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Learn the homonyms and homophones...

ad/add allowed/aloud ant/aunt ate/eight ball/bawl band/banned bear/bare be/bee billed/build blew/blue board/bored boy/buoy brake/break by/bye/buy beach/beech bolder/boulder bread/bred brouse/brows capital/capitol caret/carrot/carat/karat cell/sell cent/scent/sent census/senses cereal/serial chews/choose choral/coral chute/shoot clothes/close colonel/kernel creak/creek crews/cruise cymbal/symbol days/daze dear/deer dew/do/due die/dye disc/disk discreet/discrete discussed/disgust doe/dough

doughs/doze earn/urn ewe/you eye/I fare/fair feat/feet find/fined fir/fur flea/flee flew/flu/flue flower/flour for/four/fore forth/fourth foul/fowl frees/freeze gneiss/nice gnu/knew/new gored/gourd gorilla/guerrilla grays/graze grate/great guessed/guest gym/Jim hale/hail hall/haul hare/hair heal/heel/he'll heard/herd hew/hue hi/high higher/hire him/hymm hair/hare hoarse/horse hole/whole hour/our idle/idol idle/idol/idyl in/inn incite/insight

its/it's jam/jamb jeans/genes knead/need/kneed knight/night knows/nose/no's lead/led leased/least lessen/lesson lie/lye links/lynx load/lode/lowed loan/lone locks/lox loot/lute maid/made mail/male maize/maze meet/meat medal/meddle mince/mints miner/minor missed/mist mooed/mood morning/mourning muscle/mussel mussed/must nays/neighs no/know none/nun nose/knows/no's not/knot/naught one/won or/oar/ore overdo/overdue paced/paste pail/pale pain/pane pair/pare/pear pain/pane

Please learn the homonyms and homophones.

(this list was taken from here, and there are also quizzes to test your knowledge!)

passed/past patience/patients pause/paws peace/piece peak/peek/pique peal/peel pedal/peddle peer/pier pi/pie plain/plane plum/plumb praise/prays/preys presence/presents principal/principle prince/prints quarts/quartz quince/quints rain/reign/rein raise/rays/raze rap/wrap read/reed read/red real/reel reek/wreak rest/wrest review/revue right/rite/write ring/wring road/rode/rowed roe/row role/roll root/route rose/rows rote/wrote roux/rue rye/wry sacks/sax sail/sale sawed/sod scene/seen

sea/see seam/seem seas/sees/seize serf/surf serge/surge sew/so/sow shoe/shoo side/sighed sighs/size sign/sine sight/site/cite slay/sleigh soar/sore soared/sword sole/soul son/sun some/sum spade/spayed staid/stayed stair/stare stake/steak stationary/stationery steal/steel straight/strait suede/swayed summary/summery sundae/Sunday tacks/tax tail/tale taut/taught tea/tee teas/tease/tees tents/tense tern/turn there/their/they're threw/through throne/thrown thyme/time tide/tied tighten/titan

to/too/two toad/toed/towed toe/tow told/tolled tracked/tract trussed/trust use/ewes vein/vane verses/versus vial/vile vice/vise wade/weighed wail/whale waist/waste wait/weight waive/wave Wales/whales war/wore ware/wear/where warn/worn wax/whacks way/weigh/whey we/wee weather/whether we'd/weed weld/welled we'll/wheel wen/when we've/weave weak/week which/witch whirled/world whirred/word whine/wine whoa/woe who's/whose wood/would worst/wurst yoke/yolk you'll/yule your/you're/yore

On Homework Coaching...

 Excerpt from an article of the New York Times:

“I think it really came about as a result of very, very busy parents who needed some additional care given for their children after school and saw the opportunity to meld that with some academic support,” said Robert Lauder, the principal of Friends Seminary, a Manhattan private school. read the full article here...

Report Finds New College Admissions Trends, Including More Early Decision Acceptances

An insightful read on the reasons behind the increase of Early Decision Admits... 


:::Perhaps the most useful piece of information for applicants is the rise of an additional criteria. While the usual factors remain important--grades and overall GPA, strength of high school curriculum and admissions test scores--more schools are now looking at "demonstrated interest in enrolling". In 2003, just seven percent of colleges considered interest in enrolling "considerably important". In recent years, however, approximately 21 percent of colleges have given it more weight in the decision process. Many colleges believe that demonstrated interest, such as campus visits and contact with admissions offices, is an indication that students are more likely to enroll.:::..read the entire article here.

~I dream of making academic excellence 

as important to American schools 

as varsity athletics~ 

Will Fitzhugh, of The Concord Review, a quarterly journal dedicated to showcasing the best history papers written by high school students..  

The Twilight Generation Can't Read

National Association of Scholars article:::

October 18, 2010 By Sandra Stotsky

This press release comes from the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW), an organization in whose founding many NAS members were involved, and in which they continue to participate. It was created in many ways to be an alternative to the Modern Language Association. The ALSCW has completed an interesting report on the state of the American high school English curriculum. One observation it makes is that the top books read by high school students are young adult fantasies. The ALSCW identifies this as a potential source of the decline in reading achievement among young Americans. Below are ALSCW's other findings and recommendations. 

Boston, Mass., October, 2010. A newly released study by the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers (ALSCW) strongly suggests that two factors—a fragmented English curriculum and a neglect of close reading—may explain why the reading skills of American high school students have shown little or no improvement in several decades despite...:::read the entire article here:::

*may the force be with you*

Setting Goals for oneself is key to life. Engage you should, as students, in some form of goal setting quarterly. Very important it is, to prepare first: journal, writing tool, solitude, honesty.


Keep a goal journal

• Reflection:::

Revisit goals from your last goal setting session
Which goals did you achieve and why?
Which goals were not achieved/ did not work and why? How will you push through the threshold next time to beat the obstacle that faced you?

• Forward:::

Develop a list of goals that are most immediately reasonable and a list of reach goals
Develop a list of three to five short-term (one week to one academic quarter) goals 
Develop a list of two to four longterm (academic quarter to a year) goals

• Writing your goals down is just the beginning.

• Each goal deserves a few questions that you honestly and thoroughly answer until you thoughtfully create a very clear road map of how to arrive at the goal:

  For example:

1. What is the goal? (To eliminate procrastination on homework)
2. How will I accomplish this goal? (I will do my homework on time)
3. How? (By eliminating distractions and by time management)
4. What are my distractions and how will I eliminate them?...
5. What will have to change? What works for me and what doesn't? 
6. Who can help me accomplish this goal?
7. What are the rewards of the goal?
8. Who can I share (some of) my goals with in order to help me persevere through to the end result?

Midway through the lifeline of your goals, assess their status.