Why Draw?

    

In almost all our courses, students are asked to draw idea they have, or that they have studied. The reason why we ask them to do this is that this makes the student create a physical representation of a concept, something tangible they can see that demonstrates the ideas they're mastering. Without this, and the exercises that are hands-on, study would be nothing but words. Many students need more than words.

When asked to draw, remember (unless you're doing animation) that these are not "art classes". We only want a physical representation of a concept. Stick figures and blobs are perfectly acceptable, so long as the requested idea is clearly there on the page.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

Where to Start a Writing Student Who Has Some Experience

    

I WAS ASKED asked about where to start a student in Creative Writing who has some experience, and the person who asked suggested Creative Writing III .

Yes, I'd say that's a good start. You MIGHT want to have your student read through

Creative Writing I , and skip Creative Writing II completely as it isn't built to offer new ideas, but you could certainly start with Creative Writing III .

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

Where to Start a Student in Science Who Has Already Done Science Outside CTT

    

Here's a discussion on where to start science, even if your student has studied some science:

Start on Science I , if you can.  One of the big problems with science curricula out there is that THEY NEVER DEFINE "SCIENCE".  They don't discuss generally what science is, how science is categorized, how science came to be.  They don't discuss clearly or well what categories exist in science, or define them.  This makes the whole area indecipherable for many, including myself when I was in school. The best place to start any area of study is in defining that area of study.  It is "core" information, upon which more specialized information will correlate.  Science Basics does this thoroughly, and I believe it's very much needed before moving into specific science courses, especially as the data in ours are often at the university level.

I had no foundation while studying science in school, and always felt lost and inadequate in the area.  I wish I'd been able to do the Science Basics course back then!  Of course, I might then have gone into science (as my son is interested in doing, as he completes the Upper School Science curriculum), and then I would not have authored Connect The Thoughts ...

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

Where to Start a Student in Creative Writing Who Thinks They Can't Write

    

I personally believe that ANYONE can write. Certainly, anyone's writing can be improved with some non-critical pointers, and a lot of writing. The advice I think you'll get from many writers about learning how to write is "write, write, WRITE!" This is decent advice, IF the student loves to write.

That said, you have a student who doesn't want to write because they don't believe they can. I've seen this many times, and it's born from various phenomenon. It doesn't take much to stop someone young from creating, just a comment or disapproving glance can do it, and this could come from any direction...friends, siblings, the critical aunt or uncle, the thoughtless instructor, you name it.

When I first started piloting the Creative Writing courses, which are the oldest of my courses (around 9 years), I was teaching at a private school and had around 50 students doing Creative Writing I . As they started, I would hear moan and groans and comments like "You expect me to write 10 WHOLE SENTENCES!" This type of assignment seemed impossible and abusive to them. I demanded they persist. The result was that two years later, wrapping up Creative Writing IV (as an example), one student came to me with a 40 page story (supposed to be 1/10th that length...) and apologized that he wasn't finished. Many of those students have gone into the arts, some as writers.

It got to the point where, in class, they would (entirely on their own) share stories. In fact, there is an early assignment where the student is asked to finish the story which starts: "Julie came down the stairs for breakfast...". The BOYS in the class created a competition to see who could kill Julie off in the most horribly gruesome manner. (They were boys.) And this is very important...I DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO STOP THIS. In fact, I encouraged it. This got the entire group excited about creating. They stopped this silliness after a while and expanded their writing interests beyond Julie being zapped by ray gun from Mars, and the Earth opening at the bottom of the stairs to consume her. It took a while, but their writing and THEIR INTEREST IN WRITING improved markedly.

Another point, a bit trickier. I had several of those students ASK if it was alright in their work to use profanity. I told them, "IT'S YOUR STORY, WRITE WHATEVER YOU WANT TO." I know this may be a sore point for some nice people out there, but these Creative Writing courses are NOT "manners" courses. (BY THE WAY, I PUBLISHED A MANNERS COURSE TWO NIGHTS AGO ON CURR CLICK!) These are CREATIVE WRITING courses, and the student MUST be allowed to create create create without restriction, "constructive" or critical help of any kind should be avoided at all costs! The parent/tutor/friend's job is to read, understand what has been written, appreciate it, and send the student back to work, AND THAT'S IT! Anything else will hinder the result we all want...students who ENJOY writing, and who are improving at it every day! Let the courses provide ideas the student can use to improve their skills. If you see spelling errors, list them as part of the spelling program WITHOUT COMMENT PLEASE! Grammar should be addressed separately and NEVER AS A PART OF THE CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM.

Creative writing, as is true of any art, is a form of self-expression (though intended to be shared, and to affect others). There is nothing so fragile as self-expression, especially in the young. The world is tough, and will freely offer its disapproval of any and all creative acts. Home school, as with any and all school situations, really should be a safe haven. The Creative Writing courses are designed to encourage creativity. They do NOT teach manners, grammar, or spelling...just the joy of authorship, along with those rules found helpful.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

What to Do with a Student Who is Deceitful About Doing (or Not Doing) Their Work

    

Ok, I've dealt with this one, too. I'll give you my best shot, here. And I am speaking here as both a parent and an educator, I'm afraid.

First, to directly answer your question, the student MUST RESTUDY (ACTUALLY STUDY) THE MATERIALS! The whole point is that we want the student to learn, preferably in as self-possessed and causative manner as possible. The student lied, he/she didn't actually do the work. How they passed any of our tests is a bit of a mystery, but duplicity can get really creative.

Quick advice: I know you're angry. Oh, boy, I understand. Put your anger in a box and close the lid. There may be a study problem your student is not willing to admit to, or something not understood which made her distrust the course, or herself/himself as a student. You're going to need to be extraordinarily patient and loving, and I suggest you call upon whatever reserves you have. (When confronted with the same situation, as I'll discuss, I was NOT very loving. I wish I had done better. I got angry and I yelled a blue streak. Not helpful.) Now is the time for real discussion. WHY did he/she do this? Only the student knows. You'll need to make it terribly safe to get the whole truth. There may be a problem you can help with that will resolve this and make certain it never occurs again, but if the student becomes afraid or defensive, you won't get far.

THE GOAL IS TO HANDLE THE PROBLEM EFFECTIVELY AND GET HER BACK TO STUDYING AND LEARNING AND WINNING, no matter what curriculum you're using!

To the harder points. My son did far worse, about 2 years ago. He pretended to study and did not FOR THREE MONTHS. It took me a while to figure out what was up, so I'm no brighter than anyone else when it comes to my own children. I insisted he MAKE UP THE DAMAGES. First, he was required to put in extra time...in this case, his summer vacation! He actually agreed (once he admitted what had been done) that he needed to do this, and he did it. On his own, he decided to GO BACK A WHOLE HISTORY COURSE AND REDO IT, to locate what he did not understand. This was not my idea or suggestion, and I was opposed to it. That said, he located a number of things he had not understood, which had made him distrust the course. He restudied, gained an understanding, and announced proudly (3 months after re-starting studies) that he was back to where I had thought he was in the studies. In other words, HE TOOK RESP0NSIBILITY FOR FIXING WHAT HE HAD DONE. That's all anyone can do, isn't it? (He's a great boy. His sense of integrity is powerful, and when he violates it, it doesn't last and it always comes up. I imagine yours are similar. If they truly didn't want to be caught, I'd wager they would not be caught.)

Frankly, I believe it only takes a FEW IDEAS OR WORDS MISUNDERSTOOD to send a student running for the hills. Granted, IT'S THE STUDENT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE CERTAIN THEY DO THE WORK NECESSARY TO TRULY MASTER MATERIALS AND COURSES! But we very often do not know what we do not know. You might be reading something, hit a few words you THINK you understand, or that you can "provide" a definition for based on context, read on...and be utterly confused and lost two pages later. Happens all the time. Going back, finding words and concepts not fully understood, truly defining and understanding them, and then RESTUDYING forward from the point of confusion can repair a whole area of study a student has abandoned. (If you want to know more about this, or want some advice on study materials that will help with this sort of problem, write me and I’ll make a recommendation.

Bottom line, the student may need HELP LOCATING WHAT WAS NOT UNDERSTOOD, rather than a tongue lashing (or cat o' nine tails...).

My son also had lied to me repeatedly, and frankly, had to earn back my trust. He did this by helping out around the house, doing great schoolwork, being productive and helpful (without being propitiative, which is disgusting, I think) and generally demonstrating trustworthiness. It took a while, about 6 months, for him to win back my trust. I didn't make it easy, I'm afraid.

Another thing we did was initiate POLICY TO MAKE CERTAIN THIS NEVER HAPPENED AGAIN. For the year or more before this, I largely trusted him to do his studies honestly. I wasn't looking at many essays, etc. (I was pretty busy writing Connect The Thoughts , which is my lame excuse.) We created a policy where, once a week, I reviewed all his weekly work. This took the question out of "is he working"?

Trust is a dicey thing, under the best of circumstances. When it comes to education, remember that YOUR CHILDREN HAVE BEEN BETRAYED REPEATEDLY by rotten schools, boring and erroneous curricula, inept teachers and tutors, newspapers that lie, etc etc etc. We need to earn back our children's trust and respect. They need to know that we are doing everything we can to provide them an education they can USE, something real and valuable. That's hard today, and when you encounter a situation like this one, bear in mind that trust goes both ways.

Hope this helps.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

What To Do to Schedule CTT Students Older than 16

    

I was asked what should be done with older students, re Connect The Thoughts. First, if your student is age 15 or younger, they can do the whole Upper School lineup and finish when they're 18 or younger. If you are willing to really do summer school, handling a history and science course during summer, a 16 year old can do everything as well by the time they finish their 18th year.

The program consists in Upper School of History I-IX, Science I-VII, and Creative Writing I, III - V. History X-XI; Science VIII and Creative Writing VI courses are all "Masters" courses. ( Creative Writing II is for Lower School students, essentially.) Students trying to get through High School do not need to do these. That said, if they seriously want to understand history, go into the sciences or writing, they should do these Master's Courses, but they can be done after the student completes HS.

That brings us to 17 year olds and older. They cannot do the entire program by the end of age 18. That said, it is somewhat arbitrary to assume that a student must finish their education by age 18, isn't it? If a student needed one more year, and if giving them that year meant they received a competent and compelling education, wouldn't most parents accept the need for the extra year?

For those 17-18 year olds who absolutely will not go past age 18, here's what I recommend, based on two 20 week semesters per year, plus a 6-7 week summer school. And note - the student MUST do some math program, and Physical Education on top of these recommendations:

17 Year Olds

Semester I - All Basics, each one done without distraction until complete, including (in sequence) How To Do CTT Courses; Information - Right Or Wrong; US How To Research. Follow these by starting Science I, and when you arrive at the point of the course where it's indicated, start History I, as well as Creative Writing I. When completing History I, start History II. Completing Science I, start Chemistry, Science V. When the student finishes Creative Writing I, start III. If possible, do Manners.

Semester II - Complete History II. Complete Chemistry, start Science VI, Biology. Work CW III.

Summer School - Finish Biology, select a history period that interest the student, between History III - IX, and start that course. Complete CW III.

Semester III (last year) Complete the history course the student started in Summer School, and start another of the student's desire. Do Physics and Astronomy, Science VII. Do CW IV.

Semester IV - Finish the history course started in semester III. Do CW V IF interested in writing only. Do the course Plans and Ambitions. IF the student plans to be an artist of ANY kind, do Artist's Basics.

For an 18 year old

There's only going to be two semesters. That's pretty rough, and you should focus on life preparation, I believe. Try:

Semester I - Basics courses, including How To Do CTT Courses; Information; US How To Do Research. Do Science Basics (Science I) and a History course selected by the student between History II - IX. Do CW I quickly, and start III.

Semester II - Complete CW III, do IV is possible. Do a science course of the student's choice. Complete the history course if not done. Do Plans and Ambitions. If the student plans to be an artist of ANY kind, do Artist's Basics.

That's about it. Now, if you're talking about continuing adult education, to quote The Wizard of Oz - That's a horse of a different color. Continuing Ed should be controlled by the student and their interests. An "under-educated" adult could always do the whole line-up, to fill in the gaps in their education. But an adult should be allowed to select their areas of interest and be allowed to study in those areas. The courses are there, and in Upper School, they are based largely on University-level materials and concepts, so they can be used effectively by adults.

Hope this helps!

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

What Level Should I Start My Student At?

    

Through 1st Step Starter (ages 4-6) and Elementary (ages 7-8), and Connect The Thoughts Lower School (ages 9-10) and Upper School (ages 11-adult), the ages listed are recommendations. Each level presents increasing literacy challenges, and if a student can handle them, he or she is ready for that level, as a rule. There are reading tests for lower school and upper school Connect The Thoughts, and sample lesson plans for Starter and Elementary on 1st Step, which should be used to determine whether or not a student is ready for that level.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

Starting At the Beginning

    

"My question is around your frequent comments about your hope that people do the courses in the order given, from the beginning. I was wondering if you could elaborate on that a little—the benefits of that."
     -Susan

The problem with most homeschooling especially where history is concerned is that it's more or less cobbled together from dozens (or hundreds) of sources, and so lacks coherence or sequence. Connect The Thoughts was constructed to be logically sequential. I based much of the writing of the history courses on comments that were made by Will Durant, who was, I believe, America's greatest historian. He felt that the way history was taught in his time was poor. Generally, subjects were separated out from each other. Example: Economics as a subject; comparative religion as a subject; Political Theory as a subject; Philosophy as a subject, etc. Durant felt that these were all a part of history, and were experienced by the individual in the "real world" as something we like to call "life", as integral parts of the whole of experience. He felt (and so appropriately designed his and his wife's massive and Pulitzer Prize-winning historical volumes) that all of these "subjects" and more should be carefully integrated as a part of a history study. Further, he felt that history should be carefully delivered in sequence, in the order that it happened, rather than the scattershot jumping around normally done in our schools. You know - this semester, American History. Next semester - The Dark Ages (if the school teaches world history at all, which in the U.S. is limited indeed). I believe with Durant that one should start a serious study of history at the start, and work through in sequence. In this manner, one arrives at today with something approaching a real understanding of how humanity arrived in the conditions we currently enjoy and suffer. I've done the hard work over the past eight years of putting history courses together that accomplish much of what Durant proposed, so parents do not need to do that.

Another reason I GENERALLY feel that it's best to study these courses from the start is that the way I present ideas in each course, with related exercises to make them tangible and "real" and even usable by the student, is somewhat unique, and provides the student a better grasp of the value of their studies. History is cumulative, and it is redundant. It is cumulative because the ideas and actions generated by great (or terrible) men and women are used and built upon by those to follow, so in seeing the chain of events, one can clearly see how we "stand on the shoulders of giants". It is redundant because the same trials and errors are often repeated across a span of time. Through an understanding of the great thoughts and acts of history, the student may just possibly have or do a few of their own - but only if that history gets into the motions of their hands and the flow of their thoughts. I've worked hard to see that it does, and I don't believe most other curricula aim for or accomplish this. Yet it seems to me this should be the only acceptable result of a profound study of history - a student who can use in today's world what they have learned to improve their own life and those of others.

In Connect The Thoughts, vocabulary is also built in a somewhat sequential manner, though I do provide for each lesson the definitions of words (or ask the student to locate places mentioned in that lesson) without regard to whether or not the same words or places have been handled at an earlier time. I do this because I have been taught to believe that the more one goes over a skill or idea (within reason, of course), the more likely it is one may master it. But there is a cumulative effect to the approach to vocabulary and geography that I've taken which develops these crucial areas over a span of time, and done in sequence. I can definitely tell you that the "grand arc" of 1st Step Starter to 1st Step Elementary to Connect The Thoughts Lower to Connect The Thoughts Upper School is designed carefully to steadily improve literacy and vocabulary, so that the student is always being prepped for more difficult studies. The same thing is done with the presented complexity of ideas. In earlier levels, ideas are presented in a simple form, much of the complexity and richness held back so that the student gets the "big picture". As one progresses upwards, often the same ideas (or events in history, for example) are presented again (this is years apart, by the way), but with more detail, more questioning, more expected of the student. This "incoming tide" approach is intended to be cumulative, and needless to say works best if everything is done in sequence.

Another reason I would love to see folks do these courses and (I'm sorry) exclude other curricula in the process is that different studies and curricula can contradict. In way of illustration, when preparing to author science courses, I decided to read four University level textbooks for each key subject I needed to understand better - chemistry, biology, and physics. I found to my horror that even University level textbooks not only disagreed with each other - but were occasionally wrong! Example - I read a University level textbook on Chemistry that stated in its very first sentence that Chemistry is "the study of the interaction of matter and energy". Wrong! That, by definition, is physics, I'm afraid! (I had a physicist look at this, by the way, and he was more horrified than I was.) Chemistry is the study of atomic structure and how it generates the substances and forms of the physical universe. Anyone using that unfortunate textbook was starting off with two strikes against them! They had a mis-definition of the subject itself, and would then align all future facts presented to that definition. At least, they could TRY to align the data. Good luck to them.

I've tried to design the courses as a "river" of information that has been correlated, coordinated, and to the best of my ability, verified against other sources. (In authoring academic courses, I never just trusted my own studies, but verified information through various other sources. After all, my own education was a product to a small degree of the Los Angeles Unified School District, and as such, when I began this process, was incomplete and sometimes inaccurate. I'm 53 years old, and have been self-educating myself since I was 5 years-old, essentially. But writing the curricula has forced me to fill in the gaps in my understanding of various subjects, which has been rewarding to say the least!)

For all of the reasons above (and more), I believe that Connect The Thoughts should be done in sequence and from the start. One more reason - the design of the program always has the student start with study essential courses like Information - Right or Wrong; Control; and How To Do Research. In an ideal world, these would always be done first in a person's studies, as they improve the student's ability to study any subject to follow, and facilitate their getting the most out of their studies.

I hope this rather long answer actually addresses your concerns! Thanks for the intelligent question.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

On Scheduling What to Study Day by Day/Semester by Semester

    

Just read a post about students doing several lessons a day of one or two subjects. I think this is great! I advocate an "OPEN SCHEDULE" approach as a rule, unless a student needs an unusual amount of structure. By "open schedule", I mean: -SEMESTER-LONG TARGETS are established and agreed upon by parents/tutors and students. These targets could even be year long, and might include a year of math, x number of history courses, science courses, writing courses, current event courses, books to read, etc. The goals should be REASONABLE AND REAL, but STEEP ENOUGH TO CHALLENGE.

-On a DAILY basis, the student determines what they wish to study. (They do NOT decide how long they wish to study as a rule. There are usually legal requirements. i.e. - in California, it's 4 hours per day, 180 days a year, plus some other requirements.) This allows students to focus on subjects they're winning at, and make excellent progress. So long as ALL the semester or yearly targets are met, this freedom provides the student a higher responsibility level, and a sense of ownership in their studies. So long as the student is learning and progress is made each study day, it's all good. (Don't forget to get a lot of physical activity in there, like sports, dance, whatever! It's generally required to some degree.) I discuss this in the free document on currclick entitled How To Do Connect The Thoughts Courses Course . You can see that document here , and I'm going to post all it's contents shortly on the CTT site as well. Anyway, bottom line, STUDYING IS FOR THE STUDENT, NOT THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, PARENT, TUTOR, OR ANYONE ELSE. If the student has some control over the process, they will enjoy it more and invest more easily into the work, just as I or you would.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

On Saxon Math and How to Start Using It for Home School

    

On Saxon Math . I've been using it for 6 years in a home school environment. It's usually great, but CHILDREN DO NOT NEED TO DO THE SAME SORT OF QUESTION 100 TIMES TO GET IT.

Enforced redundancy of effort implies that they don't get it! It invalidates what they DO know! Who wants to do the same type of problem 40 times, when they got it right the first five times? Not me, that's one reason I HATED math as a student.

We often go to every other problem! We never do their warm-ups, by the way, we just get to the subject of each lesson.

FOR THOSE OF YOU THINKING OF STARTING SAXON'S PROGRAM, I suggest you go to their site and have your student do their test, to determine which home school book to buy. MAKE SURE you get the home school program with an answer and test guide and workbook! (You don't really need the workbook, generally. We never used it.) THEN, here's what I always recommend...DO NOT START AT LESSON 1! Instead, have your student do TEST # 1, which covers the 1st 5 lessons in the book, and ex - always consists of 20 questions. If they miss 1-2, just correct those. If they miss more than 2, start on lesson one, and begin the book. If they miss 2 or less, after correction, DO TEST # 2, which generally covers lessons 6-10. Apply the same standard to determine if they should start on Lesson 6, or move on to Test # 3. Keep going through tests until you hit one in which they miss (really miss because THEY DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THE PROBLEMS) more than two questions. Start their studies on the first lesson that test covers, which can be found on a table in Saxon's test/answer guide book, before the tests.

Trust me, this works, and the student usually starts out math VALIDATED...look at all the book they got to "skip"! They KNOW something about math! And you're not wasting their time or grinding them down, forcing them to re-study stuff they already know.

Also, on Saxon, MAKE LIBERAL USE of the following great tools:

UNDER EVERY QUESTION IN EACH LESSON IS A SMALL NUMBER IN PARENTHESIS example - (37) THIS IS THE NUMBER OF THE LESSON PLAN WHERE SAXON TEACHES THE STUDENT IN THAT BOOK, HOW TO DO THAT EXACT SORT OF PROBLEM! If a student gets stuck, rather than you trying to explain, send the student back to that chapter and let them re-read how to do the problem. Let the student solve their own problem whenever possible. Saxon is set up to be very helpful with this, which is one reason I recommend their program.



EACH BOOK HAS A GOOD INDEX, very useful when TESTING. A student misses a certain kind of problem on a test - look up that sort of problem in the index and in way of correction, send the student back to THAT lesson where the skill was first taught. Simple!

This is not to say that Saxon is perfect. Among other minor problems, sometimes their ANSWER GUIDES offer incorrect answers...rare, but still, if a student insists they're right, you should double check. (Break out the calculator!) There will be times you may need to help, after the student has re-studied. There may be ideas or words your student doesn't fully get in the lesson which need some timely defining and examples. Sometimes (rare again), Saxon doesn't explain a concept quite thoroughly enough. But usually, Saxon (up to 8/7, which is a vast review of earlier Saxon courses) is pretty great. We've had considerable success with it! (I have nothing to gain, here, we're not affiliated in any way with Saxon at this time, though I wouldn't mind it.)

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

On Creative Writing II, and Why Some Students Do Not Like to Write

    

CW II is a specialized course which helps the student develop their ability to create and develop ideas. I've seen adults do it and learn from it. However, I usually recommend that if a student age nine and up is doing well on that front after CW I, they skip to III. I takes nearly a whole semester by itself, usually. I put II there as a sort of fail-safe for the parents and student.

A person can be a reluctant writer for numerous reasons. In the past, I've often found that reluctant writers are reluctant because their writing has been "helped" or "critiqued" by others, and those others could be anyone from friends and family to well meaning teachers. The way I designed the courses, I ask that no critique or 'constructive criticism' be offered the student at any point. This is a tough request, I know. But I think usually this is the 'stop' for the student. To create, one must feel safe to create. When creating, we're putting a part of ourselves out there for others to see and there's no where to hide.

Another stop can be literacy. If a student feels not up to the language demands needed to write, they simply won't embarrass themselves. The fix for this is to focus on the student's literacy and not worry about CW until a little later.

1st Step has CW as well, at lower levels of challenge, in Elementary and Starter. Starter is in fact CW for pre-literate students, where the focus is again on the development of ideas and a basic understanding of writing. If your student is really struggling with CTT CW I, you might want to consider trying 1st Step Elem CW I.

Another reason for reluctance is that the student was asked to do things that were too hard roo soon and failed. Failure is a very persuasive argument to not do a thing again. CW II was created as a step to CW III, which is harder and more complex by far than CW I. We want students to win every day. We want them to feel empowered by their accomplishments, not demeaned by their failures. That is how the present educational system is designed in many ways - to demean those who "cannot keep up" by assigning grades, holding students back, etc. It's pathetic when you realize that it's the school and teachers and curricula that failed the student, and not the other way around.

Then there are some people who just don't like to write. There are also people who aren't terribly communicative in any form, as I know you are aware. A key for such people is to allow them to work in their own way and pace. The assignments in CW are all there in black and white. Education should not be done on the clock, or by the calendar. I've seen students walk away from CW and come back a year later and more, ready to pick up where they left off.

There will be students who simply will not write creative works no matter what. If they won't, they won't. For those students (rare, based on what I've seen) CW is just not going to work. I would never force a student to do CW. I'd look for some other English skills program if you get an adamant "I don't want to write, ever" day after day. Why force a student to do a thing they hate or are afraid of. People change in the course of a life. Perhaps someday conditions within the student (or without) will arrive at a point where the student will happily write again. Forcing a student to write, however, is almost a guarantee they will hate it.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

On Connect The Thoughts, Spelling and Grammar

    

Spelling with CTT is usually handled per the Spelling Program , which can be had for free here on currclick.

Essentially, make a list of words the student spells wrong AS THE STUDENT WRITES. These are words the stduent wants to use, so they're not foreign or arbitrary, as are all spelling pre-prepared lists. Select ten (I try to stick to words that violate one or two spelling rules). Let the student work through those ten words in any way you see fit to learn the spelling. I don't advise many "rules" be used. The more a student reads and writes, the better their spelling will become as a rule. (Mine used to be awful!!! I still make spelling errors as some of you have noticed...) Verbally check out the student on the list of ten words after they've had some time to work through them and learn them. If they get one wrong, place it on the next list to be tried again. If the spelling is very bad, do this twice a week instead of once.

CTT does not cover grammar in its Creative Writing Program , and for very compelling reasons. We want a student to simply create, create, create, and we provide the student many tools to feed that creation...but NO criticism. This is very key. None, whatsoever. This includes correction of use of words, or spelling. (Spelling is handled after the fact via the above-described spelling program.)

I knew a nice set of parents I interviewed once, who explained to me that their son was a brilliant author, had written the first part of a novel, and then stopoped cold suddenly. I asked "did you help him?" "Oh, yes", the mom replied. "With ideas, and grammar, and spelling..." Of course, this is exactly why he stopped writing. He created writing projects for the same reason we all create...to receive praise, acceptance, attention, to create an effect on others. Their reaction, unintentionally, denied their son everything he desired as a writer, and he stopped. I suggested they go home and "eat crow", apologize to the son and beg him to write again, and when he did write, do nothing but read his work, understand it, AND ADMIRE IT. (I don't know if they did this.)

Honestly, the world is a tough place for artists of all kinds, and is rejection-happy. A developing student who loves writing should write, write, write, and receive little or nothing but admiration! The world will critique their work plenty, as they grow into the world. Also, in over 30 years of teaching, I've yet to see a student's use of language (written and spoken) not improve as they wrote and read more. The trick is to get them writing...stopping them is too easy.

If you're concerned about grammar, I know of several good outside courses, and would happily recommend them. Contact me here .

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

Long Term Planning, Education, Schooling, College, and Connect The Thoughts

    

Janet asks all the right and hard questions. Here's the latest:

"Ok, I'm a long term planner. What happens next if my boys start the lower school courses at age 9 and finish at age 16? or 15? or even 14?"

ANSWER:

The Lower School Curriculum is not intended to go any longer than two years, whether the student completes the Lower School materials or not. Lower School materials are principally preparatory for Upper School , though they do educate, and intensely so. If someone were to do ALL of the curriculum (which NO ONE has yet done, by the way), they would do Lower School from say age 9-10. WHEN THEIR READING SKILLS ARRIVED AT A POINT WHERE THEY WERE ABLE TO READ AND EXECUTE UPPER SCHOOL MATERIALS, they would IMMEDIATELY move up, but probably not much before age 11, as these are largely based on University-level materials.

The key is LITERACY. When a student is sufficiently literate, we'd like him to move into Upper School, and quickly. TO THIS END, I WILL CREATE A LITERACY TEST FOR UPPER SCHOOL AND PLACE IT ON THE CTT SITE THIS WEEK. (We used to have one, but when we moved over to the new site, it was mysteriously lost. Ah, computers...)

Upper School cannot (and probably should not) be done in its entirety any faster than 4 years. This would include completing at least the following, currently:

• ALL BASICS COURSES, INCLUDING US HOW TO DO RESEARCH
  
  
• US HISTORY I-XI
  
  
• US SCIENCE I-VIII
  
  
• CREATIVE WRITING I-V (MINIMALLY!)
  
  
• Our AMBITIONS AND PLANS; and MANNERS
  
  
• AS MANY CURRENT EVENTS (WORLD PROBLEMS) COURSES AS POSSIBLE

Ideally, however, the student would also do a Writing Master's Course, as these go a very long way towards providing a salable skill. These are very involved and take time, I would think AT LEAST 1 year per course, unless the student is very dedicated. I used to teach at U.S.C., in their professional writers program, and these Master's Courses are FAR more complete and involved than that program. They have the intention of helping create a PROFESSIONAL writer.

Also, I'm a big fan of students doing arts electives. As you know, we offer acting, animation, and music. The acting programs will take a student 2 semesters, currently. Music, however, is probably a good 2 years, animation, as long as three. I'll be adding to these course line-ups this year.

So, what's the answer? Well let's break the question into parts.

PART ONE: HOW LONG WILL UPPER SCHOOL TAKE?

Upper School, given the student should be studying math, history, science, basics courses, creative writing, electives, and doing some sort of P.E. should take AT LEAST 4 years. My son (VERY bright and diligent) is on his 5th year, is 16 years old, and will complete sometime this year. He will have studied Upper School nearly 6 years. That said, his essays and creative writings are frighteningly brilliant. His vocabulary is intimidating to most adults, and his general subject of conversation incomprehensible to anyone without a very good background in many areas. Me personally, I believe if a student does their studies honestly, vigorously, and diligently, without any "glibness", but with the intent to truly and actually learn, Upper School is AT LEAST 4 years, more likely 5-6. Then again, it replaces High School and Middle School (or Junior High)...and provides an education FAR more complete and intensive than schools offer, as a rule. Connect The Thoughts is intended to REPLACE completely "school", with home school that will actually challenge, educate, and work.

PART TWO: WHAT NEXT?

So, your student finishes Upper School at age 16. Or he/she is a wunderkind and completes at 15 (unlikely, but then, it's a big world.) Where to? Let me offer you an OPINION. This is ONLY my OPINION, it is not any more than an opinion. It's based on having taught and lectured at many universities and colleges and schools, and having taught for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and for private schools for over 10 years. AGAIN, THE FOLLOWING IS OPINION .

I generally don't like schools. What they are today and how they function (and this includes almost all school, including private schools) reminds me either of prison, or mass baby sitting. I don't like the fact that schools are forced to shy away from certain subjects which are not "PC", such as religion, politics, social behavior, etc.

I only went through High School, myself, in Los Angeles. I never went to college, not for one day. By the time I finished High School, I was working professionally as a writer-director-performer, and had won an Emmy Award. All the teaching I've done (and we're talking MANY thousands of hours of classroom time) has happened because I invested massive amounts of time and effort to master something that I LOVED...theatre. I decided at a very early age that writing was the thing I most wanted to do, and that writing theatre in particular was for me. I studied HARD, particularly from age 11, and on my own. I read about 3 plays a DAY, for 10 years, no joke. (I read very quickly.) I directed over 5 productions a year and ran my own theatre company from age 14. I started teaching acting workshops at age 15. All true, if a bit bizarre. (Fortunately, I had no one around telling me it couldn't be done.)

It is my OPINION that a person knows what he wants to do at a very young age. I believe that some people follow up on their young dreams, and many do not, and for many reasons. One reason many people fail to go after their dream is THEY ARE STOPPED, often by well-meaning parents, friends, and relatives who "know best" what their child (or friend) ought to do with his/her life. But of course, only YOU know what YOU dream of and believe in and want to do. A person's dreams can be murdered at a very young age, with just one sour look from someone respected and beloved, when the child mentions casually "I want to paint", or "help people", or "be an astronaut".

Further, it is my OPINION that a child...and by this I mean nearly any and every child...has the capacity to DO EXACTLY AS THEY DREAM. Those of you home schooling bright children know what I mean! But even a child who is "challenged" (HATE that word and the silly idea behind it) WILL learn things he/she WANTS to learn, and I've found this to be a nearly inviolable law. The CAPACITY is there, and usually, at a young age.

SO WHAT, besides a sour look or misspoken word, STOPS A PERSON FROM LEARNING??? Let me tell you a quick story. I COULD NOT READ UNTIL 1ST GRADE. True. Why? NO ONE TAUGHT ME. My mother was busy raising two sons alone, and dependent upon the school system to handle us. They didn't. As a matter of fact, my kindergarten teacher SPOKE NO ENGLISH. My stepfather refused to believe this until he went to "open house" and met her. Not able to speak any Korean, they were unable to communicate.

Then, I lucked out. My first grade teacher, whose blessed name was Mrs. Schick, but she re-married and became Mrs. Miller, looked at me one day, and came up with an odd idea, one she ONLY DID WITH ME. She asked me to start reading through Webster's Dictionary from page one, with her. We did this every day (at lunch, etc...) NO PHONICS, NO ANYTHING but learning to identify the written word (combination of written squiggles) with the sound of the word, with the definition and meaning of the word. Page by page, word by word. I became better and faster at this as we went. Much faster. I was tested at the end of the school year, and they found that I was able to read over 1,000 words a minute with 100% comprehension. (Wish I'd learned to spell better, however...)

Mrs. Miller saved my life, simply by both challenging me, and providing me THE ACTUAL INFORMATION WITHOUT ADORNMENT I needed to learn, and then expecting me to master the materials. And YES, this was a GOOD result from my connection with a school...however her method was utterly NON standard, and she did this with no other student I knew of. Why me? Don't know. Someone was certainly looking out for me, though. END OF STORY.

So your student does all the Connect The Thoughts materials...many of which are University Level AND THEN SOME. He/she finishes at age 16. What to do? College? Well, MY OPINION, college/University is GREAT for having a social life, and is NECESSARY if you plan to do something which REQUIRES a degree, such as being a doctor or lawyer or, as my son has expressed some interest in...an "Astro-Botanist". (He is also a professional actor and a brilliant writer, however, so we shall see. His current hero is Carl Sagan, something that developed out of his studies.) But I can't imagine why anyone would go to college for any other reason. And a warning (one shared by my dear, departed wife, who had a Masters in music and voice from Texas University)...I believe that sending a student to a college or university to learn the arts is simply a mistake and deadly. Nearly every artist I know who has experienced any success simply started in their teens or earlier, and continued to create and study ON THEIR OWN OR WITH VERY TRUSTED INDIVIDUALS. I know MANY successful artists, and very few have degrees.

If college is the game, you will need to have your home school student take any state-required tests to graduate high school. These tests, structured for the public schools, are VERY EASY to a bright home school student, though I advise you make certain your student knows his/her math. You may also want to do the SAT tests, if you wish to place a student into a great university or college. But for myself, I discourage the idea generally of college. Besides, frankly, Connect The Thoughts is designed to teach most of the general educational requirements a student would do in college (and more), and at a much younger age. General Ed can cover the first year or two in college, before one is allowed to specialize. I say (my OPINION) start specializing YOUNG, when you know what you want to learn and do!

I BELIEVE that, by age 16, most people have formed a very real idea of what they want to do, and are READY TO GO AFTER IT. If it requires study (as my career did and does), they WILL study. But if they're in love with what they're planning to do, THEY WILL FIND WAYS TO LEARN ALL ABOUT IT, including real world experience. I did. Millions of others have.

Finally, we come to THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION . Education is NOT a means unto itself! It is NOT a career, except for the professional teacher. It SHOULD be on-going for a life time, as there is no shortage of amazing things to learn, but now we're talking about EDUCATION, and not "SCHOOLING", which are two entirely separate things! The PURPOSE of education, it seems to me, should have a lot to do with preparing a child (or adult) to live a happy, successful, useful life. I think most parents would agree on this, and possibly many educators. Education can provide skills and insights which will serve the student throughout his/her life. Education should open the eyes and mind of the student to the wonders of life, and the uncountable options available at every moment. It should open the door to endless solutions to problems undreamed of at the time education was occurring, problems that will crop up in later years and resolve with cool and intelligent application of information and skills.

Our job as parents and educators includes (MY OPINION) the true and thorough preparation of our young TO LEAD, to make wise decisions based on good information and clear thought and clean hearts. In doing this, we best guarantee the survival of our young, our civilization, and our planet. Education should OPEN THE STUDENT'S AWARENESS to possibilities, and to THEIR OWN IDEAS AND BELIEFS, those deeply held truths unique to that unique person. It should demand of the student that he/she think and delve and comprehend and form opinions. It SHOULD NOT demand stock answers to stock questions, regurgitated neatly on cue. That IS schooling and at EVERY level and in nearly every institution, including universities.

I think we should educate, and listen to our children when THEY tell us "what next", based on the fact that they're awake, informed, and interested. And when they tell us "what next", we should do everything in our power to help them to their dream. THAT is my answer to the wonderful question Janet asked, by the way.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

How to Handle Recommended Word Counts for Essays in Courses

    

In each course, in nearly every lesson plan for Elementary 1st Step (ages 7-8), and Connect The Thoughts (ages 9-adult), there are essays the student is asked to author. These have a word count "requirement" of usually between 25-50 words. The word suggested count for each essay should be treated as just that, a suggestion. The purpose of a designated word count was to get the student writing and hence, thinking. But it is a recommendation ONLY, and students should not be counting words to see if they're finished. The goal isn't to teach the student to count, it's to get them thinking. Don't let them worry too much about word count, please!

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

How Important is Good Handwriting and How Does It Fit Into Connect The Thoughts?

    

Neatness counts in that writing is a communication. If it can't be read, it doesn't communicate successfully. That said, MY HANDWRITING IS ABSOLUTELY AWFUL! It is a constant joke for my friends, and often, I can't read it. So I type, because though I love to be laughed WITH, I hate being laughed AT.

However, when working with a student, especially looking over essays and Creative Writing , I would suggest you not ever comment on handwriting, spelling, syntax, etc. Just make certain assignments were truly done, admire the work and allow the student to progress without criticism.

Handwriting is reasonably important, and Connect The Thoughts doesn't offer it. It should be treated as a separate subject (as should grammar). There are MANY good handwriting courses out there.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

How and Where to Place a Student in 1stStep/CTT

    

In 1st Step and Connect The Thoughts , there's ONLY one level of curricula per age group. 1st Step Starter is for ages 4-6. 1st Step Elementary is for ages 7-8. Connect The Thoughts Lower School is for ages 9-10. Connect The Thoughts Upper School is for ages 11-adult.

The only "overlap" recommended would happen if a student was not able to read well enough to do the curricula for their age group, in which case they might start at the next lower level, or if the student read too well for their level, at which point the student might start at the next higher level.

Wherever a student starts (excluding Connect The Thoughts Upper School), the student does as much of that level as is needed for them to solidly gain the abilities at that level in terms of both subject matter and literacy. The next level up will generally cover some of the same ideas, but will also cover new ideas, and will provide far more information and detail to established ideas, as well as elevated challenges to the student's reading and thinking.

Let me provide you a few examples.

Let's say your 8 year-old 1st Step Elementary child does Elementary curricula for about 1 year (two semesters), and then executes the Reading Test for Lower School Connect The Thoughts successfully at that time. Rather than do the second year of Elementary, what I would suggest at that time is moving your student up to Connect The Thoughts Lower School, the next level up. (The same thing would apply to the extraordinary 7 year-old who could pass that same test after a year of Elementary.) Upper School would be too hard. Staying at Elementary when ready for a move up would bore the student.

Let's say, as is the case with a friend, an Elementary student reads well enough but finds the writing exercises too challenging. It was suggested that the student do Starter, but instead of being read to, that they read aloud to the parent to develop reading skills. It's a bit of a half-way measure to get the student up to speed on thinking and running their own education, and the student will move up to Elementary, I would think and hope, quickly. This is an "unusual solution" intended to remedy a situation for a student a little betwixt and between.

The idea is to place the student initially where they can pretty easily win but are still challenged, and then move them up as their skills and perception allow and testing demonstrates, and not as the amount of material on each level dictates (except Upper School in Connect The Thoughts ).

Placement of a student is ultimately not a function of age. It is rather more about literacy, which is why sample lessons are provided on 1st Step 's site, my1ststep.com, and reading tests are found on connectthethoughts.net, on both the Lower and Upper School pages. The student should start where their literacy permits.

As a rule, I would not ask a child to skip an entire level as you'd be setting them up for likely loses. It would be a bit like skipping, say, elementary school and going straight to Jr. High (or Middle School). Most students would not survive such a maneuver well. Each level is constructed to help prepare the student for the next level up.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

For the Writer Who Wants to Work Professionally and Learn About 'The Business'

    

The way the Creative Writing Program is constructed, the student starts learning something about the industry in Creative Writing V . In that course, the student is exposed to the various ways they might make a living as a writer, and some essential marketing ideas. At the end of that course they're asked to select a Master's Course in writing. There's 7 of these I believe (it's pretty late), in such areas as Playwriting ; Screenwriting ; Lyrics & Poetry ; Novels & Short Stories ; Creative Nonfiction ; TV Writing . In fact the newest of these courses is on how to write professionally in the area of Marketing and PR . These are courses designed to train professionals. To some degree, each course covers its respective industry and how to get in.

We don't start covering the "business" until the student a) knows how to write, and b) knows whether or not they're interested. Hence, Creative Writing V starts this process. By this time, the student is authoring long stories, and has a good grasp of writing essentials.

If you know a student who is pretty advanced already, start them on Creative Writing V . They'll get some marketing pointers. Then have them select the first area they'd like to master.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

Are There Enough Connect The Thoughts to Cover Junior High and High School? (or How Long Does CTT Take to Do?)

    

The short answer is that there are 6-7 years of history, science and creative writing, and electives, built into Connect The Thoughts . Here's the long answer:

Lower School History and Science Courses (for students ages 9-10) are MUCH shorter, and contain easier materials overall, than Upper School (ages 11-adult). Upper school courses are generally based around college-level materials.

A student should start with the basics courses; How To Do Connect The Thoughts Courses Course ; Information - Right Or Wrong ; How To Do Research ( Lower School if ages 9-10). These, if done in a concentrated manner without starting history, science, or creative writing, should take about 2-3 weeks, about 4 hours a day, on a guess. They can take longer...this is pretty new for the student! They can be done faster, depending on the student.

The "average" Lower School History course might take a student anywhere from 25 hours to 50 hours of study. A few are longer, particularly toward the end of Lower School , as we start to prep a student for Upper School materials.

The Lower School History is intended to be done about 1 hour a day, and Science, about 1 hour every other day (say twice a week). At that rate, you'll need around 4 "semesters" to get through, though I've seen students ace the science very quickly. (This accounts for 2 hours or so of study per day. The curriculum is designed to have a student also do Creative Writing (about 3 days a week, 1 hour, to start, so it balances history, science), spelling, and an elective. (Maybe 2 times weekly, an hour or so.) We don't offer math, but I usually recommend Saxon, I like the design of their first three books (5/4; 6/5; 7/6). After that, I have no great recommendations for math, other than a good High School level economics book from AGS. Anyway, math is another hour a day or so.

Upper School courses are much longer, and the Upper School curriculum is designed to take roughly 4-5 years (without Summer School). A student should first do the basics courses, if they haven't yet, and they should certainly do Upper School How To Do Research , which may take as long as a few weeks, in a focused approach.

In Upper School , one does both History and Science every day, Creative Writing at least twice a week, and an elective, as well as math of some sort every day. I also believe a student should do a current events-oriented course, probably completing about one every two months, maybe four-five of these per year. (We have five. I'm about to author many more.) This would be 2-3 times a week, an hour or so each day. We're looking overall at 4-5 hours a day, five days a week (excluding holidays and summer), plus "homework" in the form of reading a book every month or so (advised, sometimes required by the state). There is generally no other "home work".

Generally, you'll need to do some kind of P.E. activity. Each State has its own requirements for P.E., in California, it's twice a week, for 45 minutes, I believe.

Hope this helps!

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

An Open Letter to Parents

    

Is there anything a parent has to get right that is more important than their children's education?

That's why you've come to this site, isn't it? You're looking. Many of you are looking because you're unhappy with schools or curricula you've used. Many of you have decided you want more control over what your children are learning. In many cases, your children have not been challenged or assisted by available curricula, or were not taught or expected to think for themselves, a skill they will have to master to survive. We understand.

For those of you who have decided to home school, we commend you. Home schooling is a big job! Connect The Thoughts™ is a curriculum that was written just for you. It consists of over 100 specialized study guides in Creative Writing, History, Science, various arts and related areas. These were authored over a five year period, over 8,000 hours of painstaking research and labor. This curriculum has, over the past five years, been thoroughly piloted in home school and school situations, and has been used successfully by hundreds of students, ages nine to adults. It is based on ancient and proven ideas in education (many abandoned by educators today), but is current and entirely "of this world". It is a curriculum that constantly asks the student to evaluate the information for themselves, and USE the information in life, so it has immediate application.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

Connect The Thoughts™ Programming Semester by Semester

    

This is a breakdown of the courses a student should take, on a semester to semester basis. A semester is approximately 20 weeks of school. There are two semesters in a year, totaling roughly 180 days of school per year. Each semester, therefore, should include around 90 days of school. This allows for two weeks of vacation time every semester, about right given Christmas/New Years, Easter, and other days off.

The amount of school done each day is often determined by individual school district, so what I'm offering here is an overview. We'll break down studies for four general age groups which correspond with what 1st Step and Connect The Thoughts offers. These are:

• Starter 1st Step
  Ages 4-6
  • We recommend about 3-4 hours a day of academics, at most. 15-20 hours per week.
• Elementary 1st Step
  Ages 7-8
  • We recommend 4 hours of academics per day, 20 hours per week, and additional reading time of about 10 hours per week.
• Lower School Connect The Thoughts
  Ages 9-10
  • We recommend about 5 hours of academics per day, 25 hours per week, plus 10 hours of reading.
• Upper School Connect The Thoughts
  Ages 11-adult
  • We recommend about 6 hours of academics per day, 40 hours per week, plus 10-15 hours of reading.

This gives you a broad picture of the study time that should be dedicated. It includes Physical Education, and all the subjects which should be studied.

Every course offered is structured specifically for that age group. Subjects that are repeated provide increasingly difficult information and methods, so the education process and results are deepened rather than repeated.

Our courses are designed so that a student can do individual courses and fit them into your existing curricula. But the best way to experience either 1st Step or CTT is to start at the right level for the student, and do all the courses in order. In this way, the student will receive a comprehensive education, one coordinated so there's a maximum amount of information and understanding and experience, and a minimum amount of repetition.

Now let's break it down semester by semester. Remember, each school year has two semesters of 20 weeks each.

A student may continue with Creative Writing VI courses after completing the program.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

-New- What text books does CTT use?

    

We use a few textbooks, not many. They are Barbara Merck's Geology - A Self Teaching Guide for Upper School Geology and Oceanography; and The Classical Roman Reader, an anthology of many Roman writings. The courses in history are full of excerpts from great writings which are carefully broken down in terms of words so that the student has a good chance at understanding them. The student uses Will and Ariel Durant's The Lesson of History, a slim book that sums up what they learned from a lifetime as historians, in the final history course in their last semester of study. Lower School history is built around Van Loon's Newberry winning The Story of Mankind, which is in the public domain and so is integrated as text into the courses (you don't need to get the book). That's pretty much it.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

-New- Should a teacher or parent critique a student's work?

    

The curricula in Lower and Upper School is intended to move the student toward (mostly) self-study. The idea is that we are preparing the student for life, where there isn't going to be anyone around to assist with decision making and other crucial functions. I'm trying to help the student develop into a self-determined individual. I am aware that is not a desirable goal for some families, and would have to tell them that CTT would not be a good fit for them unless they do have the goal of self-determined young adults who can confront the world on their own two feet. As to discussions of the material, that is largely up to the student. That said, there are MANY MANY exercises throughout the curricula where the student is REQUIRED to ask his parent about something or discuss something. If not his parents, then ask another adult, per the requirement generally. The Manner's Course has such interactions, as do the History courses. And there are points where the student is REQUIRED to share his writings in Creative Writing. Overall I want the student to not worry about or care much about ANYONE'S opinion of his efforts. There's plenty of testing to assess progress, and people commenting or critiquing the student's work is rarely if ever productive.

What a parent or teacher can and should do is make certain that the student has all the materials needed, a quiet space, good rest, little or no TV or video games on study days, good food — all the support necessary for successful study.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

-New- How will a student decide what is the truth if the materials are neutral or objective?

    

As to deciding on truth, that's up to the student, just as he/she will have to do as an adult. Information – Right or Wrong helps the student spot the differences between truth, opinions and lies. Control – You Or Them helps the student realize when outside sources are attempting to manipulate their ideas or actions. Once done, the student should start to demonstrate informed independence. This should manifest in their decision-making and opinion-generating processes. Many parents and students have attested to this result, by the way. I would again say that if an independent and aware individual is not the family goal, we're not a good fit.

As to how do they decide about things when materials they are exposed to are neutral, well, how does anyone decide anything in life? Hopefully by investigating, checking the veracity of the "info", weighing the information against what they already know or believe to be true and then making a decision. The courses mentioned along with How To Do Research all help develop this ability. This is a skill set that should really be developed in every young person if they are to survive in a very rough world.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts

 
 

-New- Do you give refunds and if not, why not?

    

As to refunds, no, we don't give refunds. These are "ebooks" and you can't "return" them.

That said, there are so many free materials, including a full course on what CTT is, called How To Do Connect The Thgoughts Courses, free spelling courses, a free booklet on How to Start CTT, videos thoroughly explaining what we offer, and free sample lesson plans for every single course that we offer, that a person who discovers that we're not a fit simply did not bother to do their homework and use the available resources.

Currently we are giving away a week's worth of study every week in our Your Weekly Journal. That's more than enough to find out if we fit, I believe. All these resources can be found at www.ConnectTheThoughts.com , right on the home page.

The samples of each individual course can be accessed from our site by going to the menu on top of the home page and selecting the level of curricula you're interested in ( Lower School age 9-10; Upper School ages 11-adult). Once at that page, look at the column on the right. There will be a list of subjects. Pick one that interests you and a page will open with all the available courses in that subject at that level. All the courses are described and have samples.

     Steven Horwich
     Connect The Thoughts