers and schools can't be sued for educational malpractice. If a child goes to school for 12 years but can't read or write, the school isn't held accountable. Each state does set some standards for homeschoolers, but they vary. But, should homeschoolers hold each other accountable? On the one hand, some people feel that it reflects badly on homeschoolers in general and could lead to greater state restrictions if homeschoolers don't do a good job. On the other hand, what business is it of other parents if one parent is educating their child in a way that is different or unconventional? Don't parents have the right to educate their child in the way they think is best? Should there be some sort of homeschooling standards not enforced by the state but by a homeschool association? Would voluntary membership in some sort of homeschooling association help to promote better homeschooling? Or would it just get in the way of people who are trying unconventional or minority approaches? So far, homeschooling has been a movement, rather than an organization. This is how many ideas begin, but later they become more organized and structured. But the beauty of the movement is the freedom and the innovation. Movements are often fast-growing, whereas structures and organizations typically take root after the fast-growth period. Due to the freedom, there are sometimes abuses- some people get too extreme or carried away and then there are calls for organization and structure. Limits on freedom, in other words. We might be at that point. I enjoy these boards because I read about ideas and innovations that people are trying in the laboratory of their own homes with their own children.

ASL, is American Sign Language. It's American. It's not foreign. So, yes, some colleges might have an issue with calling it a "foreign" language. Colleges would probably be more interested in someone who is really interested and excited about learning Japanese or Korean than just another Spanish student. Spanish is very common among college applicants, so it doesn't make the application stand out. And it is the language that slackers take because it has a reputation of being easy. Plus, your children will learn more if they are learning what they are interested in. I would highly suggest getting a tutor, rather than using Rosetta Stone. We had bad experiences with Rosetta Stone and didn't learn much. You learn 10 times more with a tutor. If cost is an issue, you can have the tutor come less often (once/month instead of once/week) and have your dc work mostly independently. Or, since your children are old enough, they could work to pay for their Korean or Japanese lessons. A once/month tutor for a year would cost about the same as Rosetta Stone, but your children would learn 10 times more. But, a more intensive language class would be much better. Colleges like to see real fluency, not just a little bit of a language, like most students do. As homeschoolers, there is no reason you have to stick with just learning "first year foreign language". You can do a cram course and learn in a year what others learn in 3 or 4 years. It's up to you. Best wishes.

I'm a vegetarian. TVP = texturized vegetable protein is a good substitute for meat. Sold in bins at natural food stores. You need to cook it in water for a couple minutes as it is dry and hard at first, but because soft and meat-like in texture and appearance. Also, tofu, tempeh, and many different types of beans- black, red, pinto, etc.

You don't need a signed contract for payment for services. If it's goods valued over $500, yes, you do, but for services, no contract is necessary. So, you can take them to small claims court. However, you will probably have to pay a filing fee. If the amount is small, it probably isn't worth your time and trouble. And, even if you get a judgment against them in court, then you still need to collect on that judgment. If the person owns a home in your county, it's probably a lien on their real estate, so you might eventually get paid when they try to sell their house, since the lawyer will insist that all liens be paid off. However, all that might not be worth your time and trouble for such a small amount. So, you could try to do what bill collectors do. Send bills repeatedly and call, trying to collect your debt. There are laws about what you can't say though, so you can't threaten them or harass them or you could be in trouble. Sometimes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Some people have lots of bill collectors calling and writing them and they end up paying the ones that they have to have (house and utilities) and not paying the ones that don't keep contacting them. So, trying multiple times to contact them sometimes works. Sometimes a letter from a lawyer works, but you'd have to pay for that also and there is no guarantee it would work. Some people do the following. It seems counter-intuitive, but some people try it. Write to them and say you have forgiven any money owed. That way, they may use your services in the future or recommend you to a friend. If you don't forgive the money, they will never use you again or recommend you. Small businesses thrive on word-of-mouth referrals. Another way to look at it is that it is like paying tuition. You have just paid the amount owed as tuition. The course was called, "How To Run Your Business Successfully- Get the Money Upfront". The lesson you learned was probably worth the amount you are owed. I am a lawyer. I once had a court case. My client allegedly owed the other party some money for some work. The judge said that it was stupid for the guy to keep working after my client told him he wouldn't pay him, so any work done after that point, the judge wouldn't make my client pay for. He had to pay for any work done up to that point, but once the client said he wasn't paying, it was foolish to keep working, so no money was awarded for that portion. This wasn't legal advice, by the way and I don't represent you in any way. Your state's laws may be different.

Another teacher I know used to teach in a special program in the schools. In that program, no textbooks were allowed. It was a pull-out program where they worked with small groups of kids for an hour or two/day. Only math and language arts. And no textbooks allowed. They used games and manipulatives. Any subject can be made into a game. They had hundreds of games on stock to use. I used to have a game board that I used to teach various subjects. I just made it out of a big sheet of paper that I laminated. Sort of like any game board where you move your token after you roll the die. I made a big die and the kids enjoyed rolling it on the floor after they answered a question correctly and then moved their token. I put the game board on the blackboard with some tape and had tokens that had tape on the back so they stuck to it. You can use this for any subject. We used it to learn the states. With a small group of homeschooled kids, you can just put it on the table or the floor. Kids like the game thing. Provides some fun and variety.

I was going to ask the same question, but in a slightly different way. Are there any great "teacher tricks" that you use that don't involve workbooks or textbooks? For example, I used to teacher English as a second language. One technique I used was to have a "written conversation". Instead of talking, we would pass notes. I'd write a question and they'd write back and answer it and we'd go on for a while like that. I would also read aloud, do flash cards, etc. I would often work one-on-one or with a small group for 30 minutes or so. I would go through a series of activities during that 30 minutes to keep it interesting and lively. I would mix up math, reading, writing, etc. I found that if I kept the length of the activity short, it kept the interest level up, so I would try to do short activities that lasted less than 5 minutes each. Worked great. Many teachers have their students do journaling. Many also have silent reading periods where everyone just reads silently for 15-20 minutes or so. No reason why homeschoolers couldn't use these methods as well. I think these forums would be a good opportunity for people to share their homeschool "teacher tricks". I used to go to the continuing education trainings they held for the teachers. They were not so interesting except that sometimes, the other English as a Second Language Teacher and I would share ideas and that was great! We learned a lot from each other. Homeschool teachers don't have the bureaucracy that schools do, so you have complete freedom to try ideas and see what works and what doesn't. So, there must be some great ideas out there that I am dying to hear about, if anyone wants to share some.

This issue has been discussed here on previous posts, so do a search for those. Some helpful advice there. My best advice is to do lots of pratice tests either all at once or doing portions of them and then go over the answers. There are lots of practice tests available at book stores and on on the internet. You can do this on your own for practically free. The practice tests are actually more effective than doing the courses, IMHO. The courses try to teach you the "tricks", which you can mostly figure out on your own. And by teaching kids that it's all about the "tricks", they allow people to believe it's all about the tricks instead of working the problems. It's mostly about practice doing the questions, not knowing any secrets to the SAT. That said, the courses do some problems and some practice tests, so they are moderately effective. More effective would be a tutor. But, if the student is motivated, they can just study on their own and do lots of practice tests and do great on the SAT. Also, studying over a long period of time is going to be more effective than just taking a crash course for 6 weeks right before the exam. Since you are a homeschooler, you could try this approach. Just make SAT prep a subject that you do daily, just like you do math or English. Do a section of the test daily and then go over the answers. The Gruber's book is a good one and so is the official College Board book. You can study at home using one of these books, or get a tutor. Also, there are some websites for studying for the SAT and doing practice questions on-line. Getting good at the SAT isn't different than getting good at anything. To get good at anything, practice daily and get a good private teacher. Best wishes.

I live in Wegman's Land, in western NY. It is a great store. We love it and I shop there daily. As much as I love Wegman's, I must say there are other grocery stores in other parts of the country that are very good also. Whole Foods and other natural food stores are very good (although very pricey) and are found in most major markets. Whole Foods hasn't had the nerve to come here to western NY to try to compete against Wegman's though. Anyway, Wegman's is a great store. Has everything you'd want and at reasonable prices. Good produce. Always rated among the top employers for employees to work for.

Sounds like you learned something with that pretend smoking thing. Once you stopped reacting, she stopped doing it. Some people act out in order to get attention. If they find that it doesn't work, then they might stop the acting out. Negative attention from an authority figure is better than no attention. To a child the scariest thing is that no one is paying attention to them. Some children learn to manipulate their parents by acting out and getting the attention they need. Remember to give the child attention when she is not acting out. Ignoring bad behavior may be more effective than over-reacting to it in the long run. And rather than punishing your child, calmly putting your child in time-out is more effective. Be careful not to model loud, angry or aggressive behavior or you will probably see your child acting the same way. Also, since your child is young and about the age when they start getting into activities, I would suggest that you try to involve your child in some groups where she is likely to find appropriate friends. Day care and kindergarten are often full of inappropriate displays of behavior and children sometimes copy what they see there. Instead, if you model appropriate behavior yourself and involve your child in groups where she is likely to see appropriate behavior, this will help your dd in the future. We have found that music, church and homeschool groups provided social opportunities while also minimizing the amount of anti-social behavior our dd was exposed to. Children tend to conform to the group they are in. If they are placed in a group of a bunch of kids running around hitting and screaming, they are more likely to regard this as normal behavior. If they are around appropriate adults and well-behaved children, then they are more likely to conform to the norms of those around them. I hope this is helpful.

Yes, more selective colleges are looking for geographic diversity. Some like to claim that they have students from all 50 states and from 20 different countries. It makes things more interesting than having all your students from the same background. So, it is sometimes advantageous to apply to far-away schools, since they will see you as contributing some geographic diversity. Not a huge, overriding factor, but one of many factors that go into the mix. If you are from Wyoming or North Dakota and are applying to one of the selective East coast colleges, it will give you a slight advantage over a similar student from suburban DC or New York. Urban vs. rural? Yes, this can sometimes be considered diversity. However, if you are an hour from the college, they probably have lots of students from your area and they don't consider it to be geographic diversity. If you are from rural Kentucky and are applying to one of the selective Northeastern schools, they would consider that to be geographic diversity. I know a lawyer who got into NYU Law School partly because he was from a small mountain town in North Carolina.

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My dd had trouble answering this question when people would ask her what grade she was in. I told her they really just wanted to know what age she was in terms of grade levels. They weren't really asking what her achievement levels were in various subjects, which are different anyway. And the same goes for schooled kids. Some of them are working on different levels in different subjects, but the question is just a way of asking what age the child is in. I agree that they ought to just ask what age the child is. But people ask about grades all the time and my dd just answers with the grade level she would be in if she were in school. Yes, people will think homeschoolers are nuts if we go off on them about a seemingly benign question like "what grade are you in?"

I looked at the Atlanta charter school- it's based on the Reggion Emilia approach. 6-1 student teacher ratio is great! Anyway, I see homeschools as being cutting edge. Schools are bureaucracies- slow to change. No incentive to innovate. But homeschools can change and adapt quickly and easily to do what's best. So, homeschools are sort of research laboratories coming up with great new educational ideas. Can schools follow homeschooling's lead in educational innovation?

Yes, your friend is an engineer and knows math, but not a teacher. We showed Life of Fred to our neighbor, a retired teacher. She agreed it covered everything. But also said there isn't enough practice to use as a stand-alone program. We love LOF, but for most kids, some supplementation is probably helpful or else they won't retain the information. It does cover everything. But many kids will forget what they learned unless it is used enough to be cemented in their brains. It is easy enough to supplement with almost any other textbook. Almost any other textbook will have the lesson topics clearly marked and you can just choose some of the problems to do. LOF is great though- I don't want to be discouraging. It is relatively easy to supplement.

Do you think a school could be sort of like a homeschool? A small class with a teacher as surrogate parent? Could they have a one-room school with varied-age kids and they stayed with the same teacher for years? And they used homeschool methods/techniques rather than school methods/techniques? Maybe not a total replica of homeschooling since it wouldn't be an actual parent, but something much closer to homeschooling than an institutional school. Would such a school approximate what homeschools do? Or would it still be very different since it wouldn't be the parent teaching? Is the magic in the fact that the parent is the teacher? Or is it other factors? What do you think?

My dd (13) plays violin. She also plays piano, flute and (formerly)cello. She is also in an orchestra. She has played violin and taken lessons since she was 4. And we can't afford it. When our finances got tight, my parents generously volunteered to help pay for her lessons. About 4 years ago, she was losing interest in the violin. It was hard to get her to practice. Then, she joined a local youth orchestra and that made an enormous difference. She met friends there. And it gave her performance opportunities. It is much more interesting to do something with your friends than to do it all alone. And it's more interesting if you get to perform in front of others sometimes. Now, she is a very accomplished musician. She is in a top youth orchestra and she just got a top score in the state music competition. And here is an added benefit. Almost all of her friends are musicians. It is a very good peer group. They are all children of parents who highly value education. They are all-round great kids-smart, kind, etc. Exactly the kinds of kids you want your child to be friends with when you are starting the scary teenage years. They don't use rough language, are not physically aggressive, have good manners and are polite, are studious, they dress appropriately, don't lose their tempers, are disciplined yet still fun. Great kids. She is friends with most of the top violinists her age in our area. All great kids. Many of them are homeschooled and the others are often Asian-American. We have met so many Chinese-Americans through music. For some reason, having their children take music lessons is very important to Chinese families. It has also given our daughter the opportunity to be really good at something, so she has the confidence that she can be really good at something. And it has shown her what it takes to be really good at something. Get a teacher and practice- for many years. It's the same for anything else you ever want to get good at. It may have also helped her reading and math skills, but it's impossible for me to know if she would have been very good at those anyway. I can say though that the musical kids I know are all very good students and are intelligent. As to whether it should be mandatory or not, that's your call. In our experience, if you try to make it interesting, it's not so much a question of making it mandatory, but there may be some rough spots. In my experience, with any activity, if you make it something that when they go there, they get to see their friends, it will be much more interesting than an activity where you have to take them away from their friends to go to. Also, in my experience, the parents should be united- one way or the other. Children will pick up on it if one parent is for and the other is against or wishy-washy about it. Try to compromise so you are united about it.

My post was misquoted. I didn't say that AP tests are all multiple choice/short answer. However, IB tests are all essay questions. I was not putting down AP courses- they are good rigorous classes usually. And yes, lots of students from different backgrounds get into the same colleges. Homeschooled students, public school students, AP students, IB students, private and religious school students, etc. make up the mix at many very good schools.

No one replied and we have used both, so here is what I know. We used CLE for 8 years. We only used EPGY for a couple months. There are polar opposites. CLE has continuous review. EPGY just keeps moving up into higher math. CLE is Christian and EPGY is secular. CLE is workbooks and EPGY is computer-based distance learning. There are probably many more differences that I have failed to mention. We were torn, like you might be between allowing our daughter progress into higher levels of math (like EPGY) and progressing more gradually but retaining the information (like CLE). In EPGY, students often progress through a grade level in 6 weeks. A friend of ours used EPGY for her daughter. She progressed quicky into higher math, doing Algebra and Geometry in 3rd or 4th grade. However, she doesn't know how many quarts are in a gallon. But she was never bored of math. It was always challenging to her. CLE gradually introduces material and constantly reviews prior material so you don't forget it. It is a very good program and our dd has always tested way off the charts in math. Using both is one alternative. Use EPGY and go way ahead, but use CLE also, so that the early material is retained. We also had some technical problems with EPGY. Maybe they have straightened them out by now, but it was extremely frustrating for us. And we couldn't get help when we needed it because we were in a different time zone from California. And the teacher would e-mail a week later with corrections to all the problems you got wrong, but by then, you are way past that and it's really a waste of time. It's a good concept- a computer-based program that automatically adjusts to how the student is doing. However, I don't think there is enough review to use EPGY as a stand-alone program. It is good for gifted kids who get bored with all the review of a normal program though. It is designed for gifted kids. Anyway, I highly recommend CLE because kids retain the information. EPGY is good as a supplement, but I wouldn't recommend it as a stand-alone program because there isn't enough review, IMHO.

There is a placement test on the Singapore website. Just have your child take the test and start at that level. Don't let your ego or your child's ego get in the way. In other words, don't feel that because you have to go back to 5A and your child is in 9th grade, that you have failed or your child has failed or whatever. Go back to the appropriate level. For most students, that will be about 2 levels behind the grade level they are on. But, your child will progress quickly with Singapore and will learn to really think in math- not just rigidly apply formulas to different equations. Singapore is a great program and it's well worth going back as far as necessary and then moving through it quickly- you can move through Singapore much more quickly than most other programs. I wouldn't suggest starting with the NEM- the levels 7 and up, even for a child in high school. Take the placement test and start at the appropriate level up to level 6- not above level 6. You are right- it is very hard to start in the levels 7 and up.

I would suggest that you have your daughter take a placement test to determine where she should be placed. You can find placement tests for many programs on the internet. If she has just been moved on without mastering the material, as you say, she may need to go back to something much earlier. Do not hestitate or be afraid to go back to wherever she is supposed to be. It will be much less stressful than putting her into something that she doesn't have sufficient background for. Yes, Math-U-See is teacher-intensive. I wouldn't recommend it for that level. And yes, Teaching Textbooks is not that advanced, but is easy, ready-to-go and can be done independently. I'm not familiar with the other program you mentioned. What I do suggest is to take a placement test. Then, find a good textbook for that level, whether it is Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry or whatever. And get video instruction that accompanies the textbook, so she can watch the video, then go to the textbook and do the problems. That way, you don't have to teach it. Just do a little research on this board and elsewhere on the internet to find a good textbook and accompanying videos. Best wishes.

One alternative to using spelling lists/tests is to do dictations. That is what the French do. The teacher reads something aloud and the students write it down, then it gets graded. You could write down the corrections and then re-test the children using the same dictation to see if they learned how to do it right. Nothing wrong with doing traditional spelling tests though. If your husband thinks this is the way to go, maybe he could buy you a book that has it all planned out for you so you don't have to re-invent the wheel.

Short answer- colleges like both, but would probably prefer the IB. Unlike AP, IB is not just courses- it is a package. It is a comprehensive program. It also includes community service work, arts, and a paper. The IB goes for depth, rather than breadth in its coursework and the exams are essay, rather than fill-in-the-blank or muliple choice. It is a rigorous program and has international standards. If a student is doing lots of AP courses in what colleges call "solids"- math, science, foreign language, English, and U.S. and world history and getting scores of 3+, and doing community service work, and is a good writer, colleges may consider it to be the equivalent of the IB. The IB shows that a student is "college ready" and isn't going to need any remedial work. Again, you might be able to piece that together with AP courses and design an equivalent program. But IB is the ready-made program. It is sort of the equivalent of graduating from a prep school. Colleges are familiar with the program and they know how you will perform. They have experience with prior IB students and know they can handle college work. Colleges like to see students who decide to take more rigorous courses. They don't want to fill their freshman class with a bunch of slackers who take the notorious "rocks for jocks" class just to fulfill the science requirement. They want students who are motivated and have the skills required to start right into college-level work without needing to take a remedial math or English class. IB is a program that shows the student is ready for this. A college prep school also shows this. A variety of solid AP classes with good grades and some community service work and solid writing and math skills could also show this though.

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