Now that we have our son enrolled to a Home School program, we experienced first hand the advantages of studying in the comfort of our own home. And it got me thinking, maybe I should check the various online universities available and study at home myself! With the many options – I can get additional skills that I need. I specially would love to learn more about website programming and design, or internet marketing and SEO! This is really something that I should seriously consider.

SAT or Scholastic Assessment Test is a nationally adopted standardized test for admissions to under graduate courses. Just in case you have forgotten, it is the universal score that colleges use to assess a candidate’s potential. It tests a candidate’s mathematical, reading and writing skills. It is supposed to predict the success rate of a candidate through colleges.

This test has been deciding the future of millions of high school pass outs every year. It is played by many candidates like a game, where more you practice, the better you get. It is being played like an elaborate game with SAT prep courses that prepare students with all the weapons and short cuts that they need to take. When looking at college success rates and comparing them with SAT scores and high school results, the high school grades give a better measure of the candidate’s abilities than the unreliable SAT.

The SAT has become a tool for measuring the time spent on preparing for the test as opposed to the actual assessment of a student’s skills. Getting used to the kind of problems that appear every year, a candidate with below basic reading and memorizing skills can easily obtain a high score in SAT. Having realized this, the College Board revamped the complete structure of SAT.

A recent study has scrapped all reports of the new SAT being an actual measure of intellectual competency or being better than the previous one. The study suggests that the revamped SAT under predicts college success for females. It also fails to predict success rates for candidates who do not have English as their chosen test language, making it more unreliable for Spanish speaking students. The only valid option would be to completely revamp the test every year such that the SAT prep course cannot include everything. This will assure fair competition and accurate assessment.

Education is one of the biggest issues that you and your children will confront. As a family, you want the best for your children and their future, and that often begins with getting a quality education.

As your children reach adulthood and begin seriously looking at potential careers, it’s important that you are involved in their decision-making process. For many parents who do this, they are able to bring up valid points regarding their children’s education and can answer questions that may arise.

An interesting option that is available to students is getting an online degree. It seems as if these programs have continued to grow in popularity and availability to students.

But are online degrees a good option for your children? Can an online college or university prepare your children at the same level as a traditional university?

If your children consider an online degree in their future, do your homework as you would with any other potential institution. While there are certainly bad options out there (“degree mills”), there are plenty of well-respected and accredited institutions that can offer your children a quality education.

Online institutions also may offer degrees in conjunction with traditional schools. Many online schools are a distinct part of a traditional university, although this is not always the case.

Your children may be interested in taking a couple of online classes to get a feel for this type of learning. Being able to succeed in an online learning environment is a major factor in deciding whether online education is a good choice for your child.

Remember to carefully identify all options for your children. If an online university is the best choice, it can be a great way for your children to study and enjoy the benefits of this kind of education.

Always do what you can to help your children make the best choice for their future.

Z’s long test is fast approaching.  It’s going to be on Monday.  We’re still not prepared because Z got sick for almost a week  but I’m hoping the reviews we’re having daily will make it easier for us this time.

Yesterday, Z’s classmate celebrated his birthday at school.  Z was sad though and didn’t want to go to school.  Try as hard as I could to pry the reason out of him he wouldn’t tell me.  I thought he just doesn’t want to eat at school so I assured him that he can opt to not eat it there and just take it home with him.  Still he refuses to go to school. So I had no choice but to get mad at him just so he would go to school.

When he got home he was in a happier mood.  I asked him why and this time he finally revealed the reason why he didn’t want to go to school earlier. He said he overheard the other day from the birthday celebrant’s mom that because it was his classmate’s birthday they will have to stay at school till night.  He didn’t want to stay that long that’s why he didn’t want to go to school.  I reminded him that if only he told me the real reason then I would have told him that it’s not true.  He laughed at himself after that.  I hope he learns to confide everything to his mom from now on.

Two decades ago, online schools were unheard of. Young people who had to work to earn a living got to choose between going to school and working. Moms who were tied down at home to take care of their children have to wait for their children to grow up before thinking of continuing their education. People who were disabled and can’t go to school every day just forego their education altogether.

Now, thanks to technology online schools have given these people an option to continue their education. In an Online School the student is given access to a website portal for their class. Through this website they can also access their assignments, required readings, and syllabus. Professors can be reached via email or by the traditional phone.

I’m glad more and more people are opening their mind about online education. Who knows maybe in the distant future this will become the norm instead of the exception.

My son’s school is going to have their quarterly exams next week.  I only learned today so I was a bit surprised when I read the note from their teacher informing parents about the upcoming exam.  The exam is only four days away but good thing we are thoroughly prepared this time.

So how do you review your kids for their quarterly exams?  Well, sorry to disappoint you but there’s no secret here.  The key is to review your child even when there are no exams.  You and your child should make it a habit to study every day after school so that when exam time comes your child has already a good grasp of the different lessons.

We don’t really spend such a long time studying everyday.  Our shortest study period is an hour and the longest is two hours.  At that span of time, he can already finish his assignments and I can already refresh his memory on what the teacher thought that morning.  He is only five years old so the short study time ensures that he looks forward to our lessons and I don’t get mad when he’s not paying attention.  Either way, it’s a win-win situation.