A few months ago I saw a piece on the news that spoke about college scholarships and their availability even to the middle grades. When it comes to paying for college, what creative ways do you know of or have obtained? Please spell out the details first, and use acronyms later. It will make this post very searchable for others! I'm all ears! :bigear: ML

How's this: Indy productions: http://www.imdb.com/features/video/browse/indie/'>http://www.imdb.com/features/video/browse/indie/'>http://www.imdb.com/features/video/browse/indie/'>http://www.imdb.com/features/video/browse/indie/ Movies: http://www.imdb.com/features/video/browse/ Hope you find what something that will help! Enjoy! ML

Kareni, I can't get it to quote you! I did look at the sticky, and it was just a bunch of links! ML

Okay. Two things, somewhat related: NP that other cultures have something to contribute, and NP that "our own religion/culture has and does make mistakes." Do we (the US) have only one religion? Only one culture? In a broad sense, our political/economic establishment is identifiable as "one," although an argument between a democracy and a republic often appears. I've lived in many parts of the country, and there are many contrasts between them. And we certainly don't have one religion. Technically, we have no religion. It had to be that way during the days of writing the constitution. You had 13 colonies, each with their own view/understanding/practice of God, and different from the other 12. In order to cut through the discussion and move to presenting a signed document and united front (enabling them to borrow money from France so they could revolt against England) they signed our founding documents without Christ as the head of the country, or even defining what is meant by the word 'god' in any document it appears. Then there is the Treaty with Barbary Tripoli, (1796-97), signed with the Muslims. If we had been a Christian nation, they would not have signed any agreement. Article 11 of the Treaty begins: "As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion..." and this was approved by the US Congress without incident. So what "'our own' religion/culture" are you referring to? Yeppers. Doesn't appear to have taken long for free will to raise its ugly opportunity and seduce Adam and Eve to break the first covenant with God. There were many ramifications, the best being the second covenant...salvation changing from one of works (do this (obey) and you shall live) to one of grace (believe and you shall live). I think we are in agreement, it is just a matter of degrees...how far do you examine the other religions? With any examination (deep or not), bring it full circle and ground it back to your faith. Remember the commands God gave you to write His Truths on the hearts and minds of your children, as well as what to do about other gods. Have a great Lord's Day! ML

Okay, what exactly do they cover in "human odyssey?" I've not seen such a book, but then I probably haven't looked. High school level history will be my search topic this year at the convention. In college, History of Western Civ seemed to be the most intense history course they offered. I think it was a full-year course (3 quarters) I didn't have to take it, but talked to plenty of students who were taking it. They tended to love it, so I bought the text but haven't used it. Maybe I should dig it out, and check their world view! ML

Interesting...maybe its a 10yo thing. After a week w/o math, mine decide to subtract two fractions by a) making the numerator (top number) the same, and b) taking the larger number out of the smaller number, which blows holes in at least two math concepts...at least he knew that reversing the problem didn't prove his answer was correct!

Oh yes...what's a TOG? Tayana Owner's Group? Tapestry of Grace? I get SWB (Susan Wise Bauer) HOAW (History of the Ancient World), but TOG?

What a blessing! And good for you for giving her the ACT at such a young age. Many don't know that you can have your child take the college entrance tests starting in 7th grade. There's lots of reasons to do so...decrease in performance anxiety because they become familiar with the process over time, and colleges take the highest score, not the most recent! Brava! I would call the College Review Board, the folks that sponsor the tests and ask them. I had a similiar "as a home schooler" question, and they were very helpful. www.collegeboard.com should take you there! ML

In the bigger subject of "one world government" I wonder how commas (and spellings) will fair! What was that song years ago when economical foreign cars broke our shores...I'm turning Japanese, I really think so! Look how the world has changed since then! I live among so many cultures, Asian and middle eastern primarily, and discovering their nuances is quite fun!

Cathmom, were you wanting to use for something other than an elective? It could be strongly interwoven with a volunteer activity, like helping those with disabilities, etc.

Sorry Michelle, I meant to address my post to Janie! The last style book I bought was about 11 years ago while working as an editor, and it reflected the changes computers have brought over typewriters...font characteristics to show quoted materials instead of underlining, proportional spacing vs monotype facing of the font, etc. A lot of things are "cleaner," perhaps we're going Canadian? LOL Laura, is the sample from Rod & Staff? I use R&S and haven't found them to be "comma happy." It all seems pretty standard grammar training. You can definitely tell from R&S materials that they are training up their children to write and edit materials for production, be it a book, a sermon (Mennonite pastors are not seminary-trained but raised up from within a congregation), the missions field, or for curricula. Nearly all of their young women, and some of their men spend one or more years before marriage teaching in their mixed-grade classrooms). That's why their English is so strong - they have their goal in mind. And that is why Mennonite printing houses tend to have so much material!

Hi Jenn ~ I'm in SoCal...how about you? The plan is for Prof B's 3 books of Algebra. My oldest did the first book in less than the school year. Sounds impressive, but it was erred planning on my part ~ I had far more lessons planned out than the book had, and when she was 2/3rd through it, but only half way through the year, she spoke up! I spoke with Mr. Barrett at length, and he explained how the three books are best used with each grade. Since he doesn't have one (yet) we're going to use a geometry that teaches postulates and theorums to prove the logic behind the answer (isn't that the point of geometry ~ teaching reasoning skills?). I'm told by my more experience home-school moms most modern geometry courses have removed it, making it just a bunch of memorization...and pointless, boring and painful. Accelerated Learning's (ACE PACES) workbooks do use postulates and theorums, or your can look for old government school textbooks and figure out the answers! I picked up ACE last summer at the hs convention. I do need to figure out what to do for calc and trig...what are you planning on? Do you ever wonder if colleges will recognize your math program? It's so good, and they are learning it so well. I hope the proof is in the pudding - their test scores! LOL ML

Thank you Sandy for the details. It's very helpful. I knew of Purdue's program, but not of Butler (I'm originally from OH). I would love to see them attend USC (straight-through), and acceptance is tough. Not to mention cost! The other local alternate is a school that does nothing but medical related degrees ~ and then they lose out on the width of elective offerings at a university. Congrats again on your son!

Hi Georgia, Yes, I caught that after I posted it. My bad. Yes, I caught that last night too. Its facinating to see what others have done! ML Oh! I've become a Larvae!

Perhaps making it real will help. Is he into sports? Spending money? After months of drilling the tables, numbers seem so 'out there.' Helping him see how they are used in real life can make it more useful. Batting averages, parts of dollar...anchors the spatial idea to something they know. Does he help in the kitchen? How about helping to make breakfast and doubling (or halving) the hot cereal? Or altering the size of the fudge recipe? Or using a toast & jam (or a sandwhich) as a learning tool? Making it concrete may make all those numbers have some meaning when it comes to multiplying/dividing or adding/subtracting the fractions. As soon as you get past fractions, you'll be dealing with decimals, and the same 'real world' applications will apply! ML