Here's your March 2007 newsletter from Janice Campbell!

Dear Friend,

I have a potpourri of small things to share with you this month,
and a question I hope you'll help me answer...
Spring is just around the corner here-- we have a few daffodils
blooming, and the sweetbox near our front door is wafting its
honey-like perfume through the air. It will be nice to be
surrounded by green in a couple of months!

My question for you-

Do You Have Questions About Evaluating Writing?
I'm starting a short book on evaluating writing, and I'd love to know what concerns you have about evaluating your student's writing. What is the biggest issue, question, or problem you encounter when you look at the papers your student writes? If you'll e-mail me your questions, I'll do my best to answer them. If your question is chosen to appear in the book, I'll send you a free copy as soon as it's printed! You may e-mail the questions to: jc@everyday-education.com. (Please pass along this invitation to everyone you know, as I would love to have as many questions as possible.)

Beat-the-Clock Essay Workshop on March 24
If you're anywhere near Fairfax, Virginia, I will be doing a Beat-the-Clock Essay Workshop there on March 24, from 10-2:30. If you'd like to attend, you may contact the hostess, Susan Thorson, at  703-803-6770 or by e-mail at susanthorson at cox dot net (remove the spaces and use appropriate symbols, of course!). You can read more about the workshop at http://www.EssayWorkshop.com . The spring SAT's are coming up soon, and space in the workshop is limited, so call soon to reserve a spot!

Interesting Websites to Visit
The Copyright Site for Homeschoolers offers a copyright quiz designed to help homeschoolers understand copyright law. You may want to have your children take it also! Copyright law is complex, but very clear in many areas, and it's very important that we all do the right thing, as our children are watching us and learning from what we do. The site is at http://homeschoolcopyright.com/ . Be sure to stop by and take the quiz!

Summer Institute For the Gifted
This site offers some very interesting links for gifted students, plus summer camps held on university campuses. They welcome homeschoolers, and offer both merit and need-based scholarships. You don't have to be gifted to enjoy the subject-organized links they offer! http://www.giftedstudy.com/

Book News
By the end of this month, I believe I'll have the new edition of Transcripts Made Easy, as well as Get a Jump Start on College!, hot off the press and ready for a very special introductory sale. Watch for it!

Blog Excerpt
Technical Programs: A College Alternative
Website to visit: www.BlueCollarAndProudOfIt.com

I'm not sure when it happened, but somewhere over the last several decades, there has been a shift away from the technical programs that used to be ubiquitous at most high schools. Now, many students are unaware of the many jobs available for skilled workers in what has been traditionally known as "the trades."

A recent article in our local paper reported that employers in many of the skilled trades are finding it difficult to replace older workers when they retire. This seems odd, as wages for a skilled tradesman are comparable to wages for college graduates, and the time and cost investment neede to learn a skilled trade is significantly less than the cost of college.

I may be a bit biased in favor of the trades, as my father was a machinist, and my husband is also. It seems that I've spent my life trying to explain that machinists don't work on cars, they create the machines that do everything in the industrial world! They transform engineer's drawings into three-dimensional parts, and often, into complete machines. My father built machines that screen-printed bottles; my husband has built machines that make hamburger buns, manhole covers, and many other things.

Tradesmen usually work in clean, well-lighted shops, with good pay and benefits. According to the newspaper, average hourly wages for a tool-and-die maker in 2005 were $23.48; for a machinist, $19.44; an electrician, $22.42; and a chemical technician, $24.07. Many companies offer on-the-job training, which is a time-tested option that works well for many people.

A final advantage of the skilled trades is that most are a 'leave it at the door' profession. Unlike people-focused careers that can weight you emotionally after a long day at work, you can shut the door on a trade and focus on home and family--the things that really matter in life. Skilled trades are an excellent choice for high school students who don't really want to go to college.

You can read about hundreds of career posibilities, including many skilled trades, in the Occupational Outlook Handbook http://www.bls.gov/oco/. I highly recommend checking it out!

Blog Notes
I've been trying different blogging services, and I've finally settled on a primary blog site. It's Janice-Campbell.com , and I plan to gradually make it my primary blog. I've been blogging about writing at homeschoolblogger.com/jcwords, and about general homeschool issues at janicecampbell.blogspot.com, so if you haven't visited those, you may want to do so. There are a number of book reviews posted  that I'll eventually transfer to the new blog, so be sure to sign up for the RSS feed so you won't miss any!

And finally, "The Old Schoolhouse," one of my very favorite homeschool magazines is having a huge spring cleaning sale with a big discount and lots of bonus gifts.  I've posted a banner on my blog , and if you follow the link, you'll get $10 off the regular subscription price plus a big bundle of freebies. Fun!

Last but not least, please continue to remember the Busekros family in your prayers. You can read more at my blog about how the German government, which is very hostile to homeschooling, has taken their teenage daughter, Melissa, from them. It's a sad and difficult situation. If you'd like to encourage the family with cards or letters, here is their address, courtesy of HSLDA:
The Busekros Family
Schallershofer Strasse 72  
91056  Erlangen
Deutschland

As always, you're welcome to forward this newsletter in its entirety to anyone you feel may be interested. Thank you for reading-- and I hope to see you in Fairfax later this month! Don't forget to send your questions!

Have a wonderful spring,

Janice Campbell

http://www.EverydayEducation.com