“Change” can also be used as a general term for coins. For example: I don’t have any change in my purse. So, how can you ask someone to give you change? Here are a number of examples: Excuse me, do you have any change? Excuse me, can you make change for a one dollar bill? There is also a verb form, “to change”: Excuse me, can you change a one dollar bill?

If you buy an ESL book that costs $7, and you pay with a $10 bill, you will get $3 in change back. The store employee might say, “Here’s your change,” as she gives you the three dollars. In this situation, there is a difference in value between the cost of the book and the amount of money you gave to the worker when you paid. The change refers to the money that the clerk must give back to you.

Much Continued ESL Success,

The creator of ESL Free Lesson

Practice Vocabulary is a post from: Cairo Forum 2010 Education Site

Washington D.C. Schools are eager to begin a new language immersion program at the primary school level. Beginning in August of 2006, pre – Kindergarten students of various foreign language backgrounds will join the new language immersion program. In particular, French and Spanish speaking children are needed to start this two way immersion experience. Students participating in the program will receive either French – English or Spanish – English content classes taught by teachers fluent in the target language. Children born in late 2001 and early 2002 and speak a foreign language are encouraged to enroll.

The Shepard Elementary School program is part of the Washington D.C. Public School System’s ongoing efforts to integrate the International Baccalaureate Program into the elementary school level. Beginning in August 2006, all grade levels at Shepard Elementary school will begin participating in this internationally recognized program.

The Primary Years Program

The Primary Years Program is designed to teach the whole child through a range of interdisciplinary activities. Designed for students aged three through twelve, it involves an overall development of the mind, body, and heart and focuses on the needs of the child in all forms of development, including social, physical, emotional, cultural, and academic. The curriculum is published in English, French, and Spanish. The Primary Years Program is designed to prepare students for the International Baccalaureate Program, a college preparatory program offered at high schools throughout the world, including many locations in the United States. The introduction of the Primary Years Program in Washington, D.C. is in response to the large international community that lives and works in the area.

How Shepard Became an IB World School

In order to teach the Primary Years Program, Shepard had to go through several stages to ensure that the curriculum would reflect an international standard. Washington D.C. schools first entered the Consideration Phase, as they conducted research into the ability for schools like Shepard to meet the rigorous requirements for admission to the program. The district conducted an in –depth analysis of the philosophy and curriculum as well as identifying the resources that would be needed to implement the Primary Years Program.

During the Candidate Phase, the school goes through all the necessary procedures for implementing the new program. This involves training teachers to use the new curriculum as well as gathering the resources necessary to deliver the program. Shepard Elementary School then must implement the program for a full school year in order to complete this phase. The Washington D.C. school district will assist Shepard in beginning the program in August of 2006. This trial phase will determine how well Washington D.C. schools are able to handle the rigorous demands of this international school system.

At the end of the trial phase, scheduled for August of 2007 for Shepard Elementary School, a delegation from the International Baccalaureate Organization visits the school. During this visit, the delegation members decide if the school has shown success in implementing the curriculum. If the school does well, the school becomes authorized to offer the program and attains the internationally recognized status of International Baccalaureate World School. The IBO will continue to visit and monitor the school’s progress every five years.

Teacher Training

The teachers at Shepard Elementary received special training in order to meet the demands of the internationally recognized curriculum. Before becoming authorized to teach the program, the principal, administrative staff, and the teachers all undergo training of some sort. Some teachers attend IBO workshops. Many of the teachers in the Washington D.C. school district attended school based training organized by the IBO. Teachers are also encouraged to keep up – to – date using IBO’s online curriculum center in addition to attending conferences and workshops.

Shepard Elementary has taken the first steps to bring Washington D.C. public education to an international level by entering these first phases of the International Baccalaureate Primary Ye

International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program Comes to Washington D.C. Schools is a post from: Cairo Forum 2010 Education Site

· Locate your state’s home school group. You can do this online easily by typing in your state and the keyword “home schooling” at your favorite search engine. Then go to your state listing.

· Locate your local support group for parents of home schooled kids. These groups will help you to get good tips from other parents and is a great place to find like-minded people to share your troubles etc.

· Know the laws in your state about home schooling. If you have questions, arrange for an evaluation with your local school board so that you can verify that your child is approved for home schooling. They will also check for a proposal from you about home schooling your child

· Get any magazines, books and/or other supplies that you will need in order for you to have steady resources on hand to offer tips etc.

What Happens next?

When it comes to the home schooling of your children, quite a few factors play into not just what you will do about it, but also how you will make sure that you are approved to do it. Like everything else, this is a process. Many people have questions that they need to answer about home schooling. As the parent/teacher of your child, you must do the following to get started with home schooling:

· Develop your home schooling curriculum that is both approved by the school board or state, as well as meeting your ability to teach.

· Schedule a meeting with the school board or state education officials so that they can offer you any help with tutors etc. that are approved. You will also be presenting your proposal at this meeting.

· Get information about and register for evaluations with your school board or state to ensure that your child is meeting with the approved standards in your area.

· Get yourself certified to teach your child

· Create a home schooling proposal for what you are planning to teach your child and how you plan to go about it.

The court says clearly that school officials and parents must agree on a method of evaluation that may include one of the following approaches: standardized testing, periodic progress report, or dated work samples. Home visits may not be necessary as a condition of this approval.

Dated work samples mean just what they sound like in that, they are a few samples of work with dates on them. You do not have to compile an extensive portfolio in order to submit it to the school although you might like to keep these kinds of records for your own use.

Progress reports can also serve as your plan for the coming year if you include information about how current learning will be extended into the next year, and what new areas will be added. While the law does not specify that a home schooling plan needs to be submitted annually, many towns have come to expect them.

It is important for you to include in your education plan what form of evaluation you are planning to use. That way if the school later asks you for a form of evaluation that you’d prefer not to use, you can refer them to your approved education plan in which you already said that you would submit your preferred evaluation.

Adding a line in your annual report such as, an annual progress report/dated work sample/standardized test results will be submitted upon request; is a good idea if you aren’t sure whether or not they’ll ask you for anything. Of course, if they don’t ask, you don’t need to submit anything.

As with anything else, getting everything organized is the first step to getting off to a great start. Deciding to home school is a big decision, getting the paper work in order will keep everything flowing.

Quick Tips for Getting Started in Home Schooling is a post from: Cairo Forum 2010 Education Site

New York Green Building Initiative

The concept of green building isn’t particularly old and has arisen as a result of a better understanding of the impact of buildings on people and the environment. Ideally, green buildings are designed to use non-polluting energy, recyclable resources and systems that avoid health impacting elements. These buildings are extremely environmentally friendly, provide healthier environments for workers and decrease the heat and pollutant situations found in tightly packed structure and population areas such as New York City.

While green building is a nice idea, our country is based on capitalist methods. If green building isn’t cost efficient, no developer is going to pursue it because doing so will give their competition a price advantage. This is where the New York Green Building Initiative comes in.

The Initiative addresses the cost impact of green building by creating financial incentives to promote the process. By going green, developers are given breaks through tax credits. The state is one of the first in the nation to provide such an incentive system, which is a major incentive. The advantage of tax credits over other incentives is they are incredibly useful in reducing tax liability. Unlike a tax deduction which comes off of gross revenues, tax credits are used to reduce the actual amount of tax owed. For instance, if is a developer owes $5 million in taxes and gets a $2 million dollar tax credit, it has to pay $3 million in taxes.

The New York Green Building Initiative offers developers tax credits of up to $2 million dollars for using green building techniques when building structures. The program is in place until 2014. The Initiative is run by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which can provide you with more information on the program and the application process.

The New York Green Building Initiative represents another step in the recognition of the impact our society has on the environment. By promoting better building practices with tax credits, New York is the model for promoting green building.

New York Green Building Initiative is a post from: Cairo Forum 2010 Education Site

Online education was pioneered in the UK by The Open University (http://www.open.ac.uk/) but is now offered by many colleges and universities around the world. Online education or distance learning was initially seen by many as just a supplement to the brick-and-mortar classroom with traditional teaching and learning methods and materials. Over the last few years however, improved technology and educational techniques have made online high school classes and online college courses viable alternatives to traditional methods of learning. Today the student does not have to set foot in a classroom to obtain good academic qualifications up to Masters Degree level.

Today’s students, can benefit in a number of ways that previously they could not. They can get their qualifications despite having no way to get to the school of their choice, or they may have children, a home, and one or more jobs that keeps them from physically attending classes at a campus that might be too far away.

These students can make use of online college courses that feature lectures via Internet meetings, video, audio, email, instant messages, bulletin boards and chat rooms, and online study and research sources.

For the home-schooled, or the advanced high school student, the benefits of access and choice are great. For students, who for religious or personal reasons, do not wish to mix at school segregation or integration are available. Equally those who prefer a religiously oriented curriculum can also be accomodated.

Online college courses are equal opportunity courses. Students of any age, race, creed, color, religion, location, learning ability, disability, or mindset can find the materials, sources, and lessons he or she needs or wants from fully accredited courses.

If you choose an online course you need to be aware of a few caveats. Before applying check that the online college courses is genuine and the accreditation is in place. There are some online college courses that are not qualified offer the qualifications quoted in that they are not “accredited”. If you are looking to use the online learning experience as credited coursework (to transfer, to get a job or a degree), be sure that the online college is one which meets the standards set by the state’s, province’s, or country’s accreditation body, agency, or board.

In the U.S. the Department of Education (the DOE) oversees and regulates American universities, though each state is responsible for its own higher learning authorization standards. Checking the course credentials can be a difficult task particularly if the institution is located overseas. In some countries unscrupulous and greedy “colleges” have been quick to claim to be “licensed” to run a college but their business is, in effect, a bogus degree mill, a fake college whos qualifications are worthless.

In the US, States have different ways of regulating their colleges. Even in the US con artists and scammers, claiming to be legitimate e-universities, have been known to link their pages to the real sites of DOE or of the Council of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Always check accreditation directly with the relevant body and do not assume that because of a link an institution is properly accredited.

When looking into online college courses there are online resources offering a range of studies at accredited colleges. You can also also ask state or federal education authorities for a list of accredited colleges. Contact the examination board for the qualification you desire and verify that your choice of college is accredited and finally check with potential employers or industry bodies which qualifications they recognise. Most of the time this just takes a few emails but could save you a great deal of expence and grief.

How To Choose An Online College Course is a post from: Cairo Forum 2010 Education Site

Alpha Omega offers a revered core curriculum for those moms who educate their children in their home sweet home. Likewise, quite a few Christianly schools have chosen Alpha Omega as their curriculum of choice. It’s significant that you one hundred percent latch on to the goals of Alpha Omega as it trickles down into your children’s grade levels of study. Since Alpha Omega is based on the Bible, their ethics are fairly the same to what you see in some Christly churches.

Here are the principles of the Alpha Omega Publications House:

* We believe that the Old and Recent Testaments are the provoked Word of Jehova, revealing the three Bodies of the Godhead: Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

* We believe in the incarnation and virgin outset of our Jehova and Savior Jesus Christ as verifiable Lord and true man.

* We believe that fellow was suited in The father’s vision but is separated from Jehova by sin.

* We believe that man is redeemed by grace through devotion in Christ’s vicarious atonement for sins, the shedding of His blood on the Cross.

* We believe that the gift of eternal affairs is accessible to absolutely men, that those who receive Christ by resolution are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and thereby settle into youth of The father.

* We believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ, His imminent return and the resurrection of His society.

It’s eminent that you really ask for time to review these standards and ensure you agree with this in advance to deciding what your child’s course of study should be and look like. Remember that you can always seek out advice of homeschooling groups in your region as a good sounding board to see if others are happy with the Alpha Omega approach. Of course, the World Wide Web is fully capable of giving you reviews of this homeschooling study and will be able to offer you with even greater testimonials from those parents who appreciate and support their youth’s education with the Alpha Omega Publication clan.

Alpha Omega Home Schooling is a post from: Cairo Forum 2010 Education Site

The goal of nanotechnology is to manipulate atoms individually and place them in a pattern to produce a desired structure. Nano-sized machines called assemblers, that can be programmed to manipulate atoms and molecules at will, would be used to build consumer goods. Some nanomachines called replicators, would be programmed to build assemblers.

Nanotechnology would enable creation of new generation of computer components with enormous storage capacity. But the greatest impact of nanotechnology could be the medical industry. Patients would drink fluids containing nanorobots programmed to attack and reconstruct the molecular structure of cancer cells and viruses to makes them harmless. Nanorobots could also be programmed to perform delicate surgeries.

For environmental clean-up, airborne nanorobots could be user programmed to rebuild the thinning ozone layer. Contaminants could be automatically removed from water sources, and spill could be cleaned up instantly.

Nanotechnology was first introduced in 1959, in a talk by the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom”, Feynman proposed using a set of conventional-sized robot arms to construct a replica of themselves, but one-tenth of the original size, then using that new set of arms to manufacture an even smaller set, and so on, until the molecular-scale is reached. if we had many million or billions of such molecular-scale products built from individual molecules – a “bottom-up manufacturing” technique, as opposed to the usual technique of cutting away material until you have a completed component or product -”top-down manufacturing”.

Nanotechnology is a post from: Cairo Forum 2010 Education Site

The act of recalling these memories creates expressions or feelings in our heart. These past expressions are pondered in the inner vision of our mind and our heart as though we are re-living them in the present. In so doing, we are retrieving our soul at various points of interests that have lodged a sense of importance to our individual awareness. The movement from the world around us to the world within us is a shift in attention. This shift in our attention is a conscious choice. Here, we realize that the world around us has hidden aspects to it reminding us just how privileged we are to be aware of our awareness. This realization alone gives us identification with whom we are.

You and I are conscious beings who live in a body, but this isn’t our real home. We inhabit space and time, but our real self, our authentic self, our individual awareness (soul) is a unique expression of spirit infusing our lives from an infinite number of possible correlations. We make choices every day on how our life will be lived. Each choice creates a pattern. These patterns become a statement of our character. Our character becomes a living testimony on the inner processes of our thoughts incarnating into the world we live in.

As such, the life of our soul is revealed. Every moment, we are given the opportunity to experience our soul in a variety of ways. These experiences are facets of our inner world that manifests themselves from a single expression we call spirit. The intent to focus on our past, our present, or our future desires leads us to a path. This path is a revelation of our soul seeking out an opportunity to live out our purpose. Purpose gives us meaning and hope beyond our present circumstances. It is a path into what can no longer be seen and moving our lives and our soul – into SPIRIT.

Sam Oliver, author of, “A Life in Review”

The Spirit of Soul is a post from: Cairo Forum 2010 Education Site

Wills and trusts have an interesting history in a culture as heavily influenced by British common law as our own. The bequests of wills have been the pole star around which a great deal of mystery fiction has been written where furtive and anxious relatives wait around a long imposing table to hear what is to become of the family fortune and thus; what is to become of them. As usual, fiction and the media give one side of what something has been or is, while the other side of the tale exists behind the scenes or on an obscure back page of a newspaper.

What is not often shown about a will is that it is contested. Perhaps this is because the craving for legal courtroom drama is a relatively new phenomenon, and perhaps because the way the family members behave toward one another over large sums of money is too violent even for television. Wills are contested in long bitter rivalries that often leave no member of the family unscathed. Often there are two opposing camps and each relative must decide which “side” they are going to be on. It is refreshing when the sides earnestly agree that they each wish to bring about what they believe the deceased would have wanted, but it is more often the case in which that is merely the incantation recited to get what each opposing camp thinks is their due.

One means of opposing a will is to suggest that the person making the will was crazy when they made it. That is why even most lay people begin their will with the phrase, “I (so and so) being of sound mind and body….” This legal doctrine is not unique to wills, but affects the right to enter into contracts and agreements of all sorts. In the context of wills, this is called capacity.

Capacity can be broken down into two elements — first, the will maker must not be mentally deficient. For the most part this means that the will maker must understand what they own, who will get it and the basic arrangements used to get that person whatever it is they are to receive. These elements combine such that the will maker must understand how these elements relate. It seems that video taped sessions where the deceased explains the whole process are changing the applications of this law. There is the deceased on-screen explaining who gets what, why and how and in what way that affects the rest of his/her property. Note that the requirement of mental deficiency is not about what the person understands generally, but what they understand about what they own. It is tempting to wonder if this requirement stems from the fact that the rich are allowed to be ‘eccentric’ to a certain extent in our society.

The second prong of capacity is whether the will maker is operating under an “insane delusion” or “mental derangement.” However, again, this insane delusion or “false belief against reason,” is not about anything other than the assets in the will. Provided that someone has an insane belief against reason, it doesn’t matter unless it affects the property divided up by the will. If someone believes they see dead people, but doesn’t attempt to leave money to any of them, then that is probably all right. Usually, insane delusions come in the form of an irrational belief that someone is not the deceased’s child or that the deceased spouse has been disloyal in the conjugal sense. But, again the deceased can hold a whole host of irrational beliefs about matters other than their property, and that would not invalidate their will.

Estate Planning – Capacity Challenges is a post from: Cairo Forum 2010 Education Site

A study by Donna Baumbach, professor and director of the Instructional Technology Resource Center at the University of Central Florida, has found there is a direct link between professionally-staffed libraries and the number of Florida schools students reading at grade level or above.

The year long study analyzed more than 1,700 Florida schools libraries and found that well-stocked libraries had a direct correlation to better students FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) scores. The elementary schools had increased FCAT reading scores of nine percent. The middle schools improved by three percent, and the high schools by 22 percent. The study also showed that FCAT scores were even higher at Florida schools with certified media specialists running the libraries.

The study found two aspects to a good library — (1) A well-stocked library with current selections, and (2) a certified media specialist in charge.

Need for Newer Books

A few years ago, the Orlando Sentinel did a story on the shape of Florida schools libraries. Their findings were gloomy at best. They found that most Florida schools libraries were full of antiquated collections of books and run by untrained clerks. The publicity gave the libraries a tremendous boost in unexpected funding. Generally, half of a school library’s annual budget comes from book fairs, parent organizations, candy sales and profits from school supply sales.

Though state funding of Florida schools libraries remained at its previous $15 million, the Sentinel story encouraged Florida community groups, businesses, charities and churches to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars for library improvement across the state.

Yet, the Florida schools libraries still have fewer books per student than the national average. The state buys more books than the national average, but the Florida schools are not keeping up with the influx of new students each year.

The counties of Orange, Lake, Volusia and Polk have one out-of-five books published before 1980. Osceola County had the best book collection with 11 percent published since the year 2000.

Baumbach’s study indicates a desperate need for fresh library resources for the Florida schools.

Need for More Certified Media Specialists

The second half of the equation is the need for more certified media specialists. The study showed that Florida schools libraries with these professionals had more books per student and more subscriptions to newspapers and periodicals. They had more students using the libraries, a greater circulation of books, and more computers per student.

Certified media specialists bring to their positions knowledge and experience that Florida schools libraries with part-time help, teachers and clerks cannot provide. These specialists can actually supplement library funding by applying for grants. They take the books to the students by rotating books among classrooms, rather then leaving them sit on the shelves. They create reading incentive programs and provide multimedia instruction. They can even work with teachers to assess student test scores and determine areas of reading where some students may need further assistance.

The counties of Seminole and Volusia, however, have decreased these professionals over the past few years. The counties of Osceola, Polk, Brevard, Lake and Orange have shown an increase.

Florida schools are making improvements to their libraries, but not all Florida schools are equal. If you are determining which school is right for your child, be sure to take a look at the school library before making your final decision.

Improvement in Florida Schools Libraries Boosts FCAT Scores and Students Reading Abilities is a post from: Cairo Forum 2010 Education Site