Archive for May, 2014
Elisha Wept
Thursday, May 29th, 2014ELISHA’S TEARS
Tuesday, May 27th, 2014A Gathered Inheritance
Thursday, May 22nd, 2014Glowing in the Darkness
Tuesday, May 20th, 2014More SAT History
Thursday, May 15th, 2014- Every exam will include a reading passage either from one of the nation’s “founding documents,” such as the Declaration of Independence or the Bill of Rights, or from one of the important discussions of such texts, such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Well, it is about time! No one reads historical documents more than homeschoolers!
SAT History
Tuesday, May 13th, 2014- The guessing penalty, in which points are deducted for incorrect answers, will be eliminated. I like that. Nice. I cannot prove it statistically, but most of my homeschool students are good guessers. I think it is related to their calm, Christ-centered approach to the exam.
- The overall scoring will return to the old 1,600-point scale, based on a top score of 800 in reading and 900 in math. The essay will have a separate score.
- Math questions will focus on three areas: linear equations; complex equations or functions; and ratios, percentages and proportional reasoning. Calculators will be permitted on only part of the math section. Sweet! Sweet! Sweet!
- Every exam will include, in the reading and writing section, source documents from a broad range of disciplines, including science and social studies, and on some questions, students will be asked to select the quotation from the text that supports the answer they have chosen. Love it!
SAT Excitement!
Thursday, May 8th, 2014- Instead of arcane “SAT words” (“depreciatory,” “membranous”), the vocabulary definitions on the new exam will be those of words commonly used in college courses, such as “synthesis” and “empirical.” Does that mean the vocabulary on the SAT is changed? Not really. Does that mean preparation should be different? Not really. Students should still read good books and learn Greek and Latin roots.
- The essay, required since 2005, will become optional. Those who choose to write an essay will be asked to read a passage and analyze the ways its author used evidence, reasoning and stylistic elements to build an argument. Ok, but I bet you that the best schools will still require it. We homeschoolers hope so because presently homeschoolers are the best writers in the country. It is fairly easy to improve a score on the writing portion of the coaching resistant.
Do Not Be Afraid . . .
Tuesday, May 6th, 2014Every convention I go to there is such fear! Fear of Comnon Core. Fear of college. Why? The Lord I serve is not afraid of anything or anyone. Neither am I. I only wait to serve Him. “The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused Him of being a bore – on the contrary; they thought Him too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that that shattering personality and surround Him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified Him meek and mild, and recommended Him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies.”–Dorothy Sayres
If It Feels Good . . .
Thursday, May 1st, 2014The Harvard Gazette reports that the secret to dieting is merely not feeling guilty <http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/03/kicking-the-diet-habit/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=04.03.daily%201>. Forget draconian menus and deprivation, no, the sagacious scholars at Harvard tell us we simply have to “chill out.” Stop to smell the roses. And if the roses happen to be made of frosting, don’t feel bad about eating one.
Intuitive eating — the nondiet diet — abandons views of “good” and “bad” foods, and seeks to relocate mealtime beyond the shadows of insecurities and shortcomings. The idea calls for a wholesome diet, in harmony with the body. Eat what you’re hungry for, but only when you’re actually hungry. And stop eating when you’re full.
Like sin. Just sin enough to satisfy your cravings and intuitively stop. Heck, go ahead and eat that bar of chocolate. It will soon fill you up and you will be full and stop eating it. Abandon all notions of “good” and “bad.”
Hum. But I am rarely full . . . and so when do I stop? And I like sinning. I really do. So when do I stop? Abandoning notions of “good” and “bad” to this old boy is like handing me a package of Frito Lays and jalapeno cheese dip. I just can’t stop when I get going.
But, what do I know? Silly me. I always tried to avoid fornicating and Big Macs and thought that would keep me from doing it or eating it. But maybe I just should delved right in and not feel bad about it and then I would have my sin nature and gluttony solved? Oh how I love that university! . . . Just saying.