Scholarship Saturday – June 22, 2019

Looking for money to pay for college? If so subscribe now and don’t miss any of our Monday blog post for the next 8 months. I will be sharing top college scholarship resources in our Monday post. Enjoy!

National HomeSchool Spirit Week

We have been homeschooling for 13 years now! It works for us! Right now we have four boys homeschooling and I recently (get this) started teaching again out side of the home. For  three years I taught SES in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School system with MasterMind and Centipede Math tutoring companies. And even now, I tutor privately (moonlight) with Wyzant.  (I know- what don’t I do- right?) But get this, it’s at the local YMCA and it their African american homeschool  group. And it’s something we do here for our class study, Urban Horticulture. { Growing produce, flowers, and other plants in small spaces scientifically and aesthetically}  I make a little change AND my boys get to attend other classes at a big discount! It’s a when win as I see it!

Now, my question to you is – have you heard about National Homeschool Week? Neither did I, but that’s okay. Here’s what it looks like:  National HomeSchool Week is a nonpartisan, nonpolitical public awareness effort to support homeschooling families, share homeschool resources, and to amplify homeschooling parents voices. Granted, homeschooling is legal in all 50 states now. Yet, the battle for public opinion is where we have more work to do.

It is celebrated September 17th – 21st each year.

Monday-> Selfie With Your Favorite Teacher-  Dress alike, move alike, Ask her/him to                                                                                   look like you. Just take a really nice                           picture    and share it Use hash tag —>                                                                                                                       #HomeSchoolersBeLike

 

Tuesday -> Make A Law            No Written Homework on Thursdays, All A’s reward of                                                         5 day beach vacation. Pizza for your birthday week.                                                               You get the picture. Take one for the team and Think                                                             Big !

Wednesday -> Create It!           Get your sibling together and make an obstacle                                                                      course. Create an outfit out of colorful duct tape or                                                             your old graded homeschool assignments, make                                                                       some fun jewelry from old fabric, paint your own                                                                 selfie. Design your own ‘spirit wig’ with ribbon from                                                            the local Family Dollar store

Thursday –> Go Green.                    Recycle your stuff, Reduce your waste,—find a                                                                          smart a fun way to reuse your school supplies! 

Friday –> Give Back Friday             Visit a senior living center, go read to shelter                                                                             pets, deliver needed supplies to the homeless. 

Those are just a few example of what to do on those days. Make those days yours. You maybe lucky enough to get a nonprofit to work with you or a few donations from local businesses if you need financial support.- Kelle Pressley

I love this daily missions.

They all reflect the quality, and progressive education we parents provide in a fun way. As you see homeschooling is slowly buy surely gaining credibility, traditional traditions and performance standards. Our goal is to create options that make it easier for all parents. Help us show some of the faces of homeschooling–and homeschool groups.

Join us and even tell someone about this upcoming fun week!

 

 

Friday Four: Home school, Charter, High and Private

This year we got two of our children accepted for an Opportunity Educational grant. The Opportunity Scholarship Program expands school choice in North Carolina through scholarship grants for eligible children in kindergarten through 12th

 

It wasn’t hard at all to get it. All I did was apply. It took less than a hour and I did it for five of my children.

Our children have been to public school, charter schools, regular high schools in low income zones and now high school in high income zone.  Let me be  the first to tell you , there is MESS in all of them if you skip a beat.

Our oldest daughter was attending Kennedy Charter last year. They put so many electives in her day. They kept promising to fix it the following semester and it never happened. Because they were easy classes, my daughter got comfortable with them too so of course she wouldn’t say anything.  As we began the process to transfer her to her current high school, instead of her being a senior, she a junior.

Now at the high income high school, ( for reading pleasure, let’s say Providence High) the counselor there won’t return phone calls to figure out a way to get her out in time. When my daughter discovered at opportunity, she replies that she has never heard of it.   So now she passing the same classes she’s taken already.

As we now prepare ourselves for private school. I am creating a checklist for signals to lookout for. Of course you can never be to sure of anything, but from dealing with a few educational warehouses,  I now can sense when to grab my child and run. 

Disclosure: I acknowledge that school systems are blessed with many gifted administrators and dedicated teachers, not all educational facilities are created equal. However, here are my four points of caution. Feel free to add yours in the comments.

1. The large majority of your teachers have less than five years of experience- The best schools have solid veteran teaching forces, mixing in talented newcomers each year as teachers retire or move into administration or other job opportunities. When you run off your veteran teachers, you not only do not have teachers who can mentor the younger staff members and help them reach their full potential, but you also are increasing the odds that you are going to hire some less gifted teachers just to fill the vacancies. That makes it that much harder to understand why so many state legislatures are appropriating millions for inexperienced Teach for America instructors instead of spending that money to keep their best teachers in the classroom.”
2. Does your child seem fixated on designer labels and trendy clothes for school? This is a symptom of an approach that emphasizes external rather than internal values, causing children to rely on shallower means of comparison and acceptance, rather than deeper values.
3. The community is not involved in its schools- In many school districts, the community is kept at arm’s length until it is time to pass another bond issue or tax levy increase. Or the community involvement is restricted to a carefully selected group of business and civic leaders or the spouses of those leaders. A successful school district is one in which the involvement is organic and comes from all segments of the community, not just the ones who are needed when it comes time to ask for money. In some school districts, the community is asked for its input and then guided to give the input the administrators are seeking so they can say whatever initiative they have has the support of the community. That is not community involvement; that is pure spin
4. Your child suffers a staggering drop in self-confidence. “Your child may begin to call himself ‘dumb’ or ‘stupid’ or is overly anxious about homework.”This is often a sign that the teaching style your child is meeting in the classroom is in direct conflict with what he or she requires to learn. Conversely, if your child is not being challenged, you may notice that he or she has started to act out in the classroom or regularly complains about being bored at school.”

More on Schooling:

Types of schooling

8 Signs Of A Bad School

The top-five reasons to avoid a high school

Wish us luck!

Jabela

 

Wednesday Wow: 10010 My home schooled young Boys Are Coding!

PROGRAM OR BE PROGRAMMED

Yesterday my younger sons attended their very first coding class! I didn’t know what to expect from these young guys, but they did great! The look on each of their faces was thanks enough.

I didn’t learn it until after college. Even thing, I past it over and ran to the cut and paste – ins website apps.

The reason I  introduced them to it is not just because a girlfriend invited us,to this FREE series of classes but because I wanted the middle aged boys to improve their problem solving skills. Having children that “THINK” is a BIG thing for me.  I think in life you are either a consumer- programmed or a producer……. the programmer.  And tell me, what’s wrong  with having a Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak,or a Steve Jobs in our large family?

I hear that some countries, including England, have begun to add coding to their national school curriculum, teaching children as young as 5 how to code. It’s urged to expose them to it as an additional language.

Coding is what makes it possible for us to create computer software, apps and websites. Your browser, your OS, the apps on your phone, Facebook, and this website – they’re all made with code. (CODING EXPLAINED For BEGINNERS)

What Charlotte elementary school teaches coding???  These are the days that I am so grateful to have the opportunity to teach outside of the box. They are learning real skills! These skills include hand-crafting their  own websites, becoming a career coder or even starting a technology business. Most importantly, they will be able to understand the technology shaping their world.

There is a new business in Charlotte for educating; and that organization wants to teach you to code. Tech Talent South is a business that is now providing web development coding classes to Charlotteans. In the classes, applicants will learn to code with Ruby on Rails, Javascript and HTML/CSS. The business was started in Atlanta last year by Betsy Hauser Idilbi and Richard Simms.

Tech Talent South  is all over the US. (and Africa). And it’s steady growing. We attended the 1st class in Charlotte, NC – Courses Offered:

Code Immersion
Next Level Rails
The Graduate Program
Big Data Analytics
iOS Development
JavaScript Application Development
Intro to Web Design and Creation
Google Analytics Workshop
Free Kids Code

To find out about classes in your area, click here.

Okay, now, you can’t say I never gave you the “Good Stuff! Do me a favor and like this post if you like it! THANKS!!!!!! “Let’s get our seeds tools for success!

~ Jabela

Here are a few more impressive sites on CODING

KIDTECH LLC

We teach children ages preschool through middle school. We just began teaching coding classes using CODE.org, Khan Academy, and Tynker.org. We have curriculum for a beginner and advanced beginner class in place, and are teaching a number of camps this summer.

WE CODE

We help organize coding clubs and high school hackathons for inner-city students

~ How Coding works.

~15 Facts for Beginners

~Coding 101

Wednesday Wow: Non Sugar-Coated ‘Back To School Pep Talk For Parents!

Back to School countdown is ON!!! Can you believe it? Summer has been fun and it’s always sad to say goodbye. 

We are going to have a great, progressive and measurable year. Your children will be well behaved and you will not stress over any extended time that they are away from you. How can I say this? It’s because that’s what we are claiming and planning for!

No More playing Patty cake! Get organized! Be prepared!

Lay the ground rules and stick to them.I  have used various strategies over the years to get the best results for my children. Here’s a video I shared on my Facebook page. It’s spreading like wild fire.Take a look  —–> Click Here <—— Also …….

• “Make sure you have the essentials you need for any kind of “emergency.”
• Give them chores. My 8-year-old can make his own lunch now, and my 5-year-old can buckle/unbuckle himself in his car seat. Think about how your kids can exhibit more independence (and simultaneously take some to-do’s off your list) this year.

Spend the week before school starts shifting from summer low gear to school year high gear.

• Tuck an encouraging note in their backpack.It makes a sweet suprise.
• Make sure they get enough rest. They’ll be less grouchy!
• They don’t need a entire NEW wardrobe to start school. Get 5 nice ones and build on that. Some of the best deals on clothing will come after the first day of school.
• Know who their friends are. No matter how often it changes. Keep thier numbers in your phone.

Water bottles should be stored in a side mesh pocket. Keeping the water bottle on the outside of the backpack will help eliminate damaged homework if the bottle springs a leak.

• Make it a memory.

Make a sign to announce their new grade level or write it in chalk on the driveway.

• Get Help– If your child is having difficulty with his or her homework, make an appointment with the teacher to discuss his or her difficulty. Check with the counselor and the teacher about tutors to get your child help if needed.
•  Visit The School-Walk or ride the route your child will take. Speak to your child about talking to strangers, and observe along the route any areas in which your child must exercise caution.

• Introduce Yourself to your child’s teacher. Ask the teacher the times he/she is available to talk to parents.

• Volunteer If time permits, offer to be a classroom parent or to organize other parents to help in the classroom or at the school. If you can’t make it to the classroom during school hours, ask if there are things you can do from home or on the weekends that would be helpful.

OKAY, claim it now!! Pray over your babies everyday…and expect the very best!! No excuses. Candy land is a board game. Playing Summer Patty cake! is over.