Ok.. yep.. I saw this recommended on this board and by someone I highly respect. My boys already write paragraphs like those above. ( But not the thesis statements with first person!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) They are stilted and do not flow... I need something that takes them to the next level. I can't figure out how to teach the boys to write well. If you look at what I am doing with the LOTR paper inthe writing forum, then you will see how long it takes us to edit papers... sometimes weeks. But then when they write one themselves, it sounds like Jensens.... GRRR. I just bought Jensens thinking it would help... It isn't what I want...

Whew... this would probably take me a couple of days working around an hour each day to bring this out and have my boy work with me... And that would be just the first body paragraph... I keep telling my literary analysis class that writing is just hard work. I cannot write something perfectly. I have to wrestle with the ideas and the words to get them to say what I mean for them to say. I normally revise papers I write 10 or 12 times... I

So... now we have Aragon's trials force him to embrace his role as leader of the Fellowship. He then needs some kind of a sentence about his unwillingness to take charge earlier in the story. Gandalf's death changes all of this. Realizing that the fellowship will soon be captured by the orks unless someone takes charge, Aragon says , "Come. I will lead you now!" Now it is time to attack this sentence: Only someone with the heart of a king would take charge like this... This sentence is the kind boys put in that means absolutely nothing. ( I have two of them that do this all the time!!!!) See if you can ask him like what?? ignoring personal danger? putting the lives of his friends or the mission above his personal comfort? And heart of a king??? what does that mean. Have him write 2 or 3 specific sentences commenting on what this quotation shows or proves. Then I think he will need some other specific examples with or without quotes that show his leadership development. He can then put: By the end of the trilogyl, Aragon embraces his legacy, telling the spirits "For I am Elessar, Isildur’s heir of Gondor.†(p.772). Once again he needs 2 or three sentences explaining how this quotation shows leadership Now he needs to write his concluding sentence. His original one doesn't work: His natural ability of being a leader confirms that he is the true heir of Isildur. UMM... the sentence before which I think should be his thesis are about how the trials force him to embrace his leadership.... Maybe something like Aragon's trials throughout the novel uncover his natural leadership ability???

Ok, I'm back. I see two main problems. First, his quotes are too long and are not blended well. Here are two that I blended from his first paragraph. Realizing that the fellowship will soon be captured by the orks (??..or whoever is chasing them) unless someone takes charge, he says, "Come. I will lead you now!" By the end of the novel, Aragon embraces his legacy, telling the spirits "For I am Elessar, Isildur’s heir of Gondor.†(p.772). I would also do what Julie suggests and take out the quotations so he can see what is left: A king needs to be a good leader. In the Mines of Moria, Aragorn stepped into the role of the leader of the Fellowship after Gandalf fell. Aragorn said, “!†Only someone with the heart of a king would take command like that. While in the Paths of the Dead, Aragorn told the spirits there, . Starting with Gandalf’s “deathâ€, Aragorn’s trials forced him to embrace the role as leader of the Fellowship. His natural ability of being a leader confirms that he is the true heir of Isildur. Now... I actually see a great thesis statement near the end of this paragraph. Rather than the boring: A king needs to be a good leader... How about Aragon's trials force ( remember literary analysis should always be written in present tense) him to embrace his role as leader of the Fellowship.

Examples of a thesis statement: Faith is a term often used by religious people, so we will explore its meanings. We will see if the effects of the discovery of the New World were positive for Spain by looking at the results of their wars, emigration, and new wealth. By reviewing preparation, variety, and availability, we will see if pizza has become a favorite American food. or this introductory paragraph Animals have always been a part of man's life. Many animals have been domesticated for man's use down through history. Most of the domestic animals are found on farms. Cattle are one of the most widely found farm animals for various reasons. Let's see if the traditional cow is still valuable today by looking at such products as leather, meat and milk. or this paragraph: Some say that Louis L'Amour is more popular today than Zane Grey ever was. Both authors wrote of the Old West, but L'Amour appears to have done more research while Grey accepted the legends of his time. Zane Grey used much dialect and slang in his writing while L'Amour's writing is more contemporary and easier to follow. One particular factor is that the mass marketing of today has heavily promoted Louis L'Amour wheeas Zane Grea did not have such a heavy advertising campaign behind him. Today's reader wants things to happen, and Louis L'Amour's novels are more action packed and move right along while Grey's stories take time to get going. it is hard to remember individual characters from Grey's novels, but the strong characters in L'Amour's novels, especially the Sacket family, do much for his popularity. For most readers today, Louis L'Amour is the most popular Western author of all time. Tell me your impressions and then I will tell you mine. I posted in this forum rather than writing for a reason that I will explain later....

She uses a fountain pen. How do I answer that she must do it but her brothers must not.

Julie, Windows to the World does a VERY good job on this. He has the organization down. He needs to work on trimming his quotations and making them blend. We worked quite a bit on this in my co-op class. He also needs commentary. My students must have at least three sentences of commentary after every quotation. She goes into quite a bit of detail about how to do that. He has a great start!!!

Is this a hill to die on??? This is the subject I have failed in as a homeschool teacher. First of all, I was SO relieved in 6th grade when I no longer received a grade in handwriting. (All minuses) I did have my boys do cursive, but as they got in junior high and started typing, it was forgotten. They are 9th adn 11th, and I have given up. I would rather die on the Geometry hill with my 9th grader. I was determined to be better with my daughter... I taught her cursive last year in 3rd. She knows how to do it. Her daily copywork or writing her papers in cursive is pure torture. Her printing is absolutely beautiful. She is 10 and finds it hard to write more than a couple of sentences at a time. I'm thinking she is holding the pencil incorrectly. I was told by several people that I do as well. She doesn't understand why I make her do it when I don't make brothers... I really don't have a good answer. My husband doesn't write in cursive either. He prints very neatly... Do I continue this hill along with math for her????

I remember during the Obama McCain election, a woman had the coolest unit. I downloaded it and it had how many electors each person needed to win to gain the nomination. We colored them in as each person got them. I think she also had notebooking pages as well where you could write down things about each candidate. I had a whole notebook that my oldest son did. This was 4 years and a computer ago, so it is not on my current computer. I've tried to google, but no luck. Does anyone remember this and is there anything like this for this year?

I don't know. We haven't discussed it. However, I did want to bring up the perception that I am seeing that you have to be rich to do this. My grandparents were school teachers. He taught high school math and chemistry, and she taught elementary school. My grandfather was one of 8 children. He wanted to go to college and worked for a couple of years before he joined my grandmother at Southwestern. ( They were high school sweethearts but didn't get married until they were 28 and 30 when my grandmother put her foot down.) He played football, was a teaching assistant in Chemistry, sang in the glee club and worked at Oshmans as well as working odd jobs to attend. ( I have no idea when he slept.) These two people had $10,000 saved for each grandchild. That was a lot in the 80's. It helped me pay my last two years at Baylor. My husband's grandparents were also teachers. They saved their money as well and helped grandchildren with downpayments on houses.. These couples lived simply and in the same houses for 50 years and 60 years respectively. My grandparents had only one car as my grandmother didn't drive. They seemed to "need" a lot less than we do today. Education was valuable to them. My grandparents had 3 children and my dad was the black sheep. ( His bipolar disease was part of the reason.) The other two children are currently working at universities: one as a Vice-Provost and the other is the Dean of a Business School. My dad only had a bachelor's degree... My husband's parents both have masters as well as both of his sisters.. I am the uneducated one around here!!! It is family culture.

Are you a part of the yahoo groups based on the TOG year? If not, join the year you are considering. Then ask for people to e-mail you privately if they have taken the class. Then you can ask the questions and they can be honest. DO NOT ASK IN THE GROUP ITSELF. People get banned for saying anything negative. I LOVE TOG, but those groups have made me mad on more than one occasion when I was being honest or recommending something else because TOG wasn't a good fit. That said, it is an awesom treasure trove of timeline figures and other things, so I join the year I need. I just keep my mouth shut publicly.

Absolutely!!! He just needs to open up a ROTH IRA account. He'll have to find one he can open for 250.. I'm thinking that would be the least he would have to have to open one, but do your research. Once the account is open, just fill out the automatic deposit forms and you are set to go. Also, realize that ROTH investments vary. YOU CAN LOSE MONEY. You need to be careful what kind of investment you choose and know the risks. You can be very safe and get little return or very risky with a higher return but higher possiblity of loss.

FIT. Our goal when we started saving was to pay for 4 years at our alma-mater. I figured they would get some kind of scholarship and then some of that money could be used for graduate school/law school/med school etc. ( I have no idea if they will want that or not.) We liked the 529 plans because you can switch beneficaries once a year. So if oldest gets big scholarships, we can switch his leftover money to my daughter's account and help get her through med school if she desires. Or we can switch it to me and I can get my master's degree or go back and get a music degree. Or we can switch it to a grandchild or a neice or nephew. So it is all about fit for that particular student. There is a big thread on college confidential right now about how a valedictorian from Michigan with great stats chose Baylor over a free ride at Harvard and other top schools. Many people thought she was being stupid by not going to a more prestigious school. They also criticized my son for having his test scores and wanting to go to Baylor or TCU since we all know that Christian schools cannot be intellectual. :tongue_smilie: I know we are blessed. Part of it is family culture. My husband's father saved and put him through school. We believe that is our responsiblity. My parents were not so good about it, but my grandfather helped me finish Baylor when my dad lost his job. He had money saved that he was going to leave me when he died. He decided I could make better use of it then. I had over half of Baylor paid for with scholarships however, and it wsa less than 7,000 a year when I went!!! Our middle child may very well finish his associate's degree at the community college and then transfer somewhere... I don't know. If my child wants to go to a state school, then I think that is great!!! If they want to go to Yale, that is fine as well... Though I'm not sure we have enough saved up for that since I doubt they would not get merit aid and might not even get in!!! They may use the money in the 529 account if they are going to school and getting decent grades. If not, they may get a job. If it isn't enough, they can help out and get a job.

Where do you find the private browsing stuff. How do I know if I clicked that. I've checked my security tools and such and it isn't saying to delete history or anything. I'm positive that no one has access to this computer. I got it for Christmas. The kids know not to touch it. I have a password to get on that I don't have written down and haven't told anyone. (Besides, they have 2 other computers to work on and I don't think they would have any interest in mine.) I've deleted temporary internet files a couple of times since I have gotten it and just did it again, so I don't see how those could be full. Right now it doesn't even shoe I'm here. Weird.

Anyone??? It doesn't show that I have been here at all today.. or anywhere else!!! Why not?

Ok..part of this is missing the point. Even IF you do it with graph paper or whatever tool you use and you leave out the zeros.. To me, it just seems like floating numbers. They may be under the correct digit but if you write 738 looks like 738 to me not 73,800 even if you supposedly put it under the correct digit. To me, it just doesn't logically make sense. You are not adding 615,492, and 738. So why would you write it like that?? It is probably just my problem with my brain.

I can click on history and it shows me where I went yesterday, a week ago but NOTHING today. Why? I checked my security settings and they are the same.. No one else has access to this computer. It is all mine!!!

This is a family culture problem. Obviously this is what she has SEEN in her life. She probably won't reconsider because her parents think like this. For us, we started saving for college from the time they were babies.. It is automatically debited. My husband's parents did the same for him. We talk about how important it is to save for what you want around here. We also talk about debt A LOT. When we use credit cards, we discuss that we pay it off each month in full and that we earn airline miles that way. ( Enough to pay for all 5 of us to go to Europe!!!!) If we couldn't ever pay them off in a month, then we should cut them up. We've discussed how we paid off our house and then have the money that went into our mortgage automatically put in investment accounts so we don't see it and can't spend it. My boys would ask, "Do you have a coupon for that?" when we would go shopping. They have learned to wait until Madden 12 comes out so they can get Madden 11 REALLY cheap. To them it is still a new game. I remember my oldest wanting a Star Wars DVD game. It was 50 dollars. He waited until it eventually went on clearance for 15 dollars before he bought it. It is about parents not buying everything they want and not putting themselves in debt to do it. I see absolutely no reason for a person to have a cell phone until they are driving. I think I am the last person on the planet to think that. And even though my oldest has a phone, it is off most of the time when he is home. He is still capable of carrying on a conversation at a meal instead of texting other people. But I digress...

Would some "real" people please post in this thread. Obviously most of these people that have posted are multi-lingual themselves or have relatives. What about for the rest of us??? I tried Latin with all three... I just can't keep with it and I have some background in it. It gets pushed aside for other things... I restart it every year only o have it go out the window by October. Same with Spanish.. My oldest two are now doing Spanish in cc. They are starting their 2nd semester out of 4. Outsourcing is the only way I have been able to make it happen. So if you don't live in a foreign country or don't speak languages yourself, what do you do??? My days are already incredibly full making sure math gets done.

I don't remember much of anything... I'm the one that started the zero thread and I actually don't remember it being "taught" to me, but since I use them and I know what they mean, I must have been. I have absolutely no memory of being taught to read. My mom said that I was reading when I went to school, but she hadn't taught me. She said Sesame Street did. (It debuted when I was 2.) One thing I DO remember was learning what a thesis statement was. I wrote a research paper and my dad looked at it to proofread it and asked what in the world I was trying to prove and where was my thesis statement. I didn't understand that concept at all. He spent the day explaining it to me. My dad was VERY smart. Intimidatingly smart. (Perfect SAT score, full scholarship to Yale as a math major! Yet painted and wrote poetry. Was also his class president and football quarterback. He was also bipolar, but I digress...) I only went to him if I was desperate because he would spend HOURS explaining a basic concept because he thought you needed to explain/understand all facets of it. You needed to understand the why and not just the formula. As a kid, I was a "get er done" kind of gal. I didn't want the why. MMM and I wonder why my middle one's eyes glaze over as I try to explain the why of things.. Great..I have become my father...

Warning!!! The Kaplan tests for PSAT are fine but there grading scale is WAY too easy. The Gruber grading scales were much more accurate. Here is an example. If he missed 5 on the writing test on a practice test, then Kaplan's test prep book gave him a 74. The Gruber test book gave him a 65.

TCU said I was supposed to fill out the counselor evaluation form. However, half the questions are percentage of your school attending 4 year college, or what rank is he, how is the student's course selection compared to your other students, is the GPA weighted, etc. Most of it I will be putting NA. Now where is says my career in educatin spans____ years. Well, I taught for 5 years in ps before I stayed home and then I've been homeschooling for 8. So do I put 13?? Then there is a checklist where I am supposed to check either no basis, below average, average, good, excellent 10%,Outstanding 2%, or one of the top few I've ever encountered... I'm supposed to check this on things like creative, original thought and academic motivation..leadership. How in the world do you do that objectively? I mean I think he is really smart and motivated. But is he excellent? Top 2 percent?? Leadership... not really his strong suit so how far do I rank him down. That said, he never feels like he needs to follow the crowd. Even as a little kid, if you were not supposed to do something, he didn't. Would he motivate others to follow him..no.. He could really care less whether people follow him or not. He'll do what he knows he should do. Good grief. I don't have a clue how to fill this out. It seems rather pointless for a mom to fill out.

:lol::lol:

Wow..how do you do that?? We run it at least 2 times a day for 5 people. I just ran it and since I am cooking dinner, I will load it and run it again tonight. For lunch 4 people had plates, cups, etc. We used up 4 different tupperware containers of leftovers. The breakfast dishes were in there from this morning with omlets, cereal, etc. I run it twice a day nearly every day.

The anatomy is more of a Health course. My boys are doing Health right now with a textbook, CPR class and other projects.. As far as PE, the only way I could get it done here was to enroll my boys in pe at the cc. I know that sounds silly, but they just couldn't/wouldn't keep track of hours. It only cost 30 dollars for them to have a semester worth of racquetball. That was worth it to me!!!