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H & R Block also offers classroom courses in more than 2,000 U.S. communities. Classes begin in mid-September and consist of two three-hour sessions per week for thirteen weeks. In most communities, morning, afternoon, and evening classes are available. This course costs $75, which includes books, materials, and supplies. If you can manage it, you might prefer the classroom course to the correspondence course. Unless they're highly motivated, most people do find it easier to complete an in-person course. The classroom course is also less expensive.

In addition to the courses, H & R Block offers a helpful and free two-year consultation service to its graduates as a reference service if you run into a tricky tax question.

OTHER SCHOOLS THAT OFFER CORRESPONDENCE COURSES IN TAX PREPARATION INCLUDE:

LaSalle Extension University
417 S. Dearborn St.
Chicago, III. 60805

North American School of Accounting
4500 Campus Drive
University Plaza
Newport Beach, Calif. 92663

International Accountants Society
209 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, III. 60606

Points-of-Interest Map Making

Your town doesn't have to be Gettysburg or New York to have local points of interest, but most people pay no attention to their town's cultural or historical landmarks because they're completely ignorant of them. If you have any interest in your local area's history or cultural life, and you have a passing artistic ability, you can earn some money and perform an excellent service by making "points-of-interest" maps of your town.

Landmark maps can vary in focus, depending on the town and its history. A town's involvement in the Revolutionary War might inspire a map filled with battle sites and approximate locations of soldiers' quarters and routes. A resort town might call for a map of the best beaches and the source of the best ice cream cone in town. You can use whatever focus you like, and in an especially small town you might want to include everything from the local high school to the spot where the church burned down ten years ago. All that really matters is that the map be reliable and honest.

You'll want to reproduce your map when it's finished, so you should contact a printer and explain to him what you have in mind before you even start. He may be able to offer suggestions on how to go about making the most "reproduceable" original map. He will also quote you a price for how much it will cost to print the map. Once you've got his suggestions and general printing information, you're ready to begin.

You can obtain municipal maps, including streets and town boundaries, from your local government. You can trace these maps or get permission from the town to use the map they give you as a basis for your own. (After all, it's a shot in the arm for tourism, and the Chamber of Commerce should be on your side.) Once you have your basic map, you can indicate points of interest with a star or a tiny picture. You can develop your own distinctive style, and come up with lots of possible formats. If the map is historical or cultural in focus, you'll probably want to include legends—little paragraphs of information at the bottom of the map or on a separate page—that will give detailed information on the places noted. If you're not exactly sure how to do your map, look in bookstores for guidebooks that include maps for big cities to see how it's done.

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