The Problem With So Called “Young Adult Books”

Published on by Lexi1 Comment

Every time I go to the library, I have to look up the reviews of the books I checked out to see if there is anything bad in the books. I cannot count how many times I had to put back a book because it had a lot of swearing and sexual content. Most of the time when I get a book, it will pass one requirement, but break another. Why do authors put such content in their books? This is a question I will answer because I have asked it myself.

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Is Neely Correct – What Does “Entertainment” Really Mean?

Published on by Cool Pappa2 Comments

What a week!

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The Colin Kaepernick protest sparked all kinds of discussions in my household over the past week and as it should, spilled right on over into our homeschool lessons. Colin’s decision to not stand during the National Anthem, the comments by anonymous NFL owners, and the reaction by the public and the media, had us breaking it down to a few questions:

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New School Year, New Launch and New Strength

Published on by Cool PappaLeave a comment

launch

Are you ready to launch the school year when the “light” drops?

A new school year is about to begin, so what subjects have you chosen for your kids to use this year? Allow me to share with you some of our plans as we’ve heated up the tires, staged, and I think we are ready to go!

We are undergoing another year of “life-study” this year. Last year, we made a cross-country move in the first half of the school year and it was a nightmare. September – November featured flying across the U.S. to find a home, pack, move, unpack, and all the related stress and financial cost. Of course, the “money-making” job never slowed its difficulties, so it was quite a trying time. Getting schoolwork together was extra hard and this year, as we search to move somewhere permanent, looks to be very similar. The only good part is that moving across town is a piece of cake compared to thousands of miles!

That said, I am very excited about the classes I have lined up for three of the kids this school year. I’ll share some of my plans with you (so feel special) and please let me know if you have questions on why I may have chosen some topics over others if you want to know more. While life may be busy, I feel like this is such a pivotal year for all of the kids and have some books that will give them knowledge and wisdom for a lifetime.

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3 Reasons Why College Textbooks Are So Expensive and How to Save as Much Money as Possible

Published on by Reggie RegLeave a comment

The ever-rising costs of college tuition have caused many to rethink their education, but one subject that has gotten under many noses is college textbooks. According to the Huffington Post, in 2014 college textbooks had increased in price by 812 percent since 1978, beating medical services, new house prices, and inflation.

CollegeBoard estimated that last year’s average undergraduate spent about $1,300 on textbooks over two semesters, as seen in the image below.

2015-2016 college expenses

I can personally say that my textbooks have cost more than that this semester. I spent over $700 on three classes and thankfully, I already had the book for my fourth class. That sets me up to pay about $1,400 by the end of the school year.

So why are college textbooks so expensive and what can you do about it to save money?

Who’s to Blame?

Wonder who to point fingers at when it comes to expensive books? It’s both the publishers’ and schools’ fault.

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The College Writing Series: An Overview of CEA Format

Published on by Reggie Reg1 Comment

I’m happy to announce that I will be starting the first true series of Teach Them Right called The College Writing Series, aimed to assist you in teaching your child the basics of writing in college! In my last post, 7 Rules to Writing in College, I pointed out a few things that differentiate high school writing from college writing, so it is best to check out that post before reading this one.

In this new series, I’ll teach what is called CEA Format, and is essentially a method to help your body paragraph structure. CEA (which stands for Claim, Evidence, and Analysis) was taught to me in my first semester of the Early College Alliance, the college prep program I entered in the 10th grade. Over the past few years of writing for college professors, I have found that when I use CEA format my essays are generally complimented for their flow and logical progression, both of which are important for a reader. Now I use CEA in almost all of academic writing, sometimes even in short answer questions.

“So why should I use this format?”

CEA format is extremely helpful when it comes to organization of an essay.

Continue reading “The College Writing Series: An Overview of CEA Format” →

Summer Olympics Showcase Athletes and Effects of African Slave Trade

Published on by Cool Pappa2 Comments

If your kids are like mine, they are glued to the TV or internet watching the Olympic games in Brazil. This is a fantastic time to teach World History, Sociology, Geography, Psychology, Biology, and so much more!

As I watch the games myself, it’s hard to believe that it has been eight years since I was in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I remember the time well because I woke up, turned on the TV in the hotel and there was a tremendous celebration for the new president of the United States named, Barak Obama. The news of a dark-skinned person being elected president in the USA was everywhere and seemed to make many Brazilians proud. Sadly, like Brazil, the celebration and “post-racial” hope gave way to the usual agenda, but more on that in future posts.

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Can You Really Afford To Homeschool, Or Can You NOT Afford To Homeschool?

Published on by Cool PappaLeave a comment

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Over the last 12+ years that my wife and I have homeschooled, we’ve heard quite a few reasons why people do not homeschool that say they would like to do so. I have found that after asking questions and working through solutions to their barriers of entry, affordability is hardly ever the real issue. Let us look at the commonly held belief that you have to make “good money”, in order to be able to homeschool your children.

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7 Rules to Writing in College

Published on by Reggie Reg2 Comments

As the summer starts to wind down and supermarkets start their “Back to School” sales, that can only mean one thing… the start of a new school year.

Maybe you have a high schooler that you’re going to homeschool, and you’d like to prepare them for college. One of the biggest things that I had to learn is that high school writing is not the same as college writing. Usually, freshmen get slapped in the face because the same essays that were earning “A’s” in high school start to be labelled as “not really there yet” in college.

Here are a few rules that you can start using in your teaching to help your student prepare for college:

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Exercise Your Flexibility And Stretch For Freedom Part II: Formulating A Trial Run

Published on by Cool Pappa6 Comments

IMG_4402a_Paradise Path

In my previous post, I started discussing ways that you can begin to free up some of your life, and begin homeschooling. So today, I’d like to touch on some easy best practices that you could implement if you:

  • are in a situation where your child must remain in school due to your work-life or because the other parent is not in agreement with homeschooling
  • you want to try doing what you can, but are not ready to make the full commitment at this point

Now, the first action I want you to take is to look inwardly. Continue reading “Exercise Your Flexibility And Stretch For Freedom Part II: Formulating A Trial Run” →

Black Child In A White Education System

Published on by Lexi1 Comment

“To handicap a student by teaching him that his black face is a curse and that his struggle to change his condition is hopeless is the worst kind of lynching. It kills one’s aspirations and dooms him to vagabondage and crime”, is what Carter G. Woodson said in his book The Mis-Education Of The Negro, written in 1933. What he means is that by not teaching the Black child about his history and only about Roman or Greek history, he will never see the importance in the color of his skin. Continue reading “Black Child In A White Education System” →