Education Archives - Serendipity Mommy

How to Encourage Your Child to Develop Their Talents

January 8, 2020 by Mandy

As a responsible parent, you take pride in helping your child achieve his or her dreams. If your kid has a passion for a skill or hobby, you like to support it. In fact, you’re interested in how to encourage these talents throughout the child’s development.

Well, the good news is that you’ve come to the right place by reading this article. Detailed below is everything you need to know about encouraging the growth of a child’s talents and abilities.

Don’t underestimate the importance of these years in which your child is growing and learning. After all, even experts recognize the impact of early childhood development later in life. For that reason, you’ll take the following guidance seriously.

Don’t let your child’s potential go to waste. Make sure he or she has all of the resources necessary to truly thrive. Keep reading to help them grow and develop well.

Learn About New Subjects Along with Your Child

The first thing to consider is how involved you want to get when it comes to your child’s passion. If he or she has discovered a unique talent or a beloved hobby, it’s up to you to encourage those activities.

One way to support their passion is to learn everything you can about it. Learn about how to develop that hobby together, in fact. That can make their passion both an avenue to follow their dreams and a way to bond with you.

How to Encourage Hobbies or Passions on a Budget

Of course, you’re also going to need to consider the costs of this new passion. It’s likely that you’ll need to purchase some tools or equipment.

For example, if your child is into performing magic and making a full show out of it, they’ll need some props and costumes. If he or she is falling in love with a musical instrument, you’ll need to pay for regular lessons. Either way, you’re going to be spending some money.

It’s important to note that doing so will be worth the investment in the long run. Your child deserves to develop whatever skill or talent that will make him or her happy.

Take the time to look at your available budget. Do you have the funds to finance this pursuit of passion? It’s okay to do some shuffling around to start budgeting for this new hobby on a regular basis.

Sometimes, secondhand musical instruments or other equipment for hobbies are available. It’s your responsibility to do the research and learn how to support your child’s dreams at a reasonable price. You might want to ask friends and family members to pitch in and help, too.

Remember, Their Self-Confidence Is Essential

The main goal for any hobby or passion your child pursues should be that of boosting their self-confidence. As they start to perfect their skills in their desired craft, you might notice a change start to develop.

Confident kids are happy ones. They know how to speak for themselves while respecting others’ boundaries. Plus, they’ll be more likely to continue following their passion.

Make sure you only say positive things as they dive into their new passion. Even when they make mistakes, it’s important to help them keep setting goals and moving forward instead of looking back. They’re going to rely on your encouragement to maintain and grow their overall self-esteem.

It’s Okay to Seek Professional Guidance on the Matter

Don’t underestimate the value of proper childhood development. A well-rounded education and upbringing will help him or her succeed throughout life as an adult. In some cases, though, it’s in everyone’s best interest to seek professional counsel.

This is of particular importance when it comes to families with children who have disabilities. Special needs parents need to stay well-connected with professionals in that field. There are going to be certain standards crucial to your child’s upbringing that you’ll need to know about.

In addition, some children have natural struggles relating to other kids around them. This might be the case when he or she has gone through a traumatic experience already at a young age. Even then, talking with a family therapist might help both you and the child cope better.

Be willing to ask for help from your friends and family members, too. Remember, it takes a village to raise even just one child well.

Connect with Families Who Have the Same Interests

One of the most crucial things you can do for your child is to surround them with kids who have similar passions. That way, they can start to develop a community that supports each other over time. Plus, you can get to know the parents and bond with them.

Do some online research regarding local meetups or networking events in your area. You’ll find someone who enjoys the same hobby or activity as your child. Be willing to connect with these other families to encourage those pursuits throughout the future.

Continue to Make the Most of Your Life as a Parent

At this point in the article, you have a thorough understanding of how to encourage your child to develop his or her talents. There’s no need to cut corners when it comes to investing in our little ones. That’s why you’ll take the above guidelines seriously.

Of course, there are still a lot of ins and outs to navigate modern parenting expectations. Supporting and encouraging the development of your child is only one component. It can be in your best interest to continue to stay well-informed.

In fact, that’s where this website can come into play. We prioritize bringing readers like you the most reliable parenting advice on the market. We want moms everywhere to feel healthy, look fabulous, and take on the world.

For that reason, we encourage you to browse through the rest of our website today. In our articles, you’ll find the latest and greatest trends in the world of intentional motherhood. To start, comment below this article about how it inspired you and your family to keep investing in yourselves and your abilities.

How To Find The Right Continuing Education Courses For Your Needs

December 12, 2019 by Mandy

Do you want to advance your career or learn a new skill? You’ll want to enroll in continuing education courses.

The unemployment rate has dropped to 3.5%. Many see this as a job applicant’s market, but the best jobs have the most competition.

You can stand out from the crowd by enrolling in the right continuing education courses. There are hundreds of courses about any topic. How can you choose the right ones? Read on to find out.

Why is Continuing Education Necessary?

You may be wondering if continuing education is necessary. In some professions, you need to take continuing education or CE courses to maintain your certification or license.

Others see that there is an increase in salary when they enroll in CE courses. Here are a couple of other reasons to consider taking CE courses.

The Job Market is Changing

Yes, the job market is at historic lows. If you only look at the unemployment rate, you’re missing a lot of information.

What the unemployment rate doesn’t tell you is that the job market is shifting. Thanks to artificial intelligence, more work is becoming automated. That means repetitive jobs like those you see in shipping and manufacturing are going by the wayside.

Continuing education classes can help position you to take advantage of these shifts. Your manufacturing job may be going away, but you learned how to operate a manufacturing plant and the programming behind automation.

You’re now an indispensable part of the manufacturing team. Instead of being out of work, you have job security and a raise.

Change Careers

You may be bored with your career. It’s been rewarding in many aspects, but maybe you need a change of pace. If you’ve worked for years in a stressful industry, you can leverage continuing education courses to change your path.

How to Evaluate Continuing Education Classes

Now that you understand why continuing education is necessary, how can you make sure you enroll in the right continuing education courses.

Your Purpose

Do you need CE credits to maintain a certification? Do you just want to advance your career? The purpose of taking continuing education classes will be your first step in evaluating courses.

If you find that you have to take CE courses to maintain your license or certification, make sure that you enroll in classes where you can apply CE credits.

Your Learning Goals

Is there something specific that you want to learn? Maybe you want to learn how to be a better writer aside from fulfilling your licensing requirements.

Write down the skills or information that you want to learn. These could be things that you’re curious about or will help you be better in your work.

Look at the Curriculum

Most courses will have a syllabus or a course outline posted before you sign up. Take a look at this to make sure that you’ll accomplish your learning goals.

Don’t be afraid to be challenged in your class. That’s what learning is about. It will make you think differently and work harder.

You’ll walk away from the course remembering what you learned because you had to work hard for it.

Teacher Credentials

Do you know anything about the person who’s teaching the continuing education course? You want to know the experience of the person teaching.

For example, if you’re going to take a photography course, do you want to learn from a hobbyist or from someone who shoots for National Geographic?

Of course, their teaching style is something that you want to find out in advance. Do they ask students a lot of questions to keep them engaged?

You can read course reviews or reach out to the instructor directly to find out if they’re a good fit for your learning style.

Preparing to Go Back to School

If you’ve been out of school for a while, you’re going to be in for quite a shock. It’s a hard adjustment to balance your work and home lives while doing homework for your CE class.

Fortunately, many classes are short, but there are others that require a lot of study and continued commitment.

You’ll want to start your preparation by getting your supplies together. Have plenty of notebooks, a laptop, and plenty of things for note-taking.

You should also have your eyes checked before you start your classes. The reason why is because you could be in the back of the room and find it hard to see. That can make learning very difficult. Get an exam and if it turns out you need glasses, find out how you can get the right pair.

Finally, you need to schedule study time. This is going to be the most important part. You need to have quiet time with no distractions. You also don’t want to be exhausted while you study because you won’t remember anything.

Find a time of day where your energy is up and you’re likely to remember the material. For some people, this could be earlier in the day. For others, it could be after dinner.

You need to be self-aware and know your own rhythms that work for you. Once you schedule a time for studying, make sure you stick with it.

Choosing the Right Continuing Education Courses

Continuing education courses are an important part of growing your career. It’s how you’ll stay on top of technologies and constantly improve your skills.

When you’re looking for a class, you want to choose one that fits your purpose and will challenge you to grow. If you’re going to invest the money in a class, you don’t want to just coast through it.

When you do enroll in a class, make sure that you give yourself time to study. It’s hard when life is busy as it is. It may require a couple of shifts in your schedule, but the commitment is well worth it.

Check out this site again for articles on everything from education to travel.

A Useful Guide to the Average Cost of Private Schools

October 22, 2019 by Mandy

Every parent wants the best for their children, including the best education possible. While public schools offer a comprehensive education aligned with national standards, many parents choose to send their kids to a private school to ensure a well-rounded education with additional opportunities.

If you’ve considered this alternative route, you’ve probably wondered what the average cost of private schools really is. We’ve got your guide to what you’ll need to spend to get your child into a private school.

What are the Different Types of Private School?

There are different types of private schools, and each has a different tuition model. It’s important to know which school you’d like to send your child to before looking into cost, as they can be vastly different.

Traditional Private School.These schools, which can be Kindergarten through graduation, aren’t funded by the federal government like public schools. It’s why they require a fee to attend. They may be run as for or non-profit, depending on the organization that runs them.
Boarding School.These types of private schools also include food and lodging in the cost of tuition. They create a special kind of community because students and faculty live on campus together. These schools are a blend of athletes, artists, and scholars.
Language Immersion School.The classes at these schools are taught in another language. Partial immersion begins at 50% of classes being taught in the language, up to 100% immersion with all classes in the chosen foreign language. These schools are chosen by parents who want their children to develop fluency in another language.
Montessori Schools.Montessori schools put a great deal of emphasis on learning through exploration and individual interests. They are designed in three-year blocks, where children will have the same classmates for the entire term. They also focus heavily on the home environment, which means Montessori is a lifestyle choice, not just a school.
Religious Schools.These are also called parochial schools, or private schools attached to a specific church. These differ from a traditional private school that is affiliated with a religious organization. The first is funded by the entity it’s attached to, the second is entirely funded by student tuition.

What are the Benefits of a Private School?

There are several different reasons a parent may choose to send their child to a private school.

Better academic opportunities.Most private schools offer expanded extracurricular activities and advanced placement classes.
Higher test scores and college placement opportunities.Privately schooled children generally score better on college placement exams than their publicly schooled peers. Further, private schools boast an almost 100% rate of their students attending their first-choice college.
Smaller classes.Private schools typically have smaller class sizes than public schools, allowing teachers to more individually coach each student.
Parental involvement.Parents are encouraged at a higher level to be part of their children’s education. Instead of brief parent-teacher conferences, parents are kept involved and apprised on a regular basis of student progress.
Better resources.Because they don’t depend on government funding and receive both tuition and donations from alumni, they typically have higher quality resources in their classrooms.

What if the Average Cost of Private Schools?

Now that you understand what each of the different schools entails, we can begin to break down the cost of each.

According to the Private School Review, the average cost of private school during the 2019 – 2020 school year was $10,676, down from $14,575 the previous year. The costs vary depending on the type of private school and the state it’s located in.

Nebraska has the lowest average annual cost at $3,565. The East Coast boasts the top five states for annual cost, with Connecticut coming in at a whopping $24,433 average.

Elementary programs are generally several thousand dollars cheaper than high schools annually. This is contributed to the competition between options – at lower grade levels there are more choices for parents. By high school, there are only a few options for continuing education and so the cost increases.

Location within each state also plays a factor. You’ll pay more for a school located in a bustling city than one on the prairies of Kansas, for instance.

The Cost of Different Kinds of Private School

Private school cost varies wildly within those averages, dependent not just on the location, but the type of school.

Boarding schools top the list, with some costing up to $40,000 or $50,000 a year in tuition. However, this includes the cost of room and board, food and many extracurricular programs.

Religious schools offer the lowest tuitions of all private schools, with some as low as only several thousand a year. They also generally offer the most in scholarships for students wanting to attend who may not otherwise be able to afford it.

Montessori schools have the largest gap between the highest and lowest tuitions. This is because there is such a broad spectrum of schools that fall under the Montessori heading. There are small programs with less than 50 students in total, and large schools that have hundreds of participants. Tuition will depend on where the school is located, how big it is, and what it offers.

Gifted schools that focus on developing specific talents are going to be on the higher end of the tuition scale. Because they employ teachers who are credentialed in these specific areas of study, a student will pay more to have access to the teaching.

Are There Additional Fees Related to Private School?

When figuring out the annual tuition of a school, you’ll want to factor in additional costs. These include one-time registration fees, books, transportation, and meals, if they aren’t included in the tuition.

Many private schools also require a uniform that can add hundreds or even thousands to the cost. Private schools also frequently host trips overseas or to special locations that might require additional funds to attend.

Sending Your Child to Private School

While the average cost of private schools is a much greater expense than a public school, the good news is there are financial aid and scholarship programs available for many. When looking for a private school in your area, research the programs each school may have that help parents afford tuition.

And be sure to check out the other parenting articles on our site for more information!

5 Secrets on How to Pick a Winning Admission Essay Topic

September 26, 2019 by Mandy

Source: Unsplash

Getting into your dream college is getting harder by day. Even with numerous colleges appearing throughout the country, the competition is only getting more contentious.

Some of the most elitist of colleges in the US are hitting records with their low acceptance rates. When you factor in the increasing number of international applicants, along with every student looking exceptional on their academic tracks, the need to stand out from the crowd is higher than ever.

It is evident that writing the admission essay is one of the most stressful tasks of the whole process. Even with the right topic, students struggle to land on the right narrating style. But with top essay writing service, you can be sure to have your essays prepared or edited by experts. Thus, you will have top-notch admission materials.

If you are still thinking about how to choose the topic, here is what the admission consultants have to tell you about it.

Uniqueness

Everyone wants their essay to be different, but when you are a teenager and have been trying to share experiences with your peers, it is challenging to dot on a unique topic.

Do not let that limit you. If you look past your academics, you can always take inspiration from your summer jobs, volunteering days or from your family.

Start by listing down all experiences, however silly you think they are. The admission council is not only looking for smart students. They are seeking diverse applicants who can bring more value to the table than good grades alone. So even a pleasant evening that inspired you could make for an excellent topic.

Do Not Rush

You do not want to keep the admission essay to the last minute. It is one of the most important papers that could decide the course of your life. Start thinking about the essay topic as early as possible so you will not have to settle for something at the last minute. Formulating the message and working your way through different tasks will take more time than you imagine.

Sign up for college newsletters in the early stages. This could give you more insight into the college you are applying to and their expectations. Always consider your application as a whole package. Better nor focus on individual parts. If you spend only a couple of hours on the text, the trained eyes of the admission experts will definitely pick it up.

Do Not Complicate It

Erica Curtis, a former admissions evaluator at Brown University, says that they were expected to read five applications per hour. It is explicit that you might be getting only a few minutes to convince the reader. Whichever topic you choose, it must remain focused. If your composition ends up being vague, it will not suffice to make a good impression.

Even if you are choosing multiple topics, the core idea has to be compelling enough to grasp attention. Remember that every admission officer has their own different expectations for the submissions. Trying to accomplish too much in one piece might not bring fruitful results.

Source: Unsplash

You Don’t Need to Be Perfect

The idea of being the “perfect candidate” often categorizes you as a “standard positive” in the admission file. This precisely is the one thing you do not want. On the contrary, you’d better stand out. You are much more than the test scores and extracurriculars; the essay is the window to show the evaluators your personality.

Use this as an opportunity to present what you can contribute, how you can bring value to the college, and what kind of a friend you would be for your classmates. Bringing in a bit of humor or even spontaneity could make the readers remember your piece.

Moments, Not a Life History

You have already included the transcripts, part-time jobs, and all details of extracurricular activities. It is an exceptional idea to choose a particular moment or even a small period of your life that has influenced you. No need to elaborate on how you performed in school. This part does not need to be about how amazing you are, but about what makes you who you are.

Wrapping Up

Revealing your imperfections in an essay might seem like a contradictory approach, but it is much better than writing a standard essay. It is supposed to shine a light on your life.

Spending enough time on it will help in composing a meaningful essay that will help you get a seat in the class.

5 Extra-Curricular Events All College Students Should Experience

September 25, 2019 by Mandy

So much of the college experience happens outside of the classroom. Though it’s obviously important to be prepared to study hard while at university, commitment to academics shouldn’t stop you from enjoying all that college life has to offer. Indeed, spending all of your time in class, in the library, or in your dorm room is tantamount to a massive missed opportunity. To that end, today we’re going to share five extra-curricular events that all college students should attend at least once. Check them out here:

College Theatre

Some colleges are home to wonderful auditoriums and theaters. And many college students who study theatre are immensely talented. Indeed, they may even rehearse a role for an entire semester before they perform it live. Given that fact, you should make it a point to check out at least one student-performed play while in college. Trust us, you won’t regret it.

Art Galleries

Sticking with the theme of high culture for a moment, there are few better ways to spend a free afternoon on campus than by checking out a student-run art gallery. Who knows, you may even come across the early work of a burgeoning famous artist there!

Frisbee and Hacky Sack

Cliched? Sure, but playing frisbee or hacky sack with a couple of close friends on the quad of an idyllic university can be a blast. Tick this box if just for the goofy photo opportunities.

Sporting Events

College athletics is a massive industry that attracts visitors and fans from around the country. In fact, many colleges hire companies like OTW Safety to provide them with barricades for crowd management and traffic control on game days. Not only do sporting events give students the chance to unwind for a few hours, but there are few expressions of school pride more meaningful than sporting traditions. And there’s nothing better than beating that big rival from across the state in a football game!

House Party

Many people meet their best friends in college. Of course, a big part of making friends is going to parties. It’s worth remembering that college party culture does have a dark side, though. So never engage in any illegal activities, behave responsibly, and always look after your well-being and the well-being of others first and foremost. College life is about having fun and meeting new people, but you shouldn’t risk your health or others’ just to fit in.

Conclusion

Believe it or not, it is possible to soak up everything college has to offer while maintaining a high GPA. Go out and seize the day because those four years are sure to fly by faster than you realize.