I’m not saying you shouldn’t teach your kids to write well. It’s an important skill to have. But maybe you shouldn’t worry so much, because according to this writer, the competition isn’t too tough. In fact, he says that unless they have a lot of money to pay term paper writers, the competition can barely put a sentence together.

This man writes term papers for a living. College students buy them from him and claim them as their own. He says it’s big business, and that many, many students pass their college classes this way.  How depressing is that?

By the way, he claims that college students in one specific course of study provide him with more work opportunities than any other:

I, who have no name, no opinions, and no style, have written so many papers at this point, including legal briefs, military-strategy assessments, poems, lab reports, and, yes, even papers on academic integrity, that it’s hard to determine which course of study is most infested with cheating. But I’d say education is the worst. I’ve written papers for students in elementary-education programs, special-education majors, and ESL-training courses. I’ve written lesson plans for aspiring high-school teachers, and I’ve synthesized reports from notes that customers have taken during classroom observations. I’ve written essays for those studying to become school administrators, and I’ve completed theses for those on course to become principals. In the enormous conspiracy that is student cheating, the frontline intelligence community is infiltrated by double agents. (Future educators of America, I know who you are.)

Remember that the next time you hear someone say that only parents with teaching degrees should be allowed to homeschool…..

When 2009 began, I had no idea that we’d be living where we are right now.  We knew we’d probably be moving in August, but didn’t know where. And right up until the week we moved, nothing was definite. In my youth, I wouldn’t have been able to take such uncertainty. But God’s grace does what we can’t do.

How about you? Was it a good year for you? Or are you eagerly awaiting 2010, hoping things will improve?

I look forward to 2010. We have some big plans for Cardamom Publishers, starting with a great sale (stay tuned) to celebrate the beginning of a new year. God willing, we’ll also publish a few new titles for homeschoolers in 2010 (again, stay tuned!) And of course we’ll keep plugging away at homeschooling our youngest son (yes, both Mom and Dad are homeschooling now!)

In the meantime, I want to share with you a lovely story about a self-described “ordinary girl” who has lived 102 years, so far. I especially appreciate how she begins each day:

“Each day I get up in the morning and say Lord, tell me what you want me to do and whatever comes to me, I do.”

An amazing story of a Christian woman, and in the Chicago Tribune, of all places. Enjoy!

P.S. Happy New Year!

After all, I’ve got only one child (age 16) still at home during the day now, and a husband who’s also at home. If my husband homeschooled our son, I could get a job.

However, according to this article, “Studies have found that for every two years a woman is out of the labor force, her earnings fall by 10 percent, a penalty that lasts throughout her career.”

Hmmm. I’ve been home with my kids for 26 years. 10% X 13 equals 130%. That’s quite a drop! That statistic is not referenced, however, so I can’t check to see if it’s legitimate. Just as well. If it were true, my paycheck amount would be a negative number!

That’s assuming I could even find a job. Somehow I don’t think potential employers would be impressed that I’ve spent the past 25 years raising children and homeschooling them. I doubt that homeschooling is one of the keywords they look for when they scan resumes. 

Looks like it may not be worth all the upheaval to be a “relauncher,” as women returning to the workforce are now called. Maybe I’ll stick to being a modestly paid but happy work-from-home writer for as long as I can.

I assigned all three of my older kids to write term papers over the years, and I’m not sure how much they got out of it beyond learning to organize information in a logical way that flows. That’s an important skill to have, of course, but it’s certainly not the only hallmark of a good writer.

Perhaps because of my own training as a reporter, I’ve tried to stress to my kids that it’s important to be as clear and concise as possible when you write. That can be a tough goal to attain when you’re writing term papers because they usually include a minimum page requirement. But I think that most of the writing activities they’ll face as adults will require clear, concise writing as opposed to organizing 30 pages’ worth of facts in an understandable manner.

So how do you teach your children to write in a clear and concise manner? Recently, while flipping through a writing book my daughter requested from the library (The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier, see link below), I found this statement:

The best writing teacher I ever had limited us to one-paragraph essays. We had to fit lots of ideas into our paragraph, so we learned to use words sparingly. You can too. Simply distill in your mind the essence of what you want to say, and then state your ideas in simple, clear sentences. You don’t need to dress up your thoughts with extra words.

This sounds like a great way to teach your children to write clearly and concisely. Ask them to write about your family vacation, or a book they read, or an event that occurred in the neighborhood. Challenge them to fit as many ideas as they can into one paragraph.

A benefit for you: correcting a paragraph is way easier than correcting a term paper!

For more ideas, download Cardamom Publishers’ free special report, “Teaching Your Children to Write.”