Single Mother University and College Scholarship Federal Grant Information
Scholarship and federal grant money are readily available for a single mother desiring to attend university. The uncertainty of being able to afford the tuition fee is one of the main concerns many single parents fear when considering higher education.
The information a needed to determine if she qualifies for a university scholarship or grant to offset these costs can be found by searching online, visiting a library or inquiring at federal agencies. Finding grant money is easy.
However here are a few guidelines to keep in mind.
Narrow your search by focusing on the single mother university scholarship federal grant that best suits you. For instance, if you plan to study at a local university, do not include out of state university scholarship programs.
Do not assume that because the information about the scholarship does not spell out that it is a single mother university scholarship federal grant that you cannot apply. Apply for grants liberally.
Ask questions about any scholarship orl grant that seems to meet your other criteria. For example, if it's for a nursing degree or engineering degree, these should be specified.
Checkout grants for individuals under the nontraditional, reentry, or adult students program. Because of the many diverse circumstances in our society these grant programs are becoming more available at major universities.
One of the most overlooked areas for advancing education is through online university degree programs. These may also be eligible for single mother university scholarship federal grants under newer programs.
You will also need to know how to apply for university scholarship federal grants. The way you write your application and the type of information you provide can make the difference between getting the financial aid you need and being denied. The most important advice here is to never omit pertinent information. Answer all the questions to the best of your ability. And don't be afraid to do research for inspiration. This little extra effort will give you the edge over other single moms and general scholarship applicants.
Many universities offer scholarship federal grant program. Both mature and young mothers can access some of the single mother federal grants, however many are specifically for older, more mature students in special circumstances. Don't allow this caveat to sway you. As a single mother you're probably qualified.
Begin with making a list of the universities you are interested in attending. You can gather significant amounts of scholarship information just by visiting websites all over the internet. If you cannot understand all the information on the website or you need clarification, pick up the phone and call the financial aid office. I have found this to be the greatest and quickest way to learn the language of university scholarship federal grant terms and get those in between questions answered. Even if the university itself does not offer single mother university scholarship federal grants they may well know where you can get help.
The Writers Bureau Writing Course Helped Get Me Published
My assigned tutor on the Writers Bureau Home Study Course recommended I focus my writing on two areas of which I have experience. I am almost half-way through the course and have been published three times. Two of those pieces in print were on subjects in the area that my tutor recommended I should centre on.
I enrolled on the Writers Bureau creative writing Course a few years ago and I have never regretted my decision. The home study course covers many different aspects of creative writing, from how to break into print with readers’ letters and fillers (mini articles), through to planning and writing a novel. You are taught how to research a publication, then to correctly structure and present an article to its editorial team. Advice on how to sell your writing is provided and there’s guidance on legal issues like copyright.
The course is made up of 18 written assignments which are drawn from 26 study modules. Students are assigned a tutor who will mark submitted work and return it with suggestions, comments and any necessary amendments. Throughout the course, the tutors are constructive in their criticism, which in the early stages is mild so as not to damage the aspiring writer’s confidence. However as you progress, the tutors will tell it like it is - well, mine does!
If your assignment is deemed suitable for your target market and is of a publishable standard, the tutor will recommend that you submit it to your chosen publication.
One of my recent submissions was made up of three different pieces of work. My tutor disliked the first one and pointed out where it could have been improved. She complemented the construction of the second piece, but felt its subject may have been slightly out of date with current affairs. The final article was the best of the three and the recommendation was that I submit it for publication as soon as possible. I followed her advice and my work was published as a double page spread in an industry leading monthly journal.
Students of the Writers Bureau Creative Writing Course are urged to write every day - even if only for a few minutes. Skills improve with practice, therefore to get the full benefit of the course; students are encouraged to be consistent in submitting their assignments. This is, possibly, why the Writers Bureau has implemented a time limit of four years to finish the course.
There have been times when I was unable to write as often as I would’ve liked and this provided for a feeling of disappointment. I even stopped the course completely when the demands of a career change with my ‘day job’ took over. I had to push myself to return to the course, but my love of writing was my motivator.
Has the Writers Bureau Home Study Course assisted me and would I recommend it to others? The answer is a definite yes, but only if you’re prepared to work at it. I know of people that enrolled on the course and never even got started. I have followed my tutor’s advice and it seems to be working for me – although a bit slowly, but I suppose that’s how it is when starting out. A few days ago, an editor called me to talk about an article that I recently submitted; hopefully this will be my fourth published piece.
About the Author
I’m about to start work on my next Writers Bureau assignment and I’m also looking at several other projects. One thing I’ve found is that the internet offers lots of opportunities for writers to earn from their work while gaining valuable experience at the same time. For great ideas on how to make money from your writing, visit http://thepaidwriter.net
Islam word has been derived from arabic languge word salam, it meaning is peace ofcourse islam is religion of peace and humanity , which is not only religion of muslim but also religion of the entire universe.Since the early 1980s, commentators have argued that Islam is suffering a crisis of identity, as the crumbling of Islamic civilization in the modern age has left Muslims with a profound sense of alienation and injury. Challenges confronting Muslim nations -- failures of development projects, entrenched authoritarian regimes and the inability to respond effectively to Israeli belligerence -- have induced deep-seated frustration and anger that, in turn, contributed to the rise of fundamentalist movements, or as most commentators have preferred to say, political Islam. But most commentators have been caught off guard by the ferocity of the acts of mass murder recently committed in New York and Washington. The basic cruelty and moral depravity of these attacks came as a shock not only to non-Muslims, but to Muslims as well. The extreme political violence we call terrorism is not a simple aberration unrelated to the political dynamics of a society. Generally, terrorism is the quintessential crime of those who feel powerless seeking to undermine the perceived power of a targeted group. Like many crimes of power, terrorism is also a hate crime, for it relies on a polarized rhetoric of belligerence toward a particular group that is demonized to the point of being denied any moral worth. To recruit and communicate effectively, this rhetoric of belligerence needs to tap into and exploit an already radicalized discourse with the expectation of resonating with the social and political frustrations of a people. If acts of terrorism find little resonance within a society, such acts and their ideological defenders are marginalized. But if these acts do find a degree of resonance, terrorism becomes incrementally more acute and severe, and its ideological justifications become progressively more radical.
To what extent are the September 11 attacks in the US symptomatic of more pervasive ideological undercurrents in the Muslim world today? Obviously, not all social or political frustrations lead to the use of violence. While national liberation movements often resort to violence, the recent attacks are set apart from such movements. The perpetrators did not seem to be acting on behalf of an ethnic group or nation. They presented no specific territorial claims or political agenda, and were not keen to claim responsibility for their acts. One can speculate that the perpetrators' list of grievances included persistent Israeli abuses of Palestinians, near-daily bombings of Iraq and the presence of American troops in the Gulf, but the fact remains that the attacks were not followed by a list of demands or even a set of articulated goals. The attacks exhibit a profound sense of frustration and extreme despair, rather than a struggle to achieve clear-cut objectives. Some commentators have viewed the underpinnings of the recent attacks as part of a "clash of civilizations" between Western values and Islamic culture. According to these commentators, the issue is not religious fundamentalism or political Islam, but an essential conflict between competing visions of morality and ethics. From this perspective, it is hardly surprising that the terrorists do not present concrete demands, do not have specific territorial objectives and do not rush to take responsibility. The September 11 attacks aimed to strike at the symbols of Western civilization, and to challenge its perceived hegemony, in the hope of empowering and reinvigorating Islamic civilization. The "clash of civilizations" approach assumes, in deeply prejudiced fashion, that Puritanism and terrorism are somehow authentic expressions of the predominant values of the Islamic tradition, and hence is a dangerous interpretation of the present moment. But the common responses to this interpretation, focusing on either the crisis of identity or acute social frustration in the Muslim world, do not adequately explain the theological positions adopted by radical Islamist groups, or how extreme violence can be legitimated in the modern age. Further, none of these perspectives engage the classical tradition in Islamic thought regarding the employment of political violence, and how contemporary Muslims reconstruct the classical tradition. How might the classical or contemporary doctrines of Islamic theology contribute to the use of terrorism by modern Islamic movements?
By the eleventh century, Muslim jurists had developed a sophisticated discourse on the proper limits on the conduct of warfare, political violence and terrorism. The Qur'an exhorted Muslims in general terms to perform jihad by waging war against their enemies. The Qur'anic prescriptions simply call upon Muslims to fight in the way of God, establish justice and refrain from exceeding the limits of justice in fighting their enemies. Muslim jurists, reflecting their historical circumstances and context, tended to divide the world into three conceptual categories: the abode of Islam, the abode of war and the abode of peace or non-belligerence. These were not clear or precise categories, but generally they connoted territories belonging to Muslims, territories belonging to enemies and territories considered neutral or non-hostile for one reason or another. But Muslim jurists could not agree on exactly how to define the abode of Muslims versus the abode of others, especially when sectarian divisions within Islam were involved, and when dealing with conquered Muslim territories or territories where sizable Muslim minorities resided. Furthermore, Muslim jurists disagreed on the legal cause for fighting non-Muslims. Some contended that non-Muslims are to be fought because they are infidels, while the majority argued that non-Muslims should be fought only if they pose a danger to Muslims. The majority of early jurists argued that a treaty of non-aggression between Muslims and non-Muslims ought to be limited to a ten-year term. Nonetheless, after the tenth century an increasing number of jurists argued that such treaties could be renewed indefinitely, or be of permanent or indefinite duration. Importantly, Muslim jurists did not focus on the idea of just cause for war. Other than emphasizing that if Muslim territory is attacked, Muslims must fight back, the jurists seemed to relegate the decision to make war or peace to political authorities. There is a considerable body of legal writing prohibiting Muslim rulers from violating treaties, indulging in treachery or attacking an enemy without first giving notice, but the literature on the conditions that warrant a jihad is sparse. It is not that the classical jurists believed that war is always justified or appropriate; rather, they seemed to assume that the decision to wage war is fundamentally political. However, the methods of war were the subject of a substantial jurisprudential discourse. Building upon the proscriptions of the Prophet Muhammad (SWS), Muslim jurists insisted that there are legal restrictions upon the conduct of war. In general, Muslim armies may not kill women, children, seniors, hermits, pacifists, peasants or slaves unless they are combatants. Vegetation and property may not be destroyed, water holes may not be poisoned, and flame-throwers may not be used unless out of necessity, and even then only to a limited extent. Torture, mutilation and murder of hostages were forbidden under all circumstances. Importantly, the classical jurists reached these determinations not simply as a matter of textual interpretation, but as moral or ethical assertions. The classical jurists spoke from the vantage point of a moral civilization, in other words, from a perspective that betrayed a strong sense of confidence in the normative message of Islam. In contrast to their pragmatism regarding whether a war should be waged, the classical jurists accepted the necessity of moral constraints upon the way war is conducted.
Muslim jurists exhibited a remarkable tolerance toward the idea of political rebellion. Because of historical circumstances in the first three centuries of Islam, Muslim jurists, in principle, prohibited rebellions even against unjust rulers. At the same time, they refused to give the government unfettered discretion against rebels. The classical jurists argued that the law of God prohibited the execution of rebels or needless destruction or confiscation of their property. Rebels should not be tortured or even imprisoned if they take an oath promising to abandon their rebellion. Most importantly, according to the majority point of view, rebellion, for a plausible cause, is not a sin or moral infraction, but merely a political wrong because of the chaos and civil strife that result. This approach effectively made political rebellion a civil, and not a religious, infraction. The classical juristic approach to terrorism was quite different. Since the very first century of Islam, Muslims suffered from extremist theologies that not only rejected the political institutions of the Islamic empire, but also refused to concede legitimacy to the juristic class. Although not organized in a church or a single institutional structure, the juristic class in Islam had clear and distinctive insignia of investiture. They attended particular colleges, received training in a particular methodology of juristic inquiry, and developed a specialized technical language, the mastery of which became the gateway to inclusion. Significantly, the juristic class engaged as a rule in discussion and debate. On each point of law, there are ten different opinions and a considerable amount of debate among the various legal schools of thought. Various puritan theological movements in Islamic history resolutely rejected this juristic tradition, which reveled in indeterminacy. The hallmark of these puritan movements was an intolerant theology displaying extreme hostility not only to non-Muslims but also to Muslims who belonged to different schools of thought or even remained neutral. These movements considered opponents and indifferent Muslims to have exited the fold of Islam, and therefore legitimate targets of violence. These groups' preferred methods of violence were stealth attacks and the dissemination of terror in the general population. Muslim jurists reacted sharply to these groups, considering them enemies of humankind. They were designated as muharibs (literally, those who fight society). A muharib was defined as someone who attacks defenseless victims by stealth, and spreads terror in society. They were not to be given quarter or refuge by anyone or at any place. In fact, Muslim jurists argued that any Muslim or non-Muslim territory sheltering such a group is hostile territory that may be attacked by the mainstream Islamic forces. Although the classical jurists agreed on the definition of a muharib, they disagreed about which types of criminal acts should be considered crimes of terror. Many jurists classified rape, armed robbery, assassinations, arson and murder by poisoning as crimes of terror and argued that such crimes must be punished vigorously regardless of the motivations of the criminal. Most importantly, these doctrines were asserted as religious imperatives. Regardless of the desired goals or ideological justifications, the terrorizing of the defenseless was recognized as a moral wrong and an offense against society and God.
It is often stated that terrorism is the weapon of the weak. Notably, classical juristic discourse was developed when Islamic civilization was supreme, and this supremacy was reflected in the benevolent attitude of the juristic class. Pre-modern Muslim juristic discourses navigated a course between principled thinking and real-life pragmatic concerns and demands. Ultimately, these jurists spoke with a sense of urgency, but not desperation. Power and political supremacy were not their sole pursuits. Much has changed in the modern age. Islamic civilization has crumbled, and the traditional institutions that once sustained the juristic discourse have all but vanished. The moral foundations that once mapped out Islamic law and theology have disintegrated, leaving an unsettling vacuum. More to the point, the juristic discourses on tolerance towards rebellion and hostility to the use of terror are no longer part of the normative categories of contemporary Muslims. Contemporary Muslim discourses either give lip service to the classical doctrines without a sense of commitment or ignore and neglect them all together. There are many factors that contributed to this modern reality. Among the pertinent factors is the undeniably traumatic experience of colonialism, which dismantled the traditional institutions of civil society. The emergence of highly centralized, despotic and often corrupt governments, and the nationalization of the institutions of religious learning undermined the mediating role of jurists in Muslim societies. Nearly all charitable religious endowments became state-controlled entities, and Muslim jurists in most Muslim nations became salaried state employees, effectively transforming them into what may be called "court priests." The establishment of the state of Israel, the expulsion of the Palestinians and the persistent military conflicts in which Arab states suffered heavy losses all contributed to a widespread siege mentality and a highly polarized and belligerent political discourse. Perhaps most importantly, Western cultural symbols, modes of production and social values aggressively penetrated the Muslim world, seriously challenging inherited values and practices, and adding to a profound sense of alienation. Two developments became particularly relevant to the withering away of Islamic jurisprudence. Most Muslim nations experienced the wholesale borrowing of civil law concepts. Instead of the dialectical and indeterminate methodology of traditional Islamic jurisprudence, Muslim nations opted for more centralized and often code-based systems of law. Even Muslim modernists who attempted to reform Islamic jurisprudence were heavily influenced by the civil law system, and sought to resist the fluidity of Islamic law and increase its unitary and centralized character. Not only were the concepts of law heavily influenced by the European legal tradition, the ideologies of resistance employed by Muslims were laden with Third World notions of national liberation and self-determination. For instance, modern nationalistic thought exercised a greater influence on the resistance ideologies of Muslim and Arab national liberation movements than anything in the Islamic tradition. The Islamic tradition was reconstructed to fit Third World nationalistic ideologies of anti-colonialism and anti-imperialism rather than the other way around. While national liberation movements -- such as the Palestinian, Kashmiri or Algerian resistance -- resorted to guerrilla or non-conventional warfare, modern day terrorism of the variety promoted by Osama bin Laden is rooted in a different ideological paradigm. There is little doubt that organizations such as the Jihad, al-Qaeda, Hizb al-Tahrir and Jama'at al-Muslimin were influenced by national liberation and anti-colonialist ideologies, but they have anchored themselves in a theology that can be described as puritan, supremacist and thoroughly opportunistic. This theology is the byproduct of the emergence and eventual dominance of Wahhabism, Salafism and apologetic discourses in modern Islam.
The foundations of Wahhabi theology were put in place by the eighteenth-century evangelist Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab in the Arabian Peninsula. With a puritanical zeal, 'Abd al-Wahhab sought to rid Islam of corruptions that he believed had crept into the religion. Wahhabism resisted the indeterminacy of the modern age by escaping to a strict literalism in which the text became the sole source of legitimacy. In this context, Wahhabism exhibited extreme hostility to intellectualism, mysticism and any sectarian divisions within Islam. The Wahhabi creed also considered any form of moral thought that was not entirely dependent on the text as a form of self-idolatry, and treated humanistic fields of knowledge, especially philosophy, as "the sciences of the devil." According to the Wahhabi creed, it was imperative to return to a presumed pristine, simple and straightforward Islam, which could be entirely reclaimed by literal implementation of the commands of the Prophet(PBUH), and by strict adherence to correct ritual practice. Importantly, Wahhabism rejected any attempt to interpret the divine law from a historical, contextual perspective, and treated the vast majority of Islamic history as a corruption of the true and authentic Islam. The classical jurisprudential tradition was considered at best to be mere sophistry. Wahhabism became very intolerant of the long-established Islamic practice of considering a variety of schools of thought to be equally orthodox. Orthodoxy was narrowly defined, and 'Abd al-Wahhab himself was fond of creating long lists of beliefs and acts which he considered hypocritical, the adoption or commission of which immediately rendered a Muslim an unbeliever. In the late eighteenth century, the Al Sa'ud family united with the Wahhabi movement and rebelled against Ottoman rule in Arabia. Egyptian forces quashed this rebellion in 1818. Nevertheless, Wahhabi ideology was resuscitated in the early twentieth century under the leadership of 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn Sa'ud who allied himself with the tribes of Najd, in the beginnings of what would become Saudi Arabia. The Wahhabi rebellions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were very bloody because the Wahhabis indiscriminately slaughtered and terrorized Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Mainstream jurists writing at the time, such as the Hanafi Ibn 'Abidin and the Maliki al-Sawi, described the Wahhabis as a fanatic fringe group.
Nevertheless, Wahhabism survived and, in fact, thrived in contemporary Islam for several reasons. By treating Muslim Ottoman rule as a foreign occupying power, Wahhabism set a powerful precedent for notions of Arab self-determination and autonomy. In advocating a return to the pristine and pure origins of Islam, Wahhabism rejected the cumulative weight of historical baggage. This idea was intuitively liberating for Muslim reformers since it meant the rebirth of ijtihad, or the return to de novo examination and determination of legal issues unencumbered by the accretions of precedents and inherited doctrines. Most importantly, the discovery and exploitation of oil provided Saudi Arabia with high liquidity. Especially after 1975, with the sharp rise in oil prices, Saudi Arabia aggressively promoted Wahhabi thought around the Muslim world. Even a cursory examination of predominant ideas and practices reveals the widespread influence of Wahhabi thought on the Muslim world today. But Wahhabism did not spread in the modern Muslim world under its own banner. Even the term "Wahhabism" is considered derogatory by its adherents, since Wahhabis prefer to see themselves as the representatives of Islamic orthodoxy. To them, Wahhabism is not a school of thought within Islam, but is Islam. The fact that Wahhabism rejected a label gave it a diffuse quality, making many of its doctrines and methodologies eminently transferable. Wahhabi thought exercised its greatest influence not under its own label, but under the rubric of Salafism. In their literature, Wahhabi clerics have consistently described themselves as Salafis, and not Wahhabis.
Salafism is a creed founded in the late nineteenth century by Muslim reformers such as Muhammad 'Abduh, al-Afghani and Rashid Rida. Salafism appealed to a very basic concept in Islam: Muslims ought to follow the precedent of the Prophet and his companions (al-salaf al-salih). Methodologically, Salafism was nearly identical to Wahhabism except that Wahhabism is far less tolerant of diversity and differences of opinion. The founders of Salafism maintained that on all issues Muslims ought to return to the Qur'an and the sunna (precedent) of the Prophet. In doing so, Muslims ought to reinterpret the original sources in light of modern needs and demands, without being slavishly bound to the interpretations of earlier Muslim generations. As originally conceived, Salafism was not necessarily anti-intellectual, but like Wahhabism, it did tend to be uninterested in history. By emphasizing a presumed golden age in Islam, the adherents of Salafism idealized the time of the Prophet and his companions, and ignored or demonized the balance of Islamic history. By rejecting juristic precedents and undervaluing tradition, Salafism adopted a form of egalitarianism that deconstructed any notions of established authority within Islam. Effectively, anyone was considered qualified to return to the original sources and speak for the divine will. By liberating Muslims from the tradition of the jurists, Salafism contributed to a real vacuum of authority in contemporary Islam. Importantly, Salafism was founded by Muslim nationalists who were eager to read the values of modernism into the original sources of Islam. Hence, Salafism was not necessarily anti-Western. In fact, its founders strove to project contemporary institutions such as democracy, constitutions or socialism into the foundational texts, and to justify the modern nation-state within Islam. The liberal age of Salafism came to an end in the 1960s. After 1975, Wahhabism was able to rid itself of its extreme intolerance, and proceeded to coopt Salafism until the two became practically indistinguishable. Both theologies imagined a golden age within Islam, entailing a belief in a historical utopia that can be reproduced in contemporary Islam. Both remained uninterested in critical historical inquiry and responded to the challenge of modernity by escaping to the secure haven of the text. Both advocated a form of egalitarianism and anti-elitism to the point that they came to consider intellectualism and rational moral insight to be inaccessible and, thus, corruptions of the purity of the Islamic message. Wahhabism and Salafism were beset with contradictions that made them simultaneously idealistic and pragmatic and infested both creeds (especially in the 1980s and 1990s) with a kind of supremacist thinking that prevails until today. The predominant intellectual response to the challenge of modernity in Islam has been apologetics. Apologetics consisted of an effort by a large number of commentators to defend the Islamic system of beliefs from the onslaught of Orientalism, Westernization and modernity by simultaneously emphasizing the compatibility and supremacy of Islam. Apologists responded to the intellectual challenges coming from the West by adopting pietistic fictions about the Islamic traditions. Such fictions eschewed any critical evaluation of Islamic doctrines, and celebrated the presumed perfection of Islam. A common apologist argument was that any meritorious or worthwhile modern institution was first invented by Muslims. According to the apologists, Islam liberated women, created a democracy, endorsed pluralism, protected human rights and guaranteed social security long before these institutions ever existed in the West. These concepts were not asserted out of critical understanding or ideological commitment, but primarily as a means of resisting Western hegemony and affirming self-worth. The main effect of apologetics, however, was to contribute to a sense of intellectual self-sufficiency that often descended into moral arrogance. To the extent that apologetics were habit-forming, it produced a culture that eschewed self-critical and introspective insight, and embraced the projection of blame and a fantasy-like level of confidence. In many ways, the apologetic response was fundamentally centered on power. Its main purpose was not to integrate particular values within Islamic culture, but to empower Islam against its civilizational rival. Muslim apologetics tended to be opportunistic and rather unprincipled, and, in fact, they lent support to the tendency among many intellectuals and activists to give precedence to the logic of pragmatism over any other competing demands. Invoking the logic of necessity or public interest to justify courses of action, at the expense of moral imperatives, became common practice. Effectively, apologists got into the habit of paying homage to the presumed superiority of the Islamic tradition, but marginalized this idealistic image in everyday life. Post-1970s Salafism adopted many of the premises of the apologetic discourse, but it also took these premises to their logical extreme. Instead of simple apologetics, Salafism responded to feelings of powerlessness and defeat with uncompromising and arrogant symbolic displays of power, not only against non-Muslims, but also against Muslim women. Fundamentally, Salafism, which by the 1970s had become a virulent puritan theology, further anchored itself in the confident security of texts. Nonetheless, contrary to the assertions of its proponents, Salafism did not necessarily pursue objective or balanced interpretations of Islamic texts, but primarily projected its own frustrations and aspirations upon the text. Its proponents no longer concerned themselves with coopting or claiming Western institutions as their own, but defined Islam as the exact antithesis of the West, under the guise of reclaiming the true and real Islam. Whatever the West was perceived to be, Islam was understood to be the exact opposite.
Of course, neither Wahhabism nor Salafism is represented by some formal institution. They are theological orientations and not structured schools of thought. Nevertheless, the lapsing and bonding of the theologies of Wahhabism and Salafism produced a contemporary orientation that is anchored in profound feelings of defeat, frustration and alienation, not only from modern institutions of power, but also from the Islamic heritage and tradition. The outcome of the apologist, Wahhabi and Salafi legacies is a supremacist puritanism that compensates for feelings of defeat, disempowerment and alienation with a distinct sense of self-righteous arrogance vis-à-vis the nondescript "other" -- whether the other is the West, non-believers in general or even Muslims of a different sect and Muslim women. In this sense, it is accurate to describe this widespread modern trend as supremacist, for it sees the world from the perspective of stations of merit and extreme polarization. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, several commentators posed the question of whether Islam somehow encourages violence and terrorism. Some commentators argued that the Islamic concept of jihad or the notion of the dar al-harb (the abode of war) is to blame for the contemporary violence. These arguments are anachronistic and Orientalist. They project Western categories and historical experiences upon a situation that is very particular and fairly complex. One can easily locate an ethical discourse within the Islamic tradition that is uncompromisingly hostile to acts of terrorism. One can also locate a discourse that is tolerant toward the other, and mindful of the dignity and worth of all human beings. But one must also come to terms with the fact that supremacist puritanism in contemporary Islam is dismissive of all moral norms or ethical values, regardless of the identity of their origins or foundations. The prime and nearly singular concern is power and its symbols. Somehow, all other values are made subservient. <!-- / message -->
Music classes are a sure way to achieve your child's confidence, concentration and skill mathematics. One of the best ways to start is to play the piano. However, it can be frustrating if your child is not ready. Here are five questions that should be asked before you start piano lessons.
1. How old is your son?
Although not always up to the age of your child as to whether they are ready for piano lessons, most children are at an appropriate age to start piano lessons between the ages of five and seven. There are some children who are ready from just three years, and there are those who must wait until they are eight years.
Even if your child meets all relevant criteria, but remain be young, they can begin piano lessons.
2. How long does your child's attention span?
It is essential that your child has a good capacity care, because you must have the ability to sit and pay attention for about half an hour for the lesson. Apart from this, the child also need to practice for at least 15 minutes every day.
If your child can sit patiently for about 20 minutes and read a book or color, then are more likely to be ready to begin piano lessons. However, if your child can not sit still and pay attention to anything for any length of time, advised to wait a little longer. Once your child is in first grade at school, then they certainly will have a period of time sufficient attention to classes piano.
3. Does your child hear a note at a time on the piano?
Children will more often than not only pounds the piano keys, playing for the first time, or going to play many notes simultaneously. However, as they develop control will be possible for them to play one note at a time.
Is it possible that a child to play one note at a time as they develop the art of writing. However, your child can begin piano lessons if they start to play one note at a time on the piano before have the ability to write.
4. Does your child recognize letters and numbers?
It is essential that your child knows the difference between his left hand and right, the numbers 1 through 5 and the letters A through G before starting piano lessons.
Your child will learn these skills very quickly once attending garden infants. If your child knows the letters and numbers before kindergarten, then you can start with piano lessons.
5. Does your child have an interest in music?
Your child is ready for a more formal musical education, if they are constantly playing the piano, banging pots and pans or dancing to music. Weekly piano lessons should be done, therefore it is essential that the child is interested enough in music to continue with the lessons.
If your child shows an interest in music, but appears ready in every other, then it may be best to wait until are a bit more piano lessons before you start.
Therefore, if the child recognizes letters and numbers and are interested in music, can sit for 30 minutes and lessons is to play individual notes on the piano, then your child is ready to proceed with piano lessons regardless of age.
Most children are ready for piano lessons for their first degree. However, if you think your child is not ready for lessons, for whatever reason, then it is advisable to wait a while longer.
About the Author
Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development.
Kindergarten Prodigy: Piano Lessons for Young Children : Lesson Two: Piano for Prodigies
Achieving Online Visibility Through Paid Inclusion Marketing
A basic pre-condition for online success is that a marketer has to create web site visibility. Visibility, put simple, is nothing else than to ensure that Internet surfers find your website.
Only if your website has visibility it will be able to generate traffic. Only if your website has traffic there can be conversions from casual visitors into paying customers, and only then you will be able to make money online.
With literally millions of pages being added to the Internet each day and the competition (i.e. the pages that are indexed by search engines, Google 'knows' 366.000.000 pages for the keyword 'web hosting' at the time of writing) growing fast, generating visibility for a website does not get any easier.
Hence, the key question: How do I get my site to the top of the list?
There are three popular methods online marketers have been using to find the answer:
1. Pay per click (PPC) advertising: PPC is a very powerful method indeed and increasingly popular, very much to the delight of the dominating market leader Google. The price for a click in a PPC program is determined by bidding. Hence, the more popular a search term, the higher the price per click. According to CNET News the average fee is about 45 cents. So, only a website can deliver high enough a conversion on sales and the margin per sales is high enough this is a viable method to promote your online business. An additional turn-off is the issue of click fraud that keeps marketers wondering about the amount of legitimate clicks to a website.
2. Search engine optimization (SEO): SEO is the application of strategies intended to position a Web site at the top of Web search engines and is arguably the most powerful way to create visibility for a website. Simply because it is free and the top results are likely to receive the highest click through rate (CTR) on search engine results pages.
However, given competition for high search engine rankings on the Internet, this is a rather daunting task. It generally requires a lot of expertise and increasingly also patience.
3. Paid inclusion: A search engine marketing model in which Web site owners pay a search engine company to guarantee their sites will show up in search results. This method can be very rewarding. It is not as popular as PPC advertising and there are various smaller players with moderate fees that can, however, deliver substantial traffic to your website. The logic is very simple, there is a lot of traffic to be obtained away from the online marketing mainstream.
"what Should I Write About" How to Select Your Topic
"What Should I Write About" How to Select Your Topic
At the beginning of this process, you may feel as if you have entered a strange territory without a map. You need guanidine for choosing your topic if you must select your own or for narrowing a general topic assigned to you. This section shows you how to get ideas for topics and what subjects are best to avoid.
Three Criteria for a Topic
Whether you write a literary, argumentative, position, or description paper, the subject you select must meet three important criteria.
The topic should interest you.
It should be written your abilities.
There should be enough information available on it to complete a paper.
The first criterion is the most important. Something besides fear of failure has to sustain you through all the hours it takes to research, write and revise a report of term paper. Make the paper a process of discovery for yourself, something you want to know or say about a topic. That desire will help to see you through to the end of the project.
The second criterion is also essential. You may be interested in a topic, but not have the background of ability to handle it in a paper. Say, for example, you are interested in the flights or voyagers 1 and 2. You want to do a report on some of the computer programs that send commands to the small spacecrafts. The scientific journals are filled with complex diagrams and explanations, but you find none of it makes any sense to you. You have no background in computer programming and no ability to translate technical information into plain English.
You will either have to find a book or an article that translates the material for you or find another topic—perhaps what voyager 2 revealed about the rings of Uranus or the surprises the spacecraft uncovered as it passed by the outer planets. Although the topic about the computer programs fulfills two of the three criteria—it interests you and there is plenty of information—if it is beyond your abilities, you will not be able to complete a paper successfully.
Finally, make sure enough information is readily available for you to develop your paper. For instance, you may have heard about rock-and-roll bands springing up in Tibet. The subject intrigues you, and you feel you have enough musical background to write about it. But your preliminary research turns up only a half-page article in a weekly news magazine. Obviously, you are not going to be able to build a ten- or fifteen- page report on one short article. A better topic may be the rise of rock bands in China and Japan, a phenomenon covered in the U.S. and international press.
Finding a General Area of Interest
Suppose your must choose the topic of a paper yourself. Although this task might seem somewhat overwhelming at first, it can be broken down into manageable steps. The first step knows where to go for ideas about general of broad subject areas.
There are several major sources for topic ideas; textbooks; reference books that list term paper or report topics; teachers and librarians; your own or your friends' interests and experiences; and on-line databases, Internet, and Web sites. If you must do a term paper for a history course, for example, skim through your history textbook to find a broad subject area that interests you. Perhaps you find the European voyages of discovery appealing. Or your interest may be piqued by the medical practices of the Middle Age or the complex politics of the Balkans in the mid-1990s.
If your textbooks do not provide a topic of interest, investigate the reference section of any bookstore or library. You are likely to find books that list hundred of term paper or report topic under all subject areas—history, literature, art social science, political science, and psychology. One of these topics may appeal to you.
Teachers and librarians are also good sources for ideas. They can help you to pinpoint an area of interest or can suggest topics that you haven't considered. It is a good idea to get to know your reference librarian, and this can be one way to introduce you. Good reference librarians are invaluable guides through the maze of research and reference sources. Their expertise can save you hours of effort.
If none of these sources yields any result, you can fall back on yourself or on your friend. Think about the movies, magazine, books, or activities that interest you: science fiction, sports, the war on drugs, international relations, music, the environment, psychic phenomena.
What would you like to know about these topics? What opinion do you have about them? Do you think drugs should be legalized? Do you feel that the government should do more or less to help protect the environment? In your opinion, have science fiction movies or TV series had any impact on shaping our current world? Should professional athletes be allowed to play in the Olympic Games? Are psychic phenomena real or imaginary?
One of these four sources—textbooks, reference books, teachers and librarians, your own or your friend' interest—will give you a general topic area for your paper.
Subject Areas to Avoid
Part of the process of choosing a topic knows which subjects not to use. In your search for a topic, keep in mind these guidelines for subjects to avoid.
· Subjects that is too recent. If a new law has just been passed, for example, there will not be enough information about its impact to serve as the subject of paper.
· Subjects that istoo sensitive or controversial. Some issues, such as the firing of a popular principal or a recent racial incident in school, are highly emotional and likely to provoke strong reaction on all sides. It is often difficult to find objective information to present a fair treatment of the topic.
· Subjects that ishard to investigate. This can include subjects that are too narrow or specialized to have much information, too technical for your own and the readers' background, or for which information is too difficult to acquire. For example, the information may be in specialized libraries closed to the public, in international institutions, or written in a language you can not read.
· Subject that are distasteful or uninteresting to you. You may be tempted to accept any topic just to have something to write about. However, material that is unappealing to you at the beginning will tend to become more so as you would on it. If you dislike the subject of your paper, it's a good bet your readers won't like the way you write about it. Your own distaste or boredom will come across in your writing.
Remember the three criteria mentioned previously as you search for a usable topic: It must interest you, it must be within your abilities, and there must be enough information readily available on the topic to complete a paper.
The authors wish to thank the wonderful folks for their years of dedication and faith in all our work, and all the successful students who have used our site.
For information about all aspects of paper writing especially essay, term paper, research paper, thesis and dissertation please visit the author’s Web site.
Katharine Hansen
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Beyond Belief 2008 -40- Chris Mooney & Sheril Kirshenbaum 2-3
Sat Under Observation: Test Format, Sat Study Plan, And Strategies
SAT is an interesting and impartial test. Another thing less known about the SAT test is that it does not reflect the sum total of a student's academic skills. Rather, it's a platform that tests students on the basis of their reasoning skills. The SAT score is not the only thing that you need to get admission in a good college- past academics, recommendations and extracurricular activities are also important. However, most reputed institutions consider the SAT scores for admissions.
The SAT test format
There are three main sections in the SAT- Math, Critical Reading and Writing. These sections are further subdivided into eight sections with questions on reading comprehension, grammar, arithmetic, algebra, and geometry. A 25-minute essay is also required to be completed. The essay section appears first on the SAT. Including breaks, the SAT becomes a four hour and ten minute test. It is therefore important to get a good night's sleep on the night before the SAT test day.
SAT Test Preparation
SAT, being a standardized test, requires a systematic study plan. No one book can guarantee you a good SAT score. Therefore, you should familiarize yourself with the test through SAT practice tests. By taking a number of SAT practice tests, you can develop a better idea of the test pattern, difficulty level, and time management. The SAT test is designed keeping in mind an average high school senior. This is the reason why topics such as trigonometry, advanced geometry, calculus and higher level math functions do not appear on the test.
Test preparation should begin with revising the concepts that you would have studied in high school. Next in line are untimed SAT practice tests. Finally, you should start solving timed SAT practice tests. Attempt easy questions first and then move on to difficult questions. If you are stuck with a question, skip it. Move to the next question. Hours of study and solving SAT practice tests could help you develop a winning approach for the SAT test.
Learning Center, Private Tutor or Online Assistance
To choose from these, parental involvement is a must. Let your parents decide whether they can afford the fee structure of these tutoring methods. A learning center, for instance, might charge a few thousand dollars for SAT test preparation. A private tutor, on the other hand, would charge less, but might not be available as per your convenience.
Cost Incurred in case of Learning Center: test prep fee, commuting costs, commuting time
Cost Incurred in case of Private Tutor: Tutoring fee, commuting cost and time (if not a home tutor)
Cost incurred in Online Tutoring: Tutoring fee
Before choosing a SAT test preparation institute or tutor you should look into four things- teaching methodology, syllabus, cost and convenience
Prepping for the SAT calls for a well laid study plan that incorporates all aspects of the SAT- concepts, vocabulary, grammar, elimination, guessing, and reasoning. It is good to start early. Consistent study is crucial to cracking the SAT. Burning the midnight oil is not necessary. Cramming a week before the D-day is not suggested.
About the Author
The Author brings over 6 years of e-learning and online tutoring experience. Having a deep understanding of pedagogy and child psychology, the writer has developed numerous strategies to improve e-learning and online tutoring for Grades K-12 and higher through various techniques that question the conventional ways of instructing.
Arts and Crafts Business Plan Key Writing Elements
I need help writing a letter to a former boyfriend / father children
The relationship has ended without a happily ever after and is now single and the dead in landfills. Wondering how to get back up on their feet when they are not over your ex? Don 't feel sad, here are some great tips to turn your smile
CLICK HERE-Steps to get over an ex-boyfriend quickly.
Understand the break in a different light. Right? T need for explanations every time you talk to a friend. You can finally spend quality time with your friends. Right? No need to look good 24X7! "And you understand the amount of money to maintain now that you don 't have to buy nice gifts for him? Put the money and time to positive use. Party!
The excellent path to get away from blues! Redo your closet. Buy new clothes. Buy the new rouge lips? I've been wanting since he was ten months. New shades, handbags, high heels, what is required to make your mind off of it!
Then you don 't feel very good about yourself now? Then change what you don 'T like it! A new hairstyle can make you feel and look good. Or possibly a different style of makeup would suit more. Looking better will make you feel happy and more confident about himself.
Meet your friends y. Watch great movies, gossip, catch up with current news and fun! You deserve a break. Not only will your friends inspire you up, right? I will tell how he came to know that her ex-boyfriend was a jerk (even if he was the guy coolest on the planet!). Friends rock!
Recognize yourself, you can not get over it if you can? T relax without petting the teddy bear gave you or if you put pictures all over the room! Get rid of the cards, letters, trinkets, and any other items that ask him. The most serious I will do to follow is to try.
Join a cooking class, guitar lessons, publish, find different ways to keep busy. While you have something to take your time, you will get your mind wandering toward him.
If all else fails, look for new boyfriend! No matter if he isn? T greater than There, all you need is someone to help you get through this. This may sound dirty, but it really works!
Remember, only when you have overcome your feelings by man can be expected to progress in life. Don? Lose precious time crying over what might have been. For every door that closes, opens a different one. However, commonly people are still waiting on the locked door for so long that they fail to find the one that had opened for them. About the Author
So he dumped you then it is time that you move on. Even when he always on your mind, you must forget him. You can stop thinking about your ex and be over him completely today. To learn more about how to get over him fast click our link.
Legal Self-Help : How Do I Change My Social Security Card?
How to Choose the Right Language Arts Program for Your Homeschooling Child
The greatest advantage in the homeschooling is the freedom to select the curriculum. You as parents should not make any mistake in selecting the right subjects, as this affects the success of the child.
If the concept is new to you and are facing difficulty in choosing the right curriculum, then converse with other home schooling families about the materials popularly used and the subjects. You can gain vast knowledge from the experiences of other people.
Finally, trust your instinct, as there is no one better than you as a parent who can think of what is best suited for the academic pursuits of the child. Select a curriculum that suits the needs and interests of your child.
Reading and writing are two main skills, which a child should master, in an educational program. Without these basic skills, he will face difficulty in mastering and learning other skills.
There are various methods to teach reading and writing to a child including phonic instruction, vocabulary, grammar and spelling. When you home school your child, you must teach your child reading and writing. Many curriculum choices are available online and in text form.
. Preschool language - As you start reading out stories to your child, he begins to love the process. He also learns other skills along the way like identifying the front and back of the book, how to hold the book and how to turn the pages gently. The child also starts recognizing alphabets and displays an interest in phonics as he learns the alphabet and the various sounds of the alphabet. At this stage, the main thing to do is to engross the child in the reading activity and begin teaching him pre-reading skills.
. Kindergarten and First Grade - Once you begin the formal education of reading and writing, you can start teaching alphabet sounds and phonics. This technique is available via the various phonics based reading programs readily available in the market. You can teach writing skills to your child by using worksheets. Writing skills are accentuated by first teaching a child how to hold a pencil correctly.
When a child moves to the second or third grade, the focus should shift from reading to writing. You can teach your child vocabulary as a part of literature and teach the meaning of words in a story.
From the sixth and seventh grade, the students increase their theoretical thinking and reasoning skills and this is the right time to analyze literature. Many home schools curriculum programs use the techniques of living books to involve the students to develop ideas about their reading and writing skills.
The key to a successful reading and writing program is to focus on real literature. You should select a subject that interests your child and urges him to read good literature.
There are many resources available for home schoolers. You can choose either single subject curriculum that includes text-books as well as the materials required by the teacher or the Unit Studies program, which integrates writing, reading and literature into an all subject area instruction, based on a theme.