How to Skim For Main Ideas

Skimming is a speed reading strategy used as either a pre-reading technique to familiarize yourself with expository reading text before you read in depth or as an end in itself to quickly comprehend the essentials of a reading passage.

Textbooks

As a pre-reading technique, skimming helps to connect the text with any prior knowledge of the reader. Skimming also helps the reader to access the story schema so as to provide a referential context for the reading. In other words, skimming helps the reader to learn in advance what the gist of the reading passage is, while reminding the reader of any background information and knowledge of how the writing is organized that will assist the reader in understanding the text. Used as a pre-reading technique, skimming helps prepare the reader for further in-depth reading.

As an end in itself, skimming is a very practical and useful skill. As a speed reading technique, it saves time and allows the reader to get the flavor of a reading passage without all of the details. Skimming also permits broader reading, if time is a factor. For example, a reader can certainly skim many articles in the daily newspaper in the time that it might take to fully read a few. Many books can be skimmed for enjoyment or information now and then read later at a more leisurely rate

To skim, readers should first make use of the expository text clues and signposts for key ideas by previewing the reading passage. Textbooks usually provide important study helps that can build comprehension while skimming. The unit and chapter titles give information as to the overall focus of the reading passage. Many times, key chapter ideas are listed in bulleted form or as key questions. In social studies texts, timelines are often helpful. First paragraphs frequently provide an introduction of the chapter main ideas. Subtitles and bold print of key terms act as newspaper headlines to tell the "Who," "What," "Where," "When," and "Why" of the reading. Graphics, such as pictures, photographs, charts and drawings are particularly important to examine. Indeed, "a picture can be worth a thousand words." Sometimes a concluding paragraph(s) or summary will emphasize the key concepts. Use these expository text clues or signposts for effective skimming. This speed reading technique is well worth practicing to perfection.

How to Skim For Main Ideas

Thanks To : Totally Textbooks

Seton Homeschool Curriculum

Are you looking for a Catholic home school program? Consider Seton homeschool curriculum.

Textbooks

With so many homeschooling options available nowadays, it can be challenging to decide what will best meet your child's needs. Seton is an affordable, easy to use program for Catholic homeschoolers. It provides all of the materials and support a family needs to establish a solid foundation for its children by combining modern and traditional teaching techniques.

The school is named after Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the founder of the American Catholic Schools. Seton's primary concern is the education of Catholic children.  Its foremost goal is helping children become and remain practicing Catholics. It abides by the statements found in The Christian Education of Youth, which influenced the school's mission and purpose, as stated in the school's guidelines.

Seton homeschool curriculum is all-inclusive. One low tuition fee covers everything, including textbooks, and grading essays and book reports. While some curriculum companies require you to purchase teacher and student materials separately, and may even charge an extra fee for grading and transcript services, Seton's one price and affordable tuition fee includes everything that your homeschooling child needs. It also includes standardized testing to effectively measure the student's progress. This service is essential for students who wish to attend college or eventually return to school.

Another great feature of Seton is that it includes counseling services for general home school questions and specific problems such as discipline issues, organizational challenges and academic concerns. Also, the school provides college guidance counseling for all Seton homeschool students who want to prepare for the SAT, ACT, and other college entrance exams.

Believing that education is man's preparation for what he must do for eternity, the Christian education offered by Seton homeschool places supreme importance on the individual's purpose in his family and in society.

As St. John Chrysostom have said, "what greater work is there than training the mind and forming the habits of the young?" The flexible learning programs offered by Seton homeschool curriculum are just one of the church's ways of living up to its duty to watch over the education of her children. 

Seton Homeschool Curriculum

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Inexpensive Textbooks - Here's How to Find Dirt Cheap Textbooks

Inexpensive textbooks might seem hard to find, but that's only if you don't know where to look. Text books can be extremely expensive, with some people spending over a thousand dollars per semester just trying to get their required texts for their courses. For many students, that's more money they don't have and don't want to spend--so what's the solution to this increasingly common problem?

Textbooks

One of your best options is to use a book search engine. These are great for a number of reasons and they can really help save you time and money like you wouldn't believe. A text book search engine will mainly help by taking your ISBN number, author name, title name or keyword and it will return results from the top online book vendors. Places like Amazon or Half.com--sites known for having great text book deals. A book search engine works better than just visiting each site separately since you can get the cheapest results from each site, and then purchase the book through the website that has the lowest price. This saves you time and money--big time.

Many students don't have the time or patience to go to each site online trying to find the best deal, that's why a text book search engine is definitely the best route to go for finding inexpensive textbooks. You can search multiple sites simultaneously and only go with the websites that have the lowest prices for you. This means you're guaranteed inexpensive textbooks and won't pay a cent more than you have to.

Inexpensive Textbooks - Here's How to Find Dirt Cheap Textbooks

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Guaranteed Used Textbook Buy Back - A Better Way

Guaranteed textbook buy back programs have sprung up all over, online and off. You just have to keep an eye open for the right books. You know what textbook buy back is - wait in line, offer the university cashier your used textbook and hope they give you something other than loose change for it. But now you can get guaranteed textbook buy back.

Textbooks

The store will tell you what they will pay you for your book when you buy it, and you avoid the problems of keeping a book you don't need after the class is finished.

Does This Work for Used Textbooks?

Even used textbooks can also be guaranteed. The department and the professors at your school have to using the book for a few years, then the store will offer a guarantee on that book. Online stores use a slightly different method, but the result is the same - if they see significant and continuing usage of the book, they can offer a guarantee for a used book, too.

The Numbers

This breakdown won't be perfect, but you will get an idea of how these programs work. When a college or an online bookstore offers a guaranteed textbook buy back on a new book, they will often promise you 50 percent of the book price you paid at the beginning of the class. Then, they will add half of that when they resell it used, a total of about 75 percent of your price.

Used textbooks will work similarly but with slightly different numbers. You may get a higher percentage for your used book, say two thirds of what you paid. If you have access to a guaranteed textbook buy back, you get a pretty good deal. You know which textbooks you can sell for something, you probably know how much, and you save time. Cool. You get cheap textbooks and cash back.

Online and On Campus Differences

Textbook buy back will be a bit different online and on campus. You will have to ship for an online bookstore, but not on campus. And you will have to wait for the online bookstore to acknowledge your books. On the other hand, an online store may have a wider variety of books with a guarantee. You may also be able to return the books earlier than at the bookstore. Also, I have seen online bookstores provide the postage for you, so you just drop it in the mail.

On the other hand, your on campus bookstore will be close by, no waiting for a check. They will give you cash, and hopefully the line will be short.

Both will decide if the books have been damaged before they pay - severe damage invalidates the guarantee. Don't drop it in a lake, or clip out the pages you like. Some wear is normal, some writing, some highlighting. You have to have all the pieces - all the pages, and any disks or student workbooks if included when you bought the book.

Go For It
You can't expect to get all your textbooks cheap. I managed to do it in several classes, and even made money on one book. But over a full term of classes or a year, you have to expect to spend some money. In those cases, the guaranteed textbook buy back fills the bill, and helps reduce your expenses.

Maybe you'll even have money for a First Run movie ticket - with popcorn!

Guaranteed Used Textbook Buy Back - A Better Way

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Save Money - Buy College Textbooks Online, Literally

Here's a tip for the broke college kid:  buy your textbooks online.  I'm not talking about the regular old way; I'm talking one chapter at a time delivered in .pdf format.

Textbooks

Why would you want a chapter at a time?  You get your syllabus at the beginning of the semester, which tells you the required chapters for the semester.  Just think about it -  how often do you actually go through an entire textbook?

I thought about buying the books, scanning the chapters I needed, then returning the books, but there's no way I would have manually scanned hundreds of pages.  Ebooks also came to mind, as they should be cheaper than a hard copy, so I went to looking.

Eventually I came across iChapters.com.  The thing I liked best is that they offer lots of books and you can purchase individual chapters!  My Math 190 textbook ran me 0 used at my local bookstore, and we were only using 8 chapters.  I looked on iChapters and compared the price of the individual chapters at .99 each-  a total of .92 for the 8 chapters I needed.  Purchasing only the chapters I needed saved me about 41% off the price of a used book at the local bookstore.

The chapters aren't some washed out, scanned POS .pdf's, they are actually high quality OCR scans, which means you can Ctrl+F and search the documents.  That's a godsend during homework and studying, much better than flipping aimlessly through pages.  iChapters also offer a free download of the first chapter of a book as  a preview.

However, there's one thing that I hate - the security of the .pdf.  If you want to access your material, you must login through the website and install (or authenticate through) their anti-piracy software.  You cannot open the .pdf's unless you have an internet connection, nor can you view the chapters and print them to a .pdf or .ps file.  I wish I could view the .pdf's offline without having to install any software, but that's just what they have to do to protect their content.

If you want to save LOTS of money, then buying only the chapters you need will definitely do so.  You might not find all your books on iChapters, but it's definitely worth it even if you can find just one.  The more money for pizza and beer, the better :)

Save Money - Buy College Textbooks Online, Literally

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Tips For Buying College Accounting Books

Before entering university, you will have to choose one specific major that has bright career prospects. Choosing a specific major also means that you have to pick the one that suits your interest and talent. If you are good at managing accounts, or if you always got picked as the class treasurer in high school, then you might want to be an accounting major. Accounting is a good career choice as the need for accountants is quite large. Thus, if you select this major, you will likely be successful in the future.

Textbooks

As we all know, going to college means that you need to have some textbooks for your reference and to guide you gain a better understanding of the lessons given in your classes. It is also the same with accounting. You will need some college accounting books that will help you master the trade. Certainly, your professors are going to recommend you to find several textbooks that will be used in their classes. Therefore, you better get prepared or else you will be left behind by your college mates.

There are several titles that you should probably have in order to master accounting. Some of the compulsory titles include College Accounting 1-12, Advanced Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis, Accounting Information System, and Management Accounting. However, when you are going to buy a textbook, you will need to make sure that you choose the right book. Check the name of the writer and the publisher of the book, because sometimes you will find two or more different books with the same title. Make sure the book is exactly what your professor has recommended.

Besides buying compulsory books, you might want to buy some complementary textbooks as well. Those books will be very helpful to expand your knowledge in accounting as it is a very vast field. You can go online and try to look for some important titles which are not suggested by your professors. There are many websites that provide book reviews which you would find very helpful. And the good thing about the reviews is that most of them mention the price of the book so that you can prepare your budget beforehand.

It is somehow a common knowledge that college textbooks can be very expensive. Most accounting books are indeed very pricey and if you don't choose them wisely, you might end up being broke. Therefore, you will need a strategy to get the books you want when you are on a limited budget. Online vendors usually offer many interesting offers or discounts for college textbooks. And the cool thing about buying from an online vendor is that the books will be delivered to your door immediately after purchase. Besides buying books online, you can also go to the local second hand bookstores. Used books are normally cheaper than the new ones, but you should know that most of them won't be in mint condition. As long as the book looks decent and the price is cheap enough, it is worth buying. After all, you need the knowledge and not the look.

Tips For Buying College Accounting Books

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Shelly Cashman Office 2007 Introductory Concepts and Techniques

The purpose of this article is to explain to college students why their computer science/information systems professor picked a Shelly Cashman textbook.  I have been using Shelly Cashman textbooks since 1994 when I first began teaching at the college level and have never really considered changing textbooks.  If I am tasked to prepare for a new course I look to see if Shelly Cashman has a text for the course.  These two successful authors have produced a wide range of textbooks.

Textbooks

The Office 2007 textbook offers a plan ahead section that encourages students to think about what they are trying to accomplish before they begin.  The idea behind this is to get students to see what they are trying to accomplish by doing the projects.  The text offers step by step instructions on how to complete the main project in each chapter.  The Shelly Cashman texts are always rich in screen shots making it possible for a student to do a great deal of learning without the benefit of a personal computer.  The authors also offer experimental steps a student can try.  This adds value to the Office 2007 learning experience.  Course Technology, the publisher of the outstanding Shelly Cashman texts also offers an outstanding website for students.  Your college instructor has made a wise decision in choosing the Shelly Cashman Office 2007 textbook.

In 1994 the Shelly Cashman Microsoft Office textbook costs less than .00.  Today the price of their text has gone up along with all other college textbooks.  The book will cost you more than 0.00 at your campus bookstore or you can look for a used copy at websites such as www.lessfortexts.com.  Regardless of where you buy your book just apply yourself and you can gain proficiency with the Microsoft Office 2007 product.

Shelly Cashman Office 2007 Introductory Concepts and Techniques

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