New Excellence In Literature Review on TOS!

Posted on July 2, 2009 
Filed Under Homeschool, Reviews, Teaching Literature, Teaching Writing | Leave a Comment

I’m always happy to get a good review of one or more of my books, and this morning I came across a very nice review on The Old Schoolhouse website. Kathy Gelzer has done a beautiful job of outlining the distinctive features of Excellence in Literature, and she offers good advice on the type of student who would be best suited for this curriclum.

It’s sometimes hard for an author to step back and remember to describe something thoroughly enough for others. We’ve lived with our work for so long, it’s all perfectly clear! If you’ve had questions about EIL that weren’t answered on the Excellence in Literature website, Kathy’s review may be very helpful to you. Enjoy!

Microbusiness Stories and a New Article on the Website

Posted on June 30, 2009 
Filed Under College Alternatives, Home Business | Leave a Comment

I’ve posted a new article in the Home Business section of the Everyday Education website. It’s Franchises: What They Are and What You Need to Know, and it’s an overview of what you need to think about before you make a decision on whether franchising is right for you.

As most of you know, I am a big advocate of entrepreneurship, including microbusiness and home business. Teens who can start a microbusiness based on their interests can earn high school credits for what they learn, and they’ll also learn valuable life and business lessons as well. (Transcripts Made Easy will tell you how to track what they do and properly assign credit for it.) Imagine going approaching colleges or businesses with several years of entrepreneurial experience on your transcript and resume. It can be pretty impressive!

I’ve been an entrepreneur since the days when I dragged my little red wagon through the neighborhood selling the avocados from our back yard tree. You might think that wouldn’t be a very lucrative way to spend time, but during those years (I realize that I date myself when I tell you it was the late 1960’s), I averaged about $100 a year which I banked and used to pay for my wedding. I eventually outgrew the little red wagon, but it was fun while it lasted.

My next venture was in middle school when macrame’ bracelets were all the rage. I custom made them with my client’s name beaded in, and they sold like hotcakes for as long as that fad lasted. I profited from that venture because I knew it would come to an end, so I didn’t stock letter beads ahead of time, but bought them on an as-needed basis.

In high school, I used calligraphy skills to letter certificates, invitations, and anything else that was wanted. This was the most profitable venture yet, and I worked as a calligrapher and taught calligraphy for many years, until I started earning more money through writing and editing.

The key to all these ventures was that my parents allowed me to make decisions at a time when the stakes were relatively low, so I learned from each experience without getting into financial trouble. If you want to make the most of your teenager’s high school years, encourage them to consider a microbusiness!

***


Carnival of Homeschooling I was honored to have last week’s post on The Perfect Cure for Boredom featured in the first section of this week’s huge and wonderful Carnival of Homeschooling. Be sure to check out all the posts (this may be the biggest Carnival ever)!

Don’t forget about the Convention Season Specials! They end at the close of July 12, 2009, so be sure to get them.

If you plan to be at the Northern Virginia Home Education Conference (NoVA) on 7/10-11/09, please visit at me at Booth #203!

The Perfect Cure for Summer Boredom

Posted on June 24, 2009 
Filed Under Inspiration, Learning Lifestyle, Organization / Time Management | 8 Comments

Don’t forget to use the Convention Season Specials by July 12!

It’s summertime, and a few days after you put away the schoolbooks, you may hear the dreaded complaint, “I’m bored.” It’s a complaint I always welcomed, because I had found the perfect answer. However, let’s look first at the history of boredom.

Next time one of your children complains about being bored, or you wonder why you have to do the same task over and over again, consider this: You may be bored, but did you know that the very word itself wasn’t even invented until after 1750? Now that’s an interesting fact to keep your boredom at bay!

Think about it: If people were bored back in the 1700s, they had no clue. They might have felt it, but they hadn’t come up with the word to describe it yet, according to Patricia M. Spacks, the author of Boredom: The Literary History of a State of Mind. But once the concept had a name, it became universal. Children soon pointed it out. Researchers blame it for a number of society’s ills, including drug addiction. Even entertainment is seen as boring, because there’s so much of it to go around. The bottom line, according to Spacks, is that there’s no cure for boredom. You just have to accept it, and know there will be a change for the better soon enough.

The late poet Joseph Brodksy had this depressing thought to offer in a 1989 college commencement: “When hit by boredom, let yourself be crushed by it; submerge, hit bottom,” he said. “The sooner you hit bottom, the faster you surface.” According to some experts, the real trick is to simply get used to monotony. It’s a part of life, even among exciting people. They suggest that you try to experience things in new ways, and not mistakenly assume that only new things are interesting.

That’s all very well, but my perfect cure for the complaint of boredom was to cheerfully say, “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that! Here’s a little project you can do” while handing them the tools for accomplishing a chore from the day’s to-do list. My boys learned very early that it was much more fun to choose an activity from the Summer Fun List (a list of good books to read, art projects to try, things to build, games to play, etc.). The key was that once the word “bored” was uttered, there was no taking it back, and the suggested chore had to be completed. Trust me, this works like a charm!

If you feel a little guilty for requiring your children to entertain themselves, or worse, you suffer a bit from the inability to keep yourself happily occupied, I assure you that banishing boredom is a noble goal. Consider these quotes:

“Many hours of solitary occupation and enjoyment, will lead to the development of the highest intellectual and moral traits of character; in fact, his mental resources may be considered entirely unknown and unexplored, who cannot spend his best and happiest hours alone.” (Jacob Abbott, c. 1850)

“Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln never saw a movie, heard a radio, or looked at television. They had loneliness and knew what to do with it. They were not afraid of being lonely because they knew that was when the creative mood in them would work.” (Carl Sandburg)

All creative people know that there’s really no such thing as boredom– it’s just a feeling of dissatisfaction that, if properly channeled, can lead to great work. Don’t be tempted to respond to complaints of boredom by rushing about, providing distractions. Let your children learn how to constructively use time, and they’ll never have to be bored again.

Free is Good for College Textbooks

Posted on June 19, 2009 
Filed Under Early College, Homeschool | Leave a Comment

For many families, the cost of college textbooks comes as a shock. Paying $100 or so for a book your student will use for a mere 18 weeks seems entirely foolish. For families whose high school students are getting a jump start on college from home, it can be a real problem, as there’s no financial aid to buffer the blow. You can sometimes find old textbooks at yard sales, but they are often dated, damaged, or otherwise inferior. I just discovered Flat World Knowledge, which looks like a good resource.

I know there are other sources for free or cheap textbooks. Do you have any links to share?

Andrew Pudewa’s Video on Excellence In Literature

Posted on June 9, 2009 
Filed Under Homeschool, News, Reviews, Teaching Literature, Teaching Writing, Writing | Leave a Comment

I know that many of you still have a lot of questions about Excellence in Literature. Andrew Pudewa of the Institute for Excellence in Writing has just put together a little video (about two minutes long) to give you an overview of the EIL approach.

If you have enjoyed IEW’s materials, or if you have a teen who loves to read or write, I think you’ll find that Excellence in Literature is an ideal next step for your motivated teens. But I’ll let Andrew tell you all about it!

IEW co-published the American and British Literature levels with me, but there are three other levels (Introduction to Literature is a available now; Literature and Composition and World Literature will be available by late summer, Lord willing–if all goes as planned). All five levels have the same format and approach, and they don’t have to be used in order. You’ll find more about them at www.ExcellenceInLiterature.com.

One of our Convention Season Specials is Evaluate Writing the Easy Way for only $5 with the purchase of any level of Excellence in Literature. This offer is good through July 12, so don’t miss it!

Note: If the video doesn’t show up for you, try playing it at the original site.

College Choices - Homeschoolers Have Options!

Posted on June 2, 2009 
Filed Under Early College, Homeschool, Observations | 3 Comments

This post featured in the Field Guide to Homeschoolers blog carnival!

This post is featured in the "Field Guide to Homeschoolers" blog carnival at Principled Discovery!

Visit the convention season sale through July 12!

Now that homeschoolers have proven to be high achievers in both academic and social realms, they are being actively courted by many colleges. However, just as many homeschool parents paused before placing their young children on the big yellow school bus, they are now considering whether the traditional model of sending young people to live on a college campus for four years is an ideal way to meet the goal of higher education. Homeschoolers have blazed trails in elementary and secondary education, and they are now earning early college credit through exams or dual-credit classes, completing college at home, or simply choosing to attend a local college while living at home. There are more options now than ever before!

Why Not Live on Campus During College?

According to Dr. Jeff Myers of Inspired Leadership, spending four impressionable years of life living closely with the world is similar to the immersion method of learning a foreign language. If parents are willing to have their child absorb the good, the bad, and the ugly along with academics, four years in a dorm is the way to go. Most parents feel that older teens still need daily mentoring, stabilizing family relationships, and spiritual answers to the questions that inevitably arise when studying academics presented through a secular filter. According to Anne Miller of the Home Educators Association of Virginia, whose four oldest children were attending college at the time of this writing, living at home keeps young people from developing a self-centered attitude as they continue to serve the family through helping with home chores and interacting with younger siblings.

Earning College Credit in High School

Students who are capable of undertaking challenging work can accumulate a year or more of college credit while still in high school. Traditional-school students take Advanced Placement (AP) classes, followed by an AP test, in order to place out of entry level courses in college, but homeschoolers can go a step farther and earn actual credit by taking a CLEP (College-Level Examination Program) test, rather than the AP exam.

Students can prepare for exams by doing extra study on their own, taking an AP or honors class (online or traditionally), or by participating in an advanced co-op. Advantages of earning college credit while still in high school include:

• Time - One 90-minute CLEP exam covers one or two semesters of a subject, and by taking several carefully selected exams, it is possible to shorten the time it takes to earn an associate’s or bachelor’s degree by a year or more.

• Money - The cost of earning 3-6 credits is about $75.

• Advanced placement - Instead of sitting through a basic class that covers material learned in high school, students can skip directly into more advanced and interesting classes.

Students who plan to use CLEP exams to get a jump start on college need to create a high school curriculum plan that includes advanced-level course material for subjects in which tests will be taken. These subjects will be recorded on the high school transcript as AP or honors courses, and students receive weighted grades (one extra grade point) for each class. College credit is awarded by the college the student attends in the future, and it is based upon a passing score on the CLEP exam. Not all colleges award credit for exams, so it is important to select a school that does.

Dual-credit classes are another way to get a jump start on college. To earn dual-credit, a student studies a subject in a community college class instead of a high school class, and earns both high school and college credit. Mature teens may be ready for the challenge of the classroom atmosphere, and taking dual-credit classes can provide a gradual transition into a more structured learning environment.

College From Home

If you have heard of the Swann family, you know the idea of college from home is not new. Each of the Swann’s many children was homeschooled, not only through college, but also through graduate school, receiving their master’s degrees at an age when most other teens are graduating from high school. This family used traditional correspondence courses for each level of schooling, and this is still possible, but the Internet has dramatically increased the number of options available. Students at home can participate in classes which include a variety of online elements, including virtual labs and real-time discussions. The degree earned at home is just as marketable as a degree earned on-campus, and it often comes with less spiritual risk.

Attending College While Living at Home

This final option is probably the most familiar - students attend a traditional college, but live at home, rather than on-campus. While this option limits the choice of a college to one within reasonable driving distance, it provides several advantages. In addition to being more economical than on-campus living, this option provides students with the familiar, supportive environment of home and family in which to process all the new information they are receiving. Second, they have instant access to spiritual, academic, or personal counseling from someone who knows and loves them, and who shares their spiritual worldview. Third, the presence of other family members of various ages with various needs helps to remind young people that they are not the center of the universe - self-centeredness can be a problem for students whose primary consideration is “my schedule, my classes, my choices.” And finally, this option enables students who are academically ready for college, but younger than traditional college age, to benefit from the home atmosphere while they mature.

Just because our teens are growing up, it isn’t necessary to follow the rest of the world in their education. If we don’t want the results we see in the culture around us, we can change the input. The purpose of college is an education, resulting in a degree, and each family has many options for achieving that goal.

*****

Don’t forget the convention season specials– you can save on my most popular books!

I’ll be speaking this week at the Ultimate Homeschool Expo 2009! It’s an online convention that has the fun of convention without the hassle and expense of leaving home. I’d love to “see” you there!

Get your ticket TODAY!

Charlotte Mason on Teaching With Literature

Posted on May 26, 2009 
Filed Under Homeschool, Inspiration, Learning Lifestyle, Reading | Leave a Comment

In the chapter, “Liberal Education in Secondary Schools” in A Philosophy of Education, Charlotte Mason suggests that “the mind refuses to know anything except what reaches it in more or less literary form.” From my observation and experience, this is largely true. Truths and principles conveyed through stories, especially in the context of a learning lifestyle, stay in the mind as useful and usable ideas that can be incorporated in a student’s writing, conversation, and life.

In support of this idea, Miss Mason discusses how vaguely we remember the daily newspaper we read or how little children remember of worksheets and exercises. “The mind appears to have an outer court into which matter can be taken and again expelled without ever having entered the inner place where personality dwells. Here we have the secret of learning by rote, a purely mechanical exercise of which no satisfactory account has been given, but which leaves the patient, or pupil, unaffected… Now there is a natural provision against this mere skimming of the ground by the educational plough. Give the sort of knowledge that they are fitten to assimilate, served in a literary medium, and they will pay great attention.”

Miss Mason observed that most people remember ideas that reach them in the form of story, and they are able to apply and use these ideas in other areas of study, as well as in their writing. The only way to easily achieve the retention of knowledge is through “a great deal of consecutive reading from various books, all of some literary value; …one reading is sufficient; nor should there be any revision for the distant examination.”

As an example of the cultural literacy that comes through exposure to literature, she provides an impressive “list of 200 names, used with ease and fitness in an examination on one term’s work by a child of eleven in Form II.”

Abinadab, Athenian, Anne Boleyn, Act of Uniformity, Act of Supremacy, America, Austria, Alcibiades, Athens, Auckland, Australia, Alexandria, Alhambra.

Bible, Bishop of Rochester, Baron, Bean-shoots, Bluff, Bowen Falls, Bishoprics, Blind Bay, Burano.

Currants, Cupid, Catholic, Court of High Commission, Cranmer, Charles V, Colonies, Convent, Claude, Calais, Cook Strait, Canterbury Plain, Christchurch, Cathedral, Canals, Caliph of Egypt, Court of the Myrtles, Columbus, Cordova.

David, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Guise, Dunedin, Doge’s Palace.

England, Emperor, Empire, Egmont (Count), English Settlement

Flour, Fruits, French, Francis I, Francis of Guise, Ferdinand, Foveau Strait, Fuchsias, Fiords, Ferns.

Greek, Germany, Gondolas, “Gates of the Damsels,” Gondoliers, Granada, Gate of Justice, Gypsies.

Henry VIII, History, Hooper, Henry II, Hungary, Haeckel.

Israel, Italian (language), Italy, Infusoria.

Jesse, Jonathan, Joseph, John, Jerusalem, James, Jane Seymour.

King of Denmark, King of Scotland, Kiwi.

“Love-in-Idleness,” Lord Chancellor, Lord Burleigh, Lord Robert Dudley, Lime, Lyttleton, N.Z., Lake Tango.

Mary (The Virgin), More (Sir Thomas), Music, Martyr’s Memorial, Milan, Metz, Monastery, Mary, Queen of Scots, Mediterranean, Microscope, Messina, Middle Island, Mount Egmont, Mount Cook, Milford Sound, Museum, Moa, Maoris, Mussulman, Moorish King.

Naomi, Netherlands, Nice, New Zealand, North Island, Napier, Nelson.

Oberon, Oxford, Orion.

Pharisees, Plants, Parliament, Puck, Pope, Protestant, Poetry,

Philosophy, “Paix des Dames ,” Philip II, Paris, Planets, “Pink Terraces,” Piazetta, Philip of Burgundy.

Queen Catherine, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary, Queen Isabella, Queen Juana.

Ruth, Robin Goodfellow, Ridley, Reformation, Radiolaria, Rotomaliana (Lake), Rea.

Saul, Samuel, Simeon, Simon Peter, Sunshine, Sugar-cane, Spices, Sultan, Spain, St. Quentin, Socrates, Stars, Sycamore, Seed-ball, Stewart Island, Seaports, Southern Alps, Scotch Settlement, St. Mark, St. Theodore, St. Maria Formosa (Church), Sierra Navada.

Temple, Titania, Testament, Treaty, Turks, Toul, Thread Slime, Tree Ferns, Timber Trees, Trieste, Toledo.

Verdure, Venus (Planet), Volcano, Volcanic Action, Venice.

Whieat, Wiltshire, William Cecil, Walsingham, Winged Seed, Wellington, Waikato.

Zaccharias, Zebedee.”

I won’t suggest that an American student in the twenty-first century should have the same list, but they should have a similar wealth of knowledge ready to use “with ease and fitness.” There is a story at the bottom of every subject, and when it is told (once, as she states, is usually sufficient), it can help children understand and remember the essence of an idea.

Application

To apply this concept to your daily teaching, I suggest copious amounts of reading (or listening, in the case of auditory learners). In addition to literary fiction, bring in biographies of artists, explorers, architects, writers, scientists, musicians, and mathematicians; stories of expeditions, inventions, discoveries, compositions; travelogues; magazines such as National Geographic or Smithsonian; and whatever fits your family’s interests.

You’ll find that your students will deeply understand the concept of justice after suffering with Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, and they’ll remember the bitter cold and peril of the Arctic circle, as they try to survive with Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd’s expedition. Contrast this with what they would understand or remember after filling out a worksheet with the definitions of justice, love, and faith, or a scientific report on the weather in the Arctic or Antarctic.

Stories bring knowledge alive and engage emotional memory in a way that makes abstract principles and arcane facts easy to understand and remember. When learning can be joyous and simple, why make it boring and difficult (and pointless because they are unlikely to remember anything) by using tedious worksheets and canned curriculum? It’s never too late to start teaching well. Resolve now to make literature and stories a major part of your educational adventure!

*****Don’t forget the Convention Season SALE!

Also, I’ll be speaking at Cindy Rushton’s Ultimate Homeschool Expo 2009. This online homeschool convention includes:

I think you’ll enjoy this, especially if you can’t make it to a live conference this year.

Convention Coupons, Excellence in Literature, and other Good News

Posted on May 7, 2009 
Filed Under Homeschool, News | Leave a Comment

There are several interesting things happening this coming weekend. The CHAP convention will take place Friday and Saturday, May 8-9, in Harrisburg, PA. While I won’t be there personally, due to a very unfortunate conflict, I sent my able assistant Matt Wade to manage the Everyday Education booth (#1006, right by Tobin’s Lab).

Be sure to stop by and say hello and use the Convention Coupons I’ve made for you. There are three special offers you can use while you’re at the convention, but if you can’t make it to the convention, you will be able to use them on the website as well. Just visit the Coupon page between Friday and Sunday, and you’ll be able to enjoy the specials.

You’ll be able to see hot-off-the-press copies of Introduction to Literature, the first volume in the Excellence in Literature series at CHAP. Other than at the website (www.ExcellenceInLiterature.com), the four conventions listed below will be the only place you can get Intro to Lit for awhile. I’m trying to get the second and fifth levels (Literature and Composition; World Literature) out by summer, so that you can have them before school starts in the fall.

There’s another interesting sale happening this weekend. Lynda Coats, the author of Far Above Rubies and Blessed is the Man unit studies, is working to raise money to return in the fall as a missionary teacher to Native American children.

She’s offering 13 valuable bonuses with the purchase of the long-awaited FAR or BITM unit studies. These curricula have been very hard to find recently, so this is a wonderful opportunity! If you love unit studies and are looking for one for high school, be sure to check out this sale. It will run until May 15 only.

Finally, George Wythe College is running a beta version of online classes this summer. Tuition is heavily discounted: “For this summer only, undergraduates will be able to take up to 7 credits for only $550 in the part-time option, and up to 14 credits for $750 in the full-time option.”

This is a remarkable savings, and a good opportunity to take a few classes. According to the website, “Summer Semester will run on an accelerated schedule from May 18 to July 17. Full-time students will attend class online twice weekly, while part-time students will meet once a week.” Registration closes May 11.

2009 Convention Schedule

5/8-9/09- Booth #1006 CHAP- Harrisburg, PA: chaponline.com

5/23/09- Booth #R12 (NOTE CHANGE!) Virginia Homeschoolers Conference (VHS): vahomeschoolers.org

6/11-13/09- Booth #600- Home Educators Association of Virginia (HEAV): heav.org

7/10-11/09- Booth #203 Northern Virginia Home Education Conference (NoVA): novaconference.net

Don’t forget your Convention Coupons! Feel free to share them with your friends as well. If you make it to one of these conventions, please be sure to stop at our booth and say hello. I always enjoy meeting blog and e-zine readers.

Requiem for Clue- A Very Old Dog: 1996-2009

Posted on April 28, 2009 
Filed Under Home & Garden, Poetry | 6 Comments

Today we said good-bye to dear old friend. It’s never easy, and I’ll miss his ancient tottering steps following me through the house from dawn to dark. Today is the first time I’ve sat in my office chair, without needing to stay still in order to not roll over his old paws. Read more

World Digital Library: A Great Resource

Posted on April 22, 2009 
Filed Under Homeschool, News, Reviews | 3 Comments

I occasionally come across a resource that keeps me reading or browsing for much longer than I planned, and the new World Digital Library is one of those. Some of the earliest written works known to man have been digitized and are available for study on the site. Over 30 libraries and research institutions from many nations have participated in putting together the initial collection, and others are expected to contribute to keep the collection growing. Read more

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