Candid
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Posts posted by Candid
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How long has the school been in business? If they have a track record the administrator maybe speaking from experience.
However, it is becoming increasingly the case that schools suggest holding back even bright children. Our local day school rarely accepts any child for K until they are 6. They administer a test, but I've never heard of any child being admit until they are 6. It makes me figure that they are making things easier for themselves by having maturer children overall.
Depending on when you need to make this decision, you can do some things to assess your son to determine if holding him back as recommended would be a good idea.
He could take a single class at the school, an elective with multiple age levels and you could use feedback to guide you.
OR you could try another source for a class or two (for outside classes, I'd let them know up front that at the end of the class you'd like to get honest feedback then follow up at the end of the class).
You could also use standardized testing to help guide you. Ideally, using a test the school uses would give you a good comparison of your son's scores to their scores. This direct comparison will help more than an overall average because it is possible a school's students would preform on average better pr worse than the test's norm.
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I read about Engineering Psychology recently. I thought that it sounded intriguing, and it wasn't something that I had heard of before. Disclaimer: my background is in engineering, not psychology :)
It seems to mostly be a graduate program, but Tufts offers an Interdisciplinary BS.
This is interesting to me in part because I recently bought a salad spinner that talked about doing studies and learning that people liked to push buttons so they designed their spinner with a button pushing mechanism (a big button). I wonder if the engineering pysc folks were involved.
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Yes, she needs to know what she wants to do.
A psyc degree won't get her far in the business world. It is possible she could also get a social work job with a psyc degree (although most those jobs are hired by government types and they tend to be rigid about degrees).
Also, a sociology degree is not the same as a social work degree so if she does want to do social work she should look for a degree in that. She should be encourage to talk with people who are social workers with a mix of experience in the field. One of the worst things I noticed while doing social work was how quickly new graduate burned out and/or became totally bitter and hostile to their clients. It is a difficult pat to walk and stay motivated.
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The NCAA number of courses required is a pretty low bar so I wouldn't get too excited about this. I suspect even a child who took all classes at a cc and then had them knocked in half by the NCAA would still make the hurdle for NCAA.
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In this thread, I spend some time defining and defending how you can choose a rigorous program in lit and history. Other subjects like science and math would have different standards. Any way, here's the thread:
I'm now mulling over a broader, shorter standard. To be rigorous is driven by content, pace, and expectations. However some care in defining terms is needed, because if you like you, can use that last variable to label anything rigorous, so let me see if I can show why that is:
I can set content and pace so that a child is challenged and say that this is a rigorous program for this one particular child. Heck I could use my dog as the expectation of rigorous. My kids are doing tons better than her in reading and math, less so in happy obedience.
OR I can set an average child of some sort (age, skill set, etc) and set the expectations of content and pace based on so that average child would be challenged. In this second case, I can then say I have a rigorous program for this sort of child. The trick here is to define that average child.
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Thanks, Candid. I'm not sure I'm wording the issue correctly and your response has helped me clarify a bit.
Maybe I'm having trouble adjusting to the change from being totally responsible for almost all of her classes since preschool. Just trying to dialogue with other hs moms and make sense of it all.
Being responsible and to work on time and being able to break down big projects are also important skills, They can be obtained at home, but you have to monitor yourself to make sure you're not allowing them whatever time they want.
Also, an important goal is to be able to learn something that isn't catered right at them, to be part of a big group, to learn from a jerk of a teacher. This will be important not just in college, but in life.
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While I think you can still cater to such an orientation, if this child is head out in the world it probably is wise to begin to help them learn to use resources that aren't visual; how to create their own visual-spatial props to go with such resources. Or learn to find supplements if they need them.
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I think you are making a false distinction between out sourcing and independent learning. They are not the same nor do they preclude each other, same with education you do at home.
To me independent learning is when a person decides they want to learn some knowledge or skill set and they find a way to teach themselves, That way might be enrolling themselves in a class, it might be reading a book, or watching a master craftsman, it will vary by learner and goal.
The real question on this that I would ask about my child and out sourcing is does the child come to you with questions and commentary about the class? Are they running what they hear in class through the filter of logic and facts they already possess? OR are they just passively taking it in?
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Thanks so much Jean and Candid. I just went over the paper with DS and showed him your comments. He agreed with much of what you both had to say though there were a few choices that he gave a good defense for. I told him that if he had to explain some of his choices (particularly the quotes), then that needed to be included in the paper itself.
Also, he asked me to clarify an error on my part with the following comment. Apparently, the bolded sentence that didn't make sense was because I mis-typed "gave HIM an edge" instead of "gave THEM an edge." He was trying to say that Telemachus' fear gave the suitors an edge. That was my mistake and he wanted to clear it up. :tongue_smilie:
I think you've nailed it in regards to the quotes and explaining in the paper.
The second paragraph tells me he didn't give you the paper in an easily copied and pasted format, I'd make him do that. (This is what you get when you try to blame your mom on a home school forum inhabited mostly by other home school moms.)
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Here are two shorter, "introductory" texts for social science majors:
My suggestion is to investigate them and others and then buy an earlier edition to save on cost.
For instance, here's the third edition of the first one I link:
http://www.amazon.com/Statistical-Methods-Social-Sciences-Edition/dp/0135265266/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380212844&sr=8-1&keywords=Statistical+Methods+for+the+Social+Sciences+%283rd+Ed.%29 You can get it used for under $30.
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The Triumph of Telemachus
Many stories these days are about superheroes who protect innocent people and save humanity. Homer's "The Odyssey" conveys a superhero theme in some quite different ways. Although Odysseus is the main hero in "The Odyssey," his son, Telemachus, faces his own share of hardship and emerges bravely and confidently to help restore his father to his former glory.
I think his thesis is good, but this paragraph could stand to put a bit more and tell the read where Telemachus begins and where he ends.
While his father was still lost, Telemachus convinced himself that he was a weak little boy with no control over his mother's suitors. "He could almost see his magnificent father, here... in the mind's eye -- if only he might drop from the clouds and drive these suitors all in a rout throughout the halls and regain his pride of place and rule his own domains!" This in turn made him unable to fight the suitors by himself and gave him an edge right off the bat. A doubtful Telemachus looks for some kind of sign from above for years, and after all those years, one finally does reach him.
This paragraph immediately cripples his good beginning. The sentence in bold, make no sense in terms of his theme. The first half begins fine but the ending makes me wonder if he knows what he is saying: to have an edge is to have an advantage. This is exactly what Telemachus does not have.
Also the first sentence might say instead "While he thought his father was still lost,"
His quote supports his thesis but he does not not really show why it does. This Telemachus thinks his father could just defeat all the suitors single-handedly. At this point Telemachus is like a princess in a fairy tale waiting for his magnificent father to save him rather than participating in the saving.
The goddess Athena comes to visit Telemachus. She tells him of his father and sends him on a quest to King Nestor for information about Odysseus. Before he leaves, however, he faces the suitors and condemns all of them. "But I'll cry out to the everlasting gods in hopes that Zeus will pay you back with vengeance -- all of you destroyed in my house while I go scot-free myself!" So Telemachus declared. And they all bit their lips, amazed that the prince could speak with such daring. He then departs for King Nestor and speaks with him. When he returns, he is invigorated and a firm believer in his father's return.
First, the bolded sentence is superfluous, I'd cut it. Otherwise, I think this paragraph is good in showing how Athena's interventions serves to move Telemachus from whining to his first actions. It is possible that he could lightly edit it to show this more clearly.
Odysseus returns disguised as a beggar and reveals his identity to Telemachus. Telemachus is then even more pumped to fight the suitors. Penelope suspects that the beggar is Odysseus and hosts an archery contest for all of the suitors. They all fail, but when Odysseus steps up he nails a clean shot through the targets. Telemachus and his father then turn on the suitors and slaughter every last one of them. "The inspired Prince Telemachus heard his pleas and quickly said to his father close beside him, "Stop, don't cut him down! This one's innocent!"" So, Telemachus has finally achieved his goal of ridding Odysseus's great halls of the unworthy suitors.
I think the part about Penelope suspecting the beggar is Odysseus might not be correct, but I'd have to go back and look.
In this paragraph the supporting quote isn't very relative to what he is trying to show and he might want to find another. I'm pretty sure that battle scene must have one OR maybe the planning prior to it will have something.
I also would not use the phrase "more pumped" in a literary analysis paper.
Prince Telemachus changed dramatically over the entire span of the Odyssey. He goes from being a frightened young boy to a man brave enough to take on an entire army alone. Odysseus is the hero with which this story is concerned, however, many overlook the growth and triumph of his son, Telemachus.
Again this paragraph could be more filled out. It should reflect back to the introduction.
I also don't think he's really done anything to show the "many" in this phrase "many overlook the growth and triumph of his son, Telemachus" So I would suggest altering that sentence to not include supposed missing of Telemachus by readers.
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As an idea, you can pack homemade for her if you desire, I'd just pack the cookies or bars into individual zip lock bags either sandwich or snack sized before sending. You could then put all the smaller bags into one larger gallon sized bag.
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We have it. I don't have any results to tel you about, yet. But it is a big hefty book that I think is worth the money.
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I think that a few weeks of concentrated grammar and sentence structure study would be entirely reasonable. I just wouldn't fixate it around the SAT.
a few weeks of focused SAT prep certainly make sense. We did some concentrated prep (but, like Margaret says, the best preparation were years of reading). Btw, we never did any formal grammar; it is not necessary for SAT success.
:iagree:
What you might consider doing is inter spacing this time with studies or writing. You could even have her write specifically with whatever skills she studied the previous week. I think that would cement the skills you are trying to build better than one six week chunk, but I understand if you have a test date already signed up for this might be a problem.
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I'm afraid I'm more heartless. Once we are past the age of a book, it is gone. I am not keeping books for grandchildren. My experience is that any books that are worthwhile will be available in the future. And I generally can find out of print stuff cheaply.
Books are things, they weight you down. I love them, but if I see not use in the close future then they can be jettisoned. I want to be a good steward of people and relationships not a good steward of things.
I did a huge clean out this summer, emptying three bookcases of all our old elementary aged books. I had a great time selling boxes with 40 plus books for $5 (I charged because I've learned you get more takers that way than free). I had some moms come back to get more boxes and call or email me to tell me how much their kids were already enjoying the books. That is priceless.
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Kai - I just did this. It was disconcertingly successful. I taught a friend how to use the Singapore bar method. Instead of using the Singapore textbooks, I used Singapore's Handbook for Mathematics Teachers in Primary School, which goes through how to use the bar diagrams from the beginning through basic algebra much more quickly. It took about 6 hours. I am now going to back up and go through the Singapore textbooks because she's missing a lot of basic math skills and she's going to have to take college level science skills, so I want her to be thinking correctly about the math, not just following memorized algorithms, but as far as word problems and the bar diagrams went, she caught on really fast and was able to set up complicated problems beautifully. She also loved the method. If I hadn't happened to have that book, I would have gone through starting with Singapore 2, just as you are inclined to do, and picked out the bits having to do with word problems. Teaching bar diagrams seemed the safest way to me.
Nan
I have used the same teacher's book to reteach the bars to my oldest who ignored them until he reached problems that couldn't be done by him without them. It was quick and successful, but there is a more advanced book on the bars that I like as well:
http://www.singaporemath.com/Bar_Modeling_A_Problem_solving_Tool_p/bmpst.htm
Then use problems in the higher level 5 and 6 books as practice.
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I'm afraid my first response is "Good Lord, NO!!"
If you want to add on a vocabulary prep piece, fine, but plan around that, no! A thousand times no!
Okay, enough of the melodrama, I don't think this is a great idea on a number of fronts. But more importantly, I'm also pretty sure that studies will show that students who learn both vocabulary and reading comprehension the natural way through reading do better on the SAT. So study literature instead.
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Unless colleges have changed on this, you should get use to its use in higher education to track your student.
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Joan, I do not have to track hours and I don't like the idea of doing so, but you are in a specific situation where you need to do so.
One thing to consider is the hour tracking your dd does not have to be complex. She could have a weekly sheet with each course down it and then make a tick mark for every 15 minutes she works on a subject. Then at the end of the week, you or she could add this up to produce hours spent on each subject.
I don't know how HST works, but a simple spreadsheet would capture weekly hours on each subject pretty easily.
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We're already in a rut. My dc are "get-it-done" types, wanting no extra projects - just read, discuss, write papers, and test as necessary. So, given that, what kinds of assignments/projects/games would you assign to liven up the learning process? They'll be taking part in a student government project later in the year, but we need something more interesting NOW for both history and government. Thanks for sharing any ideas!
So what exactly are you using? Is it one text book? Do you have original sources? What are the discussions like? Fact finding discussion or discussions that are more open?
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I don't think it matters, especially for younger children. At some point in middle school, you might like to begin to tie the humanities together although even then it isn't totally necessary.
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If number of problems on the page is the problem, I would be tempted to just type out my own workbook space out more.
As for color, I've got bad news for you and him, he's in fourth grade books are going to get more and more black and white over the next couple of years.
The flip side of this bad news is that he should be outgrowing the desire for colorful as well.
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I'm having a hard time trying to find a Christian friendly narrative history for children other than SOTW. Maybe because I'm not in the loop as far as Christian authors/historians goes.
Just by the by, I didn't find any problems with finding more modern texts with a rich language/narrative component.
I might go through my bookshelves at some stage and post some of the resources we've used to narrate from in case they are helpful.
I think the easiest way to get people using the book to switch is to gently edit the book. So leave most of the narrative intact but change out words and possibly build in light counter narrative in some places.
I actually once started to do this, but gave up due to lack of time. You'll need to flag some material to study and learn about to provide a balanced perspective.
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I was just wondering if this has changed for anyone? I just got the email from DNPE and at the end of the "update your information" section, there's a "will you mail in your information" question there. I hit the "No" answer, but someone earlier in the thread said that they only do inspections for year 2 people, and this is my 2nd year HSing in NC. I want to make sure I'm doing everything correctly. (I was in VA before, which was more restrictive, but also less confusing. Plus HEAV is FANTASTIC. I really miss them.)
I suspect that everybody but newbies will get the email. My understanding when they sent the cards was that you didn't get it until your third year. I'm guessing that was to save on costs because a lot of home schools don't make it past year one.
Here's the one thing I don't see up thread, DNPE can and does close home schools if they think the person is no longer at the address on file. Legally home schoolers are supposed to notify them of any changes in real address; so don't forget to update them if you move. The easiest way to do that would be by their online program, but you will also need to keep your email registered with them up to date as well.
I'll also disagree with Ellie's advice to mail in test scores, you never, ever have to mail your test scores in. They must under law come to your school to inspect files. You don't have to let them in, they can inspect them on your front porch, but they have to come to your location.
Finally, I happen to know an original home schooler in NC. Unfortunately many of the loudest voices on the NCHE board are still those folks. They had a very cozy, positive relationship with DNPE and the original administrator of that agency. My friend told me one time when she was having her in home inspection, the DNPE rep mentioned the next stop on the list. Someone my friend knew, so my friend load the pumpkin she had for that person into the DNPE rep's car. My friend has never been on the NCHE board, but she has the same relationship with DNPE.
While NCHE's roll over attitude annoys me, I also am well aware that these people risked a lot to home school. They could have been arrested (eventually someone was). So I understand where they are coming from. I also understand the deep appreciation they have for DNPE because the home school law stalled until the original administrator of DNPE volunteered to have home schoolers placed under him. I am very glad not to have to report to a local school board.
How do you make a real looking mountain?
in General Education Discussion Board
Posted
I'm afraid your post tile makes me want to say: time, geological uplift, erosion.