Month: March 2017

15 Benefits of the Ron Paul Curriculum

On By purplefrog01In Business 1Leave a comment
  1. Instruction and guidelines to becoming a more effective writer.  Prior to starting this curriculum I had very little writing experience, previous school enrollments cut both my parents and me short by not properly training me in the field of writing.  By all means, I am not a great writer now, I have a long way to go before I achieve any level of success in writing, but I have come a long way since starting this curriculum and I continue to learn more with every day.
  2. Persistent writing assignments.  In most classes, students are assigned weekly writing assignments, from my experience these average 500 words.  Once completed the student posts these essays on a WordPress blog, and posts a link in the appropriate forum on the RPC website so that other students can read their essays.  This gives students a means of practice and constant drive to improve their writing.
  3. This curriculum is academically rigorous.  I have discussed with several other students and we all agree that coming to the RPC was a big step up from whatever school curriculum we came from.  In most of the high school courses, the teachers are college level teachers they do not leave blank spots, they cover everything.  Within a month of joining this curriculum, students will see a major incline to their academic progress.
  4. Time management skills. Especially in high-school, students face the difficult task of balancing school with a job, business, or perhaps a sport or other activity.  The RPC allows you to create a flexible schedule, and gives you the opportunity to balance your time to maximize productivity.  Again, this is is a skill that has been growing since I started the RPC.  I have a lot to work on in the way of time management, but I have improved since starting this curriculum and I continue to improve through persistence.   
  5. Development of note taking skills.  Taking notes is a valuable skill needed by students of every level.  This curriculum teaches students how to take good notes, and apply them to their study to maximize the information learned.
  6. The opportunity to learn from/teach other students.  On the website, available exclusively to members, there are forums for every course as well as a discussion forum for students, and several parent forums.  When a student has a question they can leave it on the forum and it will most likely be answered within 24 hours.  We learn by teaching, this is a unique benefit not offered by most other online school sources.  I have made connections with some of the other students, some of which I talk to everyday, I consider some of them good friends.  This provides the social aspect, without classroom distraction.
  7. A flexible schedule.  The classes can be taken anytime, anywhere.  This allows students to make their own schedule, and have the flexibility to change it anytime.
  8. Students learn how to operate WordPress.  Each student is asked to create a WordPress blog to post writing assignments on, this is not required, but it is highly recommended.  Students are walked through the basics, and they will learn a lot through personal experience.  This is a good skill to have.
  9. Self taught.  98% self taught is a huge benefit.  Students learn how to be more independent in their educational lives.  This is a good preparation for college, and learning throughout life.
  10. 2 high school business course taught by successful businessmen.  In today’s world, a job can be risky and insecure.  Starting a solid business is a good idea and this curriculum provides 2 years of business training taught by men who have achieved success in business, you will not find this anywhere else.
  11. It is light on parents.  Parents are required to do very little as far as teaching goes.  I go to my parents for advice because my dad is a chemist and my mom is an accountant. They have experience in these fields so they occasionally help explain certain concepts, but for the most part they do not have to do much.  This is a benefit for both the parent and the student.
  12. There are no textbooks to buy.  With the exception of the business course there are no textbooks.  This is not only more affordable, but there is less bulk.  It is easiest to have everything in one place, so downloadable PDF’s make everything more simple.
  13. No “busy work.”  While this curriculum is rigorous everything you do has meaning.  There is no pointless time-consuming work.  Each class takes at the most 1 hour a day.
  14. Guidelines to take cram courses to CLEP out of your first two years of college, so that you have the opportunity to enter college as a junior.  There are ways to beat the system and save time and money on a college education.  The RPC offers everything you need to start this on the right foot.
  15. Type speed.  Through weekly essays, and research, I have more than doubled my typing speed.  I have been learning from other online sources, but without this curriculum I never would have sought out ways to improve my speed.

Describe the differences between Northup’s response to separation from his children and Eliza’s response to separation from her children.

On By purplefrog01In English 1: autobiographyLeave a comment

Solomon Northup was a born a free man, he had a strong work ethic, he lived a good life, and he was blessed with a wonderful family.  One unfortunate day, he was captured and sold into slavery, he told the traders that he was a free man, but they threatened him and warned him never to speak of that, so he kept his mouth shut on the topic of his freedom.  While in captive, he met several other slaves, among them he met a woman named Eliza and her two children Randall and Emily.  One of the biggest fears slaves faced was separation from their families, which was common.  Unfortunately Northup, Eliza, and both children had to go through the dreadful sorrow of losing their family.

Northup left his home with some men who supposedly had intentions of hiring Northup to play his fiddle in the circus, his wife and children were away on a trip for a few days.  He figured this would be a good opportunity, he saw no reason to leave a note as he intended to be back before his wife and children returned.  After a series of events, he ended up being robbed of his papers and sold into slavery.  His family had no idea where he was, because he did not leave a message.  As the autobiography says, he was separated from them for 12 years.  He often explained that as he laid down at night he thought of his sweet children.  It pained him to be separated from the most important people in his world.

While in captive Eliza soothed her children and reassured them of their future.  After some time, a buyer bought Randall  which tore Eliza apart.  She begged the buyer to buy all three of them, but he could not, Randall asked his mother not to cry, that he would be a good boy.  This filled both Emily and Eliza with sorrow, they would never again see their sweet Randall.  Another buyer chose to buy Northup, Eliza, and Henry (a fellow slave captive), Eliza begged him to buy her daughter too, so that they may stay together.  The buyer was touched by her pleads and made an offer to the trader, but the trader refused, Emily was quite a handsome young lady, and he chose to keep her until she was older and would bring him more money.  Eliza burst into tears, she explained that she would not be able to live without her children, but she was forced to go.  Leaving behind her sweet little girl that cried out for her to come back, but those cries soon faded away as they were taken off into the distance.  Eliza never again heard from either of her children, and spent the rest of her life depressed unknowing of the possible hardships her children were going through.

The love between a parent and their child is a strong force, it is hard for parents to cope with a dying child, or perhaps a missing child, but to lose your child due to a system so morally evil as slavery puts a whole new burden of grief upon the parent’s shoulder.  Eliza knew that her children would live hard lives, and that they would at times wish they were dead.  This brought upon her shoulders a burden of bitterly dreadful grief.  Northup loved his children dearly, he knew that there was a strong possibility that they would never see their father again, but he knew that they were safe and free, living their healthy lives at home in New York.  Honestly this revels the biggest difference of their responses to losing their children.  Eliza was more emotional and sorrowful, as she had reason to be.  Northup missed his family, but he knew they were safe and sound, with every passing day he fed a fire of burning hope that he would see them again.

Student benefits of the Ron Paul Curriculum.

On By purplefrog01In Business 1Leave a comment

The Ron Paul Curriculum has completely revolutionized the educational lives for many families that believe in an education for their children based on the freedom philosophy.  I left another curriculum to start the Ron Paul Curriculum, which was one of the best decisions my parents made regarding my education.  The previous curriculum was strictly textbooks, and the only source other than textbooks was my parents.  Unlike the RPC, there were no lectures.  When I first started RPC I had very little writing experience, and I lacked many other important skills.  It was tough at first to get into a steady pace,  I still have work to do.  But I have come a long way since the day I started this curriculum, I have a lot of work to do before I reach my goals, but I have made a lot of academic progress since I started the RPC, and I am looking forward to the opportunities to come.

This curriculum puts an large emphasis on writing which makes sense because solid writing skills are vital to success, this was difficult for me because in previous years, and several different school programs, I never did very much writing, nor did I learn how to write effectively.  It was a shock when I started this curriculum with no knowledge on how to write, through the persistence of the weekly writing assignments I have come a long way with my writing, as you can probably tell I still have a long way to go before I achieve any level of success through writing, but I am confident that this curriculum will prove itself in being an effective way to learn to write.

Here are student benefits of the RPC that have been proven through my own experience.

  1. Older students will learn the skill of self motivation, and determination to achieve their goals.  Prior to starting this curriculum I though I was self motivated, but not even 2 weeks in, I learned that I was dead wrong.  You will find written on the landing page, that this curriculum may not be for students who lack motivation, I believe that is true.  But students who do have at least some drive will completely transform their productivity.  I do not think I came into this with enough drive and determination, I still lack these, but by every passing day the RPC motivates me to try harder to become the best I can.
  2. You can choose your schedule.  If you want to wake up at 5:00 AM and get a jump on the school day, this curriculum allows you to do this.  If an older student has a job, he or she can work their school schedule around their job schedule.  If and when a student chooses to start a business they have the option to tailor their schedule to make it work for them.
  3. Note-taking skills.  Through this curriculum, I have developed my note taking skills, I have learned how to take effective notes.  These skills are not only useful for school, but also when I attempt to learn anything, whether I am doing my own research, learning from another person or attending a seminar, the skill to take good notes is valuable.
  4. The self taught aspect of the curriculum allows students to be more independent in nearly every aspect of life.
    This is a 98% self taught curriculum, the ability to develop methods of learning on your own is a skill that will be useful in every aspect of your life.  This is a skill that a student must take with them to college, even if they do not plan to get a college education, the ability to learn on your own is an incredibly valuable skill.  This form of self discipline is not taught in public schools, it is only found in unique opportunities such as the RPC.
  5. The school day is time efficient. Each class takes on average 1 hour per day (it differs depending on the class or grade), this is efficient.  Public school kids spend most of their day at school, and then come home to piles of homework, this, in my opinion, is mostly just a time sucker.  A student that does the RPC through high school,or even better K-12, is at a much higher advantage than a student who spends 13 years of their life in a classroom being taught by the corrupt government school system.  Time is an irreplaceable resource, it should be spent wisely.

 

 

Did Thompson provide persuasive evidence that the South’s slave system was morally evil?

On By purplefrog01In English 1: autobiographyLeave a comment

John Thompson was born in Maryland to a slave family around the year 1812.  He grew up in the lifestyle of slavery, but later on in his life, he found a way to escape to a free state.  After escaping, Thompson wrote an autobiography of his life that, in my opinion, gave a clear insight into his lifestyle, and the people and events around him.  He told stories in such a way that the reader could actually picture the scene, and hear the very words.  Part of the reason he wrote this autobiography was because he needed to give the people who were already against slavery, valid evidence of how corrupt the system really was, and give them motivation to put an end to slavery.  This may not have been Thompson’s sole purpose, but I think this was one of the main reasons he wrote this autobiography.

In several different stories Thompson shared incidents that had the power to make the reader cringe in a way of pity and sorrow.  At one time, Thompson was prepared to give up his life so that he would not have to suffer through all of the cruel beatings that were, some of them, inflicted for no valid reason.  He was ready to kill the constable and be hung at once to put an end to the cruel suffering.  He was not the only young man with this thought.  This, in and of itself is valid proof that slavery is morally evil.  A plantation wife beat an 8 year old slave girl because she broke a dish, she beat her until she bled out on the floor, again this is a memorable occasion that provides evidence that the system was morally evil.  Throughout the book he provides incidents that demonstrate that slavery was no doubt, morally evil.  While I went through each chapter I could actually picture the scene, Thompson had the ability to generate the sympathy of the reader.

The way Thompson was treated, and the way he saw his fellow slaves treated was not necessarily the same way all slaves were treated.  Some slaves were treated much better, but none the less, a plantation owner claims to possess a human being.  The slave does not have the freedom to do as he pleases, he lives his life for the benefit of another man, and in most cases, gets nothing in return.  No matter how well the owner treats his or her slaves, slavery is a corrupt system.  It is, of course, morally evil on a deeper level in the case of an owner continuously beating his slaves without cause.  But even if the owner treats his slaves in the best of ways, forcing another person to work all of their lives for the owner’s benefit is wicked.

Was the information that Thompson provided actually correct?  Yes, I believe that it was, if not exact, I believe that it was pretty close.  There is a possibility that he exaggerated on select stories, but I do not think that he made up any of the stories he shared.  Thompson provided persuasive evidence that the South’s slave system was morally evil.