Education Philosophy:

At The Thinking Kid, we believe in stimulating and feeding each student’s natural curiosity and desire for knowledge. We encourage each of our students to develop a love for learning while fostering their critical thinking skills and abilities to share thoughts and ideas. Ultimately, we strive to help you as you guide your children into becoming persuasive, informed young adults able to make informed decisions. We believe these students will become intelligent adults with rich lives who enjoy the opportunity to think and express themselves freely, unbound by any conformity of thought.

Expectations:

The Thinking Kid is a resource for parents seeking further education for their children. To allow for an effective and efficient online experience, we must all agree to the following expectations.

What You Can Expect from The Thinking Kid:

1. Informed, passionate, and caring class teachers. Each class teacher has been carefully selected for their abilities to share their subject material in a highly engaging manner, as well as for their ability to bring the best out of others.

2. Each student must play a role in the learning process. Your child will be interacting with their teacher and the other students on a regular basis.

3. Mind, Brain, and Learning: Through our live online classes, we actively integrate Mind-Brain learning techniques, harnessing cognitive principles to optimize your child's learning experience and engagement.

4. Homework: We assign homework to reinforce the information shared in class. We ask that you support and encourage your child in completing their homework. You can see all homework assignments at the beginning of each class series by accessing the syllabus posted in the Showbie classroom. If your student is in a literature-based class, they will be expected to read (or have already read) the literature being discussed. If your child is in a writing class, they will want to write a piece to share with the other class members.

5. Transparency. With TTK, you can attend class meetings with your child. You may communicate with your student’s teachers at any time.

6. A consistent online platform for class interactions. We utilize Microsoft Teams as our online platform. Through Microsoft Teams, your child can connect with their teacher and peers, engaging in video and audio interactions just like in a virtual meeting. Microsoft Teams provides top-notch video and audio quality and seamless wireless screen-sharing capabilities on Windows, Mac, Linux, Chrome OS, iOS, Android, Blackberry, Microsoft Teams Rooms, and H.323/SIP room systems.

7. Constant quality control. All class meetings will be recorded and archived. At the conclusion of a class, parents and students will be asked to submit an evaluation of the class. A representative number of these evaluations will be posted on the TTK website when the class or class teacher is featured again on TTK.

8. A safeguarded online platform for your children. Microsoft Teams prioritizes security as a paramount concern throughout the entire lifecycle of its public and hybrid cloud networks. Microsoft Teams is committed to consistently delivering a comprehensive array of security capabilities to fulfill the needs of organizations, ensuring a secure environment for collaborative activities.

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What We Expect of Parents:

Parents are expected to take full responsibility for their child’s education. TTK is a resource that enables parents to provide the education they want for their children. To help TTK effectively assist with the education of your child, we need you to ensure the following:

1. An individual student is using each class.

2. The class is the appropriate level for your child.

3. Your child has their own computer, headset, microphone, and webcam (all in working condition). Devices are connected to consistently strong internet.

4. If more than one child is registered in the same class, they each have their own computer, headset, microphone, and webcam.

5. Your child is prepared to type on the keyboard. They do not need to be fluent typists; their proficiency will grow as they attend more classes.

6. All materials/books needed for a class are purchased before they are needed in the class. During class, the student should have all the needed books with them.

7. The student is present for as many classes as possible and logs on punctually. Please try to keep the student from being distracted during the class meeting, avoiding background music, loud noises or conversations, and other distracting background noise. This is particularly important when your child speaks or presents during class.

8. Parents should be open to communication with class teachers through email.

9. The student should have access to a family member's or have their own Gmail account. This allows our parents to share Google files of worksheets with their students.

10. All tuition and payments are made.

 

What we expect of TTK Students:

1. We must respect our fellow students and our class teacher to allow everybody to grow and learn. We want everyone to feel welcome and accepted so they can develop to be the best they can be.

2. We must focus on the teacher when they are sharing. This means we must be quiet and listen when the teacher speaks. If you have a question, please use the “raise hand” option so your class teacher can call on you to speak.

3. We must always use kind words when commenting during class meetings and texting in the chatbox. We do not use strong or hurtful language.

4. We should make every effort to come to classes rested and nourished. It is difficult to focus when we are tired and hungry.

5. We encourage others to keep trying and when we can, help them along. We are all learning together.

6. We always try our best. Some days are better than others, but we always put forth our very best effort.

7. When we are away from class, we think about what we learned and work on our new skills. We must complete any outside work and take time to explore our Super Learning packet. This will help us absorb all the information your class teacher shares. Also, this will allow you to share more during the class meetings.

 

Texting

Texting is a part of our world. And texting in the chatbox during classes is a large part of our online class experience, but we need to follow specific guidelines to keep our chatting from becoming a distraction. Here are a few Dos and Don’ts:

DO’s

Do use the chatbox to answer a teacher’s question.

Do use the chatbox when your teacher allows you to, by answering discussion questions or commenting on the class material.

Do stay on topic in the text box.

Do ask questions during class.

Do use private chat to ask for permission from the teacher to be excused from class.

Do encourage or compliment fellow students before or after their presentations.

DON’TS

DO NOT ever use inappropriate or abusive language in the text box. All our words are kind.

Do not go off-topic.

Do not use excessive emoticons or text slang.

Do not “hog” the chatbox. Take turns. Give everyone a chance to participate. Remember, not everyone needs to comment and not everything needs to be commented on. Think before you text. If in question, don’t text.

Do not text with other students during the class. All texting should be relevant to the class discussion.

Do not text during a student presentation.

Do not ask text if a question can be asked later through an email to your class teacher. Excessive questions take time from teaching time (or game time!).

Cancellations and Refunds:

We do our best to keep the schedule that is posted, but sometimes class offerings and teachers are subject to change without notice. We will contact you by email if your child is affected. If the change causes you to want to withdraw your child from the class, you have ten days to do so, and any deposit or paid tuition will be refunded or TTK points provided, whichever you choose.

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Class Refund Policy:

If you choose to withdraw your child from a class:

If the withdrawal happens two weeks in advance of the class start date, you may receive a full refund. Once the class starts, no credits or refunds will be given.

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​Regarding Technology:

 

Logging on-

Your teacher will have shared a Microsoft Teams link within your Showbie classroom.

Simply click on the link, and you will be connected to the Microsoft Teams meeting.

A blank screen will appear, displaying the message: "Your meeting will commence shortly..."

Get ready to participate in the class!

How to have a great online class experience-

All these tips are important! If your child does not have a great connection to their class, please review this list and try to follow each of these tips.

Your child’s headset should be directly plugged into their computer via USB.

Your child’s computer should be wired directly into the router. It is possible to work with a wifi or cellular signal, but if this is not providing a consistent connection, you may have to opt for a stronger wifi service or plug directly into your router.

Calendar:

Our classes take place year-round. Teachers choose the dates of their classes.

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Terms and Conditions
By registering for classes at The Thinking Kid, you agree to the following terms and conditions:
 

1. Permission to Use Student Work
Grant of Permission: By enrolling in The Thinking Kid classes, you grant The Thinking Kid the worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free right to use, reproduce, distribute, modify, perform, translate, create derivative works from, and display your work in any media, in connection with promoting and marketing The Thinking Kid and its educational programs.
Scope of Use: The Thinking Kid may use your work in various materials, including but not limited to:

• The Thinking Kid's website and social media pages

• Promotional brochures and other marketing materials

• Educational publications and presentations

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2. Student Image and Likeness
Consent to Use Image and Likeness: By registering for classes at The Thinking Kid, you grant The Thinking Kid the worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free right to use your image and likeness in connection with promoting and marketing The Thinking Kid and its educational programs.
Scope of Use: The Thinking Kid may use your image and likeness in various materials, including but not limited to:

• The Thinking Kid's website and social media pages

• Promotional brochures and other marketing materials

• Educational publications and presentations

Student Rights: You retain the right to revoke your consent to the use of your image and likeness at any time. To do so, please submit a written request to The Thinking Kid's privacy officer.

3. Third-Party Platforms
The Thinking Kid may use third-party platforms to host and display student work and images. You agree to comply with the terms of service of these platforms.
 

4. Removal of Student Work and Images
The Thinking Kid will remove your work and images from its website and social media pages upon your written request. However, The Thinking Kid may retain copies of your work and images for archival purposes.
 

5. Intellectual Property
All intellectual property rights in the course materials and other resources provided by The Thinking Kid remain the property of The Thinking Kid. You agree not to copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, or create derivative works from these materials without the prior written consent of The Thinking Kid.
 

6. Termination
The Thinking Kid may terminate your enrollment in any class or program at its sole discretion. Upon termination, you will no longer have access to course materials or other resources provided by The Thinking Kid.
 

7. Changes to Terms and Conditions
The Thinking Kid may modify these terms and conditions at any time by posting the revised terms on its website. You agree to be bound by the most current version of these terms and conditions.

8. Governing Law
These terms and conditions are governed by the laws of the State of Maryland.

Contact Us
If you have any questions about these terms and conditions, please contact The Thinking Kid's privacy officer at miriambonney@thethinkingkid.org 

Last, but not least:

In case there is a change:

The Thinking Kid may make some changes to this handbook throughout the year, and we will note those changes here.

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(Last edit: 11/16/23)

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