Perhaps most homeschooling families enjoy the flexible time homeschooling gives them and the interaction they can have with their children. There are, of course, certain difficulties and questions regarding homeschooling. One of them is regarding grading your children and keeping them up to par with most colleges standards.

The real question most parents want answered is why they need to bother grading their childrens homeschooling. The answer is simply because you may want to know if your children are learning something and if they are at par with children their age.

There are several ways you could find out if your child is learning or progressing in his or her lessons. One is through simple tests or exercises you can find in books. Another is through standardized exams you can find online or with the help of school officials that you know. Standardized tests help you find out if your children are doing fine and are at par with their peers. Standardized tests come as subject-specific tests and testing your children with these exams will help you determine what subjects they need to give more attention to, if there are any at all.

Grading your childrens progress includes giving exams or tests and most, if not all, children find tests as a waste of time. This is a very important factor to look into. Most parents find other alternatives or how to make an exam more enjoyable for children. Some of the alternatives include mixing playing with testing. Another alternative is to give rewards (such as seeing that new movie) whenever a child gets a perfect score in an exam. There are several alternatives and its up to you to play to what you think will make your child happier.

Another factor that could help you decide if your children need to take these tests is if you think they need to experience them. Most colleges require a rigorous standard type of exam (meaning college aspirants are pressured with regards to time) and children who havent experienced being pressed for time might have some difficulties passing these kinds of tests.

Another factor to be looked at is how the test results will be used. Tests are designed mainly to find out if your children need more help with one area of one subject and where they excel the most. That is not the sole reason though. Other reasons include knowing how your children react to pressure and failure or success. These are important things to evaluate as they influence your children, especially their values.

Another reason is to find out if your children learn from their mistakes. This can be a good gauge of your childrens progress and be a proof that they are indeed learning with homeschooling.

Another factor for your decision is how teachers and school officials view testing. They will definitely have different ideas and different sides with regards to the need to test your children. Other school officials will probably cite the need to monitor the progress of your children and knowing where they need help and where they can excel. Other officials will have a different opinion stating that testing should not be done as tests and exams are not the only gauge and way to monitor ones growth. Both sides will have strong arguments and listening to their sides might help you on deciding which side is right.

Of course, there are parents who do one-on-one homeschooling (meaning they personally teach their own children) that find testing their children is unnecessary. It is because most of them are seeing the progress of their children up close. They can see where their children are having an easy time and what subjects they need more time with. It is one of the advantages of teaching your own child rather than hiring paid help but you should also realize that there are other things you cant teach your children that they may need to know.

Homeschooling 101: Grading Your Childs Work is a post from: Tashi Lhunpo Education News

Dragon Ball Z is the middle instillation of a three part anime trilogy. The whole thing started out with Dragon Ball, then went to Dragon Ball Z, and finally ends with Dragon Ball GT. While Dragon Ball had a cult following, it was Dragon Ball Z that really caught mainstream popularity in the United States. Dragon Ball Z started as a Japanese manga comic in the 1980′s. Since then it has exploded into a truly international phenomenon spawning over 500 episodes, 17 movies/features and generating over $3 billion in merchandise, making it perhaps the most successful anime/mange in history. Dragon Ball Z has hit number one internationally, including the United States, Japan, France, Spain, Hong Kong, and Mexico.

Dragon Ball Z follows the adventures of Goku, who along with the Z Warriors, defends the Earth against evil. Their adventures are extremely action packed, sometimes with an entire episode being nothing but one amazing fight scene. This makes the show very entertaining, and the story line reinforces the concept of good versus evil. Dragon Ball Z teaches valuable character virtues such as teamwork, loyalty, and honor.

Akira Toriyama, the creator of the Dragon Ball franchise, was involved in the concept, approval and character designs for Dragon Ball Z, as well as Dragon Ball GT. Dragon Ball Z, the second part of the Trilogy, consists of 291 episodes. Dragon Ball Z arrived in the U.S. in 1996 and still continues today. The Dragon Ball Z DVDs are the highest selling anime DVDs, and Dragon Ball Z clothing has become very fashionable for teenagers and college students.

Dragon Ball Z is not going to fade away any time soon. Its good versus evil epic story line, fantastic animation, and intense battle sequences promise to keep the show popular for years to come, and after the sale of a million DVDs, it is safe to say that Goku and the Z team have made an impact far beyond what the original magna creator could ever have dreamed.

Goku & Friends: The Invasion of Dragon Ball Z is a post from: Tashi Lhunpo Education News

Due to ever-increasing costs of going to college, it is a good idea to search out available scholarships and apply for them. Scholarships are one of the most enticing forms of financial aid available today. This is because they are available to anyone without any repayment requirements! Many scholarships are overlooked and therefore are a missed opportunity for many students.

If students know about scholarships, they can apply for them, but many students do not know that college scholarships exist. Most students do not understand that there are scholarships obtainable to them, which could pay a major part of their education. In fact, the college scholarship can be used for any educational opportunity. This is includes private or public college, junior college or four-year universities, graduate or certificate programs.

What are college scholarships?

College Scholarships programs come in a variety of forms, which are normally considered free college money. College scholarships, unlike loans, do not have to be repaid. Scholarships can be awarded directly to students in a form of a check or to the school itself. You can receive a scholarship from any of the following types of organizations: charitable foundations, businesses, schools, universities, government agencies, and sometimes-even clubs or groups within the school.

Who can get college scholarships?

Although many scholarships are granted based on grades, this is a misconception. There are scholarships for less than perfect academics as long as you meet the other requirements. They range from athletic scholarships, to community service scholarships.

Many scholarship providers want to reward students for choosing a particular school or state. It is believed by older students that only college-bound high school seniors can apply for scholarship awards, this is not true. Scholarships are accessible for all levels of college study, from freshman undergrads to graduate students. You will need to make sure that you check the requirements for each scholarship for which you apply.

How do students find college scholarships?

It takes some time and energy to find and apply for scholarships, but the hard work will most likely pay off. You can sometimes find them by asking department heads if there are available scholarships, in the department you will major in.

Some students use highly regarded and accurate scholarship search services on the Internet to save time in the searching process. This is highly recommended. Online resources are a good idea as long as the website offers updated, current data and a way to match the student with the scholarship.

High school students can ask their guidance counselors about their eligibility for local or state scholarship awards. You should also make sure that you contact the financial aid office at the school you plan to attend, to see if they qualify for awards issued by the school. Finally yet importantly, students should ask their parents and friends to be on the lookout for scholarships, while always checking local bulletin boards and newspapers for additional scholarship listings.

College Scholarships is a post from: Tashi Lhunpo Education News

Get An Audio Engineering Degree From Reputed Institutions is a post from: Tashi Lhunpo Education News

If youre one of these people, you may not be familiar with the actual cash value coverage and replacement cost coverage offered by homeowners insurance policies; therefore, you might want to take the following information as a quick education on actual cash value coverage and replacement cost coverage.

There are two basic ways you can be compensated by your homeowners insurance policy. You may be compensated by the actual cash value or on a replacement cost basis.

If your home or any of its contents are damaged or lost due to a factor covered under your homeowners insurance policy, you may choose to be compensated by actual cash value coverage. This means youll be paid the depreciated value of your damaged property. One reason people opt for actual cash value coverage because they cant, or dont want to, replace the property that has been damaged.

On the other hand, if your home or any of its contents are damaged or lost due to a factor covered under your homeowners insurance policy, you may choose to be compensated by replacement cost coverage. This means youll be compensated the amount of money it will take to replace the property that has been damaged or lost. The amount youre given is usually the amount it will cost to replace the damaged or lost property at its current price. You will be given the amount it will take to replace the damaged or lost property with another that is similar in type and quality of the one that was damaged or lost.

A Quick Education On Actual Cash Value And Replacement Cost is a post from: Tashi Lhunpo Education News

FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS: Solution
by Steve Roensch, President, Roensch & Associates

Third in a four-part series

While the pre-processing and post-processing phases of the finite element method are interactive and time-consuming for the analyst, the solution is often a batch process, and is demanding of computer resource. The governing equations are assembled into matrix form and are solved numerically. The assembly process depends not only on the type of analysis (e.g. static or dynamic), but also on the model’s element types and properties, material properties and boundary conditions.

In the case of a linear static structural analysis, the assembled equation is of the form Kd = r, where K is the system stiffness matrix, d is the nodal degree of freedom (dof) displacement vector, and r is the applied nodal load vector. To appreciate this equation, one must begin with the underlying elasticity theory. The strain-displacement relation may be introduced into the stress-strain relation to express stress in terms of displacement. Under the assumption of compatibility, the differential equations of equilibrium in concert with the boundary conditions then determine a unique displacement field solution, which in turn determines the strain and stress fields. The chances of directly solving these equations are slim to none for anything but the most trivial geometries, hence the need for approximate numerical techniques presents itself.

A finite element mesh is actually a displacement-nodal displacement relation, which, through the element interpolation scheme, determines the displacement anywhere in an element given the values of its nodal dof. Introducing this relation into the strain-displacement relation, we may express strain in terms of the nodal displacement, element interpolation scheme and differential operator matrix. Recalling that the expression for the potential energy of an elastic body includes an integral for strain energy stored (dependent upon the strain field) and integrals for work done by external forces (dependent upon the displacement field), we can therefore express system potential energy in terms of nodal displacement.

Applying the principle of minimum potential energy, we may set the partial derivative of potential energy with respect to the nodal dof vector to zero, resulting in: a summation of element stiffness integrals, multiplied by the nodal displacement vector, equals a summation of load integrals. Each stiffness integral results in an element stiffness matrix, which sum to produce the system stiffness matrix, and the summation of load integrals yields the applied load vector, resulting in Kd = r. In practice, integration rules are applied to elements, loads appear in the r vector, and nodal dof boundary conditions may appear in the d vector or may be partitioned out of the equation.

Solution methods for finite element matrix equations are plentiful. In the case of the linear static Kd = r, inverting K is computationally expensive and numerically unstable. A better technique is Cholesky factorization, a form of Gauss elimination, and a minor variation on the “LDU” factorization theme. The K matrix may be efficiently factored into LDU, where L is lower triangular, D is diagonal, and U is upper triangular, resulting in LDUd = r. Since L and D are easily inverted, and U is upper triangular, d may be determined by back-substitution. Another popular approach is the wavefront method, which assembles and reduces the equations at the same time. Some of the best modern solution methods employ sparse matrix techniques. Because node-to-node stiffnesses are non-zero only for nearby node pairs, the stiffness matrix has a large number of zero entries. This can be exploited to reduce solution time and storage by a factor of 10 or more. Improved solution methods are continually being developed. The key point is that the analyst must understand the solution technique being applied.

Dynamic analysis for too many analysts means normal modes. Knowledge of the natural frequencies and mode shapes of a design may be enough in the case of a single-frequency vibration of an existing product or prototype, with FEA being used to investigate the effects of mass, stiffness and damping modifications. When investigating a future product, or an existing design with multiple modes excited, forced response modeling should be used to apply the expected transient or frequency environment to estimate the displacement and even dynamic stress at each time step.

This discussion has assumed h-code elements, for which the order of the interpolation polynomials is fixed. Another technique, p-code, increases the order iteratively until convergence, with error estimates available after one analysis. Finally, the boundary element method places elements only along the geometrical boundary. These techniques have limitations, but expect to see more of them in the near future.

Next month’s article will discuss the post-processing phase of the finite element method.

copyright 2005 Roensch & Associates. All rights reserved.

Finite Element Analysis: Solution is a post from: Tashi Lhunpo Education News

When Narcissistic Supply is deficient, the narcissist de-compensates and acts out in a variety of ways. Narcissists often experience psychotic micro-episodes during therapy and when they suffer narcissistic injuries in a life crisis. But can the narcissist “go over the edge”? Do narcissists ever become psychotic?

Some terminology first:

The narrowest definition of psychosis, according to the DSM-IV-TR, is “restricted to delusions or prominent hallucinations, with the hallucinations occurring in the absence of insight into their pathological nature”.

And what are delusions and hallucinations?

A delusion is “a false belief based on incorrect inference about external reality that is firmly sustained despite what almost everyone else believes and despite what constitutes incontrovertible and obvious proof or evidence to the contrary”.

A hallucination is a “sensory perception that has the compelling sense of reality of a true perception but that occurs without external stimulation of the relevant sensory organ”.

Granted, the narcissist’s hold on reality is tenuous (narcissists sometimes fail the reality test). Admittedly, narcissists often seem to believe in their own confabulations. They are unaware of the pathological nature and origin of their self-delusions and are, thus, technically delusional (though they rarely suffer from hallucinations, disorganised speech, or disorganised or catatonic behaviour). In the strictest sense of the word, narcissists appear to be psychotic.

But, actually, they are not. There is a qualitative difference between benign (though well-entrenched) self-deception or even malignant con-artistry and “losing it”.

Pathological narcissism should not be construed as a form of psychosis because:

The narcissists is usually fully aware of the difference between true and false, real and make-belief, the invented and the extant, right and wrong. The narcissist consciously chooses to adopt one version of the events, an aggrandising narrative, a fairy-tale existence, a “what-if” counterfactual life. He is emotionally invested in his personal myth. The narcissist feels better as fiction than as fact but he never loses sight of the fact that it is all just fiction.
Throughout, the narcissist is in full control of his faculties, cognisant of his choices, and goal-orientated. His behaviour is intentional and directional. He is a manipulator and his delusions are in the service of his stratagems. Hence his chameleon-like ability to change guises, his conduct, and his convictions on a dime.
Narcissistic delusions rarely persist in the face of blanket opposition and reams of evidence to the contrary. The narcissist usually tries to convert his social milieu to his point of view. He attempts to condition his nearest and dearest to positively reinforce his delusional False Self. But, if he fails, he modifies his profile on the fly. He “plays it by ear”. His False Self is extemporaneous a perpetual work of art, permanently reconstructed in a reiterative process designed around intricate and complex feedback loops.
Though the narcissistic personality is rigid its content is always in flux. Narcissists forever re-invent themselves, adapt their consumption of Narcissistic Supply to the “marketplace”, attuned to the needs of their “suppliers”. Like the performers that they are, they resonate with their “audience”, giving it what it expects and wants. They are efficient instruments for the extraction and consumption of human reactions.

As a result of this interminable process of fine tuning, narcissists have no loyalties, no values, no doctrines, no beliefs, no affiliations, and no convictions. Their only constraint is their addiction to human attention, positive or negative.

Psychotics, by comparison, are fixated on a certain view of the world and of their place in it. They ignore any and all information that might challenge their delusions. Gradually, they retreat into the inner recesses of their tormented mind and become dysfunctional.

Narcissists can’t afford to shut out the world because they so heavily depend on it for the regulation of their labile sense of self-worth. Owing to this dependence, they are hypersensitive and hypervigilant, alert to every bit of new data. They are continuously busy rearranging their self-delusions to incorporate new information in an ego-syntonic manner.

This is why the Narcissistic Personality Disorder is insufficient grounds for claiming a “diminished capacity” (insanity) defence. Narcissists are never divorced from reality they crave it, and need it, and consume it in order to maintain the precarious balance of their disorganised, borderline-psychotic personality. All narcissists, even the freakiest ones, can tell right from wrong, act with intent, and are in full control of their faculties and actions.

Pathological Narcissism, Psychosis, and Delusions is a post from: Tashi Lhunpo Education News

Finally, the disputing companies try to resolve their ongoing case through the court. This is known as Commercial Litigation. The companies, like the individual, take the help of an expert attorney to protect their interest. The attorney files the case for a contingent fee. The company involved in litigation, with the support of the attorney, seeks the Litigation Financing Company for its expenses. The company providing Litigation Financing evaluates the case. If the case appears worthy enough, the company offers an advance, often, termed as litigation loan. These are pre-settlement advances of non-recourse nature. That means the company gets its recovery charges if and only if its client company wins the case. But to ensure proper Commercial Litigation Financing one needs to resort to the attorney.

Commercial Litigation Financing is a post from: Tashi Lhunpo Education News

As any other student of a language would, I bought a Spanish to English/English to Spanish dictionary. Should have been easy enough except for the fact that I have occasionally used words from the dictionary and people have had no idea what I was saying. After consulting with my tutor I discovered my dictionary is a Spanish for Spain dictionary and that was what was causing my problems. Of course this important piece of information was not printed on the dictionary.

Learn Spanish Language Smooth Sailing The Process is a post from: Tashi Lhunpo Education News

Get a folder (or a three-ring binder), and label it appropriately on the outside cover. There are even folders you can purchase (some schools even make these available to teachers) labeled ‘sub folder’ or ‘emergency plans’. Also make sure you have an appropriate spot for your emergency folder on or in your desk area. Some schools will ask you to keep an emergency plan in the office. In either case, make sure it is easily accessible by a substitute teacher.

Think about keeping class activities to 10 to 15 minute increments. This way the sub will have better control of your kids. Students have difficulties adjusting to changes in their routines, and you don’t want to have to return to discipline referrals.

Keep the information organized and easily accessible for a sub. Remember, the sub won’t know where you normally keep things, and they can’t read your mind. Spell out exactly what you want done, where it can be found, and what you want done with it when they’re finished.

Make sure you have made enough copies of any worksheets so the sub doesn’t have to. And be sure to leave answer keys. Many subs will actually even grade your assignments for you if you ask them in your plans.

Get this done early in the year, and you can save yourself many headaches later, not to mention worries about what will happen in your room if you are unable to be there.

EMERGENCY LESSON PLAN IDEAS:

Language Arts: Include short writing activities involving students opinions. Thus they don’t have to have ‘background’ information, and they can write from their own experiences. Parts of speech review can include mad-libs or easy, fun worksheets.

Math: Leave a calculator activity. These could even be puzzles or partner games. Or give review problems.

Science: Copy a science article and have students read carefully and answer questions. Make speculations and use the scientific method. Or have students create the plans for a lab activity.

Reading: Leave students a copy of a short story or article, and questions to answer. You could even set up a ‘test-taking’ exercise, and discuss appropriate answers and strategies.

Social Studies: Map activities are great for emergency plans. You can even set up a one-day unit on any area/region of the world, including your own town or city.

Everyone gets those situations in life where an emergency has come up, and you don’t have the time (or sometimes the ability) to get a good lesson plan in to school for your students. Maybe you have a family emergency or a disrupted travel plan and you just cannot get into school to leave detailed lessons. That is why it is essential for you to have an emergency lesson plan available and handy.

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Emergency Lesson Plans, Real Lifesaving Tools for Teachers is a post from: Tashi Lhunpo Education News