New School Year - Aug. 31, 2009
Posted in Academia
Today was the official first day of our 2009-2010 school year. We school all year long but choose a date, usually in the beginning of September, to officially change curriculum. Here’s this year’s line-up:
Colleen (11th Grade):
Precalculus with Trigonometry and Analytical Geometry, A Beka Books
Physics, A Beka Books
Economics, A Beka Books
Grammar 11, BJU Press
British Literature, BJU Press
Spanish II,
Web Design I,
Drama,
Extracurricular activities will be horseback riding, 4-H and Girl Scouts
Colleen’s school load probably looks pretty heavy to the rest of us mortals, but for my overachieving daughter, this is fun.
Jared (5th Grade):
Arithmetic 5, A Beka Books
Science, Christian Kids Explore Chemistry
World Geography, Trail Guide from World Geography and The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide
English 5, BJU Press
Spelling, Sequential Spelling
Choir,
Extracurricular activities will be karate and cub scouts.
As you can see, Jared’s pace is a little more relaxed. This schedule suits him best.
Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek into our school room. I pray you have a wonderful school year!
Betty
Grace and peace be yours in abundance. 1Peter1:2b
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Great Backyard Bird Count - Feb. 11, 2009
Posted in Academia
Every February, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society conduct the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). This year, the GBBC will be this coming weekend, February 13-16, 2009.
What is the Great Backyard Bird Count?
Check out this information from the GBBC website:
This free event is an opportunity for families, students, and people of all ages to discover the wonders of nature in backyards, schoolyards, and local parks, and, at the same time, make an important contribution to conservation. Participants count birds and report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org.
“The Great Backyard Bird Count benefits both birds and people. It’s a great example of citizen science: Anyone who can identify even a few species can contribute to the body of knowledge that is used to inform conservation efforts to protect birds and biodiversity,” said Audubon Education VP, Judy Braus. “Families, teachers, children and all those who take part in GBBC get a chance to improve their observation skills, enjoy nature, and have a great time counting for fun, counting for the future.”
Anyone can take part, from novice bird watchers to experts, by counting birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and reporting their sightings online at www.birdcount.org. Participants can also explore what birds others are finding in their backyards—whether in their own neighborhood or thousands of miles away. Additional online resources include tips to help identify birds, a photo gallery, and special materials for educators.
The data these “citizen scientists” collect helps researchers understand bird population trends, information that is critical for effective conservation. Their efforts enable everyone to see what would otherwise be impossible: a comprehensive picture of where birds are in late winter and how their numbers and distribution compare with previous years. In 2008, participants submitted more than 85,000 checklists.
“The GBBC has become a vital link in the arsenal of continent-wide bird-monitoring projects,” said Cornell Lab of Ornithology director, John Fitzpatrick. “With more than a decade of data now in hand, the GBBC has documented the fine-grained details of late-winter bird distributions better than any project in history, including some truly striking changes just over the past decade.”
Each year, in addition to entering their tallies, participants submit thousands of digital images for the GBBC photo contest. Many are featured in the popular online gallery. Participants in the 2009 count are also invited to upload their bird videos to YouTube; some will also be featured on the GBBC web site. Visit www.birdcount.org to learn more.
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Very Helpful Article About High School Transcripts - Sep. 29, 2008
Posted in Academia
This very useful article recently made the rounds of my favorite local homeschooling loops. I thought you all might enjoy the helpful and detailed information. The original article can be found at Crosswalk.com.
High School Transcripts: A Simple Checklist
Inge Cannon
Putting together an official transcript for your homeschooled high schooler can seem like an over-whelming task. But this is one area where out-of-the-box homeschoolers need to make themselves intelligible within the system. Here, Inge Cannon, executive director of Education PLUS, lends her expertise as homeschoolers tackle the transcript. Use her checklist to help maximize your preparations and minimize the challenge.
DON'T even think about not providing your children with high school transcripts! No matter where a student is educated--public school, private school, or home school--that student deserves a transcript from the people who organized the academic program, taught the courses, and evaluated the work. If you want to teach high schoolers at home, you absolutely must provide
them with the documentation of a transcript.
DO grant your children a high school diploma. High school graduation is an important benchmark and transition point in a young person's life, and it should be honored as such. Your children deserve the right to say "yes" on job applications that ask if they have a high school
diploma!
DON'T use the GED to document high school graduation. You may find yourself in situations that require a GED test score for screening or admissions purposes (however unjustified by law), but that does not mean you have to document graduation by a method that often carries the stigma of a high school dropout.
DO identify each child thoroughly on his or her transcript. You will need to indicate full legal name, current address, gender, birth date, parent or legal guardian name(s), and a Social Security number (especially crucial if you are applying for any financial aid to go to college).
DON'T feel obligated to make your transcripts match the public school system in timeline, structure, sequence, curricular options, or anything else. Home education is a tutorial process; thus, it is important to focus on the needs, interests, talents, and gifts of each individual child. Most tutorial education procedures do not follow the typical school structure of living between classroom bells and being classified as freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior--let alone sitting in lecture sessions of designated length and completing routine "busywork" assignments.
DO limit yourself to two pages (or one sheet front and back) for your printed transcript. Transcripts (like resumés) are supposed to present a summary of achievement and/or experience--short enough for the reader to know at a glance who the student is and what he has done. In
academic and most employment circles, anything more than two pages becomes a portfolio.
DON'T succumb to any pressure-- real or imagined--to require a college preparatory course lineup in order to graduate your children from high school. You do not have to satisfy any college admissions requirements to earn a high school diploma (i.e., there is absolutely nothing wrong with a diploma focused on apprenticeship, the trades, the arts, or any other pursuit of knowledge and skills). However, it does make sense if your child is college-bound to work the college's admissions requirements into the student's high school preparation.
DO use your child's transcripts as an annual report card. This is especially helpful when applying for good driver discounts on auto insurance and work permits when employers need them, or to accompany resumés or applications for volunteer and paid positions, etc.
DON'T skip physical education credits. Some colleges actually ask students to make up deficiencies in physical education when they enroll. Remember that physical education
generally earns half the credit that would be earned for a comparable amount of academic work.
DO include Bible credits if yours is a Christian program. Even if a college tells you that it does not recognize "Bible" or "Religious Studies," your transcript should not be crafted by what the college accepts or denies. The transcript is a report of the work your child has completed.
DON'T be rigid about counting hours when assigning Carnegie Units. There is a great deal of variety in the computation of hours required to earn a Carnegie Unit of credit-- requirements as low as 120 all the way to 250 hours! Since home education involves a tutorial process of teaching and learning, you will find many occasions when your child's academic achievement is difficult to document in terms of a specific number of hours. Some situations work best with documentation
by textbook equivalency, while others should have a diary of work experiences coupled with a bibliography for training. The important thing is that you know why you assigned a specific amount of credit to a course and that any variation from course to course reflects your stated objectives (and yes, for this you do need to do some planning!).
DO be consistent in your assignment of credits and grades--this is no place for emotional entanglement! Teachers do not give students grades. Students earn grades, and teachers simply record them accurately and honestly. Remember that consistency and equality are not synonyms--an A in math will be documented with different criteria than an A in Public Speaking, Home Economics, Orchestra, or World History. Planning your objectives for learning will help you make strategic assignments and identify the levels of achievement that deserve an A, B, C, and so on.
DON'T "weight" grades with extra GPA points unless you have the proper documentation for doing so. "Weighting" refers to a process of adding an extra grade point to a grade when the coursework is advanced (i.e., Advanced Placement or AP, college courses completed during the
high school years, and Honors courses where you have a detailed syllabus that outlines the extra work requirements).
DO include the necessary statistical summaries: Grade Point Average (GPA) and a tally of the number of credits per subject area (e.g., Math, Foreign Language, English, Fine Arts, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Physical Education, etc.). While the most common GPA system involves a 4-point scale, there are at least four other possibilities for making this crucial college admissions calculation. Do a little research about what is common in your state, and then use the same system for the entire transcript. Remember that "class rank" should not be included--after all, your child is number one in a class of one!
DON'T forget standardized achievement test scores. DO report only the National Percentile Rank and Stanine (NPR/S), and avoid listing any grade equivalents. DO skip the subtest reports and work with the major sections of the assessment (i.e., Mathematics, Reading Comprehension
or Language Arts, Basic Battery or Complete Battery).
DO include at least a summary of SAT and/or ACT scores--even though each college admissions officer will want a score report sent directly from the test provider.
DO figure out what addendum sheets should be attached to each program. Possibilities include Bibliography of Text Resources, Course Descriptions, Special Features of a Student's Program, Method of Computing GPA, Guidance Counselor Recommendations, Work in Progress: Senior
Year, Extracurricular Activity Descriptions, and so forth.
DON'T omit a specific high school graduation date--even if you have to list a projected date for juniors who submit early applications to colleges.
DO sign your child's transcripts and provide a contact telephone number and/or e-mail address. While an embossed seal can add the "aura of officialness," it is not required.
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