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Robin in Tx

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Everything posted by Robin in Tx

  1. Thanks for the responses. I'm still curious about my overall theory... maybe I should repost with that in the subject line. However, I am curious to know what the difference is between Life Science and Biology. What is Life Science lacking that prevents it being called Biology? I thought Biology was, by definition, Life Science. Shows you how little I know! LOL Robin
  2. This course is being offering locally next year, and the teacher is claiming that a family *could* count this as high school (biology). I know BJU science is one of the tougher/more advanced courses, but this seems like a stretch. Maybe she's supplementing? However, looking over some of the material in the book, I realized that a lot of this stuff I learned in college biology. I've also heard others say that they can't believe what BJU teaches in the sciences to middle school students... so maybe there's something to this... Just curious... what do y'all think? If a student has truly learned everything in the BJU 7th grade course, are they just as well off as a student who took high school biology? To me, this is just as much a question about what a student actually learns as it is a question about what the book contains. If not more so. This is just theoretical for me. I find myself wondering all the time if an easier course that is fully mastered isn't a more profitable learning experience than a more challenging course that a student struggles through and feels free to forget after the final exam. I'm thinking about this as it relates to all subjects, not just science. The BJU Life Science course offering caused me to start thinking about it again, and I'm wondering what you guys think... Let's say a child goes through Life Science and learns it all because it is not too tough, and then let's say another child goes through Biology but it's tough and they don't remember quite a bit after the course is over... which one of the kids really know more about biology? Can you tell I'm planning for next year? Hee hee... I am truly struggling with having the courage to pursue non-traditional methods. I'd like to experiment with my theory, but I don't want my kid to be a guinea pig, kwim? :) Have a lovely day! Robin
  3. Susan, I am very sorry I can not attend your conference. I've been waiting almost ten years for something like this! I'm working for a youth theatre group, and our production of Annie opens the same weekend and my daughter is Mrs. Pugh :). I am very disappointed that there is a conflict. Please know I would be there in a heart beat... Also, I'm interested in recordings of the sessions. I hope your conference is successful and that everyone has a great time. Love and well wishes to you and all at PHP, Robin
  4. Howdy WTM boardies!! Long time no see!! I honestly don't know when I was on last... months and months ago, an eternity it seems! Can I start out by saying how SICK I am that I won't be able to attend the conference in May? That is our opening weekend of Annie and my daughter is Mrs. Pugh. Do you think she would notice if I took off? Seriously, this is a MAJOR bummer for me. SWB, you're just going to have to host a private visit from us :) Nothing much in the way of an update... I've taken a part time job that is really much more than part time (this explains my absence from the boards). My dd is loving theatre. We are finishing up Chalkdust PreAlgebra (which is worth special mention because it will be the first time we actually FINISH a math book. Big shout out for CD). My dd will be 14 this summer, can you believe??? We saw the broadway production of Les Miserables today and I am a complete puddle. I broke down three times. I just know someone here will commiserate with that :). I think of everyone here regularly. I can't imagine what all I've missed!! What's the board highlights of the year? Any raging curriculum wars? Any new must haves for middle/high school? Gosh, it feels good to pop in. Hope you are all having a great year, and that things slow down for me soon so I can drop by more often. Your faithful WTM friend, Robin
  5. It was a joke... :) but I did think everyone would like to see the results!! The Timms always sets off a few good conversations (or should I say arguments :). ETA: I thought there was some good news in the report. especially the part about the students on the lower end of the scoring scale having made improvement. That really is good news...
  6. http://nces.ed.gov/timss/results07.asp Are we going to see Hong Kong math now? :) Robin
  7. Futures trading (speculation) had a lot to do with prices this summer. Also, prices always come down after Labor Day (after the busy travel season). Lowering demand lowered the price, but so has a bit of a "calm" in the market. Remember, OPEC made no real changes in their output. It wasn't OPEC that forced the prices up, it was American market speculators. It's also true that futures trading pulls back in anticipation of a world wide recession, which lowers prices. Around $70/crude or $2 a gallon or a little less is a good place to be. High enough to encourage alternative resources, high enough to make domestic drilling profitable, yet low enough to keep from hurting the average family too much. Robin
  8. From Peter Pan, which opened last weekend. She's the pirate in the purple petticoat. We're having so much fun with the musical - more fun that I ever thought I'd have in a theatre program. Lots of hard work, though, which is why I'm hardly HERE anymore. Just wanted to share! Robin
  9. I guess that depends on which chart you're looking at. According to some charts, anything about 141 is genius. Off the Mensa website (this explains why we all look at the the numbers differently):
  10. They don't do as well with lettuce unless you put paper towels in there with them to absorb the moisture. Otherwise, you are right... they are best suited for crisp items, not leafy ones.
  11. Now Ria... you know the rules!! You may not mention yummy baking without including recipes!! LOL I would love to have a good sour dough starter/bread recipe... both of yours, please! English muffins, too!! :)
  12. Have you tried those green produce bags? I've had pretty good luck with them. I think the bagged salads are almost too dry. I have even better luck when I rinse and spin them in a salad spinner and then store them, probably because it gives the greens a "drink". Maybe try dampening a paper towel and tossing it in the bag? After rinsing and spinning salad, I layer it while still barely damp with paper towels in the green bags (or tupperware bowls), and that has always produced my very best results. Just enough moisture to keep the greens hydrated, with something to absorb any excess dampness.
  13. If you were on my ignore list, then I wouldn't be able to see the poll!! LOL Why would anyone put you on an ignore list?? You're hilarious to read!
  14. How to choose a favorite??? Probably Steve Martin or Bill Murray. I like Martin Short a lot, too. There's a special place in my heart for Gilda. Sniff sniff. Then there's Chevy Chase and Will Farrell and Eddie Murphy...
  15. Well now, maybe *that* commonality explains why we have such high numbers reported here! Ducking for cover now...
  16. Actually, I can't think of a good reason why a lot of people behave the way they do on internet message boards! LOL Well, there you are. If over 140 isn't considered genius anymore, then that would explain it. I guessed everything's getting dumbed down these days!!
  17. I know three are a lot of very bright, intelligent women on this board, but I think the responses are HIGHLY inflated! Less than 0.5% of the population have an IQ above 141... and I doubt those people are hanging out on these boards in such large numbers! LOL Really, I would take the responses with a HUGE grain of salt!
  18. Yes, that sums him up quite well. When he speaks, I listen. He's always got a unique slant and he never spins anything. He argues his point straight out, with masterful rhetoric. Laura is very conservative radio host, sitting in on the O'Reilly show tonight (not her show... sorry, that was a mistake).
  19. I listen to whatever I like, and I like just about everything but rap. Just don't like rap. You really do have to catch yourself with the lyrics sometimes, though... there's a song by Nickleback, I think (I like rock)... something about a photograph... and one of the lines says, "What the hell is that on Joey's head?" My dd and I laugh at that line all the time, but you know, you have to be careful who you're with... Sometimes the lyrics ruins the song for me. More so in Country Western songs than in pop/rock. I usually don't like songs about edgy behavior, like getting drunk songs, or Carrie Underwood's "Next time he won't cheat on me" or the "I kissed a girl and I liked it" song. But I really do like all kinds of music. Depending on the mood, we switch from Christian radio to country to oldies to pop/rock to classical. They're all programmed on my car radio. Robin
  20. Okay, I know... he despises religion and he would hate me if he met me... But getting past that, I happen to like him a lot. He was very interesing on Laura's show tonight, what little she let him speak (GRRR), but told why he has a little more confidence in Obama than McCain. What I like about him is he always has something unique to say. He's a brilliant man and an original thinker, even when I don't agree with him. Summary: He basically thinks that on foreign policy (the war, in particular) that McCain is brittle and that Obama has shown teachability and signs of maturing towards the position that Hitchens holds (he's a hawk on the war, btw). It was a very interesting interview. I just wish Laura would have shut up and let him talk more. Just wondering if anyone else saw it and found his comments as intriguing (even if you don't agree with them). Does anyone else like him as much as I do? I know he really gets under Christians' nerves quite a bit... Robin
  21. Patty, you make a good poitn and to be honest, I'm actually a little more supportive of a federal property tax that I am a federal sales or income tax. It's tied to property values which are more stable, and just like there are homestead and over 65 expemptions on property taxes, each proprety can have a certain amount of its value exempted from federal tax based on the property's use and the status of the owner (married with ten kids would get more of an exemption than married with two, for example). I don't know. It's not easy however you look at it... the tax code does have *some* usefulness... penalizing undesirable activity by taxing it highly, encouraging desirable activity by giving tax breaks, an avenue for imprisoning criminals on tax evasion when other charges are hard to prosecute, etc. (not that it's used often, but still... it's something to think about). Robin
  22. You don't. But you do whata lot of my friends do. Eat only the meat you hunt or livestock you raise. Grow your own garden. Or do what I do a lot of the time - buy stuff from roadside (guys selling watermelons, etc., out the back of his truck). It will be easy to avoid taxes on food. Very easy. I'm not fond of the current code and the massive resources it take to comply/enforce, but I'm leary of this particular alternative. Listen to what people are saying. They are saying they can drastically reduce their federal tax burden just by reducing their consumption. Okay. So, if all these people (certianly not the poor and lower middle class because they don't have a large tax burden anyway) decided to do that then who is going to be left to pick up the tab? Where is the govt going to get the revenues they would normally get from Jane Doe under the current system if Jane Doe ends up paying less under the new system? If Jane Doe makes a good income yet lives modestly, then her share of the tax burden will be the same as the family next door who is likely struggling. This smacks of the rich getting richer while the poor and middle class have more and more of the tax burden shifted towards them (as a percentage) because they don't have discretionary income for savings and investment. If it takes 90% of their income just to purchase the things they need every month, and if it takes Jane Doe only 40% of her income because she has all this discretionary income that she has chosen not to spend, then the family will be taxed at a much higher rate than the way it works now. I don't know that I consider that very fair... Also mixed up in my mind is the accusation that this county is based wrongly on consumerism and how awful that is... yet we're also saying that we want to rely on consumerism to fund our national budget. This is not a new idea... it's been floating around for a long time... the concerns about it are valid. Especially the concerns that it shifts the tax burden down the income scale and rich just get richer.
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