Education Archives - Serendipity Mommy

COURSES TO GIVE YOUR CAREER A BOOST

May 13, 2020 by Mandy

If you’ve been employed or are seeking your first job straight out of college, it is essential to make yourself stand out of the pack. Besides your primary qualifications and job experience, employers will surely look fondly upon extracurricular courses their employees bring into the company. For the labor seeking to improve their employability in today’s time, it has become increasingly popular and realistic to look for courses to advance their career prospects over the internet.

Our primary education is focused on the handling and execution of teaching us the required skills to secure a position in our respected fields. Professional degrees such as law and accountancy will show you everything there is a person needs to know to work in the area. Still, it doesn’t teach other essential skills that could further your career and make you a valuable employee. These skills include critical thinking, leadership, decision making, and public speaking.
The problem arises not only for fresh graduates but for employees thinking of a career jump mid-way through their professional lives. But they can’t afford to, not necessarily monetarily, but due to lack of time on their hands. For most people, this is an arduous endeavor to undergo.

Below we will cover some of the more popular courses that can help give your career the boost it desperately needs:

High-Level Technical Courses

Just as the internet is a market place for all of the world’s businesses, the devices that drive us to the internet are essential. Computers, laptops, and other smart devices are all around us and are the necessary ingredients for everyday living. A couple of hours without internet, an unknown error, a misplaced file, or an email was not sent on time can result in multiple hours of spent in solving an issue that could’ve been resolved within a few minutes.

Having grasp over the fundamental theories behind Microsoft’s Office software such as Excel and PowerPoint could not only save you a few hours but put your colleagues at ease too. Figuring out how a network of printers works or specializing in web development, code or into a professional photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop are valuable technical skills to have in the modern office which span across multiple professions. All of these skills can be further looked into most online edd sites.

Communication Skills

In all workplaces around the world, to get any sort of work done, there needs to be a clear channel of communication. It’s not only imperative for dishing out orders, but for motivating employees and yourself. To get across your envisioned strategies effectively. Having practical communication skills, e.g., in public speaking, can help get messages across to colleagues and superiors clearly and concisely without any ambiguities and without the risk of sounding foolish. It is especially vital for employees in foreign language countries. There are popular courses on communication skills available on the internet, which could help turn even the shyest of employees into silver-tongued communicators.

Leadership and Management

In every office around the world, professionals are looked upon for their leadership skills. Especially in times where the pressure to deliver is on a high, rallying the troops and making sure the deliverables are met is a sign of good leadership. Not only is it an essential skill, but it’s also the one that probably sets you apart from the rest the most.
Some people are natural-born leaders, while that may be true; the fundamentals can still be learned. Be able to understand how to manage employees, their expectations, getting the best out of individuals and making them work as a team. It is vital to know how to lead if you’re vowing for higher managerial positions or a promotion. Not only will this give the company and seniors have more faith in promoting, you know you can lead effectively.

The Art of Mastering SEO and Social Media

In the golden age of the internet, there is no other market place that is as active 24/7 as social media and e-commerce. Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Instagram, Google, you name it; every website is fighting for your attention. Even in 2020, people still haven’t grasped social media to its extent. There are tools, and tricks of the trade that can enhance one’s world view on the cogs that spins the wheels of social media.

-What makes a search show specific websites?

-Why do some posts do better than others?
-How can companies promote to a host of customers unaware of their presence?

All important questions that can be answered. Taking a course on social media, learning how to extract information from the data drawn from engagements, and applying it to your needs can bolster up your skillset like no other. Learning what makes the audience tick is a trick that few have mastered and is worth learning in the digital age.

Negotiation and Persuasion

It is not necessary that a person needs to know how to persuade and woo his clients. It takes a lot to figure out how much value you assign to your work and making sure to get the same respect from the company. Being a better negotiator can assist in any profession; it is a valuable skill from the interview through the process of climbing up the ladder. It helps to know what market value of your position, and how to leverage it into your favor.
Be it in negotiating for a raise or a promotion, having a firm grasp over negotiation tactics will assist in advancing your career. There are numerous courses online for those who find it a tad bit tedious to look at their employers in the eye and make demands.

Conclusion

Going back to university full time may indeed seem like a complicated, burdensome task due to being indulged in your own professional life. However, applying for a couple of courses online or enrolling in evening classes at your local college can be the difference-maker for the trajectory of your career. Making an effort to invest in yourself, polishing your skillsets, venturing into new territories can make the most significant difference for your career and your personality as well.

Special Needs Children: What Qualifies a Child for Special Education

May 11, 2020 by Mandy

Trying to figure out what qualifies a child for special education?

Not sure exactly how to determine if your child is eligible?

Well, in this article we will take a look at everything you need to know, in order to help your child receive special education, if he needs it.

Keep reading to inform yourself of the 13 categories of IDEA, the evaluation and eligibility process, and much more.

Special Needs: Overview

A special needs child is a youth who has been evaluated and determined to be of the requirement for special attention and accommodations, which other children are not needed in.

Each state declares the status of special needs for the purposes of offering various assistance and benefits to support the well-being and growth of the child.

Special needs can also be legal identification, for locales of foster care of adoption, where both the child and legal guardian will receive support to help them lead fulfilling and productive lifestyles.

What Qualifies a Child for Special Education?

In the cases of classifying and qualifying a child for special education, there are various impairments and conditions that partake in the process. These can include terminal and chronic illnesses, cognitive impairments, and physical issues.

Medical attention and assistance that is required to improve the quality of life for a special needs child add-up and can quickly become expensive. The extent of a condition can account for over-extensive medical support to allow a child to thrive.

They might or might not need to be monitored regularly, in case that the ailments become worse. Support equipment may be needed to provide mobility to the child, and support animals can also be used to assist the child in therapy.

Let’s take a look at the 13 categories that fit in the IDEA (Nation’s Special Education Law), which allow your child to be evaluated later for special education.

Intellectual impairment or disability
Hearing disability (including deafness)
Speech or language disabilities
Visual disabilities (including blindness)
Serious emotional impairment
Orthopedic disabilities
Autism
Traumatic brain disability or injury
Various other health impairments
Specific learning impairments

Nonetheless, the presence of one of these disabilities – does not mean your child qualifies for special education. To become eligible, a child must:

Have a disability from the list.
And as a result of the disability need special education to make progress in school.

The Process of Evaluation

If you, teachers, or anyone else notices that your child is having a hard time at school can request an educational evaluation. No matter who requests the evaluation, the school will need your permission to proceed further.

Conditions like ADHD are not learning ailment but can interfere with traditional education. The condition is diagnosed by an expert or doctor, and not a school. If you think this is your situation, you can prove the diagnosis by presenting documentation to the school.

Nonetheless, the school will most likely perform their own evaluation to gather additional information that you cannot provide.

In most cases, the school educators and psychologist will provide your child with tests, and proceed with a review of records. In conjunction with classroom observance.

The evaluation will be completed by an evaluator who will write up a report. It will include the various scores, summary, and recommendations for assisting your child. You will have a meeting with the team to take a look at the results.

The most important finding will be a determination of your child being or not being troubled with a disability from the IDEA category list.

If your child has a different condition, which is not listed – but makes learning tedious, it might be covered by the “other health impairment” criteria of the IDEA.

If the evaluation results in your child proving eligibility for special education, you will proceed to the next phase. If not, there are other options for you to consider.

For example, you can work with a special education attorney, who will help you stand up for your child and help him receive the care and special education that he needs. Get more information about this here.

Determining Eligibility

If the school determined that your child will be needing assistance and services, the next phase will be an IEP (Individualized Education Program) creation.

Nonetheless, if your child has an IDEA disability, they might not still be eligible. The school will determine whether the disability is keeping the child from learning properly in a regular education classroom. Only, in that case, the school will not provide special education.

With the completion of an IEP, you can proceed with helping your child integrate into the new form of education, which will help them excel, and not stagnate in learning.

Whatever phase of the process you are in, knowledge is critical to the success of your child. So it’s best that you educate yourself on your responsibilities, rights, and other options you can take to help your child acquire special education.

A Look at Special Considerations

A special needs child will require some sort of alternative approach to accommodate their trouble with traditional learning, which will help them to create and further the development of their own learning and potentiated capacity.

For example, a child with a physical disability or verbal communication troubles might need to be trained in a specific way, to help them apply new skills in the class, and real-world scenarios.

Or if a child has a cognitive impairment, the education system will look for methods to get through to the child and help connect with them.

Public education is open to everyone, but not all teachers are trained to present their education material to everyone, in order to accommodate for special needs children. This means that you might need to acquire private lessons, special ed classrooms, or address their education in some other form.

The Bottom Line

Now that you understand the process behind what qualified a child for special education, you are well on your way to helping your child play to his strengths, and acquire the special assistance that will help him thrive and grow in this world.

The bottom line is:

The definition of special needs covers a wide variety of elements, illnesses, disabilities.
Guardians and parents can receive tax credits and deductions to help manage the costs of raising a special needs child.
Some special needs children can go to a regular school if they offer various emotional support and educational programs.

For similar topics, check out our other blogs.

Good luck!

How to Use Tech to Help With Homeschooling

April 27, 2020 by Mandy

There are many reasons you may have to homeschool a child, whether for a short period of time or for a long while. Perhaps you don’t live in an area where you have easy access to a school, or maybe your child has a chronic illness and can’t attend a public school. The COVID-19 pandemic has even required some parents to homeschool their children for a short period of time. If you’re in this situation, here are a few ways you can use tech to boost it.

Create Virtual Deadlines

Technology is great for creating deadlines, which is something you might want to use for homeschooling. For example, you can use an online service to set up deadlines for English papers or homework assignments, which your child can check in on and mark as “complete” when they’re finished with it. These virtual deadlines allow you to determine how your child’s handling certain deadlines or even the concept of deadlines in general.

Allow Your Child to Develop Interests

One thing that public schooling tends to hamper in children is their creativity. When you’re trying to create a curriculum that will work for dozens of children, who will cycle out every year, you’re going to have to ignore most of the unique characteristics of these children. That leads to many children not developing a love for any subject because it’s not tailored to them. A benefit of homeschooling is that you can encourage your child toward the fields they love, and the internet opens them up to many new fields.

Utilize Resources Other Parents Have Created

You’re not the only person who’s homeschooling your child. There are plenty of other parents out there who have also made the decision to homeschool for whatever reason. Those parents have then come up with their own tips, tricks, curriculum, and resources that you can utilize to help with your own homeschooling journey. It’s easier to come up with your own plan when you can create it by pulling from other people’s preexisting plans, which you can often find online.

Don’t Try to Recreate a School Perfectly

Some parents worry that if they’re unable to recreate the feeling of public school perfectly in their homeschooling endeavors, they’ll end up failing their child. The fact is, you don’t have to make sure your children are sitting down for eight hours every weekday to teach them valuable and important information. If you choose to utilize math games on your tablet, visit your local science center’s online learning portal, and assign the newest YA novel instead of classic literature, that’s fine.

Reach Out for Expert Resources

External schooling resources can be extremely helpful if you’re trying to help your child learn. Every child needs different information to succeed, and the experts out there will help your child get the information they need. Plus, livestreaming courses like those at OneClass will help you utilize tech to teach your kids what they need to know.

You don’t have to be an expert in everything to homeschool your child. You just need to be willing to take information from anywhere it comes from, whether that’s an online streaming service or a paper textbook. Utilize tech in your day-to-day teaching lifestyle to make homeschooling easier on yourself and your children.

3 Ways to Reduce the Cost of Sending Your Kid to College

April 24, 2020 by Mandy

The day that your son or daughter is accepted to the university of their dreams is a proud day for you as a parent. Unfortunately, though, it is also the start of the stressful process of trying to find the funding required to send your kid to college. From rising tuition costs to room and board, there are so many things that contribute to the overall cost of attending a four-year university these days.

While at first glance, you might be wondering how you are going to afford to help your child earn their college degree, there are certainly plenty of options out there that can help reduce these costs. Here are three ways that you might be able to cut down the expenses associated with college.

1. Scholarships

Scholarships are probably the most popular route to take when it comes to finding funding for further education. There are a lot of different scholarships out there that range in the amount you can receive to cover part of your college funding or even the full cost of tuition. The key is to find the right scholarships for the university your child hopes to attend, and then apply to as many as possible.

For instance, if your child wishes to go to college in Ohio, you need to find scholarships in Ohio specifically. You can visit CampusReel to find out more about this. Some federal scholarships might be applicable to universities all over the country, while others will only be available for use locally. No matter which scholarships your child wants to apply for, make sure that they start applying early so that they can increase their chances of receiving as much additional funding as possible.

2. Shop Around

Some students dream of attending a particular university and are not willing to compromise that dream. While there is nothing wrong with this concept in general, it is important to highlight to your child that some universities are far more affordable than others.

Take into account the difference between attending college in your home state instead of going out of state. There is a significant difference between in-state tuition and out-of-state tuition. If your child is willing to attend a university closer to home, then you could stand to save a significant amount if they continue to live at home.

Furthermore, the cost of attending a private university is far greater than that of a state school. While private schools can be more prestigious, an education from a state university can be just as valuable for a fraction of the cost.

3. Start Small

While attending a four-year university is the goal of most students, you and your child might consider the option of taking a year or two at a community college first and then transferring to a major university. There are core classes that all college students must complete in the pursuit of a degree. Often, these classes can be taken at a community college for a considerably lower cost compared to the tuition at a large university, and then those credits can transfer over to a university.

Here’s Why You Should Consider Catholic Education for Your Child

April 1, 2020 by Mandy

Your kids are finally approaching the age where it’s time to send them to school.

You thought of sending your little ones to the local public school but are wary.

You’ve considered homeschooling them, but there aren’t any local co-ops nearby.

So, you turn to private schools. There may be many, or few options nearby, but your biggest concern is what the possible benefits of Catholic education are.

Whether you’ve received a Catholic education or not, you are certainly wondering why Catholic schools are better than your other options.

Read on to learn why.

Benefits of Catholic Education

An important note: you do not have to be Catholic to attend or send your children to a Catholic school. This leads to the first major reason for considering Catholic education.

A Culture of Service and Respect

There is an important culture of and communal understanding of other persons, from all parts of this world which is integral to Catholic faith and education.

ALL of us are God’s children, and a Catholic education emphasizes as such.

With this in mind, consider how Catholic education, versus a public school education, encourages such respect.

This same community that teaches respect does so through more than policy but through direct acts of service.

The culture and community of respect grow from families, educators, and religious working together–directly forming children into generous persons.

Discipline and Excellence

Catholic education emphasizes academic rigor. Students are taught discipline as part of the faith, which leads to high expectations in scholastic achievement.

Students are seen as good, not simply because they follow rules, but because they were made as such. The discipline taught in Catholic schools stems from the recognition of the inner goodness of all people and then helping students behave accordingly.

Excellence naturally follows, with emphasis on both moral and academic discipline. This often leads to a clear path to college. In fact, the majority of Catholic high school graduates attend college.

An Enlightened Worldview

Through the high expectations of behavior and academic performance, the discipline instilled to achieve them, and the strong, healthy relationships, Catholic school education shows students how their goodness is part of the world.

This results in an emphasis on the arts and humanities less common in public school education–which tends to focus on results, over the quality of independent performance.

In essence, these students learn to see true goodness, in the Catholic, classical sense of goodness, in everyone and everything around them. These are the benefits of a Catholic education from Notre Dame Academy.

Is Catholic School Worth It?

The benefits of Catholic education listed above should be evidence enough, but one last concrete note to consider: on average, Catholic schools are far less costly than other private education.

You’re also investing in more than your child’s academic future, but that of their entire well-being when you choose Catholic education.

Furthermore, the majority of Catholic schools also include financial aid, in light of the necessity of Catholic education.

When you determine the worth of your child’s future, don’t stop at whether they’re academically equipped for this world, but if they’re ready for the emotional and spiritual demands, too.