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A List of Affordable Learning Resources for Students in Middle School and High School.
Recently, we published an article that touched on the current plight of the public and nonpublic school system in the United States. Unending as the list of plight-related woes may seem, our ultimate goal is to highlight the very practical courses of action available to parents, community leaders and local school authorities to help remedy the adverse situations we are facing when it comes to educating our children.
As promised, here is a shortlist of viable options for improving the education of the next generation of world leaders. This list includes resources to fill in the gap of Social Emotional Learning experienced by most students, as well as core learning subjects such as English, History, Mathematics and Science.
We created this resource to expand accessibility for parents who wish to improve learning opportunities for their children.
Recently, we published an article that touched on the current plight of the public and nonpublic school system in the United States. Unending as the list of plight-related woes may seem, our ultimate goal is to highlight the very practical courses of action available to parents, community leaders and local school authorities to help remedy the adverse situations we are facing when it comes to educating our children.
As promised, here is a shortlist of viable options for improving the education of the next generation of world leaders. This list includes resources to fill in the gap of Social Emotional Learning experienced by most students, as well as core learning subjects such as English, History, Mathematics and Science.
Social Emotional Learning at SEA (ages 13 and up)
Self Exploration Academy (SEA) is an online platform expanding access to holistic higher education for children and adults ages 13 and up by creating learning programs to advocate awareness, agency, confidence and competence within its students.
Register for our headline course, Identity, Expression and Desire. This is an on demand learning course that is designed to build up each student’s skills in self-awareness, self-expression and self-determination. Click here to view the full course outline. Click here to register.
Orientation launches on January 02, 2023. Here is a brief overview of what each student will learn:
Communication
Public Speaking + Presentation
Goal Setting + Execution
Deductive Reasoning
Mindfulness
Critical + Integrative Thinking
Self-Discovery
Self-Expression
Self-Determination
Universal Core Competencies
English Learning with 98thPercentile
98thPercentile offers Live Online, Math, English, Public Speaking and Coding programs for K-12 students that are geared to drive them a grade ahead in just 6 months, GUARANTEED. (via website)
You can book a free trial of English Language Arts learning, take a free online placement test to see where your child’s English skill levels are and speak with a specialist to enrol them in a promotional class, or get started with free English worksheets.
Here is a brief overview of what students can expect to learn:
Reading Fluency and Comprehension
Vocabulary, Spelling and Grammar
Single Paragraph Essay Writing
Multi-Paragraph Essay Writing
Multi-Genre Writing Structure
History / Social Studies Learning with Outschool
Outschool is an online learning platform for students as young as three years old, all the way up to 18 years of age. Founded in 2015, Outschool was originally known among the homeschooled community and quickly grew in popularity among conventional school goers as well. In 2020, their dynamic live learning provisions skyrocketed their success, and helped them create affordable access to quality learning experiences for many more students and families.
We recommend registering for history courses today. One thing we love about Outschool is the wide range of options available. Here are some of the course offerings to consider in this subject:
Afternoon Tea With Artists - Art History | Small Online Class for Ages 8-12
Let's Learn Geography: Around the World Travel Class | Small Online Class for Ages 7-11
African American History: Civil Rights - The Sit-In Movement | Small Online Class for Ages 6-11
Mathematics Learning with ALEKS® by McGraw-Hill
“ALEKS is an online math assessment and adaptive learning program for grades 3–12 that helps students review and successfully master the skills needed to meet critical mathematical benchmarks and standards.” (via website)
Developed by McGraw-Hill, ALEKS offers a myriad of learning opportunities for students with course content ranging “from Grade 3 to Precalculus which allows students to work on lesson-level content at their own pace while still acquiring prerequisite skill support or extending their learning, making it ideal for remediation, intervention, or enrichment settings.” (via website)
Click here to discover the right course options for your children, and register today.
Science Learning with Mad Science Worldwide
Mad Science Worldwide is an international learning franchise on a mission to “inspire children through science, sparking lifelong imagination and curiosity.” A blurb from their website:
For over 30 years, Mad Science has developed science programs that are kid-tested and approved. From our humble beginnings to the present day, we have always believed that hands-on, fun STEM experiences form the foundation of a lifelong love of science, technology, engineering, and math! (via website)
More recently, their team of scientists and STEM educators have created a learning space online to provide convenient and enriching learning experiences for kids around the world. The learning platform includes a “variety of different content types, from video lessons and quick, at-home experiments to science challenges, quizzes and fun activity sheets,” all at a price of $10 USD per month! Click here to learn more.
As of this writing, Self Exploration Academy (SEA) remains unaffiliated with the aforementioned learning institutions. Your decision to review and invest in the learning opportunities they provide has no fiscal impact on SEA. We do not receive a commission of any kind by sharing these resources with you. We wholeheartedly recommend visiting these sites to learn more about how they may help you in providing the optimal learning opportunities for your children, and are more than happy to provide additional information and support regarding the courses offered here at SEA.
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Our Children Deserve Better Education. Parents Can and Must Act Now.
This issue of insufficiency, inaccuracy and possible lack of fundamental teaching in nonpublic and religious schooling is nothing new. For years, parents, local school authorities and departments of education have been in constant exchange on the matter of regulating the instructional materials of nonpublic schooling for children.
As upsetting as the news surrounding public and nonpublic education in The United States may be, instead of simply viewing it as a call to worry or a call to complain, Self Exploration Academy sees this as an opportunity and a call to take action and create real change. Now more than ever, parents need to know that there are opportunities to ensure their children have access to the education they need in order to be successful and productive citizens in their communities.
The dwindling state of public and nonpublic education is presenting a strong call to action for parents across the United States.
Recent reports on the state of education in the United States have been alarming to say the least. From the religious and nonpublic to the public sector of P-12 learning, statistics show a troubling decline in instructional content of the institution, and in the learning progress of students. In some cases, parents and caretakers are doing everything they can to take action or supplement learning for their children where institutionalised education has failed them, and in many other cases, parents struggle to discover practical options.
An article published in The New York Times on December 12, 2022 shone a light on the unique challenges parents are facing in Hasidic Jewish communities when trying to withdraw their children from yeshivas and place them in secular schools. A core concern of the parents taking action in many of these cases is the insufficiency, inaccuracy and possible lack of teaching around fundamental subjects such as Mathematics, History, English and Science. A major reasoning behind this issue is the traditional prioritisation of praying and studying Jewish law above all else. A 10-year-old boy with dreams of working for NASA, according to his mother, was told by his teacher “that the planets revolve around the Earth.” (New York Times, 2022)
This issue of insufficiency, inaccuracy and possible lack of fundamental teaching in nonpublic and religious schooling is nothing new. For years, parents, local school authorities and departments of education have been in constant exchange on the matter of regulating the instructional materials of nonpublic schooling for children. Case in point – just this September, a new proposal was sent to the P-12 Education Committee from James N. Baldwin, the Senior Deputy Commissioner of The State Education Department. The proposal is an amendment to Part 130 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education relating to nonpublic schools and substantially equivalent instruction for nonpublic school students. Substantially equivalent instruction is a legal term used in this scenario as a way to say that the teachings of nonpublic schools should at least meet the basic requirements or standards of public school education.
Generally speaking, public schools ought to be seen as the basic standard for education for students of P-12 learning age. Unfortunately though, recent data demonstrates that over the last 20 years, and certainly since the onset of the pandemic, there has been a noticeable decline in the learning progress of students enrolled in public schools across the United States. A recent article published to The Academy Blog explored how more than half of all K-12 public schools in the nation being understaffed has contributed to this decline, and yet another article documented the social and economic stress of learning loss amongst public school students during the pandemic, students who in some cases have fallen behind by more than a year in their academic performance.
As upsetting as the news surrounding public and nonpublic education in The United States may be, instead of simply viewing it as a call to worry or a call to complain, Self Exploration Academy sees this as an opportunity and a call to take action and create real change. Now more than ever, parents need to know that there are opportunities to ensure their children have access to the education they need in order to be successful and productive citizens in their communities. From the rudimentary and essential contents of Mathematics, English, History and Science, to the more nuanced subjects of the Arts and Social Emotional Learning. The future belongs to the next generation, but only if they develop the skills needed to take ownership in the lives they lead.
For parents who wish to see their children succeed, we want to help. Self Exploration Academy offers courses focused on social emotional learning to help build awareness, agency, confidence and competency within its students. We fill the gap between the essentials of core academic instruction and core competencies needed to navigate the real world successfully, however, many institutions responsible for providing sufficient core academic instruction are failing to do just that. So we are building a short list to resource parents and caretakers who wish to create every opportunity for their children to learn, grow and succeed.
The list will be published one week from today. In the meantime, please feel free to explore our headline on demand course, Identity, Expression and Desire. This course is designed for students aged 13 and up, to build up each student’s skills in self-awareness, self-expression and self-determination. You can view the course outline here, and pre register for the course here. Orientation begins Monday, January 02, 2023.
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Understaffed Public Schools Are a Problem. We Need a Solution Now.
The Institute of Education Sciences published new federal data this September, confirming the fact that 53% of all K-12 public schools in the United States felt understaffed and were experiencing difficulties in filling teaching positions for the 2022-23 school year.
We can build strategy for the next generation of students until we’re blue in the face, but no longer can we deny or delay a reality that persists. Understaffed public schools diminish institutional capacity for thorough, high quality education.
We must create sustainable solutions to the losses endured by young learners, and we should do so sooner rather than later.
The Covid-19 pandemic is one that took most by surprise, and left many of us feeling more uncertain than ever about our future, and the future of our loved ones. According to the editorial board at The Wall Street Journal, the long term economic impact on a generation of kids in grade schools across the United States is also a cause for genuine concern after many students have fallen behind in their learning journey.
“If the recent learning loss can’t be reversed, it would equate to a 1.6% drop in lifetime earnings for the average K-12 student, or a nationwide total of some $900 billion.” (Wall Street Journal, 2022)
A study conducted by researchers at Harvard and Dartmouth discovered that after three decades of improved math performance within eighth graders across the United States, an estimated 40% of progress made was lost between the years 2019 and 2022. Furthermore, the study suggested that if these learning losses accrued during the pandemic were not somehow made up for, the long term implications would amount to a “1.6 percent decline in present value of lifetime earnings for the average K-12 student (or $19,400), totaling $900 billion for the 48 million students enrolled in public schools during the 2020-21 school year.”
As the article published in the Wall Street Journal mentions, learning losses for students from more affluent families, neighborhoods and schools are not nearly as dramatic or concerning. The major concern comes into play with lower income public school families, most of whose children qualify for free or reduced cost lunch (for perspective). Parents who cannot afford to whisk their children away from insufficient or otherwise dissatisfactory learning opportunities and environments are in dire need of an alternative to help secure a better future for the next generation of their families.
The conclusion reached in the study by researchers at Harvard and Dartmouth recommends a federal pandemic relief investment of $190 billion to directly fund the reversal effort of learning loss in grade school math across the nation, however, whether or not the federal funding is supplied in time, there may now more than ever be an even stronger case for creating programs that help build integrative and deductive reasoning skills within young learners, who are soon to be the leaders of tomorrow whether they are ready by previously upheld standards or not.
Featured Courses
Related Posts
The Economic Stress of Learning Loss During Covid May Far Outlive the Pandemic, Unless Relief Comes
The conclusion reached in the study by researchers at Harvard and Dartmouth recommends a federal pandemic relief investment of $190 billion to directly fund the reversal effort of learning loss in grade school math across the nation, however, whether or not the federal funding is supplied in time, there may now more than ever be an even stronger case for creating programs that help build integrative and deductive reasoning skills within young learners, who are soon to be the leaders of tomorrow whether they are ready by previously upheld standards or not.
We must create sustainable solutions to the losses endured by young learners, and we should do so sooner rather than later.
The Covid-19 pandemic is one that took most by surprise, and left many of us feeling more uncertain than ever about our future, and the future of our loved ones. According to the editorial board at The Wall Street Journal, the long term economic impact on a generation of kids in grade schools across the United States is also a cause for genuine concern after many students have fallen behind in their learning journey.
“If the recent learning loss can’t be reversed, it would equate to a 1.6% drop in lifetime earnings for the average K-12 student, or a nationwide total of some $900 billion.” (Wall Street Journal, 2022)
A study conducted by researchers at Harvard and Dartmouth discovered that after three decades of improved math performance within eighth graders across the United States, an estimated 40% of progress made was lost between the years 2019 and 2022. Furthermore, the study suggested that if these learning losses accrued during the pandemic were not somehow made up for, the long term implications would amount to a “1.6 percent decline in present value of lifetime earnings for the average K-12 student (or $19,400), totaling $900 billion for the 48 million students enrolled in public schools during the 2020-21 school year.”
As the article published in the Wall Street Journal mentions, learning losses for students from more affluent families, neighborhoods and schools are not nearly as dramatic or concerning. The major concern comes into play with lower income public school families, most of whose children qualify for free or reduced cost lunch (for perspective). Parents who cannot afford to whisk their children away from insufficient or otherwise dissatisfactory learning opportunities and environments are in dire need of an alternative to help secure a better future for the next generation of their families.
The conclusion reached in the study by researchers at Harvard and Dartmouth recommends a federal pandemic relief investment of $190 billion to directly fund the reversal effort of learning loss in grade school math across the nation, however, whether or not the federal funding is supplied in time, there may now more than ever be an even stronger case for creating programs that help build integrative and deductive reasoning skills within young learners, who are soon to be the leaders of tomorrow whether they are ready by previously upheld standards or not.
Featured Courses
Related Posts
Recently, we published an article that touched on the current plight of the public and nonpublic school system in the United States. Unending as the list of plight-related woes may seem, our ultimate goal is to highlight the very practical courses of action available to parents, community leaders and local school authorities to help remedy the adverse situations we are facing when it comes to educating our children.
As promised, here is a shortlist of viable options for improving the education of the next generation of world leaders. This list includes resources to fill in the gap of Social Emotional Learning experienced by most students, as well as core learning subjects such as English, History, Mathematics and Science.