Blogs

Creativity and invention knows no age. It’s amazing what students can create if they believe they have a gift to offer the world, one that can make a difference.

Natalie Hampton, a 16-year-old teenager from California, did just that. She was attending a new school in seventh grade, and wound up eating lunch alone the entire year, because the thought of approaching a table of strangers and getting socially rejected was too intimidating. Five years later, at a new school where she was thriving, Natalie still remembered how ostracized she felt.

What a privilege it is to serve such a diverse student body. CMASAS students and families come from dozens of different countries around the world, speaking different languages, practicing different cultures, devoting themselves to different religions and beliefs. Our students are vibrant, brilliant young people, each so perfectly unique in their own ways. 

Because you are remarkable, you dare to be different. You touch the future and you change the game, in ways that no one else has thought of before. You no longer move on a factory belt, captured by common, forced into a rhythm of conformity that your feet don’t move to. You’re not play-it-safers, do-it-laters, settling for average, creators of complacency.

Sometimes a mission just sits on a wall but CMASAS’s philosophy is embedded in multiple things. ~AdvancedEd Tamra Excell, co-founder of CMASAS and our program designer, recently returned from meetings where the school’s accreditation was reviewed and renewed, receiving wide support from the accreditation team AdvancedEd.

Ever fall into a rabbit hole online? Perhaps it was social media, or even reading an article with links to other articles, which in turn have links to other articles? Need help? Now there’s an app for that. Or several apps. With today’s technology, you can become a cyborg. Rescue Time is an app you install on your devices to track how you spend your time each day. You can also set alarms to let you know you’ve reached a self-imposed limit on an activity, or even create blocks. Start or pause the app any time you wish.

Far too many students sit in a classroom, surrounded by thirty other students, receiving no attention from their teacher. Too many students are unable to communicate with their instructors, falling behind in classes and failing to master materials. With online school’s one-on-one teacher and student interactions however, students are able to learn faster, master more material, remember their course work and truly love learning. One-on-one learning relationships empower students to take control over their studies, have the confidence to communicate what they need, and receive the personalized attention that will enable them to succeed.

Many parents and educators work hard to instill healthy behaviors in children from a very young age, all for their lifelong health and success. We teach children to be polite, responsible and intuitive. What about teaching children how to be generous? And apart from obvious reasons why generosity is important, like “sharing is caring”, why would we want to teach this discipline and attitude to our children?

What is success? How should one define it? Is it even necessary for us to define it? Researchers suggest that yes, it is essential for us to each define success, because the definition is what drives our motivations, actions, and path in life.

Last week on the blog we talked about the benefits of building schedules and creating routines. Healthy habits and routines help us to work efficiently, to learn material quickly and to produce great results in our daily lives. If routines are practiced too regularly however, we are at risk of becoming robots, sacrificing spontaneous joys for an imagined need to stick to the plan.

Some people are what we often call “creatures of habit” and are the ones who thrive off of routine and structure. Others are sometimes deemed “free spirits” and are the people who cringe at to-do lists and feel stifled by schedules. No matter the personality type, upbringing, or work ethic, some level of routine is beneficial for everyone.

Dear graduate, Trust me for a moment and do a crazy thing. Close your eyes and breathe. Breathe deep, big, bigger than you are used to. Listen to the air move up and down your throat, massaging your inner body as it moves. As you listen to your breath remember this, you are alive, you are well. Now do another crazy thing. Go outside. Don’t wear shoes.

You’ve been laughed at. You’ve been misunderstood. You’ve been left alone. You’ve been noticed, identified, set apart from the crowd. Strange, odd, weird, unusual — these are words others use towards you behind your back, or worse, to your face.

Something most parents and educators all agree on is the desire to nurture young people into being holistically healthy, happy and prepared individuals. We not only want students to gain intellectual intelligence, but to also have healthy bodies, balanced lifestyles, and a sustainable emotional life. Over the last decade or so, researchers, educators and parents have realized and placed greater importance on the emotional intelligence of children. It is important to teach children how to understand and manage their emotions, as researchers now correlate emotional intelligence to future success in life.

Though it’s often difficult to encourage social growth in an online school setting, we have developed many opportunities to help students connect with their peers and explore their passions. One opportunity students have to connect with others is through our online clubs. These clubs have great attendance and many students have said that going to club meetings is their favorite part of the week.