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High School

Review: James Madison Critical Thinking Course

As our culture becomes increasingly visual, it is more important than ever to be able to think critically.  One very helpful resource for high school students is the James Madison Critical Thinking Course. A formidable-looking 534-page book, the James Madison Critical Thinking Course introduces the learner to both critical thinking and logic by analyzing crime […]

Using Tests to Promote Mastery Learning: Some Real-Life Examples

Two weeks ago I explained the 80% pass rule that we use to promote mastery learning in our homeschool.  Last week I wrote about some of the practical issues involved.  And today I’ll share some real life examples.  (Note, once again, that in our homeschool elementary students do not write chapter tests.)   So, how does […]

Weekly Wrap Up: Science Joy

In my life this week… We learned.  We went out.  We stayed home.  And we lived. We walked in the snow and that’s a tiring thing to do. One day I actually had visions of being carried back home on Mr. 17’s shoulders!  Instead the kids broke the trail for me.  We took the time […]

Review: Math On DVD Pre-Calculus by Steven Gottlieb

There’s always a lot to learning math.  New ideas.  Funny symbols. Last year’s concepts, almost forgotten, but suddenly important again. And, above all, radically new ways of thinking, especially for high school math.  Because it takes many exposures to these new ideas to really understand them, your teens will benefit from supplementary math resources no […]

Learning for Mastery: Some Practical Issues

When I wrote about mastery learning last week, I discussed our 80% rule: if our children get below 80% on a test they fail, and we will relearn and reteach as necessary.  Why?  Because we want our children to master the material they are studying, and if they do not understand the material well enough to […]