Improve Your Vocabulary, Improve Your SAT or ACT Score

I recently realized that lack of a broad vocabulary hinders many students from scoring higher on the SAT or ACT test.

Improve your vocabulary, improve your score.

ONE BIG MISTAKE MANY COLLEGE STUDENTS MAKE

Have you ever gone to job websites (Monster, Career Builder, Craigslist, etc.) and noticed which types of jobs have the most listings? The least listings?

Have you ever looked at the job market for what your student is interested in pursuing? Even better, has your student researched the job?

Very often, students are told to follow their passion when thinking of a college major or a career.

At first glance, this seems like good advice.

Family Favorites Friday: Tea Party Birthday

These lovely ladies are grown up now!

 I don't always have a friends party for my children for their birthday, but when I do, I try to make it special.  For my youngest daughter's 5th birthday, we had a Tea Party Birthday theme.  

An Overlooked Way to Fund College

 I recently stumbled across an overlooked way to fund college. 

 I heard two different people comment, "My employer would have paid for me to attend college, but at the time, I didn't see a need for a college degree."  Both of these people now wish they had taken advantage of that often overlooked way to fund college.

Why should your student explore every funding option available?

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP: Helping High School Students Find Their Strengths

 Even though I have graduated five students, I still have two high school students at home. One is a junior, one is a sophomore.

For many high school students, one of the most difficult questions to answer is, "What do you want to do for a job, or what are you going to do after high school?"

FAMILY FAVORITES FRIDAY: VALENTINE ACTIVITY

Sometimes, with young children, it is hard to get away for a date night on Valentine's Day.

Other times, you prefer to share the love with the whole family and include them in your plans.

One way to make Valentine's a special day for everyone

Do The Right Thing

 

I was listening to the car radio on this blustery 23 degree day, and the DJ was lamenting that she had lost one of her husband's gloves the previous day.

Her co-host questioned why she had her husband's gloves and not her own.

She answered, "I don't need gloves."

The co-host wondered: "Why did you have your husband's gloves?"

"Because it was cold." (Note to DJ - you need gloves, even if it is only cold twice a year.)

Blogger Award

 

Kathy@ 9PeasMom bestowed this blogger award upon me.  I've never been given a blogger award and certainly not a "Sunshine Award", but it will be fun to participate and I was honored that Kathy had me at the top of her list.

Family Favorites Friday: Super-Duper Field Trip, Arkansas to Pennsylvania

This is Part Two of our trip from Arkansas to Pennsylvania twenty years ago. Part One, which reviewed our family friendly camping spots can be found as a guest post at 9PeasMom.

Originally, I had planned for us to stop at Conner Prairie Interactive History Park , which looked like a very fun place to have some hands on learning, but they were closed the day we were passing by. If you ever get a chance to visit, it still looks like a fun place to go!

Because we homeschool, our two week vacations are more like super-duper field trips. Due to the area we were traveling through, this trip focused mostly on forts and life in the 1800's.

Our first big excursion, however, was the U.S. Air Force Museum  in Dayton, OH. This was listed as a 'must see' by AAA and it did not disappoint. Lots of interesting history here and everyone enjoyed it.

WHAT MY ENGLISH TEACHERS DID RIGHT

Reflecting recently on what students need to do well on the (sometimes) dreaded SAT test, I started thinking about my high school English classes.

Even though the SAT test was not recommended much at my high school, the teachers were giving the students the skills needed to do well.

Homemade Hard Candy Recipe

Today I am making hard candy.  Mostly because I can.
 

Raspberry hard candy

Yesterday, while deep cleaning, we found a candy making kit that one of my boys received as a gift quite a few years ago.  There were a couple activities still in the kit so Jesse and I decided to try the lollipops.