Homeschooling With A Packaged Curriculum By Cynthia Brandolini

Once the decision is made to homeschool, the next major issue is which curriculum or methodology to use. While there are pros and cons for every option, this article will focus on homeschooling with a packaged curriculum.

A packaged curriculum will usually include all the books, lesson plans, and scope and sequence planning needed for an entire school year. Some providers also include additional services for enrolled families. These services can include counseling, grading, report cards, and even diplomas. While this path is often more expensive, there is the advantage of having everything already planned out in advance. This alone is a great time saver, which becomes more of an issue when there are several children being homeschooled in one family.

Another point to consider is accreditation. When a program is accredited, it means that it has been reviewed by an outside agency or committee and has been determined to meet certain standards. Why would this be important? This will help greatly when time comes to apply to college. If the student has a high school diploma from an accredited high school, there should be much less difficulty proving to admissions offices that a high school education has indeed been completed. Also, credits may be more easily transferred to another school if necessary.

When we first decided to educate our children at home, I was faced with researching and planning what to cover in a school year for four children - grades 6, 4, 2, and preschool - with about a month to have it complete. The packaged curriculum I chose from Seton Home Study School proved to be invaluable. As I was brand new at this, I honestly did not know where to start. The more I read about the various educational methodologies and the limitless choices of textbooks, the more I realized it would make more sense to enlist the help of a company with many years of experience.

By using a prepared curriculum, I can be assured that each child is covering all the most important topics and acquiring the necessary skills. The lesson plans do just that - plan out each lesson for us, including many suggestions for additional activities and enrichment. They also include many recommended resources, especially pertinent websites for further study.

One of the chief complaints about packaged curricula is that they are not very flexible, and tend to be quite rigid regarding what to do when. Our experience thus far has not been so. The program we use emphasizes that parents should adjust the program to fit the child, not the child to fit the program. In reality, nothing is actually 'required.' We can use or skip any suggestions we choose. The only true requirements exist only if you want an actual report card or diploma. Certain assignments must be completed and submitted in order to verify completion of the material. I find that keeping a portfolio of work that has been graded by an outside party is a good 'insurance policy' against the regulations imposed by our state.

While I readily admit that not everyone will work well with a packaged curriculum, this option does provide many advantages. For anyone who is just starting out and has little or no experience working out a plan of study, a prepared curriculum provides a solid beginning and helps the parent learn more too. Many families will start with a complete packaged curriculum, and then as time goes by, they start making modifications and adjustments as they gain experience and confidence. As can be seen, the many packaged curricula available today can prove to be a very useful tool for many home schooling families.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=173392&ca=Education

Internet Home Schooling - A Reality By Nic Haffner

Is Internet Home Schooling for Everyone actually? Almost everything is available on the Internet - you name it and it's there; Internet home schooling is no exception. However, is Internet home schooling for everyone?

Online Home Schooling

As a matter of fact this is a task that brings great responsibility upon the parent and child alike; Internet home schooling can be done from home, not requiring physical presence of the child in a school or any other institution. Below are listed a few things one will need to consider when choosing Internet home schooling:

* The parents need to supervise the child even if they don't have to teach the subjects.

* The child is basically following his or her own schedule so parents need to step in and draw some studying hours which need to be followed everyday.

* The responsibility of finishing a task or home work needs to be verified by the parents.

* The Parents need to dedicate much more time to the child and his/her activities, as they are not having any social life or interaction with children that they would have normally have in school.

Home schooling can really be tough, as the pressure is directly on the parents as far as the child's education; however, Internet home schooling is a better choice if you don't think you will do justice in providing quality teachings to your child.

What are the Benefits of Internet Home Schooling?

Below are some benefits of Internet home schooling over parent home schooling:

* The child will be exposed to actual teachers with academic background and experience in teaching over the internet

* The child interacts with other children at his or her own age and will be able to create a social life besides the one available in the home

* The Parents can get help with the child's home schooling from teachers and other parents in similar situations

* Internet or online home schooling has a number of activities that will help you and your child cope with home schooling and achieve the best results

Home schooling is a great responsibility and while some have done a great job and have children who are grateful for the decision, others can make huge mistakes that will reflect on the child later in his/her life.

You should make such decisions carefully and only after considering all risks and available options. It goes without saying that all parents want what is best for their children but sometimes it doesn't work out that way. Sometimes doing everything yourself in order to do it right is not the right choice for you or your family and sometimes that is the only choice. No one else but the parents can make that decision. Whether we prefer studying on the web or not, we must find a home schooling program that is right for us.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=111400&ca=Education

The Importance Of A Proper Accent In English... Or In Any Language By Frank Gerace

How to Improve Your Accent

Are you tired of people asking you to repeat because they don't understand you? Your friends say, 'Just do this!' and they expect you to make the sound! Would you like to learn once and for all what to do with your lips, tongue and mouth to make the sounds of English?

Do you feel that everything sounds the same? You know you are pronouncing the words wrong; you know that you are pausing too much; you know that when you talk, it doesn't sound like English, but you don't know what to do.

Wouldn't you like to learn once and for all what are the most common errors that people make when they learn English so you could concentrate on those errors.

First of all, you have to realize that an accent is made up of three parts: intonation, liaisons, and pronunciation.

You have to learn the 'rules' of these three components of your new language. The work 'rule' is in quotes because in speech all 'rules' may be broken by native speakers in special circumstances. Still, if a 'rule' helps you 9 times out of ten, you shouldn't complain if it fails you once.

Intonation is the most important and the most difficult to change. It is the 'music', the rhythm or a language.

Liaisons, or linkages, are the ways that words and parts of words are linked together in a language. This may be very different from how you do it in your native language.

And pronunciation is the way that sounds are made in the new language. These sounds may be similar (rarely exactly the same) to the sounds of your own language, or they may be very different. To learn the sounds, you have to learn where in the mouth the sound is made, how it is made, and the position of the tongue in making the sound.

Most people do not work on their accents. Some achieve very good, even perfect, accents after living many years in their new country or by using their new language for many years.
However, this is not automatic. There are many people who spend years using a language and never get rid of a heavy accent.

Often, it doesn't matter to the person. If they live in an immigrant community, sometimes it is even a negative thing to achieve a good accent in the new language. This is because friends and family might think that one is trying to forget their origins.

But if you live and work among people who speak the new language well, you should work at improving your accent. Unfortunately, some people make judgments about your worth and your intelligence according to how well you speak their language. Read what the Chinese American writer Amy Tan says about her own feelings about her mother's accent:

Lately, I've been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as 'broken' or 'fractured' English. But I wince when I say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than 'broken,' as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness. I've heard other terms used, 'limited English,' for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people's perceptions of the limited English speaker.

I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother's 'limited' English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is, because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect. And 1 had plenty of evidence to support me: the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.

If even a daughter can think that her mother is limited because of her limited English, you can be sure that other people think this way also. So you should start improving your accent.

You can go to a specialist who can work with you. This is the best way but it can be expensive. You can use recordings and courses to imporve your accent. This can be as good as working with the expert IF YOU DO IT! It is just like the difference between having exercise equipment in your house and using a personal trainer. The trick is to do it. For some accent reduction programs go to: http://www.goodaccent.com/accentbooks.htm !

You can start with this little exercise to get used to working on your accent. First, try this: Listen to recordings of how people who speak your language pronounce English or whatever language you are learning. Next, make a recording of your own voice. Compare, do it over, see if that helps a little.

PRONUNCIATION: AN IMPORTANT PART OF ACCENT

Proper pronunciation is only one of the parts of a good accent and maybe not even the most important one (many linguists think that intonation is the most important part of a correct accent). But pronunciation is where a learner of a new language can make the best progress. The correct Pronunciation of the sounds of a new language CAN be learned!

Of course, it takes listening and practice but one little tip for English is to recall that the 'long' vowels in English, like the 'e' in May, the 'o' in toe, have a little 'slide' at their end, either a 'y' or a 'u'. That is why an English speaker ends up 'smiling' after a word ending with a 'long a', or 'puckering' after an 'o'. The mouth of speakers of other languages barely move when he pronounces their vowels.

Here's another trick that might help you pronounce English correctly. The consonants 'p' and 't' are pronounced with a puff of air in English. All you have to do to make a huge jump in your English is to practice saying words with these letters, such as Peter, pepper, table, etc. with a lit match in front of your mouth. If the match goes out, you're speaking English.

Obviously the two examples just given are brief and crude explanations only meant to open the discussion that will be presented more carefully in the recommendations you will find in the lists on this page. The most important thing to realize is that Accent is more than Pronunciation!

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=172074&ca=Education

How To Write A Successful Application Essay By Alex Martin

So you are now ready to join the college. But getting admission into the college of your choice won’t be that easy, as more and more pupils are applying for the limited slots every academic year. You are now facing the challenge of writing the most successful application essay for the eyes of admission officers; who would also be judging the essays of all the other applicants, probably with the same profiles, backgrounds and test scores as you have.

This 500-word application essay becomes the bases for the acceptance and rejection, as it is the only way admission officers can judge the worth of the applicant. It is very natural to feel concerned at this stage; standing out in a crowd is not an easy task and thus calls for extra care and preparation. But what ever the case may be, let not the essay stress you out, be very playful to gain utmost.

Follow the following while you write the essay:

Brainstorming; a crucial step:

The key to truly presenting an insightful and incisive application essay is to go through the exercise of brainstorming. It brings out the ideas and thoughts out on the paper that might not be consciously significant to you in the first place.

If you are finding it difficult you can always take help from your friends and family that knows you well. There point of view would be different and really revealing at times. If you have a role model, study his or her personality to discover yourself.

It would be better if you set out goals for the life ahead of you. Brainstorming sessions will help you go through it. It might give you a fresh outlook of what you really want out of life.

Prepare a rough, unedited initial draft and consider the following when pondering:

1.Note down your skills, aptitude and interests no matter how meager they seems to be, like wise accomplishments and ambitions.

2.Noticeable highlights of your life, which have changed your perspectives in anyway.

3.The struggles of your life and their outcomes; either positive or negative and how it has changed your life.

4.Your contributions towards the society through community services etc.

5.And most of all, brainstorm why you want to join the specific institute, what is compelling you to apply there and how will you proof commendable of it.

What to write; choosing the theme or topic of the essay:

The essay could be about anything, you can describe you in any way you desire. You can discuss any topic you wish on earth. But the challenge remains of using the essay up to the maximum. Remember it is the only way of proving your self to be outstanding.

Present your goals, ambitions and accomplishments of life. If you are not the high achiever explain why you are not so. Always keep the theme of the essay positive. Show yourself as a stronger person rather than a pitiable one. Present as if you the one who could work against all odds and can put up a good fight against obstacles. You must attempt writing on such topic that shows your individuality and promotes your desire to be the attendant of the college as well.

Choose a theme about which you have ample amount of knowledge. Difficult and tricky topics, merely to impress the readers will render you with nothing. More avoid the complex, controversial topics. Like politics and religious affairs, even if you choose to write about them, write down more about your point of view rather than commenting who is right and who wrong.

Final Draft: Tips for writing good essays:

1.It is quite advisable to visit the desired college or visit its website and read brochures and introductions. This way, you will have the insight of what the organization believes in and you can arrange the essay accordingly.

2.Take your time and understand what you are expected to write. Understand the questions you have been asked and the requirements you have to fulfill. Take about three or four weeks to ponder on the essay and the ideas you have in mind.

3.Analyzing other previously attempted application essays would help you a lot. Writing application must be a new task for you and going through the others gives you a good idea for writing your own.

4.Copying the style of others would not help, be original and be you. There would be experiences in your life that can set you apart from other people and similar actions. So be open to express yourself and your feeling about a topic you decide to write about.

5.Make an outline or a plan to follow through out the process and refer back continually. The paragraphs of the essay should relate to each other, follow the rules of logical flow in writing.

6.You could be creative in your presentation. Catchy openings can do much more then a dry, lengthy and uninteresting essay. Introduce yourself in the first paragraph as the readers are found to maintain the interest for first few minutes. Show off your self as captivating as you can for those few moments. Creating Mystery is one good idea of keeping the interest of the readers for the rest of the essay.

7.Show what have you achieved by using the action verbs and active voice. Describe your life by applying adjectives and descriptive nouns. It would be more impressive and will make a picture in the mind of the admission officers. Imagery presentations are like five-sense experience and eye catching. At the end of the day, after reading thousands of the essays, your way of presenting yourself will be in the minds of the admission officers.

8.Conclude your essay with caution. It might be the last chance of convincing your reader that you deserve to be in there.

9.Your essay should not be the repetition of your information given in the other parts of the
application; it must discuss the dimensions of your personality that needs description.

10.Use different words to express yourself. Do not hesitate to use dictionary or thesaurus. It will give a good perspective to your essay. Remember too much of the repetition of the words would dull the essay and loss of interest on the part of the readers. But using thesaurus doesn’t mean complex words can impress the officers, it might rebound if you use them out of context and if simple and common words are better off.

11.Too many long or short the sentences makes the presentation monotonous and boring.

12.Take great care in using the language. Look out for the spelling mistakes and other common grammatical errors. These avoidable errors make the essay off-putting and the impact on the readers about your personality is ruinous. You might be assumed as careless person.

13.You can proof read the essay before submitting it. Revision is one of the most important key to a successful and custom written admission essay.

14.It would be better if you could leave the essay after writing for few days; and then get back to it. The fresh look might help you improve the essay.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=134161&ca=Education