Archive for July, 2011

by Kimberly1m
When you are decorating your home, there are so many things you need to consider. You have to choose paint. Do you stick with one paint color throughout the house, or do a different color for each room? Should you go with a solid color or pattern? There are a lot of things to consider with just the paint. You also have to think about what accessories you want. Artwork is another thing you might want to consider when decorating, but it is not a necessity.
One thing that people may neglect to consider is the floor adornments. Most people choose to lay down their favorite type of flooring but don’t consider a rug to balance out their room. Rugs do not have to be expensive. Cheap rugs can be high quality if they are bought during a sale. You want to make sure that the cheap rugs you purchase are a trusted name brand so you don’t get tricked into getting a cheap rug that will fall apart after very little use. Rugs must be high quality in order to last.
Modern rugs go great in a modern home. You can go with one rug style and use that same style in each room, or you can go with styles that coordinate. When you choose modern rugs you get to find a rug that matches your style. You should get a rug for each room of your home because rugs serve a variety of purposes. You might want to just purchase decorative modern rugs for the rooms in your home where you want them to be a focal point. You might choose to spend a little more money on rugs that are meant to stand out.
Don’t neglect rugs that are functional and not necessarily used for decoration. Your bathroom needs bath mats to keep your floors from being too slippery when wet. Bath mats can prevent slips and falls in a bathroom.
You should also have stair carpet to prevent slips and falls on a staircase. If you have young children it might be difficult for them to climb stairs without stair carpet. Aged adults might also have a difficult time climbing stairs without some type of stair carpet. It is a good idea to get stair carpet instead of having to worry every time someone goes up or down stairs.
Rubber mats can be used in a kitchen to help keep your back from being strained after standing in one spot for a long time. Rubber mats can be used in any other place where a person stands still for an extended period of time. These rugs need not be large rugs. They should be small enough to cover a small area of the kitchen.
Door mats are the first rugs that guests encounter. They should dust their feet off on the outside of your home before they enter. When they come inside of your home, the first thing they step on should be another door mat. Rugs have so many different uses that they should not be left out of your home when you are decorating.

Article Source: Article Wagon

by Lee Binz
The reason I’m strongly in favor of homeschooling if because I believe it’s the perfect environment for learning. The academics of a homeschool are always and can always be challenging and yet they never have to be overwhelming, and that’s the only place you’re going to get that setting.

Homeschooling allows for socialization that is always safe and supportive and it never has to be threatening or scary in anyway. Homeschooling allows time for specialization; homeschooling is much more efficient since you’re not waiting for the bus and you’re not waiting in line, kids have much more time to specialize in something that they’re passionate about.

It’s one of the reasons why colleges seek homeschoolers. A common fear early in the homeschool movement was that homeschool kids wouldn’t make it into college. Now, the tables are turned. Colleges actively seek out homeschoolers!

In our homeschool, we prepared our kids academically and part of that academic preparation was SAT preparation. SAT covers reading, writing, and math which what we want our kids to know what to do. Because of their academic preparation, they were invited to compete in the full tuition scholarship competition. They were told to bring something that they could talk about who they were.

Because we had time to specialize as homeschoolers, they each had something very unique that they could bring to talk about. My older son brought his chess set and he talked about how he teaches chess. My younger son brought a charcoal drawing of the French economist, Jean Baptiste Say, so that he could talk about political economy.

They found out later that they weren’t judged their academics but they were evaluated based on how they interacted with their peers when nobody was looking. The ironic part is my kids were given full tuition scholarship because of socialization.

Even with great socialization, make sure your kids are prepared for college academically. Failing to aim for college is one of “The 5 Biggest Mistakes Parents Make When Homeschooling High School.” Learn how to avoid all 5 mistakes in my free e-mail mini-course.

Need help homeschooling high school? Lee Binz, The HomeScholar is an expert on how to homeschool for free and maintains a website that talks about home school reviews where you can get answers to all your questions. You can find Lee online at TheHomeScholar.com.

Article Source: Article Wagon

by smanuva123
I received the sweetest note from Stacie this week. She said very nice things about me, which was SO sweet! But I would like all homeschool parents to look beyond her sweet words and see her FEELINGS. She is homeschooling merrily long, doing a great job. Still, her son FEELS like his education doesn’t measure up. As a teacher, she FEELS like she may have failed him academically. Sometimes our feelings tell the truth, but sometimes they don’t. One of the nice things about a transcript is that it’s the TRUTH about your homeschool, and not just a feeling. Read Stacie’s letter:

Dear Lee,

You’ve saved me again. The instructions you provided (about calculating the GPA) were so easy to understand. I was about to just leave out the GPA, but the scholarship paperwork clearly stated that GPA and ACT scores were the deciding factors and must be included. Just like you said, we have to speak the college’s love language.

I could not have done this without your help and guidance over the past few years.

It was quite an experience to put together this transcript. Whether or not we are awarded any of the scholarships applied for, what my son and I learned has been invaluable. He had been thinking his education was quite lacking; you know, worried he didn’t measure up to the other kids. I had been thinking I had failed him academically. After we had it all done, we sat back and digested it all. Wow! We have been quite busy the past few years learning tons of stuff. He’s had quite a varied education. We noticed just how busy he has been with music. Even physical education, the one area I thought he was completely lacking in, ended up with a full 4 credits earned. He ended up with a GPA of 3.81 and 27 earned credits with 8 left to finish out to the end of the school year.

Thank you, Lee, for all you do. I was introduced to your website after 15 years of homeschooling and wondered if your services would even be something I could use. I’m so glad I took that chance on you and your products. Time after time I go back to what you have taught me. You’ve saved me time, headache, and worry. Following your guidance has brought me peace and improved our homeschool. The cost of your products is so small compared to what you’ve done for me. I tell everyone about you. Just today I referred another woman to you. Lee, you’re the best.

From a friend,
Stacie

Every Homeschool teacher in every educational setting has things that go wrong. Projects left undone, books not finished, kids with attitude, moments of frustration. None of that goes on the Homeschool transcript. It happens to every one, in public and private school as well as homeschool, but it doesn’t go on the permanent record. Only the good stuff goes on the transcript. Classes that are finished. The finished grade goes on the transcript, not the icky-yucky sausage-making process of coming up with the grade. As homeschoolers, we sometimes get stuck in the middle of the educational process and forget that our end result is looking pretty good.

Your transcript tells the truth about your homeschool. It can calm your nerves. It can help you gain perspective. It can reassure teens.

Here is what all homeschool parents can glean from this letter from the parent of a high school senior.

1. Feeling insecure is normal
2. Children may doubt their education
3. Seeing your homeschool in print can help everyone
4. Your homeschool will look good in black and white

Making a transcript is good feedback. And Stacie was so sweet to give me positive feedback, too! Thanks Stacie!

Lee Binz, The HomeScholar, helps parents homeschool for high school and is a leading internet home school resource helping parents homeschool to college. You can find Lee online at http://www.thehomescholar.com/ and can email her at Lee@TheHomeScholar.com.

Article Source: Article Wagon