... Here We Are Again ...
CHILDREN'S SECTION 2

That's right, you can manipulate the background of this document, or page, either choose the color you want by its name, or create unique subtle colors by using the "+" and "-" with the Red-Green-Blue buttons. Did you know you were that subtle? Oh, the power you have within you ... You're so super, really, you're just too much.

Remember, you have to keep clicking the + - buttons to notice the subtle changes.

Imagine if you were required to take what was called a "A Gargantuan course of studies" ... a course that includes all languages, as well ancient as modern, all the sciences, all the -ologies and -onomies ... together with calisthenics and athletic sports ... Gargantua wrote to his son Pantagruel, commanding him to learn Greek, Latin, Chaldaic, Arabic ... all history, geometry, arithmetic, and music; astronomy and natural philosophy, so that "there be not a river in all the world thou dost not know the name of, and nature of all its fishes; all the fowls of the air; and all the several kinds of shrubs and herbs; all the metals hid in the bowels of the earth; with all gems and precious stones. And I would furthermore have thee study the Talmudists and Cabalists, and get a perfect knowledge of man. In brief, I would have thee a bottomless pit of all knowledge" ... (Rabelais: Pantagruel, book ii. 8.) Well, I think that's what colleges were all about at one time ... so what do they study in colleges today? My - Five Minute University - and save yourself time.

Big Words ... ready to buy or sell back your college books? Big Words will rip you off less.
Campus Tours ... walk the hallowed halls of acedeme without leaving the comforts of home.
Colleges and Universities ... arranged alphabetically along with a geographical listing.
College Board ... sample SAT questions, essay-test skills, choosing/applying, financial aid.
College Bound - a NO FEE program for students aspiring to a USA undergraduate education.
CollegeNet ... for high school students planning on college ... good site for their parents, too.
CollegeQuest ... offers two standard types of applications to more than 1,000 colleges.
College Rankings ... U.S. News' annual ranking of American colleges and universities.
CollegeView ... U.S. News' annual ranking of American colleges and universities.
CPNET ... links for more than 300 campus papers arranged alphabetically by state.
Educaid ... can help you make the financial aspects of college education a little easier.
Embark ... offers customized onlne applications to undergraduate and graduate programs.
ETS ... sample test questions including the SAT, GMAT, GRE, PRAXIS, and TOEFL.
Education … Netscape's contribution to your research ... pretty good ... plus additional links.
FAFSA ... best way to get federal student aid forms from the USA government's site.
High-Tech Schools … database of institutes and high tech schools across the USA.
Number 2 Pencil … read test-taking tips, practice on mock SAT questions, and receive instant feedback on your strengths and weaknesses, all free.
NY Mentor … enables students to download applications along with basic registration info.
Review … applications for almost every public and private college in the "empire state."
S.A.T for College Admissions … a beatable game between us and the big bad test writers.
OPE ... full federal rundown on student aid as well as links to other related sites.
Return to ... Menu

Word of advice for those going to college. Mapping out your academic goals before you even step foot into the admissions office is important. Things you should consider include:

• What degree is most applicable to the field you want to enter?

• Do you have the talents, skills, and passionate desire to pursue your chosen career?

• Have you done some research, and spoken to some people in your field, so that you have a thorough knowledge of what's expected?

• Do you have the finances or scholarships to make it through the minimum years of schooling to reach your goal?

• If things do not go as you expect, what else will you do?

Keep something in mind when going for those grades, that the purpose of any real education is not to succeed in school, but rather to succeed in life. I know you've heard it before, but many pass with high grades in college life, and then fail miserably in living life. To me, what's most important is learning how to learn.

Learning how to learn is not easy. It requires will and discipline, what the 19th century English biologist, Thomas Henry Huxley, called "the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done whether you like it or not." But just about everyone can do it. And the rewards … emotional, intellectual, and financial … reach well beyond a grade in a college course.

Too many, too easily, fall into the trap of: "When all else fails, and you want to raise your grades, just lower your standards."

Eco-Dog ... Congratulations! You're a star on Earth! Click to surf on Planet Chachachawowa.
Explorers' Club ... art, coloring, comics, stories and games to involve kids in this study.
Garbage ... every aspect of how your community can reduce waste ... interactive.
Ecology Strikes Back ... fundamentals of Internet research, ecosystems and related issues.
Seussville ... you just gotta love that Dr. Seuss ... save the trees with the help of the Lorax.
Return to ... Menu

Brain Pop … Pick a subject, any subject, from health to science. This is a good one to help kids learn, as each subject has movies and quizzes.
Cartoons Network ... indicate your modem speed, and presto, you have cartoons online.
Case for Kids ... includes mysteries to solve, scary stories, magic tricks, and contests.
Children's Activity Center ... holiday fun, cybercards/activities, science, play centers.
CyberJacques ... fish, tile puzzle, dots, tangram, secret word, hangman, Simon says, etc.
Dr. Seuss ... took a while to find but ... meet the great glorious and grandorious...Dr. Seuss.
Etch A Sketch … it actually works; you can draw using the arrow keys to give it directions.
Family Workshop ... the CTW gives parents and kids something to do together when online.
FunSchool.com ... pre-school through elementary ... loaded with material ... and colorful.
Game Shark ... I haven't looked into it ... leaving some research for you, my guest.
Junior Net ... has games and educational activities and doesn't have advertising.
KidsCom ... make friends around the world and voice your opinions to gov't leaders.
Kaleidoscope Painter ... here you can be creative and draw beautiful kaleidoscopic patterns.
Kasparov Chess ... it's never too early to start learning this fascinating game; checkmate.
KidZone ... this page is amazing ... has everything for children, including "Ask Jeeves."
KnowledgeAdventure ... pre-school through elementary ... same as above ... good stuff.
LookIt'sA ... This site is devoted to empowering your imagination with clouds. For children, clouds are magical and inspirational. Where a cloud might cause an adult to start imagining muddy footprints on the new living room carpet, a child might envision a dragon. This site is an invitation to daydream, and you don't even need to be near a window. It features dozens of photos of cloud formations, with new selections added each week. Click on a tiny cloud photo and it blows up to full screen proportions, complete with commentary by the person who submitted it. There's even a Grow Your Own Cloud kit, but I don't recommend it. There's just no substitute for the real thing.
MaMaMedia ... great activities for the pre-schooler ... so why did I enjoy playing them?
McDonaldland ... use the signs on the left to travel through this magical place.
Nabisco World ... games for the whole family, a boardwalk, and virtual screaming children.
Nick Games ... rugrats plus many more ... for both playing online and/or downloading.
Nick Junior - for pre-schoolers: little bear, blues clues, franklin, kipper, gullah gullah, moisy.
Pokemon World ... cartoons, games, comics, cards, downloads and other goodies.
Puzzlemaker ... puzzles, number blocks, word & math squares, cryptograms, word tiles, plus.
Sesame Street ... children learning with games and online activities without even realizing it.
Seussville Games ... let's play with all of Dr. Seuss' characters ... great experience.
Teletubbies ... Tubby playground, Tubby Make&Do, Tubby Gallery, and Tubby Grown-ups.
Big Top Circus Sideshow ... ten digital games ... download "shockwave plugin" if necessary.
Theatrix ... games & toys, movies, images & sounds, and links ... even the page looks funny.
Return to ... Menu

Let's Find Out ... specifically made for children, and a great homework helper.
Ask an Expert 2 … just about every subject possible plus "homework help" pages.
CyberSleuths ... a K-12 homework helper with many references and a search engine.
About - designed for teenagers, has a chat room for homework contact with "experts.
Homework Center - table of contents, search box, reference guides, and access to experts.
Homework Help … information on all subjects and for all levels … excellent source of info.
Homework Helper … all curriculum areas, teacher's corner, vocabulary building program.
Return to ... Menu

How Does a Kite Fly … how it flies, interviews, history, construction, links, and FAQ's.
Kites & Kite Flying … history, information, hints, technique, pictures, and links.
Kites, Kids, & Education … excellent Table of Contents ... highly recommended.
The Virtual Kite Zoo … sketches and descriptions of kites of every shape.
Return to ... Menu

Algebra online … a free service designed to allow math assistance throughout the world.
Euclid's Geometry … first enable your javascript ... great geometry lessons abound here.
Math Help … basic math and algebra and really for the community college adult learner.
Math Anxiety … for students, teachers, and researchers ... after this, anxiety goes poof.
Mathematics … a fascinating page for children and adults interested in the world of math.
Math in Daily Life … just what it says, but go back one URL level, and more awaits you.
Math Tutor … will try to answer any question from arithmetic to calculus in 24 hours.
Measure 4 Measure … an index of a hundred calculators for every conceivable purpose.
Roman Number Converter … now the question is, who wants to convert Arabic into Roman?
Return to ... Menu

One coaching course suggests that in aiming for a 600 out of a possible 800 on either the math or the verbal S.A.T. exam ... answering only the first 18 of 25 questions is the key to success ... But even the last questions, necessary to make the 750 that most Ivy League schools demand, can be mastered, once you learn to shun the choices that look like sure bets ... Those sure bets are meant to be the "distractors," with the most common wrong answers … they are meant as a trap.

A sample "hard" question is as follows: "In 1970, the price of a certain antique car was 30 percent greater than in 1965 ... In 1975, the price of the same car was 50 percent greater than in 1970 ... The price of the car was what percent greater in 1975 than in 1965?"

It can be done algebraically, BUT … that's the wrong approach … that is not the best way to play this game … the better way is to give yourself a time advantage with good everyday common sense ... simple arithmetic ... trust me, it works.

---

SIMPLE ARITHMETIC

This problem can be solved with simple arithmetic if you assign a round number ... say $100 ... to the unknown value of the car, rather than calling it X ... What did it cost in 1965? Let's say $100 - By 1970, the value had gone up 30 percent or $30, and now it is worth $130 ... Now an additional 50 percent or $65 is added to that, making the new 1975 value $195 … 195 is 95% greater than 100 ... so the answer now is 95 percent … all without a bit of algebra ... simple everyday arithmetic.

It's like so much in life. When it comes to a problem or problems, many times the solution can be very close by ... just a matter of looking with an uncluttered mind, even uncluttered by the very schools that are teaching you how to be intelligent. Maybe you can't teach that ... but you can certainly teach one how to take a test.

And now, back to ... College Choices ... enough arithmetic.

---

FIVE MINUTE UNIVERSITY

I don't have too much respect for the college system as it is setup today. Probably what matters most in the college experience is the opportunity to make networking and keeping these relationships to assist in the productive years that are to follow. Reminds me of the priest's skit in the early days of Saturday Night Live ... I recall the Father Saducci's monologue, it went something like this:

If I were to open a college, I'd call it the - "Five Minute University" ... where in five minutes you learn what the average college graduate remembers after five years after graduation.

So you would take languages, and learn Spanish, and all you would have to know is how to say 'Como estα?' (How are you?), and the answer is 'Muy biιn.' (Very well.). If you took five years of Spanish, that's all you remember after graduation (no conjugating of verbs, no declensions of nouns; not important.).

In economics, all you have to know is: 'supply and demand' … and in the five minute School of Business Administration you learn to say "buy low and sell high" and everyone knows you went to college. In my Theology Department, we will teach you how to ask that question ... 'Where is G-d?' … and the answer, of course, is: 'G-d is everywhere."

Finally, our Law School will take another minute, you get the law degree by knowing how to say, 'I think we can sue' ... Now a medical degree will require more learning: 'Do you have insurance?' and 'How much?'" ... Five Minute University; think of the time you'll save.