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I'm glad to see it's out there now. I'll have to check it out since I have first graders out there now who might benefit from it.

Seven years ago, I set out after a dream but didn't make it too far.  Now someone else has done what I imagined, only more so.

For decades I've been disappointed by the way math is taught in this country.  Especially in grade school, where it should be easy but they make it horrible for most kids.

Anyway, I was going to write a website that contained an entire curriculum, from basic math to algebra.  My idea is that I would give away for free what costs gobs of money to do in the schools, and do a better job than most teachers.

I was convinced that learning basic addition/subtraction/multiplication/division facts were absolutely essential to further learning.  My worst College Algebra student literally couldn't tell me what 8x7 was without a) a calculator, b) "figuring it out," or c) cheating.  She had bluffed and cheated her way all the way until my class.  So I wrote some "automated flashcards" dedicated to my fifth grade math teacher whom I credit for much of my ability to do math quickly in my head.  I ran several hundred tests on about 60 students at my kids' grade school; the only problem they had running the programs was that they were DOS based and the kids kept trying to use the mouse.

Anyway, that's about as far as I got on my "dream" to make free math website, and I've archived it at http://wordsfree.org/math/

That brings me to the present -- to the guy who actually has put an entire math curriculum on the web for free, no registration necessary.  It goes all the way from basic addition on a number line, through algebra (probably has over 100 videos on that) and trig, calculus, differential equations, and has a few other topics like physics and biology and economics.

Bill Gates loves the website.  It's at http://www.khanacademy.org/

All the videos are also on YouTube, but I run them from the website because I think they are better organized there.

Now kids can have free tutoring in any of many math subjects, and can repeat the lessons as many times as they need to because the computer is infinitely patient.

Alan

Your such a trooper Alan...Thanks for the home here!

Lana

You're welcome.  It has meant a great deal to me, even when I was too sick to keep it going. 

BTW I got the backup made, so I feel better than I did when I wrote the email. 

Alan

September 8, 2010
Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/090810.shtml

Reading 1

Mi 5:1-4a

The LORD says:
You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah,
too small to be among the clans of Judah,
From you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel;
Whose origin is from of old,
from ancient times.
(Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time
when she who is to give birth has borne,
And the rest of his brethren shall return
to the children of Israel.)
He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock
by the strength of the LORD,
in the majestic name of the LORD, his God;
And they shall remain, for now his greatness
shall reach to the ends of the earth;
he shall be peace.

or

Rom 8:28-30

Brothers and sisters:
We know that all things work for good for those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose.
For those he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
so that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers.
And those he predestined he also called;
and those he called he also justified;
and those he justified he also glorified.

Ps 13:6ab, 6c Responsorial Psalm
R. (Isaiah 61:10) With delight I rejoice in the Lord.
Though I trusted in your mercy,
let my heart rejoice in your salvation.
R. With delight I rejoice in the Lord.
Let me sing of the LORD, "He has been good to me."
R. With delight I rejoice in the Lord.

Mt 1:1-16, 18-23 or 1:18-23 Gospel
The Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham became the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah,
whose mother was Tamar.
Perez became the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab became the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz,
whose mother was Rahab.
Boaz became the father of Obed,
whose mother was Ruth.
Obed became the father of Jesse,
Jesse the father of David the king.

David became the father of Solomon,
whose mother had been the wife of Uriah.
Solomon became the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asaph.
Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,
Joram the father of Uzziah.
Uzziah became the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amos,
Amos the father of Josiah.
Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers
at the time of the Babylonian exile.

After the Babylonian exile,
Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel the father of Abiud.
Abiud became the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor the father of Zadok.
Zadok became the father of Achim,
Achim the father of Eliud,
Eliud the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar became the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
"Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means "God is with us."

or

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
"Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,

which means "God is with us."

Richard's Daily Meditations


THE MALE JOURNEY:
Honor and Respect the Feminine

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

   
One of the reasons women have become so angry at men is that they’re
tired of being manipulated, objectified, and devalued. In fact, all of
Western civilization is tired of the feminine being devalued. It’s tired
of the rational “command-and- control” model for reality. For far too
long, the negative masculine energy has been running everything.

This is why it’s so very important that men do their spiritual work, so
we can find the positive meaning of the masculine. One of the first
steps is to honor and respect the feminine principle, not just in women,
but in all things. Some men, of course, represent the feminine principle
better than some women; it’s not exclusively tied to gender.

By “the feminine principle” I mean everything vulnerable, interior,
powerless, subtle, personal, intimate, and relational. By “the masculine
principle” I mean everything clear, rational, linear, ordered, in
control, bounded, provable, and hard. Both the feminine and masculine
are good, but they must balance each other.


In what ways have I developed
respect for the feminine principle?



FROM DAY 103 OF FR. RICHARD'S NEW BOOK:
On The Threshold of Transformation: Daily Meditations for Men
http://onthethresholdbook.com/

Click to listen to Fr. Richard read the meditation:
http://onthethresholdbook.com/Audio/Day_103.mp3

Your such a trooper Alan...Thanks for the home here!

Lana

A little while ago WF was broke again; I couldn't connect to it at all.

I sent out the following email to the regular posters:

-------------------------------
Dear WF regulars,

FYI

We've been having some problems with the forums lately.  Right now I can't
connect to them; the whole wordsfree site is down and there's nothing I know of
to do about it except wait.  This is at least the third time this has happened
today.

Also we've been getting database errors, two or three in the last few days.
These I can fix because Matt sent me the instructions on how to do it.

None of these things should be happening, except very rarely.

We will see what we can find out about why this is happening and/or find a way
to make it reliable again.

Meanwhile I suggest that if you are posting anything lengthy that you compose it
in some offline editor -- or at least make a copy of it -- because when you try
to post it the forum could fail.

If the worst happens, which I'm not expecting, we can rebuild WF from the backup
I made on Aug 31, so we would only lose a few days of posts.  When the forums
are back up, I will make another backup and then at least weekly if not more
often, until we get the reliability up.

Alan
----------------------------------
Now I'll get to making that backup.

What happened to the "if a man sins, go with two or three to try to straighten him out"?  Of course we may not have the whole story ...

Hi John,

I'm in agreement with your opinion that there must be more behind the scenes than meets the eye.  Since the reports were sent to Paul in prison, I have the feeling that the locals tried to address it , but the persons involved did not want to change.  If so, what should the elders do with regard to it? 

I recall that Corinth was a port town with very wild orgies and sinful living, and IMO, Paul was acting swiftly to protect the very vulnerable new community he had recently established. 

I agree Carole. Corinth certainly had its probems that needed to be addressed. And it is quite likely that they had tried unsuccessfully and were asking Paul what to do next.

I certainly don't disagree that if one determnes that there is a member of the organization that is, and intends to remain, outside the values of the organization that the member has to be removed for the good of the organization to prevent others from then believing that either their behavior doesn't matter or that the unacceptable behavior is actually ok, or that the leadership is just too weak to deal with evil.

I do find the final sentence of that passage interesting though, to deliver the man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved. Any ideas on what Paul might mean by that?

Brainstorming:  crusades, Job, go ahead and let him get killed and go to his father satan?  None of those sound totally satisfying.

Richard's Daily Meditations


THE MALE JOURNEY:
Shadow Boxing

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

   
It takes so much energy and effort to suppress what we find unacceptable
in ourselves that we can have very little energy left for anything else.
This is why some people exist in a stew of aimless anxiety, nameless
dread, free-floating fear, generalized anger, and irritated exhaustion.
These are all indications that we’ve placed a great portion of our
unacceptable self in exile. We have no patience, no forgiveness, no
mercy, but only harsh judgments. No gospel.

We then project our own sick symptoms onto the screen of our outer world
and call it reality. We don’t see the world as it is; we see the world
through the prism of our anxiety, fear, and other rejected emotions.
This is what creates the worlds of conspiracy theories, militia
movements, and the hateful rantings of radio and TV personalities.
People are largely fighting their own fears and denied shadow selves. If
there is no real shadow boxing with the self, the boxing ring of life
becomes scary indeed. This is much of our world, brothers.



What shadows am I fighting right now?



FROM FR. RICHARD'S NEW BOOK:
On The Threshold of Transformation: Daily Meditations for Men
http://onthethresholdbook.com/

Click to listen to Fr. Richard read the meditation:
http://onthethresholdbook.com/Audio/Day_033.mp3