The following 2 page profile of Mr. Coleman, his background, influence, employment history and so forth may help those weighing the issues. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/10/the-schoolmaster/309091/ The following is a bit more about the types of goals/changes the College Board is seeking: http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/college-boards-new-president-sees-walls-that-must-come-down/32498/

If you are reading this thread, and you have not read the common core standards for yourself, please do. Make sure to look over the Appendixes/Exemplars as well. Yes, homeschoolers should read them. Anytime 45+ states agree to adopt something, it is worth knowing. Powerful forces are aligned on all sides of the potential issues, pro or con the merits or vices of standards themselves, pro or con the way they were adopted, pro or con the way they will be implemented, pro or con the changes they may produce and so forth. Whatever position one takes, it is important to recognize that change is underway and try to understand what the change is.

We don't use them, but am bumping this for you. Hopefully, someone will be able to advise.

TY for sharing.

"It is great living out of the box."

:hurray:

Also, the Teaching Company has a course. I have not seen it, but keep thinking about picking it up . In their coursebooks they often have great bibliographies.

For the origins of the Russia up till the Romanov's http://www.amazon.com/Russia-Land-Tsars-Edward-Herrmann/dp/B000096FU4/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1362233609&sr=1-1&keywords=tsar is great.

Dd chose Saxon. The choice did not make sense to me. She is an artist, very verbal, very demonstrative, very musical and very creative. To look at a Saxon text.......well read what Regentrude says repeatedly (dull, lifeless...). After thinking about the questions, working with her for several years and trying to figure out Dd's attachment to Saxon...I think it is beginning to dawn on me. She may love to live in a world of wonder, think deviantly, contruct, create, talk and move, but she absolutely detests being toyed with or entertained when she sees something as serious business (she is not at all amused by the busy chatty nature of some texts). She loves math, it is serious business. This kid looks at Saxon and beings to generate music and poetry -- that is her greatest struggle (she keeps blank staff lined paper in her notebook) ... she jokes that if she needs inspiration she opens the book. I guess it is like looking at a lump of clay, some see what it can be, others see clay. Dd doesn't want it already polished, she wants it bare. She compares the spiraling to practing guitar or doing scales for voice. Yes, we have talked about this a lot. It really baffled me. I also suspect the independence of it appeals greatly to her. Although I teach, tie together concepts and pull examples from elsewhere, she could do it on her own. Dd does very well with math in a wide variety of contexts. At some point, I just accepted what worked. This is why I say it may be worth a drive to some place where your Dd could really examine what the choices are.

:iagree: With Joan's post. I would add that a book is a very tactile experience. Books have their own aroma, pages make sounds as they turn, they age... if my digital device started created aromas as I read, I might have to stomp it. I am ok with my books living, I am not okay with digital devices liviing. One is comforting, the other eerie and disturbing.

I wish numbers were attached, not just percentages.

Have you done interactive real time courses? Was it better?

We would be in that group. A lot could change, but assuming the better of her two teen self's prevails in the end :rolleyes:, we would be glad to have her home. Although I must say the dog may be so spoiled by the time she is away a couple of years, he might have issues with it.

It is a great question. Just from watching Dd and her friends, I suspect it will be something to do with being able to be authentic, personable and perceived as authoritative without being condescending. Those are the things Dd insists on whenever we are in the market for anything that may be similar.

They were not a hit for us. Frankly, what wound up making it stick for Dd was moving on and her deciding it was worth her while to nail them to speed up solving more complicated things. But, that is her nature.

I am terrible :blushing: I would bring Krispy Kremes and coffee. ----going to hide in a hole now

Agreed. But, the long term trends do indicate some change might be needed. The trend toward shortened career spans, multiple life time careers, constant change in skill demands....it all means learning will be a lifetime pursuit not just for life quality but for life necessity. I keep thinking we will have two sorts of "success" for those in careers. The local tradesman/artisan and the international everythingman (or insert woman in either). The middle will be a difficult place to be. You sound like us, we saved and saved and saved for college for Dd.

I need to play with quotes so that I can respond neatly like you! Yes, the tech allows you to be incredibly detailed. My daughter has been using it for years and it just keeps getting better. She uses it for art and design, learned from an inker who used it to collaborate coast to coast with writers. I have taught , and do a great deal of public speaking. It is as you describe, we agree. The thing is we have way too many kids going to college, assuming loads of debt and finishing with degrees they struggle to apply in the marketplace. Worse we have far too many who go, assume the debt and don't finish. I am very interested in finding ways to end those trends. I don't love Skyping, I love speaking in public and working in groups. But, Dd is coming along in a different world and they are learning in ways that are different. I suspect we may not have much choice eventually.

This is the experience that has so many schools work so hard at creating diverse entering classes. For the students who take advantage of what this offers it can be amazing. But, I can see where they could come to know each other online in the first couple of years before they mingle face to face the last two. This is a generation that can begin to know the world via the keyboard if they wish. Again, just thinking...

All I can contribute is that Furman has a pretty strong alumni network. I have no experience with the school personally, but have known people who did and it always struck me the way they seemed connected long after leaving college.

A bit more to chew on for us all..........http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/the-phd-bust-americas-awful-market-for-young-scientists-in-7-charts/273339/

Check out this article fromt the Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/02/heres-exactly-how-many-college-graduates-live-back-at-home/273529/ With percentages like those living at home after a 4 year experience, it just seems like sending them away so you have time to clean their rooms before they return or something.

To the extent that students engage in labs in their first two years (I know I had a lot...but ), why couldn't they attend for a 5/6 week intensive of the labs. What about the use of a Bamboo for online blackboarding, chat at bottom of screen. If you think about it, big screens for computers are getting cheaper everyday. You could easily have blackboard at top, student with video icons and their own bamboo entry areas at bottom. The cost of that set up to the student is a lot less than living on campus. You are right, there are challenges and experiences that would be different, maybe better different, maybe worse different. The thing is I have seen such huge change in the way we all live in my life, I just can't dismiss that we don't have to educate the same way we always have to be effective.

Here is the thing I am wondering....do they need 4 years, on campus. I look at the developing tech options and I really wonder if we couldnt' have freshman do their first year at home. Or even do two years, with something like once a year intensives on campus. Just thinking...

I wish I could remember where, but I read a year or two ago about ACT securing contracts with several states that made the ACT and the precursor tests it offers mandatory for students in public schools. They were huge contracts, big $ and put ACT over the top in terms of number of students taking. It had something to do with Race to the Top applications ....I just can't remember where it was. The ACT has always, even back in the days when I still could wear skinny jeans wihtout looking ridiculous, been associated more with achievement and the SAT with critical thinking skills. Some even argued that the part of the SAT most relevant as a predictor of college success was the CR part, not the math. I was advised to take both back in the day of the VCR vs Beta vs Laser Disk wars.