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Frequently Asked Questions/ Troubleshooting
I've been getting a lot of the same questions lately, so here are some of the answers.
Why am I getting a blank screen when I try to download a sample? What is an ebook and what good is it? How can I get a printed sample of one of the books? Why is there only one student book in the HomeSchool/HomeStudy Kit? Other publishers will sell me all the copies I want. I homeschool my 3 children and I want to teach them The Five Finger Paragraph© method, but I can't do that with only one book. Can you come to my son's school and teach this method? Why should I buy the Ancillary Materials? What good are they? When will there be a new The Writing Police book out? My granddaughter has to take the SAT. If I buy it for her, will The Five Finger Essay© really help her?
*************************** There are several possibilities for the answer to this question.
An eBook is a digital product and it stands for electronic book. Ebooks are a much cheaper way to read than buying "hard copy" books (save trees, too, 'cause there are no shipping boxes used!). And I don't mean "hardback" books. Even paperback books are called "hard copy" in the computer world because they are printed, on paper. They don't exist in hardcopy form anywhere, just in soft copy form on your hard drive. "Soft copy" or "ebook" means that it only exists on your computer. You pay for your product and you get it later, just as you do by buying "hard copies" of books on the internet. But with an ebook, you:
So, ebooks are cheaper than hard copy books and you can get to read them today instead of 1-6 weeks down the road when you receive it by mail or later today after you've driven to the bookstore to buy it. Does that make ebooks worth buying? Sounds like a no brainer to me, but you decide!
Click on "Checkout" or this link to retrieve your printing instructions. By the way, printing instructions for all of The Five Finger Paragraph© or The Five Finger Essay© ebook products are included in every file or sample file.
Sorry, but since the samples are free, I can no longer afford the costs of printing and postage for the hundreds of free samples that have been requested (at my expense). But all digital product samples (ebooks) are free and downloadable from this site. Just click on the "Free Samples" link and you'll see how easy it is to get your own "free sample."
I only include one Student Edition in the HomeSchool/HomeStudy Kit, appropriate for students in grades K-12, because I don't like wasting parents' money. Now, if you really want to give me your money, HAVE AT IT!! I'd love a Caribbean vacation! But it really isn't necessary. Most publishers of Homeschooling materials sell only to homeschoolers and therefore want to make as much as they can off each person. My products are appropriate for homeschool and classroom settings, so as you can see, I'm not most publishers. The HomeSchool/HomeStudy books are designed for just that -- parents' teaching and/or helping their students study at home. Usually, with just one child at the time. In a homeschool setting or support group setting, where numerous students are studying at the same time, it would easily be necessary for each child to have his/her own copy, or at least have 2 children on a book. But in most homeschool families, for example, you could teach English to the third grader at 9:00, to the fifth grader at 10:30 and to the ninth grader at 1:00, all from the same book. No need for a separate book. Birth order comes into play here, too. Most first and third children get along and could study from the same book at the same time, but the middle child would rarely want to study with the eldest or youngest. If you really would have problems in this area, by all means, buy another copy (they're cheaper if you buy extra copies simultaneously with the Kit). If not, use just one book for all of the students in your household. And if you really want to save money, download your own copies (ebooks) immediately. Saves mucho moolah and time!
I love field trips! I'll be glad to come to your public or private school or homeschool support group. Click here to get all the details for travel.
I developed the Ancillary Materials because I was always having to draw colored lines on a piece of paper or an overhead projector in order to draw the connection from the colored paragraphs in the books to what the student needs to write on the paper. SO. I created colored lines on laminated paper or transparency film for use by those who buy the materials without me demonstrating the method. All you have to see is the light in a student's eyes when he/she draws the connection between the printed words on the page and what needs to be written on the piece of paper on the desk. Then you'll understand how important the Ancillary Materials are. They actually "draw the lines" between what's written and what needs to be written. If you buy ebooks, you can laminate the pages with the colored lines or print the appropriate pages on transparency film. Click here for more information on the Ancillary Materials.
I had two new The Writing Police books on the drawing board (literally!) when our house burned down on 6/29/07. All first edition copies of The Writing Police books were destroyed. I'm hoping to have second editions of The Writing Police and the Case of the Missing Commas and The Writing Police and The Point of the Perplexing Periods out by late Spring 2008. The Writing Police Exclaims! will now be moved to September 2008 and The Writing Police ..... (no name yet!) will be out by December 2008. Watch for the announcements. And thanks for your interest!
I can FEEL for her!! Since writing an essay was not a requirement when I took the SAT exam, I can only fall back on my experiences of writing essays during assignments and tests in high school and college. But I do remember that burning in the pit of my stomach when the professor would stand up at the front of the room and say "OK, get out some paper and a blue ink pen. Today's essay will be from one of these two topics on the board." It wasn't the topics that bothered me; it was that word -- ESSAY! It must have been a Greek word or Lithuanian -- or even Martian! I just couldn't quit cringing when I heard that word. I would sweat and swear and sweat and cringe and wring my hands. It always took at least 10 minutes to get up the guts to even pick up that pen. And if you've ever met or heard me speak, you know from experience that I'm no shrinking violet!! I just couldn't get rid of that fear of failing -- all because of the word ESSAY. Because no one had ever, when I was listening (HA!), explained to me what that word meant. What I mean is that I wasn't afraid of writing or expressing myself, but I was afraid 'cause I didn't know where to begin, didn't know how to start. The day the light bulb came on in my head, at 1000 watts, was the epiphany that I needed. After that, in the beginning, I still took baby steps in writing in my newly "created" method of organizing an essay. But as I gained confidence that I knew the "procedure," I could start focusing on what to put in the essay as I wrote and organized it during the testing period. In answer to your question, YES, I do feel, without being immodest, that The Five Finger Essay© will help your granddaughter. If for no other reason than to calm her fears of "how to start" so that she can focus on "what to say" during the test. Relieving one of the fears there is half of her battle.
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Contact: Johnnie W. Lewis 1860 Sandy Plains Rd., Suite 204 - 150, Marietta, GA, USA 30066 770-977-4185 (ofc.) 770-973-4128 (fax) Send email to support@thefivefingerparagraph.com with questions or comments about this web site.
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