Board Abbreviations
- This document contains the following sections:
The Internet Abbreviations section contains links to sites with abbreviations, acronyms, and terms commonly used in the general Internet community.
The Emoticons (Smileys) section contains links to sites with emoticon definitions.
The Home School Abbreviations section has abbreviations, acronyms, and terms used on the Well-Trained Mind boards, but not commonly used in the general Internet community.
One abbreviation of particular note is "nt" which stands for "no text". If the subject line of your message contains the entire content of your message, please append "nt" to your subject line so that readers will know that there isn't more content to your message in the message section. Those with slow Internet connections especially appreciate this. Note: You will actually have to put some text in the message section (usually just "nt" again) in order to submit the message.
The information in this document was originally based on abbreviations from theswap.com, expanded by SWB, and then further expanded with input from Board users.
Internet Abbreviations
- AbbreviationZ: The A to Z of Acronyms & Abbreviations on the Net
- Acronym Finder (note: the "Go" buttons take you to the page sponsor)
- Computer User Chat
- Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing
- Net Lingo Chat Abbreviations
- The Swap / What Does *THAT* Mean?
- Wikipedia:The Free Encylopedia / List of Internet Slang
Home School Abbreviations
| Abbreviation | Definition |
|---|---|
| 100EL | "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons," a reading instruction book |
| ACE | "Accelerated Christian Education" |
| ACT | "American College Test," standardized test for entrance to some colleges and universities |
| ADHD | "Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder" |
| ADD | "Attention-Deficit Disorder," (ADHD is now preferred) |
| AFT | "American Federation of Teachers," a large association of schoolteachers (NOT the same as the larger NEA), functioning as a labor union in states that permit collective bargaining |
| AG | "Analytical Grammar" or "Activity Guide" |
| ANWOA | "A New World of Adventure" |
| AO | "Alpha Omega," a Christian curriculum publisher |
| ASL | "American Sign Language" |
| ATAWA | "A Trip Around the World" |
| ATIA | "Advanced Training Institute" (Bill Gothard) |
| ATTA | "All Through the Ages" |
| AWOA | "A World of Adventure" |
| B4FIAR | "Before Five In a Row," preschool literature-based curriculum |
| BBOB | "Big Book of Books" |
| BBOP | "Big Book of Projects" |
| BF | "Beautiful Feet," a Christian curriculum publisher |
| BFIAR | "Beyond Five-in-a-Row," upper elementary literature-based curriculum, ages 8-12 |
| BITM | "Blessed is the Man" |
| BJ, BJU, BJUP | "Bob Jones University Press," a Christian curriculum publisher |
| BTS | "Building Thinings Skills," published by The Critical Thinking Company |
| CBD | "Christian Book Distributors," mail-order book retailer in Pennsylvania |
| CC | "Classical Composition" |
| CCC | "Christ-Centered Curriculum," a Christian curriculum |
| CGC | "Considering God's Creation," a Christian science curriculum |
| CLE | "Christian Light Education" |
| CLP | "Christian Liberty Press," a Christian curriculum publisher |
| CM | "Charlotte Mason," 19th-century British educator; her theories |
| CPM | "college preparatory materials" |
| CS | "Christian school" |
| CW | "Classical Writing" |
| DG | "Daily Grams" |
| DK | "Dorling Kindersley" |
| EA | "Exploring America" |
| EEaH | "Early Education at Home" |
| EFTTC | "English for the Thoughtful Child," elementary grammar text |
| EG | "Easy Grammar" |
| ETC | "Explode the Code," series of phonics workbooks |
| FAR | "Far Above Rubies," Christian high school unit study curriculum for girls |
| FIAR | "Five In A Row," lower elementary grades literature-based curriculum, ages 4-8 |
| FIIR, FIR | "For Instruction In Righteousness," a Doorpost product |
| FLL | "First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind" |
| FUFI | "Further Up and Further In" (Narnia study) |
| GCB | "Great Christian Books," mail-order/retail bookstore in Maryland |
| GSA | "Great Science Adventures" |
| GTG | "Galloping the Globe" |
| GWG | "Growing With Grammar |
| GWS | "Growing Without Schooling," the oldest home schooling magazine |
| HBJ | "Harcourt, Brace & Javonovich," secular curriculum publisher |
| HEM | "Home Education Magazine" |
| HM | "Houghton Mifflin," a curriculum publisher |
| HMSC | "home school" (HMSC is useful as HS may be ambiguous) |
| HMSCing | "home schooling" |
| HMSCer | "home schooler" |
| HOP | "Hooked on Phonics," a commercial reading instruction curriculum |
| HOW | "Heart of Wisdom" |
| HS | "home school" or "high school" |
| HSing | "home schooling" |
| HSer | "home schooler" or "high schooler" |
| HSLDA | "Home School Legal Defense Association" |
| HWT | "Handwriting Without Tears" |
| IBLP | "Institute Biblical Life Principles" (Bill Gothard) |
| IEP | "Individualized Education Plan," mandated for students in some categories by federal law, intended for all students under some planned implementations of outcome-based education |
| IEW | "Institute for Excellence in Writing" |
| ILL | "Intermediate Language Lessons" |
| IRA | "International Reading Association," an organization of persons involved in reading instruction in schools |
| ISP | "independent student program" (note that in the general Internet community, ISP is a common abbrevation for "Internet service provider") |
| ITBS | "Iowa Test of Basic Skills," a standardized achievement test given to schoolchildren, much like the Stanford Achievement Test |
| JAG | "Junior Analytical Grammar" |
| KAH | "Training our Daughters to be Keepers At Home," same as TOD |
| KF | "Kingfisher," a publisher |
| KOTF | "Keepers of the Faith" |
| LA | "Learning Adventures" or "Language Arts" |
| LC | "Latina Christiana" |
| LC1 | "Latina Christiana I" |
| LC2 | "Latina Christiana II" |
| LD | "learning disabled" |
| LFBC | "Landmark Freedom Baptist Curriculum" |
| LFC | "Latin for Children" |
| LGTW | "Learning Grammar Through Writing," the grammar supplement to LLATL |
| LIA | "Life in America" |
| LLATL, LLAL | "Learning Language Arts Through Literature," language arts curriculum using excerpts from literature as the foundation for all aspects of language |
| LMS | "Listen My Son," a Christian unit study curriculum for high school boys |
| LOL | "Lifestyle of Learning," a free monthly newsletter discussing the topics in WWOL (note that in the general Internet community, LOL is a VERY common abbreviation for "laughing out loud" and more) |
| MCP | "Modern Curriculum Press," a curriculum publisher |
| MFW | "My Father's World" |
| MkMM | "Making Math Meaningful," a commercial mathematics curriculum, not to be confused with the one below with the almost identical name |
| MMdM | "Math Made Meaningful," a commercial mathematics curriculum, not be confused with the one above with the almost identical name |
| MME | "Math Made Easy" |
| MMM | "Making Math Meaningful" or "Math Made Meaningful", two DIFFERENT commercial mathematics curricula, with almost identical names. Use MkMM or MMdM instead of MMM to be clear. |
| MOH | "Mystery of History" |
| MOTH | "Managers of Their Homes" |
| MUS | "Math-U-See," a commercial mathematics curriculum |
| MWM | "Moving With Math" |
| NAEP | "National Assessment of Education Progress," a testing program in reading, writing, math, and science conducted by ETS for the federal government |
| NCTE | "National Council of Teachers of English," a professional association that has established guidelines for English curricula |
| NCTM | "National Council of Teachers of Mathematics," a professional association that has established guidelines for math curricula |
| NEA | "National Education Association," founded in the 19th Century, now the largest association of schoolteachers, functioning as a labor union in states that permit collective bargaining |
| NHEN | "National Home Education Network" |
| NL | "newsletter" |
| nt | "no text," the subject line contains the entire message |
| OBE | "outcome-based education," a program of purported school reform (variously described as principally a management reform or principally a curriculum reform) already mandated in several states, in experimental implementation in various places |
| OPG, OPGTR, TOPG, TOPGTR | "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading" |
| PL | "Prima Latina" |
| PLL | "Primary Language Lessons" |
| PP | "Prairie Primer," unit-study curriculum based on the Little House series of books |
| PS | "public school" |
| PSS | "public school system" |
| R&S | "Rod & Staff," a Christian curriculum publisher |
| RGAA | "Remembering God's Awesome Acts" |
| RGCC | "Remembering God's Chosen Children" |
| RME | "Reading Made Easy" |
| RR | "Reading Reflex" |
| RS | "Rainbow Science" |
| RS4K | "RealScience for Kids" |
| SAT | (1) "Scholastic Aptitude Test," a test used for college entrance published by Educational Testing Service (2) "Stanford Achievement Test," an achievement test used in primary and secondary grades to evaluate student progress |
| Saxon | "Saxon Publishers", a secular math, science, and phonics curriculum publisher |
| SE | "Simply English" |
| SG | "Simply Grammar" |
| SL | "Sonlight," a home school curriculum |
| SM | "Singapore Math" |
| SN | "Simply Numbers" |
| SOS | "Switched on Schoolhouse" from AO |
| SOT | "School of Tomorrow" (was ACE) |
| SOTW | "Story of the World" |
| SOW | "Student of the Word" |
| SP | "Simply Phonics" |
| SSRW | "Sing Spell Read & Write," phonics and reading program |
| SV | "Steck-Vaughn," a secular curriculum publisher |
| SWB | "Susan Wise Bauer", co-author of TWTM |
| SWR | "Spell to Write and Read" |
| TATRAS | "Teach America To Read And Spell" |
| TH | "Teaching Home," a home schooling magazine |
| TOD | "Training Our Daughters to Be Keepers at Home," a Christian curriculum with a home economics emphasis |
| TOG | "Tapestry of Grace" |
| TUAC | "Train Up A Child," both a book and a listserv, although one has nothing to do with the other |
| US | "Unit Studies" |
| USB | "Usborne" |
| VP | "Veritas Press" |
| WEM, TWEM | "The Well-Educated Mind" |
| WRTR | "Writing Road to Reading" |
| WTM, TWTM | "The Well-Trained Mind" |
| WWOL | "Wisdom's Way of Learning," a book by Marilyn Howshall |
| YRS | "year-round schooling" |
