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Barbara H

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Everything posted by Barbara H

  1. I wonder what high schools could be doing to better prepare students for the transition to more independent work and responsibility. It seems to come as a huge surprise to a lot of first year college students that they have to be self regulating to do reading and homework even if it isn't graded and also a huge surprise that there won't be extracredit or do-overs. The big reason I see first year students failing, especially math classes, is that they simply do not keep up with doing the work. It isn't that the work is overwhelming or even terribly time consuming, it is that the student needs to make the choice to do it consistently even if it isn't graded.
  2. It is great that she can get some credits in through dual enrollment. Unless she has a very specific two year degree and career path in mind, my suggestion would be focus first on the requirements for the AA or AS degree. Those are the classes that are most likely to meet transfer and meet requirements for a four year degree. While it is true she may stick with the idea that she only wants a terminal two year degree, I wouldn't necessarily put a huge amount of stock in that for a 10th grader who hasn't taken college classes yet because she doesn't really have the experience yet to really know what that means.
  3. Yeah, I wouldn't spend money for this one because there are a lot of good free resources. I have a few here: http://www.pinterest.com/hsuccess/homeschool-financial-literacy/ The actuarial foundation course is good.
  4. They are competitive but for some majors students can look into National Science Foundation funded REU (Research Experience for Undergraduate programs). The sad part is your child may not be home for summer. But, the good part is they are earning valuable research experience and the programs tend to pretty well paid. http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.jsp
  5. My internship was for a full academic year, but it was a substitute for taking one class. So, I got in 10-15 hours a week but it was while I was in school so it wasn't an economic hardship. I also got paid work experience working at the campus writing center. That is a very difficult situation for your brother. While it is a widespread practice, companies are often violating labor laws when they have full time unpaid interns. It is happening a lot since the economic downturn but it is getting some attention in the media.
  6. I agree. It is a shifting landscape for sure. It is getting harder to maintain a middle class lifestyle. I do think it is important for students to realize now that they can't just get a college degree and assume they've secured their future. I read something the other day from a former college president that really spoke to me... "Many students still opt for the easy path: the less demanding college, the easy major, the prof who doesn’t expect or demand much. Many don’t appreciate the connection between effort and outcomes... All college students would do well to periodically ask themselves this question: Why would anyone hire me? If the answer is, just because I have a college degree, you’d better think more deeply about the question." quote from George Cornelius
  7. I agree strongly that internships are important. I say this based on the research which shows students who intern have better job prospects after graduation. I also have personal experience with this because the internship I did in college helped me get one of my first jobs as well. My work study experience also helped me learn skills that I still use today. I think we are a long way from all students having an internship and certainly from all students having a meaningful internship. I would love to see more students realize they need to be prepared to offer something more than just "I have a college degree."
  8. Yes, that's true and especially a concern for photographers. Watermarking may help but it isn't a full answer. It is inevitable that people and bots will lift content and photos from your site. I've had many photos and whole articles pulled off and put on other sites in their entirety without permission and without attribution. While sometimes people don't understand rules of plagiarism, I was really irritated when a high school English teacher who should know better took articles from my site and posted them on another site with no link or attribution. I also had a cheating service ("we write custom essays for you") steal several articles from my site and post them as their own content on their site. Should I have been angrier at the high school English teacher or the cheating service?
  9. As far as blog comments, I would definitely set it up as moderated and keep an eye on it. There are all these bot spam generating things. I opted to pay for a plug in that stops spam or I'd be having to manually delete thousands of stupid junk comments every month.
  10. Learning colors is very much a task of developmental readiness and it can't be rushed. With normal exposure in daily life I've seen equally smart and motivated kids some learn it at two and some at four. Don't worry about it, it will happen. Play is the way young children learn. As long as there is conversation and interaction they will learn. I suggest: imaginary play with puppets and dolls ball games - roll back and forth cars and trucks music activities - dance to music, wave scarves in rhythm, have a parade around the house, march with loud feet, tip toe with quiet feet, stretch up to the sky, etc. simple crafts - magazine gluestick and you've got an activity helping in the kitchen - carry the napkins to the table, help spread jam on bread, help wash fruit. helping in the house- get their own clothes out of the laundry basket, find the socks, etc. this is a meaningful sorting activity nature walks - observe birds and squirrels, search for treasures like acorns, leaves, etc.
  11. Just in case it helps you or someone else. There is a coupon good until the end of the year for a $0 copay on Epi-pens. I was glad to find this because we have a pretty high co-pay on Epi-pens and you should have more than one. https://www.epipen.com/en/copay-offer
  12. I agree. It is a very individual case by case decision with all challenges and disabilities. There are situations where it makes sense to disclose because it really has to be and there are situations where it is best not disclose. I hope your daughter can find good resources and support at her new school. Wishing you both strength through treatment and the next steps of her college journey.
  13. I hope nobody gets the take away message from that article that students should not reveal anything personal. People who work in admissions are real people who want information to view student in the best light possible. There are absolutely situations in which it makes sense for students to share difficult experiences or hardships and particularly when it comes to blemishes on the academic record that really need to be explained. If a student failed some classes because they were in the hospital or their parent died, admissions needs to know that so they aren't left to assume the kid was just lazy or partying. If the student has a strong academic record there is more flexibility and choice in whether they decide to reveal. I do not think this is a clear cut right or wrong one size fits all policy. Some students prefer to be more private and others feel the difference/hardship/challenge is a fundamental part of who they are and they want to share it. The decision to reveal or not is an individual one that needs to be based on a full examination of the circumstances. For students who reveal it generally works best to share it from a positive perspective with some degree of resolution - so "there was a hard situation, here's what I did to fix it, here's what I need to keep doing and why I'm hopeful for the future."
  14. It is always interesting to me how individual it is from kid to kid. It can be tough to predict. My son was on the pretty extreme end of caution as far as not liking scary books and from age eight he didn't find Sherlock Holmes to be scary. Not exactly adventure but some other ideas... Watership Down Twain short stories Does he like humor - P.G. Wodehouse was a hit here at that age.
  15. The New York Times always manages to find the most extreme affluenza take on any aspect of college admissions! It is perhaps fun to read but not particularly relevant to the majority of kids applying. While I agree that teens are often not that good at realizing what impression they are making, most don't go to the TMI style. As an independent college counselor one of the things I do is coach students on essays. I read quite a wide range of essays from different students and see a broad range of first drafts. There are other problems I see much more often than TMI. One common situation are kids who have an idea of what they believe a college essay should be like. Maybe they've looked at samples online or read "best essay" books. These suggest the essay should be dramatic like a Hallmark movie of the week with lots of flowery descriptive language and SAT words. This leads students to write fake essays that are difficult to read and won't make a good impression. Another common problem is sort of the opposite of TMI... I call it "just the facts ma'am." These are students, many of them our future STEM majors, who have as their natural tendency to reveal no specific information. They sometimes write first drafts like they are in the witness protection program and can't reveal any details, and then they refuse to let their parents read them. ;-) Often these students just feel really uncomfortable with personal writing of any kind which is totally reasonable because they often don't have an idea how they can write something personal that isn't TMI or fake flowery. They need a gentle encouragement to reflect a bit and realize their thoughts and experiences have value. I really enjoy this group of teens and it is rewarding see them go from a tortured first draft to a genuine essay they are really proud of. I see a value in this process that goes beyond the essays themselves. When it is done right, essay writing can help students bring a better sense of themselves into college admissions and the transition to college. For anyone getting started on essays, here are a few articles from my website that I hope you find to be helpful: Common Application Essays Admissions Essays, Think about your Audience Common Essay Traps to Avoid
  16. We've lived with the one hour commute before and it was really hard for us. In addition to all of the lost time and car expenses, one key reason I'd fight against going back to a long commute is that he works at a sedentary desk job and the last thing I want to do is add more hours of sitting on to his day. This may not be a concern for people with more active and physical jobs but for anyone with a desk job I really think that health cost is something to consider. That car time has to come from somewhere in the day. If it comes off TV or being online maybe no big loss, but for a lot of people it is going to come off working out, going to the park, taking a walk after dinner, etc.
  17. On the first question, no worries about that at all. Many people sign up and just watch the lectures. And, many people sign up with good intentions but don't get to the course. Completion rates are pretty long because a lot of the people doing MOOCs are busy adults who are fitting it in with other things.
  18. And, to think I complained (okay just a little bit) about paying $65 this year. The part that got me was that they charged extra for the honor cords.
  19. At our house Playmobil was the main toy for many years to the point where many of the people ended up with names and families and long back stories and identities. To me the best part about Playmobil is that it all works together perfectly and kids can creatively combine it with other toys like wood blocks. You don't need the big stuff for it to be a fantastic toy.
  20. There are four free reports with each registration. To send to additional schools later will be an additional per school fee of around $10 a college. The reason why some families don't use the free reports is that you have to list the colleges before you get the scores back. That makes some students feel uncomfortable because they want to know the scores before they send them.
  21. Marie is raising a good point. At least for the first time encourage your kids to register just as soon as their registration window opens online.
  22. That was fun! It has been a long time I've heard that song.
  23. There is not a one size fits all answer to this question. If you can afford to fully pay for college and if child tends to score fairly well and they aren't aiming at extremely selective schools it may not matter a ton. But, for the majority of kids test scores do matter. For students who want to be admitted to highly selective schools scores can matter a great deal because it has become the expectation that successful applicants will have higher scores. This is particularly true for homeschoolers because colleges tend not to trust parent generated grade point averages so that outside validation of test scores can weight heavily. For students who are aiming for scholarships or schools that provide better financial aid (typically more competitive school) scores can matter a great deal. It is also the case that some colleges have automatic scholarships that have specific SAT or ACT cut offs. So, students who have x score get y amount of dollars every year. There are different kinds of test prep. I believe all students should have a basic familiarity with the test before they pay to take it. That familiarity can come from reading the directions carefully and taking a full length practice test at home using a timer. I often see students scores go up quite a bit the second time they take the test just because they are more comfortable and do a better job pacing themselves. Beyond that how much test prep helps will depend on the student's profile and the type of prep they do. I have had students who dramatically improved scores from pretty modest amounts test prep and it made a big difference for scholarships. One of my students this year calculated that he ended up earning about $500 an hour for the time he put into test prep. He wasn't going to make that working at McDonald's! I don't advocate making test prep a way of life by any means, but a little targeted prep, as little as ten hours, can be HUGE.
  24. It does depend a lot on the school and the major, but I will say I think people often underestimate the complexity of this stuff. As someone who does this for a living, I think I'm quite good at this but I still find it to be complicated particularly at bigger state schools. There can be multiple sets of requirements - general education requirements, pre-major requirements, major requirements, and school (such as Arts and Sciences, engineering) requirements and often many different options for meeting those requirements. For students who want to do something tricky like graduate early, complete a BA and MA in three years, dual degree, double major, complete requirements for med school admissions, etc. it really does take some focused attention. Some schools do have great advising and they will really work students through the steps, but at the majority of schools it really is on the student to figure out and I personally feel like it is totally fine for parents to be involved if the kids want them to be. To me this is not at all in the league of micromanaging what your kid eats or if they are doing their laundry or how they are getting along with their roommate.
  25. For students considering degrees that are based on a lot of CLEPs here's an article from my site that you may find to be helpful. I encourage you to look especially closely at question six about affordability. Whether a credit by exam degree with be less affordable than a more traditional path depends a great deal on your individual circumstances. http://homeschoolsuccess.com/credit-by-exam-questions/
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