You’re not alone, parenting and learning can be tough
Whether you’re helping your child with homework, teaching them at home, or just trying to keep up with what they’re learning in school, it can feel overwhelming.
That’s why Khan Academy created something brand-new—for the first time ever, just for families. The Khan for Parents course is a free, friendly way to learn how to support your child’s learning. And no, you don’t need to be a teacher or tech expert. Whether you’re a parent, guardian, grandparent, or caregiver—this course is for you.
See how Khan for Parents can help you
This quick video shows how the Khan for Parents course can help you support your child’s learning journey.
Why take the Khan for Parents course?
You care about your child’s education, but maybe you’ve asked:
“How can I actually help them at home?”
“What’s Khan Academy all about, anyway?”
“Is there an easy way to get started?”
This course answers all that (and more) in three quick, helpful units. It’s designed to meet you where you are—whether you’re brand-new to Khan Academy or a long-time user who wants to dive deeper.
Now that you know what Khan Academy is, this unit walks you through:
How to use Khan Academy, whether you’re supporting a homeschooler or an in-school learner
How to explore lessons, assign content, and track progress
How to help your child when they get stuck or need extra encouragement
Go to Unit 2 to explore lessons, assign content, and track progress.
Unit 3: Learning Khanmigo
This unit is where things get exciting! You’ll explore:
How to use Khanmigo’s Parent tools
What Khanmigo offers learners—like tutoring, explanations, and writing help
How to use Khanmigo inside a course to boost engagement and confidence
Jump into Unit 3 and learn how to use Khanmigo to boost your child’s confidence.
How to get started in three easy steps
1. Visit Khan Academy and choose “Parent” when signing up or logging in. 2. Click on the “Khan for Parents” course. 3. Start learning! Each unit is short, helpful, and built with YOU in mind.
You don’t need to figure it all out alone.
Take the free Khan for Parents course today, watch the quick video above, and see how easy it is to support your child’s learning—at home, on the go, or anywhere in between.
Thinking about homeschooling? We’ve gathered some common first timer homeschool questions and asked Dianna Broughton, director of Carolina Homeschooler, to help us with some answers.
Carolina Homeschooler is an Option 3 Homeschool Association. Dianna also runs Traveling Homeschoolers, a group that provides domestic and international group travel for homeschoolers and their families. She’s also the author of a book for new homeschoolers called, Homeschool Essentials: A Practical Guide to Getting Started.
As an Amazon Associate, Kidding Around earns from qualifying purchases.
Looking for more help? Don’t miss the Kidding Around Greenville Homeschool Guide with homeschool classes, activities, co-ops, field trips, and more in the Upstate, SC area.
Q&A About Homeschooling in SC
1. What has to be done in order to legally homeschool in SC?
To legally homeschool in SC, parents must register through one of the three options (usually Option 3), teach the required subjects, and keep records and attendance as the law requires. (My Beginning Homeschooling FAQs will help with this.)
2. Why do people choose to homeschool under option 3?
The vast majority of families choose Option 3 because there’s less record-keeping, no mandated testing, less intrusive, and less expense. Also, many Option 3 associations offer more services than the other options, such as field trips, classes, learning co-ops, workshops, and more.
3. Do homeschool kids have to test out of each grade in order to progress to the next one?
Standardized testing isn’t needed, nor required, for students homeschooling through Option 3.
4. As the director of a homeschool association, what’s the biggest mistake you see new homeschool parents make?
New homeschoolers often try to replicate the public schools, and then burn out. They don’t understand that child-led learning is better (for all students, not just homeschoolers).
Children who initiate and take ownership of their education learn more and retain it longer. I don’t know of any research that doesn’t support this fact. Public schools can’t take this approach because teachers don’t have time to mentor or facilitate a class full of students if each of them are learning different things. And even if they did, it would be too expensive for them to provide the resources for each individual student.
Homeschoolers don’t have any of these constraints and limitations, so they shouldn’t try to replicate the public schools. They should explore and develop the method that works best for their family.
5. What are some of the most prevalent misconceptions about homeschooling?
Common misconceptions are that homeschoolers stay at home all day, are “unsocialized,” have the same educational methods, religious beliefs, and backgrounds.
We’re as diverse as any other population, are religious and secular, have different learning methods and philosophies, and often have to pick and choose social events because there are so many available to homeschoolers now.
6. How do you recommend families tackle the task of finding curriculum or deciding what to teach? What should people look for in a curriculum?
I recommend that new homeschoolers research more about the different homeschooling styles and methods before choosing a curriculum. It can be as simple as a library card and time to read, to a full curriculum complete with textbooks, teacher’s guides, and tests.
My homeschooling guide discusses different methods, ranging from a structured, school-in-a-box approach to a relaxed, child-directed style, provides reviews of favorite resources, describes typical days, and more. (Check your local library or borrow a copy through SCLends.)
7. How do homeschooled kids make friends if not in a traditional school?
There are many opportunities for children to make friends – scouts, 4-H, church, learning co-ops, support groups, field trip groups, travel groups, etc.
8. Can parents homeschool and work full-time?
Children can learn in many different settings and circumstances. The issue with working full-time is supervision of the children (whether homeschooling or not).
Remember that learning happens all the time, and 365 days a year. As long as you document 180 of those days, you’re in compliance with SC law. So you have plenty of flexibility to learn around your work hours, can outsource with tutors, learning co-ops, grandparents, etc.
9. How much money should you budget for homeschooling? Thinking of things like field trips, textbooks, workbooks, curriculum, and extracurricular classes.
This varies so much from family to family that I can’t answer effectively. However, anyone can get a free, world-class education with just a library card and time to read, so money shouldn’t be a deciding factor regarding whether to homeschool or not.
10. What advice do you have for families that are wanting to homeschool but plan to place their kids back in public/private schools in the future?
If they’re definitely returning to public or private school in a year, parents should try to coordinate the children’s learning with what the schools are doing. It’ll make for an easier transition, if not the best educational experience.
11. What advice do you have for those wanting to homeschool high schoolers?
The main focus for high school students should be to explore and discover their passions and talents, and then tailoring their learning to develop those interests and skills. That will be their career.
If their future goal requires a college degree, they’ll need to research what’s required for admission to the colleges they’re interested in. Many good colleges value unique learning experiences and transcripts, so students may have more flexibility in their high school course of study. I recommend they talk to admissions staff early on to see how much their college of choice leans toward cookie-cutter transcripts.
If their future goal involves starting their own business, they’ll need to apprentice during their high school years, and learn how to start and manage their own business, manage employees (if not a sole proprietor), keep financial records and bookkeeping, etc.
Based on my experiences over the past 30 years, public schools, private schools, and many homeschools, spend way too much time on producing cookie-cutter transcripts for their students, rather than focusing on meaningful learning experiences tailored to each student’s strengths and interests. That’s why so many students graduate without a clear path, or even preliminary goals.
One last note – skilled trades, entrepreneurship, and other non-college goals, are not “less than” college goals. College is just one choice, and not always the best choice for high school students. Some goals require it, others don’t. Students with no clear goals should consider college as a way to give themselves more time to explore their options.
Shark teeth and fossils are plentiful on Morris Island outside of Charleston, SC and Coastal Expeditions will make it the highlight of your trip!
Thank you to Coastal Expeditions for inviting us to go on the Morris Island adventure with them.
The South Carolina coastline is incredibly diverse with wildlife and ecosystems and because of ancient history (think Ice Age), there are some pretty amazing fossils to be found along the coastline. And you get the chance to do just that with the adventure out to Morris Island with Coastal Expeditions.
Shark teeth that we found
About Coastal Expeditions
If you’ve read some of our Charleston content or bucket list adventures, you’ve read about Coastal Expeditions. They took us out to Bulls Island where we got to experience an otherworldly place with lots of gators. It was amazing and we haven’t stopped recommending it ever since.
Coastal Expeditions was started in 1992 to help people experience the beauty of the Lowcountry, not just see it. Their knowledge of the environment here is completely unmatched. Our naturalists on both trips blew me away with their extensive knowledge of the lands, people, history, and wildlife. More than that, their deep love of the area is evident and it’s because of that love that they want to share their knowledge in hopes that others will come to love and respect the amazing land that is the Lowcountry.
Boarding the boat
Coastal Expeditions has a wide range of offerings to help visitors explore Charleston’s wild side from kayak rentals in Shem Creek to the excursion to Bulls Island to guided kayak and canoe tours to fossil hunting on Morris Island. You can choose adventures that are more kid-friendly or more adventurous, depending on what you and your family would like to explore. They also offer summer camps and other kid-focused activities. This tour – and any of them -are perfect for homeschoolers.
Both excursions – Bulls Island and Morris Island were kid-friendly but Morris Island was a lot less walking!
Heading Out to Morris Island
Our big adventure to Morris Island began at the flagship of Coastal Expeditions at Shem Creek, which is a beautiful area full of restaurants and a park that borders the creek. It’s best known for its amazing sunsets and its local population of dolphins.
There is parking at Coastal Expeditions but be sure to get there at least 15-20 minutes early if you need extra time to find parking during busier times and use the restroom as there is no bathroom on the boat or at Morris Island.
Shem Creek
The boat we had was nice and spacious and Captain Dolph did an excellent job getting us to and from the island. As we were leaving the dock and slowly making our way out of the creek and into the harbor, we got to see some dolphins. I love dolphins and always get super excited to see them.
We also learned a crazy cool fact: these dolphins that live in the estuaries and creeks along the South Carolina coast are actually smaller than Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins and genetically different, so much so that they have been declared a new species. True story. It happened during the summer of 2023 after a decade of research led by Ana Costa, Ph.D. Their name is Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphin.
Our excellent naturalist, Jackie, told us that this is just incredible because dolphins are so well-studied and to have discovered a new species is essentially unheard of. Then she said some other names in Latin of wildlife that sounded really smart. Jackie was actually amazing, which I’ll get to in a bit when we explore Morris Island.
One other thing that we learned when heading out to Morris Island was that Coastal Expeditions was instrumental in essentially creating a new island, called Crab Island, for nesting birds after their original island was both accidentally and shoddily made in the harbor. Coastal Expeditions raised $3 million for this effort of conservation and you can only go to this island in wintertime when the birds aren’t nesting – and search for fossils!
Morris Island Lighthouse
I have come to really appreciate the mission of Coastal Expeditions because they practice what they preach. They are so enthralled and amazed by the beauty in the Lowcountry and use that love and knowledge to share with others in hopes of continuing to preserve it for future generations.
On your way out to Morris Island, we passed right by Fort Sumter where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. We also got incredible views of the Harbor and Ravenel Bridge. And we saw more dolphins – it was a great trip before we even got to the island. For you history buffs, you can read about the history of Morris Island on the Coastal Expeditions website.
Hunting for Fossils
Once we made it over to Morris Island, about a 30-minute boat ride from Shem Creek, we descended onto the sand and Jackie drew a map right on the sand of the island. She gave us her expert opinions of where to search for shark teeth and fossils. But the best part of her short presentation was when she showed us what she had found in the past on the island so we knew what to look for.
She showed us a ton of cool stuff: shark teeth obviously but also vertebrae of sharks, fossilized clams, stingray teeth, and fossilized mammal bones. The tides and waves naturally erode the beach, dredging up fossils and teeth from thousands and thousands of years ago that are buried beneath the island. That’s how you can find some really neat things and why this place is so special.
Where are you, shark teeth?
Once we got our instructions and tips from Jackie, we were off to find some treasures. You have three hours on the island, which may seem like a lot of time but it’s not a small island and you’ll want to walk slowly as you search for treasures.
Within a few minutes, my kids had already found a couple of shark teeth, their very first ever. It took me um, a little longer. But I eventually found some and started looking more closely at anything that resembled a shiny triangle, which, it turns out, there are many of along this beach and they are not shark teeth. But I persevered!
The island is very peaceful, clean, and beautiful. It is uninhabited and even if there are lots of other people, it won’t feel crowded. People just do their thing and look around or hang out on the beach and get some sun.
We ran into Jackie a little over halfway through the time we had on the island and showed her some of our finds. We walked together for a little ways and she so kindly would draw circles in the sand where she saw shark teeth so my daughters could find more. Really, I should have looked in those circles because I was terrible at finding them but I thought it was really nice she did that to help them out.
What We Found on Morris Island
My kids found shark teeth a lot faster than I did. They had a good eye for them. But about 30 minutes into our walk along the shoreline, I hit the jackpot. I found a huge shark tooth and nearly jumped up and down at my find. It was just the coolest thing. Jackie, in all her knowledge, said it was from the predecessor to the Megalodon shark. That’s super old.
Shark tooth and vertebrae
Jackie has a cool book she carries around with her where you can match your shark tooth to a picture and it will tell you where it came from. She is a great naturalist though and was easily able to identify where most of our shark teeth came from, which mostly included bull sharks and reef sharks. My one daughter found a really old one that was older than the big one I found.
One of the things I was really hoping to find was a vertebrae. I knew it looked like a really small version of a cut up tree trunk and to my great surprise, I found two. Jackie said they likely came from a shark.
We also found a couple larger vertebrae and a fossilized clamshell plus some really gorgeous shells. I’m not sure exactly what we are supposed to do with all these shark teeth (I will tell you that we are heading to the Nature Exchange with some of them at the Roper Mountain Science Center!) but to have them is pretty neat and a wonderful reminder of the beauty of the Charleston area.
One other neat thing about Morris Island is the lighthouse on the island. It’s very pretty but also too far to walk to and from in order to make it back to the boat. It’s no longer in operation but it was shown in the Netflix series, The Outer Banks. So if you’re a fan of show and love fossil hunting, you will love this tour.
Comparing Finds on Morris Island
I really enjoyed the time we spent awaiting our boat to come back and get us since that’s when a bunch of us in our group got to compare finds and Jackie could help us identify things we didn’t know, which was pretty much everything.
Some people in our group really brought in the haul and had lots of cool shark teeth, some of which were pretty big. One lady found a piece of post-colonial pottery, which she was legally able to keep. If it had been dated before that, she would have had to surrender it as it would have been considered an artifact. We were legit living our Indiana Jones dreams right here.
Remains of a sea turtle on the island
Jackie also had what she thought was a bone of a Leatherback Sea Turtle. She needed to consult her “bone guy” to get it properly identified though. Even so, it was neat. If the bone was from a Leatherback Sea Turtle, she guessed it came from the one that had washed up deceased on Morris Island a little over a month ago. She had shown it to us while we were walking along and it was enormous. It’s the largest kind of sea turtle in the world and was easily longer than myself. As sad as it was to see the turtle being delivered back to the Earth, from a scientific perspective, it was fascinating.
Tips on Visiting Morris Island
We learned a few things on our trip that may help you when you go:
Wear shoes. Shells are sharp and you really don’t want to cut yourself or have your kid cut their foot. That will be most unpleasant.
Bring water, sunscreen, and bug spray. We went in April and the temperatures were perfect but it was sunny and sunscreen and water were crucial.
Bring a few snacks but don’t go crazy. I totally overpacked my bag and it was really heavy the whole trip. I had three water bottles, my camera, a lot of food, sunscreen, and bug spray. I really only needed the water and a couple snacks. If you have a small and comfortable hiking backpack, that would be a great option for this trip.
Keep the pups at home. Dogs are not allowed on public boat trips. For private boat trips, an exception may be made.
Bring a sunshirt or jacket. Weather on the coast can be very unpredictable. A light jacket or sun shirt would be useful to protect yourself from the sun on the island and if the boat ride gets a little chilly.
Bring a plastic bag for your treasures. A gallon-sized ziplock bag is perfect for collecting and admiring your treasures. A fanny pack to attach it to would be excellent.
You’ll be walking (very slowly) for most of the timeif you want to search for fossils. We pretty much walked around 2.5 hours of the three hours on the island. I could have stayed there all day but just be prepared if you have smaller kids that may not want to do that kind of activity. You don’t need to go that far on the island to find treasures though – we just wanted to explore. You can certainly find a few spots to hang out at and look around.
Towels are useful. Towels can be helpful if you get a little wet during the boat ride or just want to sit on the beach and relax. Towels can also be useful if you decide you want to swim in the ocean for a bit.
For those with accessibility needs, they are evaluated on a trip by trip basis. Coastal Expeditions suggests giving them a call to talk about mobility and what those needs are and see if they can be accommodated.
Booking Your Morris Island Trip
The Morris Island excursion runs from March 16 – October 15 and in total is about four hours. You can book your tickets online.
Tickets are $65/adults and $40/kids. Gratuity is not included but very much appreciated if you really enjoyed your trip. The trip begins and ends at their Shem Creek flagship location.
If your family loves adventures, trying new things off the beaten path, and making amazing memories, this is the trip for you. My daughters and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and we learned so much in the process. This is the best kind of learning! And going with Coastal Expeditions – an established company with an impeccable reputation – you know you are going to have the best experience possible.
Just an hour from Greenville, SC lies Whispering Pine Farm, a Grade A goat and sheep dairy and cheese-making farm. And, they train volunteers to help with their busy kidding season, which means learning how to care for and birth baby goats and lambs. Our resident goat-lover, Kristina, of course, had to do this.
Our readers at Kidding Around know how much we (ok, I) love baby goats and that we’ll pretty much do anything to hang out with them and learn about them and cuddle with them and give them all our love. Well, we visited Whispering Pines Farm in Seneca to do all of that and learn from Debbie Webster, the farm owner who has years and years of experience.
Newborn baby goat
Intro to Birthing Goats
“Precious is definitely having babies today,” Debbie said to our group of homeschoolers as we all gathered in the warm shop during introductions.
Precious is one of the many mama goats at Whispering Pines and she was due to have her kids when we were there, as were several other goat mamas.
I was thrilled. My kids seemed excited from their facial expressions. It could have also meant a little fear as to what we’d be seeing but I think it was excitement so that’s what I’m going with.
Debbie gave us a rundown of what we’d be learning: how to walk the pasture and look for signs of a labor in the goats and sheep, what to do if one does go into labor and starts pushing out a bundle of cuteness, how to make sure the babies are warm, how to feed them, and how to make sure the older babies get some exercise.
Not one minute after we walked out of the barn shop did Debbie say Precious had already given birth to one baby and another was on the way. It took us another minute to get to the pasture just in time to watch baby goat number two be born. All of us got an up-close view of the amniotic fluid coming out of the mama and the little baby coming out right after.
Then we all learned what afterbirth was. It’s a farm and we knew what we were getting into – and it was awesome.
Learning about Mama Goats
Right after Precious gave birth, another goat, Daphne, went into labor in the same pasture. How lucky were we?!
Debbie was careful to instruct us to give Daphne her space and not get up close to her. The kids in the group were really respectful and listened to Debbie and gave the mama goat a wide berth to go where she pleased. It’s important, we learned, to not look like any kind of predator or get too close as to stress out the mom.
Mama goat giving birth
While the smaller kids were pretty good in the field and with the baby goats, these volunteer opportunities are better for older kids who can hold their own and not be managed as much.
All during this time, we were free to ask Debbie about what happens when a mama goat or sheep goes into labor, how they prefer to give birth, what needs to happen right after the baby is born, and how best to help the farm staff to handle all the births.
One of the biggest things we learned was just how carefully these mama goats and sheep need to be watched, especially in colder weather. The farm staff is so attentive to them, watching for the telltale signs of labor like pawing at the ground and circling around one space, and are ready at the drop of a hat (or baby goat?) to jump in and help the mama.
We saw Daphne give birth to one small baby goat and headed out of the pasture to go check out the older babies and let them out for recess.
More Baby Goats
The farm has pastures set up for sheep and goats and babies. The babies need to be kept warm and fed so they are in a separate area. These babies were just days old and oh-so-cute.
They were all huddled under a heat lamp but needed to practice running and jumping a bit. Our group helped the baby goats out into the sun and they got to play around for a bit.
In the meantime, the twins who were born to Precious were with us and needed to eat their first meal of nutritious colostrum. I was holding one of them and was in complete heaven but he needed to eat so off to the baby eating area we went. Like a human baby, a baby goat or lamb also gets colostrum, a nutrient-dense milk to help them get a good start in life. Baby goats and lambs get a few helpings of colostrum before they move onto regular goat’s milk.
Baby goat’s first feeding
After the twins were fed, four more baby goats came in. Remember Daphne the mama goat giving birth in the pasture? She ended up having quads. Four tiny baby goats – three girls and one boy – were now with us and they were so, so cute and adorable.
Since Whispering Pines is a dairy farm, the babies are separated from their mothers at birth. This is usually a tough thing for us non-farmers to process, especially us mothers, but it’s a very common practice and all the animals on the farm are happy and healthy.
Volunteering During Kidding Season
Whispering Pines Farm is a family-run farm and they really need volunteers. This particular volunteer orientation was fantastic as it was geared towards homeschoolers but they also have other opportunities during non-school times to volunteer and learn how to birth and care for baby goats and lambs.
You don’t need to have kids or be a kid or come as a family. You can come and volunteer in whatever state of life you’re in and you’ll probably leave happier than when you came. This kind of volunteer experience is best suited for kids ages 9+ just because the babies are fragile and need special care and attention. If parents bring their human kids, they need to watch them closely.
The best thing to do is stay tuned to the Whispering Pines Facebook page for events or just text or call Debbie herself (864.360.3222). She’s an open book and will tell you exactly what you can do and what she needs.
Speaking of needs, Whispering Pines really needs towels. With all the kids they are having on the farm, the need for towels is great. Every time a baby is born, they need a clean towel. If you can drop them off at the farm, that’d be fantastic. Or call Debbie and she can help you figure out how to get them there.
If you choose to volunteer, wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty and dress warmly with hats, gloves, and layers. It’s a farm and you’ll be getting dirty.
About Whispering Pines Farm
Whispering Pines is a family-owned and operated dairy farm. They have horses, cows, goats, and sheep and are a “licensed Grade A Raw Goat and Sheep and Cow milk dairy and cheese making facility.”
The farm is set on 180 acres in Seneca, SC, about an hour outside of Greenville. The farm used to be in Mauldin, which is where I first visited years and years ago. I always loved learning about the sheep and goats and of course, cuddling any baby goat or lamb I could.
Look at all those baby goats
Debbie Webster is a longtime farmer and horsewoman who has used all those acres and animals to help others in so many ways. Her farm has hosted 4 H clubs, homeschoolers, and kids and families with special needs. She used to put on an elaborate live nativity at the farm in Mauldin where they had a large indoor arena. She’s changed her farm in many ways since moving to Seneca yet everything at the farm has a purpose and Debbie’s heart always shines through to every visitor.
Besides volunteer classes during kidding season, Debbie also hosts cheese-making classes at the farm, which I find completely fascinating and would love to do someday. Her products are available on-site at the farm as well as at some local retailers like the Swamp Rabbit Cafe.
Lastly, Whispering Pines offers starter flocks and sheep/goat milking classes.
Introducing Learn Stage 3.0: A Revolutionary Update to Excel High School SIS/LMS Designed to Enhance Real-Time Course Progress Tracking, Billing Management, and Overall Improvement on User Experience.
MINNETONKA, Minn., September 11, 2023 (Newswire.com)
– Excel High School is thrilled to announce the launch of its updated Student Information System (SIS), Learn Stage 3.0. The new developments mark a significant stride forward in educational technology for the institution and its students. As a leader in online education, Excel offers a personalized and comprehensive approach to online learning. Known for its commitment to academic excellence and technological innovation, the school continuously seeks ways to enrich the learning experience and better serve its diverse student body.
Why The Upgrade? Aiming For Excellence
With an unyielding commitment to innovation and student success, Excel High School is setting the benchmark for what an online educational platform should be. The enhanced Learn Stage 3.0 system is a culmination of thoughtful design, resource investment, and dedication to ensuring a top-notch user experience for both students, parents, and stakeholders.
“We are committed to offering our students an enhanced, intuitive, and seamless learning experience. With Learn Stage 3.0, we’ve reimagined how students and parents interact with our learning platforms. Users can get real-time updates on course selection, progress, tuition, reporting, records, schedules, graduation planning, and more,” said Rod Clarkson, CEO of Excel High School. “Learn Stage 3.0 isn’t just an update; it’s a revolution in how we approach online learning.”
Future-Ready Education for All
The revamped Learn Stage 3.0 offers students and parents real-time information about course progress, and billing, and presents a fresh, easy-to-navigate user interface. The platform has been developed to meet the diverse needs of Excel’s student body and aims to be intuitive while offering a broad range of functionality.
Learn Stage 3.0 aligns perfectly with Excel High School’s ongoing passion to offer every student a future-ready, personalized learning experience. By continually updating and refining our learning platforms, Excel ensures users have access to the very best digital tools to facilitate learning. As the academic landscape shifts towards digital engagement, Excel High School remains at the forefront, ready to adapt and innovate. Excel has made a video demonstration available that provides students with an in-depth look at this enhanced system.
About Excel High School
Since 2005, Excel High School has delivered high-quality, accredited, online K-12 and adult high school programs. The cornerstone of the Excel program combines personalized learning pathways with a flexible schedule, guided by highly qualified instructors and supported by an award-winning curriculum. This comprehensive approach is enhanced by user-friendly technology and enriched by a diverse online learning community. For more information, call 800-620-3844 or visit https://www.excelhighschool.com. Excel High School is a division of Excel Education Systems, Inc., a global leader in online education.
Specialty programs fill learning gaps and provide a solution to the teacher shortage
CHICAGO, May 4, 2023 (Newswire.com)
– RISE Education, a Chicago-based company that offers specialty programs for preschool through 8th-grade students, has announced a new rebranding effort to better reflect its breadth of curricula. Founder Angel Li started the business in 2006 under the name Little Linguists to provide children with world language classes. The company has since expanded its curriculum to include music, arts, technology, physical education, and yoga classes. The company currently offers in-person programs in 11 states and additionally provides online options. The name RISE is an acronym for Reliable, Inspiring, Skilled Experts in Education.
“I founded Little Linguists when my daughter first started school because I couldn’t find classes for her to learn my native Mandarin language,” says Angel Li, CEO and founder. “Once I launched Little Linguists, demand exploded, and I recognized that the opportunity to enhance children’s education went far beyond languages. The RISE Education name encompasses our complete roster of services and reflects our mission to help children thrive through multi-disciplinary learning.”
There is a plethora of data and statistics on the benefits of specialty education in areas like arts, music, and languages. The Arts Education Partnership performed a meta-analysis of 62 studies that demonstrated students exposed to drama, music, and arts show higher levels of proficiency in reading, writing, and math. A University of Chicago study found that bilingual students have greater empathy and a study from the University of Michigan found bilingual students achieved higher academic scores in both math and language arts. While these studies are compelling, feedback from principals, teachers, students, and parents was key in helping Li expand and solidify RISE Education as a preferred vendor for Chicago Public Schools.
While RISE Education has provided thousands of students with educational opportunities, the company is now also a sought-after solution for a crisis plaguing the national education system: teacher shortages. RISE Education has always sourced, vetted, and hired teachers for its courses and provided them with training, support, and curricula that meet the standards of state and federal education requirements. This allows schools to tap into a network of teachers to fill system gaps without taking on additional administrative burdens; teachers and subject matter experts can teach the classes they love, and students have access to specialty programs they may not otherwise have.
About RISE Education
RISE Education is a comprehensive specialty programs provider that inspires students from pre-K through 8th grade with meaningful learning experiences. The company offers a full range of programs for private, parochial, and public schools across the United States, including world languages, art, music, physical education, and technology classes. For more information, please visit https://riseeducation.com.
Every child has a gift that can change the world; Spartek Academy: An Acton Academy develops those gifts in 1st-8th grade students.
Press Release –
updated: Aug 10, 2021
COLUMBIA, Md., August 10, 2021 (Newswire.com)
– Spartek Academy: An Acton Academy [Spartek] is opening its doors in Columbia, Maryland. Spartek is a learner-driven private school where 75% of our curriculum is hands-on and students are in charge of their learning. There are no teachers, only guides, no homework, and no tests. How do our students learn? With a mastery-based approach. It’s simple: every student works at their own pace and shows mastery in that area before advancing.
Spartek Academy is an affiliate school of Acton Academy, based in Austin, Texas. Acton Academy has 300+ Affiliate schools worldwide and has been endorsed by Sal Khan, Founder of Khan Academy; Seth Godin, Author; and Sugata Mitra, Founder of School in the Clouds.
Acton’s disruptive educational model focuses on three things: learning to learn, learning to be, and learning to do. Students participate in Socratic discussions and self-paced challenges, which equips them to be independent lifelong learners. In addition, Hands-on Quests for Science, Entrepreneurship, and the Arts prepare children for apprenticeships and real-world challenges.
About the Founder: Janear Garrus, the Founder of Spartek Academy, is an entrepreneur and educator. She has founded several other organizations and programs serving the Baltimore-Washington area: Chesapeake Educational Alliance, Launch Business Camp, Greater Purpose Christian Homeschoolers, and the Baltimore Children’s Business Fair (which is hosting its fifth annual event this fall). In addition, she and her husband have homeschooled their children for their entire education. Garrus found that Acton Academy aligned with her desires for her children’s education and felt compelled to start one in Howard County. “I chose to start an Acton Academy in Howard County because I truly believe in the model. It takes the best elements of homeschooling and combines them with innovation and collaboration amongst students. Spartek is an environment where there are no limits to students’ learning and discovery. What students are good at, they can focus on now, and that’s powerful.”
Spartek is enrolling in grades 1-8 for the 2021-2022 school year. The school will add a grade-level each following school year. For more information about Spartek Academy: An Acton Academy, contact Janear Garrus at 410-343-9780 or hello@spartekacton.org.
New Washington State online learning program is open for enrollment.
FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash., June 16, 2021 (Newswire.com)
– Griffin Bay School’s K-12 Online learning program is now open for Fall 2021 enrollment to students throughout Washington State. Administered and funded by San Juan Island School District, in Friday Harbor, Washington, Griffin Bay School offers remote classes outside of traditional classroom settings and schedules. Griffin Bay School provides students and families an educational program that allows for flexibility, individualized attention, and a “work at your own pace” approach.
Some believe an education should prepare students for further learning, like college or trade school, while others prioritize preparing students for the workforce, developing social skills, or encouraging participation in civic life. The dedicated educators at Griffin Bay School understand the spectrum of needs and priorities that exist and recognize that flexibility is key to meet the needs of all students and families in an alternative learning program such as Griffin Bay School.
Griffin Bay School offers:
Program flexibility.
Odysseyware/Edgenuity and other state-approved programs.
“With Griffin Bay, I never have to feel like my child could be falling behind or not being challenged enough. They celebrate your child at whichever level they are at and see each student as an individual. It is a truly unique school and one that we feel very lucky to be a part of.”
– Katie Myers, Parent
“I love that Mrs. Heller always asks me what I am interested in and finds fun books and worksheets for me. I am always excited to pick up my new school materials.”
– First Grade Student
“I see Griffin Bay as the best type of high school for students like me and many others who need the independence and the opportunities that this system provides. Before I began attending Griffin Bay, I dreaded doing what was required. I appreciate the different ways I can learn at my own pace. I am also grateful for the attitude of the teachers to personally help me not be mad about doing school but actually help me be more excited.”
Griffin Bay School is a part of San Juan Island School District located in Friday Harbor, Washington. We are a public school district. Our current enrollment is 765 students, most of whom are local, but a growing number of whom are from across Washington State. Join us!
ANN ARBOR, Mich., August 31, 2020 (Newswire.com)
– Around the country, school districts are announcing that in-person school is canceled because of Covid-19 and that, until further notice, their schools will be using an entirely virtual model. Parents are in panic mode: They need childcare for the fall, and they need it now. Many parents are pursuing the solution of “Learning Pods”, sometimes called Microschools, where they form or join a small group program in which their children will work on their online schooling together – in person.
Ann Arbor mom and national summer camp consultant Sarah Kurtz McKinnon recognized that parents and organizations are also hiring “Learning Pod Leaders” who will manage the day-to-day operations of these pods. These leaders are part camp counselor, academic tutor, and group manager. They have a specialized and important job, but it’s also an unprecedented one: Pandemic Pods are completely new, and none of these leaders have had training specific to their new job.
To solve this problem, Kurtz McKinnon has recruited a team of youth development and education experts to create a comprehensive, self-paced virtual training program for Pod Leaders called Pod School Prep (www.podschoolprep.com). Pod School Prep covers crucial topics for Pod Leaders, such as working with parents, group dynamics, pedagogical techniques, mental health, child abuse prevention and making a Pod fun.
“Joining or forming a Learning Pod is an appealing solution for many parents in this incredibly difficult situation,” Kurtz McKinnon says. “But Pods will only be successful if the Pod Leaders are trained in how to do this challenging and important job.”
Pod School Prep will also provide personalized coaching for Pod Leaders. Whether the group is having an issue with bullying, a particular student is unmotivated, or the Pod Leader needs new ideas to keep kids engaged, Pod School Prep is ready to provide ongoing support and resources to these important caregivers.
Kurtz McKinnon says that Pod School Prep is also focusing its efforts on equity and access. Kurtz McKinnon and her team are offering grants and pursuing partnerships with organizations such as nonprofits and school districts to help get their Learning Pod programs launched and their staff members trained effectively so that more kids and working parents have viable options for the fall.
“There are many families and community organizations who are ready to start a learning pod program but need the additional support to do so,” Kurtz McKinnon says. “Pod School Prep is here to make sure that the people caring for our kids are ready to help them not just pass the time but make sure they learn, grow and thrive.”
About Pod School Prep: Pod School Prep (www.podschoolprep.com) is a comprehensive, online professional development program for Learning Pod Leaders.
STAUNTON, Va., August 26, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– LearningRx (www.LearningRx.com), the world’s largest personal brain training company, is celebrating the success of Sahara, who saw significant changes in test-taking, confidence, and transitioning from homeschooling to a private Christian school after enrolling in a LearningRx personal brain training program.
“After the transition from five years of homeschooling to attending a private Christian school, we quickly learned that she was not prepared for test-taking,” says Sahara’s mom. “She needed some help with studying and learning how to study. I think it played out in her life as a challenge. If she thought she couldn’t do something, she convinced herself she couldn’t do it. It was hard to get over that hump. She needed more confidence.”
When Sahara’s parents enrolled her in LearningRx personal brain training, their biggest goal was to build her self-esteem.
Since completing LearningRx brain training, so much has changed for Sahara!
“LearningRx has definitely changed her attitude, confidence, and ability,” says her mom. “She participates in market animal shows and livestock judging with the local 4-H. She is more confident in the show ring. That is something that she really enjoys. I think the best part of her experience was her trainer. She built a relationship with her trainer, Studley, and she has adjusted very well to her school setting and she finished up with good grades. We always knew that she could accomplish anything she set her mind to, and now she has better tools to reach those goals.”
LearningRx, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the largest one-on-one brain training organization in the world. With more than 70 Centers in the U.S. and 48 international locations, LearningRx has helped more than 100,000 individuals and families sharpen their cognitive skills to help them think faster, learn easier, and perform better. Their on-site programs partner every client with a personal brain trainer to keep clients engaged, accountable, and on-task—a key advantage over online-only brain exercises. Their pioneering methods have been used in clinical settings for over 35 years and have been verified as beneficial in peer-reviewed research papers and journals. To learn more about LearningRx research results, programs, and their 9.6 out of 10 client referral rating visit http://www.learningrx.com.
NuuED’s Learning Objective Guide reveals early indicators of a student’s aptitudes and opportunities for growth.
Press Release –
updated: Mar 5, 2018
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 5, 2018 (Newswire.com)
– NuuED, Inc. announced today that it has released an enhancement to its online service designed to reveal a user’s individual learning personality. The Learning Objective Guide can be used to discover early indicators of a person’s strengths, aptitudes, and growth opportunities while tracking improvement in those areas.
Innovations such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms are shifting the fundamental nature of work, and an increasing number of common, everyday jobs are undergoing automation. As technology advances, students of all ages face the need to rapidly adapt and learn new skills.
Whether the job of the future involves 3D simulations, video, or new ways of communicating with technology and each other, NuuED’s adaptive learning platform can help students secure their own future.
Derrick O’Neal, Founder and Chief Relationship Officer
NuuED’s approach to adaptive learning begins with a simple, brief, and engaging analysis, available for free online, which uses advanced technologies to highlight each user’s individual learning personality. The analysis requires only a few minutes and takes into account the user’s learning styles, cognitive skills, and environmental factors.
The resulting information about the user’s unique learning personality can then be used to create a Learning Objective Guide for each individual learner. The Learning Objective Guide differs from other educational tools in several areas, primary of which is the customization of its results based on an individual’s unique learning personality, rather than relying on the comparison of each student to a broad, impersonal standard.
As learners continue to use solutions from NuuEd, the technology platform automatically adapts and expands to meet the changing needs of each user. Customized content is delivered to each learner, based on their unique ability to process and retain information.
The NuuED approach to adaptive learning grows out of advanced cognitive analysis technologies and proven principles of instructional design. Educators and parents who engage with NuuED solutions on behalf of their students find that the service meshes smoothly with established methodologies, curriculum, and assessments.
“We offer the advantage of flexibility in learning and the opportunity for successful growth,” said Derrick O’Neal, founder and Chief Relationship Officer of NuuED. “Whether the job of the future involves 3D simulations, video, or new ways of communicating with technology and each other, NuuED’s adaptive learning platform can help students secure their own future.”
NuuED technology and methodology have been proven via use case studies which demonstrate an average of 70% increase in skill and level improvement.
The Learning Personality Analysis from NuuED, Inc. is available immediately. Visit www.nuued.com for details.
About NuuED
NuuED Inc. provides a platform for online services which help learners, students, and trainees of all ages improve their skills. Tools and services from NuuED help in all aspects of education by discovering and recognizing areas of positive diversity in learning and applying advanced technologies to help the learner.
NuuED is a privately held company headquartered in Mountain View, California, with a global delivery platform serving learners of all ages, everywhere. For more information, visit www.nuued.com.
Charlotte, NC, June 13, 2017 (Newswire.com)
– Making summer learning more productive and fun, “The 45 Presidents” multi-media activity book, music video and song has been awarded a 2017 Silver IPPY from the Independent Publishers Association and handpicked by Homeschool.com, a leading provider to the approximately 1.8 million homeschoolers in the U.S., as a top summer resource for parents and educators.
Written by former advertising executive turned TV producer, Toni Steedman Zelickson, and illustrated by nationally renowned caricature artist, Jeff Mangum, “The 45 Presidents” is an 84-page, large format activity book featuring a caricature of each president, presidential trivia, First Lady matching activities, and other iconic images such as Air Force One, the White House, and Mount Rushmore. “The 45 Presidents” book is also part of a multi-media trio that includes a new original song and music video by the Raggs Band, the Emmy-Award winning characters from the Raggs children’s TV series.
“The IPPY and Homeschool.com awards are confirmation that our team did a great job of making American history interesting and easy to learn, and we are happy that ‘The 45 Presidents’ is finding its own place in publishing history!”
Toni Steedman Zelickson, President, Blue Socks Media
In the IPPY competition, “The 45 Presidents” placed second in the multi-media category from a field of nearly 5,000 worldwide entries across all categories. Medals were presented at a special ceremony honoring authors at the Copacabana in New York City on Tuesday, May 30th. The Silver IPPY seal will appear on all future editions of “The 45 Presidents” activity books.
The Homeschool.com Summer Resources Awards 2017 were announced on June 6 and are included in Homeschool.com’s 101 Things To Do this summer list on the popular homeschool community website.
“The IPPY and Homeschool.com awards are confirmation that our team did a great job of making American history interesting and easy to learn,” Toni Steedman Zelickson commented, “and, we are happy that ‘The 45 Presidents’ is finding its own place in publishing history!”
“The 45 Presidents” song is the latest addition to Raggs’ extensive musical library, which includes over 200 original songs, classics and pop cover tunes. The new song will join Raggs’ Americana offerings that include “Red, White, and Raggs,” an album full of patriotic classics such as, “America the Beautiful,” “Yankee Doodle” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” “The 45 Presidents” also complements one of Raggs most popular songs, “The 50 States That Rhyme,” which cleverly teaches the U.S. states in alphabetical order.
“The 45 Presidents” song and the “Red, White, and Raggs” album are all available for purchase on iTunes. The accompanying music videos are free-to-view on YouTube, and “The 45 Presidents” activity book is available at online booksellers Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Lulu.com for $8.99. Orders are shipped within 3-5 days of receipt. For more information, go to The45Presidents.com.
About Raggs
Raggs is an Emmy Award-winning, musical preschool series about five colorful pups who learn life lessons though an innovative mix of live action stories, music videos, concerts, cartoons and interviews with real kids. With over 200 episodes, 300 original songs and animated new media music videos, Raggs is available worldwide in English, Spanish and Portuguese and has begun dubbing in 15 additional languages for distribution in 100 countries in 2017. The Raggs brand includes CDs, DVDs, toys, books and live shows, including a partnership called “Play at Palladium with Raggs” with the Palladium Hotel Group at resorts in Mexico, the Caribbean and Brazil. The original characters were created by Toni Steedman, a Charlotte, NC, advertising executive, for her then six‐year‐old daughter Alison. Raggs and all rights are owned by Blue Socks Media LLC, Charlotte, NC. For more info, go to www.raggs.com.
Those who sign up receive a free, high-quality pencil puzzle for kids every week.
Press Release –
updated: Apr 18, 2017
New York, New York, April 18, 2017 (Newswire.com)
– Eric Berlin, professional puzzle constructor and author of the “Winston Breen” series of children’s books, has just launched Puzzle Your Kids, a new subscription-based service that provides one free puzzle for kids each week. Berlin also offers a $5-per-month subscription, which provides two puzzles a week, special supporter-only contests, and previews of new puzzles. These creative pencil puzzles are perfect for kids age nine and up.
The Puzzle Your Kids word puzzles are at a level of quality of comparable to the New York Times crossword puzzle, but with words and clues that are entirely kid-friendly. The puzzles themselves are much more varied, going far beyond the standard crossword.
“Completing these word puzzles offers more than just fun and new vocabulary: They also help to reinforce a child’s self-esteem. When a solver finally gets the answer and has that “aha moment”, the joy they feel and sense of accomplishment can’t be beat. It’s a great confidence booster as well as an engaging learning tool.”
Eric Berlin, Puzzle Your Kids Creator
Children love puzzles of all kinds. They are fun and educational, teaching kids critical vocabulary, reasoning, and problem solving skills. But there are astonishingly few quality puzzles available for children. Puzzle Your Kids aims to fix that, with puzzles that reinforce the full range of a child’s vocabulary as well as teach new words. The vocabulary used in the puzzles covers a wide variety of subjects, from science and sports, to mythology and movies, plus much more.
“Completing these word puzzles offers more than just fun and new vocabulary: They also help to reinforce a child’s self-esteem. When a solver finally gets the answer and has that “aha moment”, the joy they feel and sense of accomplishment can’t be beat,” says Berlin. “It’s a great confidence booster as well as an engaging learning tool.”
Berlin also offers educational presentations, activities, and exciting puzzle hunts at schools and local libraries. For more information, and to sign up to start receiving free puzzles for kids, visit PuzzleYourKids.com.
About Puzzle Your Kids
Puzzle Your Kids provides expertly crafted pencil puzzles for kids created by Eric Berlin, professional puzzle constructor and the author of the “Winston Breen” series of children’s books.
