College Prep Genius - High School Prep Genius (TOS Review)

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Have you ever owned a book in which you found yourself constantly marking with a highlighter because it contained such an abundant amount of valuable information? That's what I found myself doing with College Prep Genius' book, High School Prep Genius.

High School Prep Genius, written by Jean Burk and coauthored by her daughter Judah, is a guide book to help both student and parent navigate through the high school years and beyond. This 440-page, 18 chapter book is packed with information which includes:

Part I - Introduction:

• How to Create a College and Career Notebook
• How to Map Out Your High School Plan
• Student Timeline Which Begins with 7th Grade and Ends with 12th Grade
• Each Chapter in the Book is Followed by a Guide and Tips For Parents including Parents' Homework (which are simple things to do such as download a common application and begin filling out the information for your child)

Part II - Foundation for Personal Success: (I would suggest that the parent pay particular attention to this section to make sure it aligns with what you would advise for your child.)

• Personal Development - this chapter teaches the student about responsibility
• Discovering Your Interests and What Motivates You
• Own Your Beliefs which also includes the discussion of character 
• Building a Healthy You - discusses nutrition and tackling change. Includes the topic of depression.
• Financial Independence - includes topics such as budget, credit cards, savings, and investment
• Building a Strong Support System

Part III - Foundation for Academic Success

• Academic Development - answers the question, why is education important?
• Effective Studying
• Tests and Papers - covers the various types of tests and how to prepare and deal with test anxiety.
• Getting Organized - discusses how to effectively use a day planner and avoid time wasters
• High School Mechanics - grades, GPA, and high school transcripts are explained
• Going Beyond the Basics - familiarizes the student with various options they can use to enhance their high school education including honors classes and advancement placement courses

Part IV - Foundation for Future Success

• Future Development - covers future goals
• Choosing a School - college search
• Standardized Test Prep
• College Applications
• Paying for School - helps you understand financial aid terminology and includes information about scholarships
• College Essentials

There are questions for the student to answer within each chapter.

Cost: $29.95
Age: 7th grade and beyond

My Thoughts:

This book is written in an easy-to-understand manner and as I mentioned at the beginning of my review, it contains a lot of useful information. Because my son is just finishing up his sixth grade, I did not have him read any of the sections yet. However, I appreciate how the author introduces the young student to the topic of high school starting in the seventh grade. My son will be able to start this book with the section geared towards 7th and 8th graders when he begins school in the fall.

This is not a book that the student has to read all at once. They can choose to read each section as it pertains to them. The parent should read the book in its entirety so that he/she can understand the Parent's Homework.

I recommend this book as a great resource for both student and parent.

To read other Crew reviews about this book, please click on the banner below.

©2011-2013 A Slice of Homeschool Pie. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.asliceofhomeschoolpie.com

Common Core Informational Meeting in Medina, OH - 6/6/13

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Serious changes are taking place in your child’s education.

Find out how this will affect your child.

Common Core

Informational Meeting

with

Kelly Kohls - President, OSBLC.org

(Ohio School Boards Leadership Council)

What is Common Core?

Are schools required to implement it?

Can we say, “No!”?

Does it only affect public schools?

(What about private, Christian, & homeschoolers?)

Thursday, June 6, 2013

7:00 p.m.

Connection Church

2524 Medina Road

Medina, OH

For more info: familyfirstschoolsecond@gmail.com

©2011-2013 A Slice of Homeschool Pie. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://www.asliceofhomeschoolpie.com

Parents: Have You Heard of TeenPact?

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What Is TeenPact? According to their website:

TeenPact is a dynamic, hands-on leadership school for Christian students. Our mission is to train youth to understand the political process, value their liberty, defend their Christian faith, and engage the culture at a time in their lives when, typically they do not care about such things.

The TeenPact experience is one of intentional growth, education and encouragement. We believe that God gives every young person a great spiritual capacity as well as a scriptural mandate to cultivate and use their talents - even before they are old enough to drive, work, or vote! TeenPact trains these young people to embrace their call as the next generation of leaders by giving them tools, teaching, and opportunities.

'Changing lives to change the world' is more than a motto to us. It's literally what we do everyday.

TeenPact offers one day classes and four day classes. (Click here for class fees.) This was my son's second year attending the one day class. These classes are available for children ages 8 through 12 and 13 through 19. Their classes are held throughout the U.S. Click here to see if a class is available in your state.

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Help Stop Common Core!

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Immediate action is requested to help put a stop to Common Core. There is a House Education Committee hearing on Common Core scheduled for Tuesday, May 14, 2013, at 4:00 p.m. at the Ohio State Capitol. Testimony will be given by an ODE official. Although they state that NO public testimony is scheduled, it would be good to have a large number of anti-Common Core people there to show our concern. Signs could be held up if your voices cannot be heard.

Room: Statehouse 116 (Overflow in 115)

Also, please make sure they hear from you before the meeting. The following information was taken from the Ohioans Against Common Core website.  

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Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens Field Trip

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Our latest field trip was a visit to the Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens estate. This is the former estate of Franklin "F.A." Seiberling and his family, who lived there from 1915 to 1955. Below is a little bit of background on F.A. and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company taken from one of their brochures:

In 1898, F.A. and his brother Charles Willard ("C.W.") co-founded The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. The company held numerous inventions and patents related to the rubber industry, and far exceeded the sales and overall success of other big tire companies. By 1916, Goodyear had become the world's largest tire manufacturer with offices, production facilities, and rubber plantations all over the globe.

The manor is 64,500 square feet and includes more than 65 rooms, 23 bathrooms, and 23 fireplaces. When the Sieberlings donated Stan Hywet Hall, it included everything that had been in the home - furnishings, books, etc.

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How Homeschooling Has Benefited Me - Part 2 (And What It Has to Do with Common Core)

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Until I began homeschooling there were things I didn’t know about education, for example: children do not all learn things in the same way; there are various methods which can be used in teaching; and children can learn just for the enjoyment of learning and not for the sole purpose of meeting a test score.

Homeschooling has benefited me in that it has taught me what a true
education looks like.

Education is NOT about memorizing facts in order to pass tests. 

Education is much richer than that. It is learning simply because what is being
taught is interesting, engaging, fun, and rewarding.

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What is Really At Stake with Common Core?

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I want to share an email I received today from ParentalRights.org titled: Romeikes, Farris in Court Today:

"Today the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in the case of Romeike v. Holder. While this is an asylum case precipitated by a German law, its outcome could greatly impact American parental rights law. ParentalRights.org President Michael Farris is representing the family in court.

Farris shared on his Facebook page last week, “The more I prepare, the more I am convinced of the rightness of this case.”

At issue is whether or not a parent has a prior right to direct the education of his or her child – whether a parent’s human rights include the right simply to decide where their child will attend school, and what kind of education the child will receive.

The Romeikes fled Germany in order to home school their children in accordance with their deeply held religious beliefs. Under German law, all children must attend state-funded schools and learn what the government wants them to learn. So the family made a legal visit to Tennessee (visas, passports, etc.) and filed for asylum while they were there.

The amnesty court granted their petition, finding that Germany’s law violates the family’s prior right to determine the kind of education their children would receive. But the Administration appealed through the office of Attorney General Eric Holder. Today is the day that appeal is to be heard."

What does all this have to do with Common Core?  Let me reiterate this part of the e-mail, Under German law, all children must attend state-funded schools and LEARN WHAT THE GOVERNMENT WANTS THEM TO LEARN.

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