Professor shares secrets for top grades

Washington Times ^ | February 21, 2003 | Lou Marano, UPI

[Cincinatus' Wife]

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 (UPI) -- Students arrive at colleges and universities with hardly any idea of what's expected of them and are shocked to find that they lack the writing and study skills to get top grades, a Canadian professor said.

[judicial meanz]

Virginia.

Technically it is legal to homeschool here.

It is allowed if the parent has a license to teach school, and has fulfilled the proper course of study to become a teacher.

Some law huh?

[SarahW]

I see from your profile that you live in Virginia.

There are many options for homeschoolers here. You don't have to have a teaching credential. (although if you don't, there are some reporting requirements.)

If you have a bachelor's degree, you can set your own curriculum, as I do for my child.

You must describe the curriculum (a general description, not a full detailed curriculum) you choose but that is all. Then you must show academic progress at the end of the year, and there are several ways to do that.
We have our son take standardized tests.

If you don't have a bachelor's degree, you can use any curriculum that meets the state standards of learning, icluding state-approved correspondence courses.

Some make choose to take the state's religious exemption and they are free from both oversight of curricula and academic progress.

[judicial meanz]

Good information..thanks!

[SarahW]

If you don't have a teaching credential or religious exemption, you do have to accept some oversight.

But if you have a Bachelor's degree, that oversight is minimal... you must meet some reporting requirements and that's all.

You can set your own curriculum. Although you have to include certain subjects, you don't have to specificaly meet the SOL.

You notify the Superintendant of schools once a year that you intend to homeschool and describe the curriculum. At the end of the year you provide evidence of academic progress. The law provides several ways to meet this requirement. You can take certain standardized tests, have a portfolio evaluation, etc.

[SarahW]

Here is a weblink for more details, if you are interested.

http://www.vhea.org/

[judicial meanz]

I am definitely going to look into it. I have a Ph.D. and the wife has a Masters. We dont lack for academic credentials. I taught college once, but got disgusted and left the field.

This would sure beat the go arounds I have with the school board over their stupid curriculum.

Thanks Sarah!

[SauronOfMordor]

Bernie Gaidosch is fighting Socialism. The Ruling Elite (TRE) want large masses of rightless and easily manipulable people to be cogs in the one world order and to get themselves deeply into debt.

The current elite have a problem: their own kids are not necessarily more intelligent than average. There is a limit to how much of an advantage they can be given by rigorous education. The only solution is to ensure that the education available to the non-elite is guaranteed to intellectually stunt them.

[LaineyDee]

It takes a large number of teachers passing on without merit, to get a student to this point. In the long run they harm the student and the education process, just to avoid conflict.

The college I had been attending the last few years... instituted a "peer review grievance committee". I'm older than the typical college student, so I'm sure it was one of the reasons they asked me to sit in on reviews. My first review and several subsequent reviews ALL revolved around Jr. not doing his/her homework, shoddy work, not attending courses regularly and/or sleeping thru class... then blaming it on the professors. They would file grievances with the Dean and we would "hold court".

Since we were fellow students.....we could rake them over the coals (which we did) and cite our recommendations to the Dean to resolve the problem. This usually included mandantory tutoring with one absence permissable during the semester and reporting results to FAFSA (you got it...99% were gubmint funded party guys/gals) if they failed to attend. Most of the students brought to review, dropped out rather than toe-the-line. We called it separating the wheat from the chaff.

I appreciate the government assisted funding/grants to a point...but the welfare-to-work funding..... IMHO, is a grave failure. Most of those that I attended class with, were there because Mama wanted them out of her hair....not because they were interested in improving their education. They would talk constantly throughout lectures or sleep (up too late partying) and keep the cops busy at the dorms all night. One guy in particular....(who I constantly told to shut up during lecture).. had the nerve to ask me (begged, really) for a copy of my notes before the final exam. NOT.

It's really a shame that colleges have become a baby-sitting service for the willful illiterates.....who have no genuine motivation to succeed, waste the funding by dropping when it gets too difficult, then expect the taxpayers to continue to fund their lifestyle thru other welfare programs.

[Media Insurgent]

I think your ideas about combining home school & school is absolutely on the money.

The schools in this country are in bad shape, but even with the best schools you'd have to supplement classroom work with activities at home. I have a four-year-old who attends a really good pre-school. He learns a lot there, but my wife and I still take the time to work with him on numbers, reading, simple addition subtraction, art projects, etc. We'll continue to do so right up through grade school. Just a little time every day going over the basics and trying to make learning fun has a huge cumulative effect.

People are justified in complaining about the education system, but I wonder how many are willing to take matters into their own hands and take an active role in educating their kids. Homeschooling is a great solution if the parents are up to the task, and the school system in question is really horrible/dangerous, but otherwise my philosophy is to let the kids learn what they can in school and then fill in the gaps at home. And yes, the earlier you start the better!

[nicholle]

Great conversation. Has anyone read Morris Berman's, "The Twilight of American Culture"?

Scary, scary commentary on the state of education.

[dennisw]

http://www.profsecrets.net/tips.htm

[ironman]

Here are some of the thing I did in undergrad and grad school that helped me do very well.

1. Concentrate. In class and while studying. You need to find a quiet environment (library) and focus.
2. Manage time. I had a very structured study schedule. I spent a lot of Friday nights doing engineering problem sets.
3. Study groups. Both in undergrad and grad school I had/found friends that were sharp and wanted to get good grades too.
4. Study sheets. Some classes I had allowed for 1 page of notes at exam time. I found the preparation of these sheets to be a good study technique.

I was so prepared by exam week when classes were cancelled for time to study for the finals I had extra free time. It took little additonal prep to be ready to take the final.

One more thing. In my High School history class the instructor (who was also my wrestling coach) always gave single question essay exams like: "Explain the Renaissance In Italy from 1495-1520." Forced you to learn the basic facts and write too.

[sushiman]

"The Ruling Elite (TRE) want large masses of rightless and easily manipulable people to be cogs in the one world order and to get themselves deeply into debt. "

Nail hit firmly and squarely on head . Same thing happening all over the world .

[AZLiberty]

Combining school and home school worked for our kids, too, though in a different way. Our 15 year-old daughter and 12 year-old son have been home-schooled the last two years. In Arizona, you can enroll in community college if your SAT scores are high enough (1050 combined, I think) -- regardless of whether you've completed high school. Both pass the threshold.

Last summer, my 15 year-old daughter took an art class as an experiment. She did well, and decided to take 4 classes in the fall. One of the classes was Japanese, so to have someone to practice with she talked my son into taking it, too. He really took to it, and actually got a higher grade than his sister. This semester, daughter's taking 5 classes and son's taking three.

Unlike high school, the classes actually have some rigor to them, and most of the students are there because they want to be.

The only problem is that they're both too young to drive. Driving responsibilities (daughter does crew six days a week, both have music lessons) are keeping their mother out of the work force a little longer. She wouldn't mind being a "stay-at-home" mom, but sometimes she must feel like singing, "Six days on the road and I'm a gonna make it home tonight."