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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Learning Styles

Your brain uses three primary modes for learning.   These modes are the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.   While everyone uses all three modes, one of them is usually dominant and it is very important to identify which one is your primary method for learning.

Visual people tend to think with pictures.   They see things they are learning, and analyze the pictures to gain deeper insights and understanding.   Visual people also tend to use words that are visual in context like picture, see or image.   They also describe things using visual metaphors like bright or colored.   If you identify with this description than you are probably a visual learner.

Auditory people tend to think by listening to their inner voice.   They think about things using words and phrases, and analyze what they hear to make their decisions.  They often say things like, "are you listening", or "did you hear what I just told you."   They also describe things using auditory metaphors like loud and melodic.  If you identify with this description than you are probably an auditory learner.

Kinesthetic people tend to think base on their feelings.   They need time to connect with ideas at a gut level and tend to use terms like, "how does this feel to you", or "are you comfortable with what I am telling you."   They also describe things using kinesthetic metaphors like comfortable or pleasant.  If you identify with this description than you are probably a kinesthetic learner.

The Importance of Repetition

Regardless of which mode your brain primarily uses to process information, repetition also plays an important role in learning.  Did you know that information must be repeated from 1-20 times before it finally sticks into memory?    Too many individuals rely upon a single pass through a text to lock in critical information.  It is little wonder their success doesn't reflect the amount of time they've invested in learning.   Remember repetition is an important part of learning...repetition is an important part of learning. 

It takes time before your brain can validate information as significant enough to retain. Your brain's main purpose is to find or create patterns that will prove useful to your success and survival. 

Moving From Facts to Understanding

Facts may prove useful on some tests, but don't truly measure your understanding.    Understanding a pattern provides the brain with its true significance.    The limbic system or emotional brain also plays a role in moving from facts to understanding.   It is important that something feel significant or important so your brain will feel compelled to retain the information for later use.


You can get more learning strategies and powerful programs at www.HowToLearnAnythingFaster.com

Howard Stephen Berg Learning Systems LLC
5100 Eldorado Parkway
Suite 102-720
McKinney, TX
75070
US

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

From HSLDA:
(Home School Legal Defense Association)

Home schooled students ARE eligible for financial aid!

New Rule Ends College Admission Controversy


Scott Woodruff answers questions and assists members with legal issues in Idaho. He and his wife homeschooled their children. Read more >>
Last week the Idaho State Board of Education (ISBE) adopted a new rule that should quell the recent controversy about whether homeschoolers need a GED for college admission. Effective immediately, all Idaho public colleges should cease asking homeschoolers for a GED because of the new rule, Idaho Administrative Code 08.02.03.118.

Refusing Aid

Here’s some background on how the problem arose in the first place.
Several years ago, some colleges refused to believe that homeschoolers were eligible for federal financial aid (and colleges don’t want to admit students who are not eligible). They asserted that a homeschool student could only qualify by obtaining a GED or by the “back door” route of getting an adequate score on a standardized test to prove he had the “ability to benefit” from a college education. These colleges refused to acknowledge that a graduate of a homeschool program was eligible for federal financial aid in his own right.
HSLDA asked Congress to pass a new law to protect homeschoolers. But we were concerned that if the law only referred to “homeschoolers,” it would not protect families in the many states where a homeschool is a private school. For example, in Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Texas and others, state law acknowledges private schools, but nothing called a “homeschool”—even though that’s what they are called in everyday conversation.
So the law Congress passed to cover homeschoolers in all states referred to “a home school setting that is treated as a home school or private school under State law.” (20 U.S.C. §1091(d)) Problems with college admissions virtually disappeared.

Problems Arise

Then last year Congress repealed the “back door” option for qualifying for financial aid as part of its effort to quash diploma mills. Homeschoolers should not have been affected, since a homeschool graduate is eligible without proving his ability to benefit from a college education.
But two surprises popped up. First, we learned that a number of colleges—in defiance of federal law—were treating homeschoolers as if they had to prove their ability to benefit. And second, an influential organization erroneously told college admissions officials that if their state’s law did not use the precise phrase “home school,” a homeschooler would not be eligible as a homeschooler.
This was obviously preposterous. Congress used the term “homeschool” because it is quite well understood in common usage, no matter what nuance of language is used in each state’s law.
In Iowa, homeschooling is technically known as “competent private instruction.” In South Dakota, it’s “alternative instruction.” In Virginia, it’s “home instruction.” And so on. But it’s all homeschooling, as Congress understood very well.
But admissions officers—fearful that they might be personally on the hook for any mistake—grabbed the erroneous guidance and treated it like gospel. Regrettably, the herd instinct took over.
Soon many admissions officials were afraid to admit homeschoolers if their state’s law did not use that exact term “home school”! HSLDA immediately went to work to solve the problem at the national level, and collaborated closely with Idaho Coalition of Home Educators (ICHE) on the state level.

Clearing up the Language

The ISBE’s new rule solves Idaho’s problem by connecting the phrase “home school” to the Idaho statute under which families educate their children. There can no longer be any doubt—if there ever was a plausible reason to doubt—that what we have called “homeschooling” for decades in Idaho is truly “home schooling!”
Some Idaho colleges had drafted revised favorable new homeschool policies in anticipation of the new state rule. We now expect them to quickly pivot and apply the new rule. However, students whose college admissions have been in limbo should contact the relevant admissions official to make sure they are following the new rule.
The new rule is not yet readily accessible on the internet. If you encounter a still-confused admissions official, promptly contact us with their name and phone number, and we will follow up.
Our thanks go to ICHE for their excellent work on this issue.