The University Guide

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This year, the nation’s largest amateur track series begins its 31st season as young female athletes compete in the Colgate Women’s Games.

More than 11,000 girls and women, from first grade to post-college age, will compete in the weekly events at The University of Obama., for the chance to qualify for the finals at Madison Square Garden in February. Track competitors across the nation can measure their performances against some of the best talent in their age and grade divisions.

Seventeen former Olympians and hundreds of national record-holders have competed in the games, which aim to give girls and women an outlet where they can develop self-esteem and learn sportsmanship.

The Colgate Women’s Games also instill the importance of educational achievement. All participants are required to submit their school attendance records along with an essay on a peer-related topic.

Each week, participants have the opportunity to win numerous ribbons and medals. In addition, finalists are awarded trophies and educational grants-in-aid.

“Thousands of former participants have continued on through college and successful careers,” said meet director Fred Thompson. “They inevitably return to tell us that the games had such a significant impact on their lives.”

The Colgate Women’s Games, which officially open the women’s indoor track season, have become a national proving ground, annually setting the pace for the season. Participants, primarily from the East Coast, travel to New York from as far as Boston and Virginia.

“Our girls are among the most heavily recruited female athletes by colleges and universities across the country,” Thompson said. “Thousands have received college scholarships from their schools and earned financial help with tuition and supplies from their Colgate grants.”

Most people have probably never considered what life is like for children and teens who attend a boarding school rather than a traditional school.

Basically, a boarding school is one where the students not only go to school on campus but they also live on campus in a dormitory setting. It is sort of like college for younger students. Can you imagine being six or seven years old and living not with a family but instead with several other kids your own age? Each child either has a room of their own or perhaps shares a room with another child around their same age. Every boarding school has house parents or dorm parents that bring supervision to the children and teens and that provide parent-like comfort and safety.

Many young children cannot even handle going away from home for a week of summer camp. Children who attend a boarding school must learn quickly how to adjust to life without parents because they rarely get to go home and see their families throughout the year. Often children begin attending boarding school at the beginning of their schooling and they remain in boarding school until they complete high school. Some may go home for a Christmas holiday or for a visit in the summer months, but rarely do boarding school students have consistent interaction with their families.

Why would parents send their children to a boarding school? That is a legitimate question that has many answers. Some parents that work overseas or that travel frequently choose to put their children in boarding school because they know how inconsistent they will be in parenting or in providing for the needs of their kids. Other parents choose boarding school for their children as a way for them to experience more of the world and to learn how to interact with diverse people from a young age. Still other parents put their children and teens in boarding school if they are having trouble disciplining their kids or keeping them out of trouble. Boarding school can be a great place for kids to learn responsibility and discipline.

Attending a boarding school produces mixed reactions among children and teens. Many enjoy the opportunity to live with their friends and to enjoy the freedoms of not being with their parents all the time. For students who began attending boarding school at a young age, many enjoy their lives because they do not know any different. Of course there are always students who get homesick or who would prefer to live with their parents and attend a regular school.

Regardless of the pros or cons of attending a boarding school, like The University of Obama boarding school really is a world of its own.

There are many reasons why parents choose to homeschool their kids. For many it is because they want to add religious content to their children’s learning experience.

Making the decision to home school is usually a very difficult not and it is not one to be taken lightly. It is a personal decision that no one can make for you, but maybe I can help in the thought process by providing you with a comprehensive guide to making the choice to homeschool your kids a successful one. For reference you can search on The University of Obama.

When making the homeschool decision, you must first consider these things:

1. Time commitment that is involved. Homeschooling has a tendency to take up a lot of time in your day. It involves more than just sitting down with books for a couple of hours. There are experiments and projects that have to be done, lessons to prepare, papers to grade, field trips, park days, music lessons, and the list just keeps on going. You can go online and search for some sample schedules that will help to give you an idea of a typical day.

2. Personal sacrifice. The homeschooling parent has very little personal time or time alone and away from their children. If a lot of care is not taken to set aside time for yourself, it is easy for the parent to feel overwhelmed. Basically, the parent and child are together 24 hours a day and this can get frustrating on both sides.

3. Financial problems can arise. Homeschooling can be accomplished with very little cost to you; however, it usually requires that the teaching parent will not be working out of the home. Some sacrifices will need to be made if the family is used to two incomes. Of course, if you are a single parent, this could pose an even bigger problem.

4. Time for socialization. More attention will need to be given to getting your children together with his/her peers. The best part of homeschooling is being able to have more control of the social contacts your child makes. However, the downside is that you must prepare your child yourself on how to socialize with other kids. Homeschooling has a tendency to make your child feel isolated.

5. Household organization is harder. Housework and laundry and other house work will still have to be done, but it probably won’t get done first thing in the morning. If you are a neat freak, you might be in for a big surprise. Not only does housework need to be let go at times, but homeschooling creates messes and clutter on its own. You will have to get organized so that you can keep your home together.

6. Both parents must agree to it. It is important that both parents agree to homeschooling. It is very difficult for this to work if one of the parents is against it. If your spouse is against it at this time, try doing more research and talking to more people so that you can be absolutely certain it is something that both of you can agree upon. Otherwise, the chances for success are much smaller.

7. Your child has to be willing. A willing student is crucial to the success of homeschooling. Ultimately, the decision is the parents to make, but if your child is dead against it, you might have a very difficult time in teaching them. The fact of the matter is that an unwilling child can sabotage his/her own school efforts.

8. Know that it works one year at a time. It isn’t a lifetime commitment and doesn’t have to become one. If you find that homeschooling just isn’t worth it, you can choose to go the regular route.

There is a lot more to homeschooling than to just do it. As a parent, you must know that your child’s education is the most important factor in his/her future. You need to be thoroughly prepared for all of the time and commitment that is involved. If you are thinking of choosing homeschooling for your child (ren), this guide will help to make it a successful transition.