As home educators we have an expanded opportunity to create more of these magic moments in our home. There are so many activities and so much we can learn with our children in connection to the holiday season. I'd like to share a handful of ideas with you.

We love learning about the holiday traditions of other countries. Last year our main focus ended up being on Australia. The children were fascinated to learn that it is a summertime Christmas they celebrate in Australia. They go to the beach and have barbecues, and according to one book we read, Santa arrives on a bike. We learned some Aussie lingo and my children still walk around saying “g'day mate” to each other. The highlight was when we learned about Christmas Crackers, a tradition that actually came to Australia from England. A cracker is a small cardboard tube (think toilet paper roll) with goodies inside and wrapped in bright paper. When the cracker is “pulled” by two people, there is a pop. We searched the internet trying to figure out how to make our own crackers for Christmas Eve. We ordered a bundle of twenty-five cracker snaps for $4.25, found a collection of Christmas jokes and went to work making crackers. It was great fun.

Have you ever tried a themed Christmas, such as a Colonial Christmas? I've never done this but have a friend who did when they were looking for a way to keep Christmas simple and inexpensive.

The holidays are a great time to have your children do arts and crafts. They can make gifts for siblings or grandparents with your help. I've seen many books at the library that offer ideas for gifts children can make. And handmade decorations are a given at our house. We can't put up the Christmas tree without the children deciding to make those red and green paper chains or string popcorn. Save the metal lids of your frozen juice concentrate and use a nail and hammer to punch holes forming a simple design. Add trim and hang it on the tree. Or use salt dough to make little ornaments for the tree. Sometimes these don't quite make it to the tree, but it is the process that is important anyway. Many magazines have a nice selection of ideas for ornaments you can help your children make.

This is also a great time of year to be in the kitchen with your children. Learn to make something new, perhaps something to go along with your study of another culture. Or something that is a traditional recipe in your family.
Above all, enjoy this time with your children. These are days to cherish. When it seems too hard to buckle down and do math, take math to the kitchen or pull out the Legos and read Christmas Carol or The Best Christmas Pageant Ever while they play quietly. And watch for that sparkle of magic in your children's eyes.

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Melanie Skelton has educated her six children at home for eight years.  She is the co-founder of Utah Families Teaching at Home and assists in teaching workshops to empower and help home educators.  She is the web designer for the website, found at http: http://www.utahfamilies.net/ and is in the process of co-authoring a book about home education.  This book will help home educators better understand learning styles, personality styles and levels of learning.  It will teach the reader how to apply this information to their home school and plan out a curriculum that will meet the needs of their children. 

Better yet, the early exposure to the new language almost guarantees native or near native pronunciation. Would not many of us adults raise our hand and step forward for a hand out of native pronunciation in the new language we are trying to learn at this older age?

Recent studies out of York University show that children who received instruction in two languages scored twice as high on language tests than their monolingual peers. These bilingual children also read sooner and demonstrated advanced problem solving capabilities. (Dr. Ellen Bialystok, 2001)

Just this year the SAT College Entrance Exam Board claimed that students taking the SAT Entrance Exam with four years of foreign language in their academic past scored higher on the exam than students who had had little or no exposure to that line of academia.

Latest research suggests that children learning through a bilingual format will outperform their mono-lingual peers in grade school as they experience advanced cognitive development. The additional benefits derived from learning a second language before elementary school include, but are not limited to, advanced cognitive development (your child will be smarter), heightened awareness of other cultures (able to travel through this global economy much more successfully), and better opportunities later in life (chances are the job offers and salary offers will be more enticing for your grown child).

You see how quickly your child learns new things between the ages of birth and five. Do you not agree with me that a new language should be next on the list of important things to bring into the life of your child? Give this gift early enough, and your child will read sooner, score higher on standardized tests and have better opportunities in life. With many linguists, educators and experts agreeing that sooner is better, begin the bilingual fun now!

Within the first eleven months of life a baby has the ability to learn all of the more than 6,000 languages of our world. What an amazing feat that would be! Up until the age of five a child still has the ability to learn five languages simultaneously. By middle school we all know learning a new language is no longer as easy as it used to be in elementary school. Children whose brains have been wired to learn languages early in life will experience advanced success in learning any language of their choice later in life.

Find a fun way to bring the language learning into the daily routine of your family. Look for programs and products that use a bilingual format for children ages birth through five. Reason being that as the young child is still acquiring skills in their native language; the new language should be presented in a seamless bilingual format with both languages presented side by side. This allows for better retention and higher self esteem.

Make the second language journey easy and fun for you and your child. Sing, dance and play together as you enjoy learning each new word on the path to becoming bilingual for successful travel through our very global society. The gift of a new language should be the focus of every parent and teacher who touches the lives of young children.

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Beth Butler is the founder of the Boca Beth Program for young children.
Find out how fun and easy it can be to raise a bilingual child.
Scoop your child up onto your lap and sample our bilingual music and movies for free at http://www.bocabeth.com .
Call toll free to 1.877.825.2622.
 

The SAT contains three sections: Critical Reading, Math and Writing. It is almost four hours long without breaks. This test can be like a mental marathon and so learning time-management is a must. Most students do not finish each section on time because they treat it like other tests and work out each problem the long way. This not only results in a lot of blank questions but also a lower score for the student. Since this is a logic test, questions can be answered quickly and correctly when approached with a critical eye.

The Critical Reading section has three sections that total seventy-minutes. The first part is the Passage-Based Reading section. There are three types of passages: Long, Short and Dual. In one section alone, there are four passages, twenty-four questions and only twenty-five minutes to finish it in. Most students run out of time before finishing. Students can cut their time in half by realizing that reading the passages is a waste of time. The College Board only puts the answers in key places. There are also three question types that follow the passage: Line Citation, Vocabulary Use and Overall Passage question. Each question is answered differently and should not be answered in the order given. There are also four hidden patterns that that the SAT uses to make students second-guess themselves and choose the wrong answer.

The Sentence Completion is the second part of The Critical Reading section. By learning Scope words like but, although and not, students can determine the direction of the sentence. If these words are found, students will need to look for an opposite answer. If the sentence contains a semi-colon, comma or colon, the flow stays the same and the key to the answer will be found in the other part of the sentence. Students should be aware of the most common words-these are usually a trick and should be avoided. There are also times that the first blank should be ignored and students should predict the second blank first.

The Math section contains two sections that total seventy-minutes. Most students approach the math just like they do their normal math classes by working each problem out the long way and showing all their work. There is a long way and a short way to answer math questions. If students can learn to not use their calculator, answers can be found quicker since the mores calculations, the bigger chance of making mistakes.
There will be two types of questions found in each section. The first type is the Multiple-Choice section. This is where students will have five answer choices to pick from. Most math questions can be answered in 30-40 seconds so learning shortcuts can make all the difference in the world. The College Board has some hidden math patterns in the answer choices that are there to point students to the answer like opposites and doubles. There are usually two-three answer choices than be eliminated right away. It is also strategic to know the importance of the order of the answers-it is always the same and can help you cut your time in half.

Student-Response is the other part of the math section. This part does not contain any answer choices; there may also be more than one answer for certain question. Students will need to learn how to fill in the grid-in box correctly. There are four columns, two fraction bars, four decimal points and the digits zero through nine. There are only four columns so answers may need to be reduced to fit. Decimals need to fill up all four boxes and mixed numbers must be converted to improper fractions in order to be counted as correct.

The last part is the Writing section. It contains four parts and they will total sixty minutes.
The first part is the essay. Students will have twenty-five minutes to write an essay on an unknown topic; it will count as thirty percent of their grade. The key to a high scoring paper is to “sound smart”. The judges will spend less than a couple of minutes on each essay and they are looking for some key ingredients. Is the paper on topic? Did it have three detailed examples to support their thesis? What is the overall perception of the paper? The judges will write down their first impression of the paper so students need to end with punch.

The last three Writing parts are Sentence Error, Improving Sentence and Improving Paragraphs. Understanding basic grammar rules is important but it is still a logic test and answers can be found quickly by using reasoning and critical thinking. By concentrating only on the underlined parts in the Sentence Error and Improving Sentences, students can save time when looking for the right answer. And the Improving Paragraph section combines two previous parts learned and the sentences are reproduced in the questions so there is very little need to read the passage.

Students don't have to be a genius to ace the SAT but understanding the test and the question-types is a must in order to do well on this test. A standardized test means that the patterns stay the same. It is not a random test but students can learn to find the relationships and logical patterns that recur. With some preparation and practice, students can figure out the SAT.

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Jean Burk is the author of College Prep Genius and has written numerous articles about the SAT and PSAT/NMSQT. She has been featured as an SAT expert on Good Day Dallas (Fox 4) and KXAS (NBC 5 Today). She currently travels and speaks about the importance of college preparation, how to get free college and teaches her “Master the SAT” Prep Class all over Texas as well as other states. Both her children received incredible scholarships because of their PSAT and SAT scores. Her teaching DVD was released in the summer of 2008. The first edition of her brand new VocabCafé Book Series, “The Summer of Saint Nick” is now out. These books are intended to help teenagers and younger children increase their knowledge of SAT-level vocabulary words.

Contact Jean at jean@collegeprepgenius.com  or 81-SAT-2-PREP www.collegeprepgenius.com
 

As a dyslexic myself, I use a definition that seems to cover some of these misunderstandings and/or confusion: Dyslexia is a processing of information problem, either in the visual, auditory, or kinesthetic mode.

There are many types of this condition including Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia/Dysnomia, and Dyspraxia; messy handwriting, difficulty with math and writing numbers, and physical clumsiness.

Without getting too technical I personally find Dyslexia more often than not an auditory processing of information problem than a visual problem. The student may be asked verbally to follow five instructions, but he or she processes language more slowly. Although their ears work just fine, they only process two or three instructions while believing they did all that was asked. "Mom, I did what you said," they insist, seeming argumentative all the while.

Actually, they are telling the truth, based on what they heard!

Another issue is the continual admonishing they receive, for example "If you would just stop talking and listen for a change, then you will understand". Actually, (sorry folks) some need to talk and listen in order to understand because their brain works differently from others. This talk is a form of "checking in" what they are trying to learn.

So telling them to just wait till you are done explaining to ask questions sounds logical, but the child will not be able to remember their questions. You are talking normally, but they are overwhelmed with the information and tune out as a form of self-preservation. The teacher becomes annoyed that the student isn't listening when in fact they are trying to listen.

They just don't learn auditorially, and need to see pictures. Also, they may need to use their hands to process information.

Take a computer for example. Imagine that there is no keyboard and no mouse. Yet the components that make up the brain are there. You must move the mouse and touch the keyboard to access the information by the brain.

That is how some kids need to learn, by moving their hands, or kinesthetically. The information goes up through the hand, arm, and into the brain, much like a computer mouse.

Examples of kinesthetic people include carpenters, electricians, plumbers and artists.

Now you may notice that some students need to hear slowly to process information. Even instructions as simple as "get out your textbook, turn to page thirty-five, and answer questions six, seven and eight," must be repeated. Students querying "What page did you say?", "Answer which questions?" may be perceived as pulling your leg, but they are not at all.

How can such a child who needs every request be repeated be such a fast talker? The irony is that they themselves have access to what they are thinking.

The biggest dilemma is often that the really simple, low level stuff is hard, while high level complex material is easier for them. While ;most people learn in a linear fashion, step by step, these special needs students do not.

Dyslexics often hear someone say, "How can someone as smart as you be so stupid?" For instance, let's say you taught your child addition, then subtraction, then onto multiplication. The multiplication times tables can actually delete the information they had when they knew their addition facts.

So if you are wondering what to do, try teaching two steps backwards -- review, review - then one step ahead. This might mean addition facts, subtraction, then the times tables.

However, the irony here is this same child may actually be able to perform algebra and other higher forms of math yet still struggle with the times tables. At the same time, most educational institutions tend to drill the times tables over and over, never putting the child into algebra to see how he or she might fare there.

Also, there is a kind of "retrieval Dyslexia" where students know the name of something they have studied for an exam. But they are completely unable to remember it during the test. Nevertheless, a few hours later when not under pressure, they recall it with ease. It's as if they placed the information into a filing cabinet in their brain, then couldn't find the right drawer or file to get at it!

Because they don't learn in a linear fashion, they also perceive the world differently, in an out-of-the box fashion. So a problem difficult for others might seem easy for them. This is why so many famous inventors, designers, actors, scientists and other innovators are able achieve what others could not.
Einstein, Tom Cruise, Whoopi Goldberg, Da Vinci, and such presidents as Washington and Kennedy are reportedly dyslexics. My personal favorite is Walt Disney. Can you imagine the world without Mickey and Minnie Mouse cartoons, and Disneyworld?

One of today's major classroom buzzwords is the "multisensory" approach. This frequently refers to the use of visual, auditory and kinesthetic materials, and activities in hopes that more knowledge might stick to some students at least some of the time.

I would recommend that teachers and parents discover which of these styles fits their special needs student. A simple way to start is to find out whether they need to listen then read, or use their hands then listen. One of these areas is usually weaker. I have even had visual learners who have a problem with their eyes.

Importantly, kids who usually get a new toy and start putting it together by trial and error without reading the instructions tend to be kinesthetic.

But what works for one dyslexic may not work for another.

You can also test children by asking them to write the alphabet, starting at some point in the middle, such as the letter 'r'. Dyslexics often have to recite to themselves a-b-c-d-e-f-g, until they reach the letter 'r', while others can just write r-s-t-u-v, etc. without compensating strategies.

Did you ever have an old radio with too much static? You take it into another room only to find its reception clear as a bell? Sometimes there's a glitch in the wiring, and that's what Dyslexia is like.

This leads me to another point. Some kids can only understand what they read silently to themselves, while others must move their lips, and read slightly out loud. If their compensation strategy is moving their lips, then let them move their lips.

Some need absolute quiet, while others need noise in the background. So while the no-TV rule is optimal for some, it's not the best for all.

I remember when finding out about my Dyslexia that I used to go to a diner to read, study, or write while preparing for a college exam. It was the clanging of the dishes and orders for cheeseburgers, and the motion in the background that got me able to absorb my reading material.

I am sorry to say that we dyslexics as a population are high maintenance. On the other hand, when placed into areas of strengths we become successful. Not only in spite of our learning differences, but sometimes because of them.

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SHELLEY TZORFAS is the Founder of Specialized Tutoring/Learning Assessments, and has been tutoring students with ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia as well as undiagnosed kids for nearly twenty-five years.
Shelley views Dyslexia as a "processing of information problem, either in the visual, auditory or kinesthetic mode," and strives to educate the general public about learning disabilities.Like other dyslexics, Shelley has had varied, successful careers. These range from appearing on a PBS documentary, and exhibiting artwork in museums. She is currently writing a book on learning differences.
Shelley, nee Gelfman, is a single mother of two boys and lives in New Jersey. She is available for consultation and/or tutoring, and may be reached at her website at www.betterschoolresults.com . Her email is stzorfas@gmail.com , phone number is
(908) 735-9053.
 

This past year, especially this past year, things have been financially tough for many families. Many of us have lost family and friends, jobs and clients, promotions and opportunities. If you are like me you might have even lost some hair. We all spend a great deal of time thinking about our losses. We are sadden by what we no longer have with us and get angry over the things we did not get. And this all happens around end of the year when we should be giving thanks to anything we do have.

The obvious.

If your children are healthy, be grateful. If they are not well but alive, be grateful. If you have a roof over your head, be grateful. Even if it leaks, be grateful you have buckets. If you eat out at a restaurant once a week, be grateful. If you have a friend, or someone you love to share a peanut butter sandwich with, be grateful. Be grateful for health, food, shelter, and the necessities. Be grateful for love and companionship. Do not take it for granted.

The less obvious.

If your television is working on Super Bowl Sunday, be grateful. If you have beer and chips that day, be very grateful. If you have friends, good friends, be grateful. If you do not need to dry your clothes on a wire outside, be grateful. If you have running hot water and a working toilet, be grateful. Be grateful if you have a phone, internet connection, and fingers to text. Be grateful for the trees that give us oxygen, shade and fruits. For the bees that provide honey and the worms that eat the fallen leaves, be grateful. If you have a cat, bird, hamster, or dog, or any pet that brings you happiness, be grateful. I have a dog that doesn't' shed. I have a lot to be grateful for and I am 99.9% sure, you do too.

As 2008 ends let us all be grateful for this great country and grateful for the men and woman who protect us and keep us free. Let us be grateful for our police, firefighters, and teachers. Let us be grateful to our volunteers, our blood and financial donors, and our good neighbors. We are free in America to be grateful to any God we choose and for that, let us be grateful. Let us enter the new year with not one crumb of though about what we do not have and be grateful for the many things, big and small, we do have.

Happy New Year!

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Seth Prezant is the founder and Bugmaster of www.CoolBugStuff.com   His award winning web site was created to help promote fascination and education in science using nature’s most abundant creatures…Bugs! Seth is a true EEE (Education & Entertainment Entrepreneur) providing educational and entertaining nature shows for schools, camps, aftercare programs and home school groups all around South Florida. The Bugmaster can be reached @ seth@coolbugstuff.com
You can find many more easy parent/child projects to do together on Seth's website www.coolbugstuff.com.
 

Many different foods can affect our emotions, thinking and behavior. Sometimes it's the food coloring or preservatives, sometimes it's the sugar, and sometimes it's the food itself. These foods can irritate the brain, making the child sluggish or hyper. The lists of symptoms are long and each child is different. Many in the medical profession estimate that 5% of all ADHD children have the behaviors because of diet.

Diet is one factor I look at when I have a child who knows a subject at one instant and then forgets it the next. Any child who has groups of good days and groups of bad days should have his diet evaluated.
How does a parent do this? It depends on the child's age and your professional support. Two good choices to help you determine if food is part of the problem are a simplified elimination diet or the Feingold Program. In my practice, I like to start with the elimination diet because it is so simple, quick, and involves no cost. You can do this test over one or two days. Here are the steps:

Simple Elimination Diet
1. Weigh your child first thing on the morning you begin. Record the weight.
2. For that day, allow your child to drink water and eat one simple food only, and nothing else. Most choose apples so they can also drink/eat 100% apple juice and 100% pure applesauce (no sugar, preservatives or anything else added). Others have chosen oranges (and 100% orange juice), or bananas. No sodas, tea (herbal or regular), milk, or coffee.
3. Your child may eat all that he wants of the one food he has chosen, but no other foods. No vitamin pills. Do continue any medications.
4. Keep a journal for the day, noting child's moods, energy level and so on.
5. Weigh your child first thing the next morning, and record the weight.
6. Repeat the one food and journaling this second day.
7. Weigh your child first thing the third morning, and record the weight.
8. On this day, your child may eat normally, whatever he likes that you normally allow.
9. Keep a journal for the day, noting child's moods, energy level and so on.
10. Weigh your child first thing the next morning, and record the weight.

Understanding The Results Of This Simple Elimination Diet
Look at the weight: If your child has lost less than four pounds after the first two days on this diet, it's not food allergies. If your child has lost four pounds or more after the first two days on this diet, it is food allergies.
Look at the journal of moods and energy: If your child's symptoms of ADHD go away while he is on the elimination diet and return after he returns to his normal diet, you may safely assume food allergies are causing his ADHD.

Sometimes the elimination diet is inconclusive, or the child may be unwilling to follow it, even for two days. Or it may reveal one or more food sensitivities, and more testing may be needed to see if other sensitivities exist. Here is where you may begin some detective work, looking for relationships that are not always clear. (Food allergies show up in many different forms. The kind most likely to cause ADHD-like symptoms come from partially digested food proteins. Food sensitivities do not use the immune system, but affect the nerve cells directly.)

At this point you may want to try the Feingold Program. This program eliminates artificial coloring, flavoring, sweeteners, preservatives and salicylates, an aspirin-like chemical, and certain fragrances. (Because either eating or breathing can absorb allergens and brain irritants, some fragrances are also eliminated in the Feingold Program.)

Now your detective work comes in. Once you have checked all your food labels for all of the above, you then see if any of the ADHD symptoms have cleared. If you are unsure, go back to your child's normal diet and see if the symptoms return. Please note that because we are dealing with symptoms that affect the brain, the one person who may not notice anything is the child himself.
If you are sure that something you eliminated has cleared or improved the ADHD symptoms, then you have choices. If it is a chemical, then processed foods need to be carefully avoided. If it is the food itself, then avoiding the food may help for a while, but gradually new foods will cause problems.

Sometimes it is just the total sugar load. The average American eats about 160 pounds of sugar a year. (In fact a human born in 2000 or later has a 50% chance of developing diabetes during his lifetime, mostly because of diet.)

Our brains run on glucose, a simple sugar. So when the sugar level goes up due to a Twinkie or some other high-sugar, low-fiber food, the rush of sugar affects the brain. A good analogy is to see the brain as a computer, and blood-sugar concentration as electrical voltage. What would happen to your computer if the voltage went from 60 to 120 and back to 60? It would burn out. Well, the brain doesn't burn out, but it does get irritated. Brain irritation shows up as symptoms, some of which can be confused with ADHD. (Sugar Blues, a book by William Dufty, discusses in much greater detail the problems with sugar.)

This effect from sugar was exactly what kept Sean from learning his math, until he realized he could avoid sugar to do his homework, study or take a test. For him, the answer was simple. Your child's answers may take more detective work, patience and persistence, but the effort is worth it.

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Dr. Guffanti has spoken at WHOís annual convention the past two years on the topic of ADHD and learning styles, with attendees responding, ìThis is a life- changing class,î and ìThe best and most helpful of all.î
A medical doctor, tutor, teacher, author, and homeschool parent, Dr. Guffanti was born with a passion for education. Dyslexic and a kinesthetic learner, he has served as the medical director of a clinic specializing in learning disorders, and has focused on creating education that meets the needs of all children. He is the author of Rocket Phonics and Is It Really ADHD?
Stephen Guffanti, MD
CEO of Children's U.com
Home of Rocket Phonics
www.rocketphonics.com
 

An organized approach to experiment design starts with identification of major areas of emphasis. A typical list of these would include:

1. Learning Objectives. What concepts does the lab present? Are there any physical manipulation skills that are important (use of a balance, pipette or other equipment)? Why the concepts that are presented important? In other words, provide context so that the experiment isn't just recipe-following. For instance, if the experiment involves investigation of Colligative properties, explain the connection with homemade ice cream, etc.

2. Procedures. The directions must be very detailed leaving nothing to chance. Images or drawings of equipment setup or techniques are most helpful for the home lab environment. Err on the side of too many! To avoid the procedures becoming just recipe steps, a technique that can be used is to imbed questions that lead the student to think about the relationship of what is being done to the concept(s) of the learning objectives. Simply inserting a “why?” question here and there goes a long way toward preventing the student from just mindlessly plodding through procedure steps. Footnote the questions with either explanations or leading material to a fuller explanation.

3. Safety. Besides general cautions (safety goggles, use of heat, etc.), the instructor must anticipate what can go wrong and provide appropriate cautions/instructions. Also, instructions should be included to guide the student insofar as possible for the unanticipated also. Hot liquids can splatter; glass can break, etc., so the cautions should also include provisions for the safety of other family members that may be nearby or actually observing the experiment being performed.

4. Waste disposal. Home lab experiments should not generate any hazardous waste, but students' still need instructions about how best to dispose of the waste that is generated. This is true even if the waste is something that is ordinarily found in the home. Students sometimes have difficulty noting that (for instance) baking soda for a food recipe is the same as the chemical sodium bicarbonate in a chemistry experiment!

5. Questions. Thought-provoking questions which develop critical thinking skills are key in cementing what the student did and observed to the concepts of the learning objectives. One question (or conclusion) that is recommended for all experiments is to ask the student how what was done/observed relates to each of the learning objectives. Many students have difficulty with this and some example(s) may be necessary to get them started. Questions may be imbedded in the procedure and/or at the end to tie everything to the learning objectives. Questions can be used to present ancillary material that is related to the objectives. Questions should be presented that reinforce lab safety, especially with an eye to what the student may have encountered in an on-campus lab. For instance:

“In this experiment you heated vegetable oil. If the oil were to have caught on fire, what might be adverse consequences of throwing water on the fire to put it out?”

“If you were doing this experiment in an on-campus lab and your lab partner got some of the acid splashed in her eye, what would you do?”

6. Reference for further study and bibliography. Be sure to provide attribution for all the sources used in preparing the experiment. This sets a good example for students. References to relevant context, if not otherwise incorporated in the body of the experiment, are a nice touch to direct students that may want to explore further on their own. Use of the World Wide Web as an information source should be encouraged (especially in an on-line setting), but the student should be instructed in how to critically assess the validity of internet sources.

Student frustration can be high in the absence of the instructor when performing lab experiments at home. When designing a science experiment for a home use LabPaq, an organized approach with great attention to detail can alleviate much of this and help the student obtain the desired learning outcomes safely and with a sense of accomplishment.

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Dr. Paul Vorndam is one of the many distinguished professors who have developed home-based chemistry experiments for inclusion in LabPaqs® produced by Hands-On Labs, Inc. ( www.LabPaq.com  ). Dr. Paul Vorndam received his Ph.D. in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1987. He served as Associate Professor and Deputy Department Chair for Chemistry at the U.S. Air Force Academy before joining Colorado Analytical in 1991 after leaving the Air Force. He subsequently became head of Quality Control at Sigma Chemical Company's C14 lab. In 1994 he joined the Chemistry Department at Colorado State University-Pueblo and retired from there in 2005 as Department Chair and Professor Emeritus. He taught at the U.S. Air Force Academy as a civilian Distinguished Visiting Professor from 2004-2006. He is currently the Science Division Chair for CCCOnLine and continues to work with Hands-On Labs, Inc. to develop effective science laboratory instruction tools. Dr. Vorndam lives in Rye, Colorado with his wife Margaret and enjoys playing bridge and mountain running.

In an effort to assist parents with finding the right online program for their student, here is a list of questions that parents may want to use as a guide.

1. Is the online program accredited, and if so, by which organization?

2. What are the credentials of the teachers who teach the online courses?

3. How much interaction will the teachers have with students? Is the online learning experience teacher-led or more of a computer aided instruction model?

4. What are the costs involved? Are there costs beyond the tuition such as materials fees?

5. Can your son/daughter accelerate through the course if s/he is capable? Can students start the course at any point in the year?

6. How are assessments handled in the course? Is it all online? Will you be required to go to a physical facility to have your child participate in assessments?

7. Does the online program require that the student be online at certain times of the week?

8. Once enrolled, can a student withdraw from the course and if, so, what are the academic and financial consequences?

9. Upon completion of the course, what will you receive to show that a grade was earned and will they also send the grade to the local school district?

10. How long has the organization been operating and can they give you list of the schools, districts, states that use their program?

These are just a few of the many items to consider when selecting an online learning program or even before enrolling in a single online course.

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Bruce Friend is a pioneer in K12 online learning. As a founding member, teacher, and chief administrator of Florida Virtual School, Bruce has considerable experience in providing online learning opportunities to home school students. In 2003, Bruce was honored with the award of “Most Outstanding Achievement by and Individual” by the U.S. Distance Learning Association. In recent years he has provided consultation to online programs and families throughout the United States. He is currently the Director of SAS Curriculum Pathways ( www.sascurriculumpathways.com  ).
bfriend@nc.rr.com

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Serving: United States

Phoenix Yamaha Music School
Serving: North Phoenix, Arizona

Diane's Piano Studio
Serving: East Valley Metro, Arizona

Encinitas Learning Center
Serving: San Diego North County, California

Blue Dragon Martial Arts-for Kids
Los Angeles, CA/Burbank, California

Movies By Kids
Los Angeles, Ventura & Santa Clarita areas

ArtWorks Fine Art Studio
Serving: Entire Bay Area, California

Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale and surrounding areas, Florida

Huntington Learning Center
Serving: Areas in Illinois

The Jewish Museum of Maryland
Serving the Mid-Atlantic area

 

 

A Virtual Home Schooling Resource

A perfect homeschool program!

We understand the needs of home school families. Parents, students and experienced  homeschooling teachers have helped to develop this  educational site.
eSpindle Learning is the perfect online homeschool program to complement your curriculum.

It provides personalized attention and focus, structures your studies and provides detailed feedback along the way. eSpindle produces results faster than any other vocabulary training software!
Home schoolers can follow the program provided by eSpindle and also add their own words for priority study.

You no longer need to suffer through time-consuming spelling sessions.
Extensive Performance reports make it easy to confirm that commitments were kept and goals achieved. With eSpindle repeating every word misspelled until it has been spelled correctly in carefully planned intervals, you can rest assured that eSpindle gets the job done.
In addition we provide one of the largest online word root directories, along with study tips and fun trivia

A year of unlimited access costs less than a tutoring session -join us for a free trial now!

In addition, eSpindle is a safe website, based on the Legal and Social Compliance Standards published by the California Department of Education. Founded by a non-profit parent intitiative, eSpindle is committed to help students from all walks of life improve their language skills in home study.

eSpindle is provides unlimited access for targeted independent study, personalized to your individual skill level and goals. Drawing on a database of over 100,000 words, eSpindle is the first homeschooling online program that will stay with you for as long as you are willing to learn and improve.
It will not repeat words that you know, but instead focus on the words that need more practice until you have typed them correctly in carefully timed intervals You can also add your own word list for priority independent study and review always up-to-date performance reports.

Join for a Free Trial Now!

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