(by Shelby Doyle) - Parents across the country are seriously rethinking what they and their children need when it comes to K-12 education. From considering switching to new schools to using tutoring, or out-of-school co-ops and learning pods, parents are getting creative. While some might have expected the pace of change and exploration to slow down after two long years of learning disruptions, parents remain motivated and curious about ways to make sure their child is learning and progressing.

In a survey conducted this month by the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, 53.7 percent of parents said they had considered in the last year, or were currently considering, choosing a new or different school for their child. And 86.1 percent of them are concerned about their child's academic progress.

For parents wanting to find a new school, this is the best time of the year to start the process. It's National School Choice Week January 22 through 28, and the news media, school leaders, teachers, and parents across the country are talking about education options. Parents can research their options at schoolchoiceweek.com and attend community events designed to help them choose.

January's not an arbitrary time for the Week to fall. It's a time when these decisions for the fall come to a head. Many enrollment deadlines fall in the winter months, no matter how far away they feel from the coming August. With the first half of the school year completed, families start to have a clearer idea of whether they need to make a change.

Dozens of states around the country in the last few years have expanded educational opportunities for parents to choose traditional public schools, public charter schools, public magnet schools, private schools, online learning, or homeschooling. Families can benefit from checking in to see if the landscape of options in their community have changed.

If you want to help spread the word about educational opportunity this week, here are some ideas. First, start a conversation with your child about what they like about school and what they wish were different. Second, learn more about educational options, or share that information with a friend. Third, show appreciation for the school(s) you've chosen by volunteering or saying thank you to a teacher this week.

Every parent, student, teacher, and community leader who is celebrating National School Choice Week proudly supports and empowers families to choose the right educational fit for their child. Will you join them?

Shelby Doyle is the vice president of public awareness at the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that hosts National School Choice Week each January and maintains the nation’s largest online portfolio of English- and Spanish-language school navigation resources.

(NewsUSA) - Financial planning can help you reach your goals in life. It is also a profession that offers rewarding, flexible careers. These careers provide many benefits, including work-life balance, growth potential and the opportunity to make a difference in other people’s lives.

Financial planners who go on to earn professional certifications may enjoy even greater benefits. Becoming a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^TMprofessional, for example, shows potential clients and employers that you have met extensive training and experience requirements and are committed to high ethical and professional standards. CFP^® professionals consistently say their certification gives them a competitive edge over other advisors, increases their credibility with clients and boosts their income and career satisfaction.

If you decide to become a CFP^® professional, you must complete the following four requirements:

• Education: You must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and complete a financial planning program that has been approved by CFP Board. If you have an advanced degree or hold other professional designations, you may be able to skip some of these coursework requirements.

• Exam: Once you’ve completed the education requirement, you are ready to take the CFP^® exam. This comprehensive exam tests your ability to apply financial planning knowledge to real-life situations, emphasizing critical thinking and problem-solving skills over factual recall or recognition. It covers the financial planning process, risk management and insurance, and other important topics.

• Experience: You must also complete at least two to three years of financial planning experience to qualify for CFP^® certification. This experience may be gained through a professional position or an apprenticeship, and it may be completed either before or after you pass the CFP^® exam. You can earn qualifying experience in several ways, from engaging with clients directly to supporting the financial planning process to teaching financial planning-related courses.

• Ethics: All CFP^® professionals commit to CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct, meaning they agree to adhere to high ethical and professional standards for the practice of financial planning. Importantly, the Code and Standards include a commitment to CFP Board to act as a fiduciary — that is, to put their clients’ best interests first — when providing financial advice. You will also need to disclose information about your background, as CFP Board will conduct a detailed background check.

Visit CFP.net to learn more about these requirements and how to get started.

The path to CFP^® certification is a rigorous process, but it provides you with the knowledge and skills you need for a fulfilling financial planning career.

(NewsUSA) -  

The House at the End of the World
by Dean Koontz

Soon no one on Earth will have a place to hide in this novel about fears known and unknown by #1 NYTimes bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz. In retreat from a devastating loss and crushing injustice, Katie lives alone in a fortress-like stone house on Jacob’s Ladder island. Once a rising star in the art world, she finds refuge in her painting.

A neighboring island houses a secret government research facility. And now two agents have arrived on Jacob’s Ladder in search of someone―or something―they refuse to identify. Although an air of menace hangs over them, an infinitely greater threat has arrived.

Katie soon finds herself in a terrifying battle against an omnipresent terror that could bring about the end of the world.

Purchase at http://bit.ly/3tWnqL8.

A Week’s Worth
by Thyme Lewis

To those who cross Mac, punishment comes on a daily basis. With a skill set rivaling special operatives in the world’s most elite gangs, Mac navigates the country working for FEMA, helping those less fortunate resurrect their lives after the USA’s most horrific natural disasters.

In A Week’s Worth, Mac receives a call that sends him home to California, where he will face a more personal disaster: His mother’s health is failing. His good intentions to help are met with resistance. And people keep dying around them. With a burning desire to right the wrongs of the past, Mac hopes this last road trip to Los Angeles will make their time together unforgettable. “Lewis paints a wry and unapologetically honest depiction of his characters,” says one reviewer.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3QWT9Xa.

I Trust My Inner Voice
by Ana Parra Vivas

The author, a well-balanced Lifestyle Manifestation Expert, gives you a blueprint on how to TRUST your Inner Voice. She is a perfect example of how working to change your self-perception can have incredible and tangible benefits. Ana faced many difficulties in her life, and these difficulties challenged her beliefs in herself. She decided to study herself and, ultimately, she discovered the tools that brought her balance as she recovered her personal power.

This book is not only the story of how Ana found balance in her life, but also a guide for anyone struggling to take the next steps toward the life of independence and freedom they desire. The Inner Voice is a powerful tool, and this book can help readers harness that power.

Purchase at www.itrustmyinnervoice.com.

Failed States
by Justin O’Donnell

A grim, fast-paced speculative thriller in the vein of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. It is a tale that deals with political, religious, and violent themes ranging from cannibalism to abortion, while calling into question the fundamental clash between security and liberty.

In an America on the edge of extinction, Thomas La Stella serves as a Deportation Force officer. Tom is old enough to remember America before Dayton Day, the attack that finally brought the country to its knees and the earth towards its death.

Still fighting for hope, Tom clings to his pregnant wife and begrudgingly serves a government on the brink of revolution. When the president goes missing, a new radical force rises from within and threatens every hope Tom has for a better future.

Purchase at bit.ly/3g24qHS.

BookTrib’s Bites is presented by BookTrib.com.

(NewsUSA) -  

The Violin Thief
by Genie Higbee

A startling coming-of-age tale that twines magical realism with musical history and legend.

It’s 1941. A wondrous violin is charming six-year-old Douglas Tryzyna. In her wordless language she tells him they are destined to spark kindness and joy together. Overawed, Douglas names the violin Magic Muriel.

Professor Stoya, recent Berlin émigré, accepts Douglas into his music conservatory. This teacher, who craves fame for himself and his obstinate son, Willi, knows exactly how to trap Douglas, who falls prey to the Professor’s dictate. Meanwhile, poetic piano student, Violette, captures his heart.

1953. Just when Douglas’ benevolent destiny with Magic Muriel seems possible, a clash of desires sets off a chain reaction of ruinous events. For Douglas, navigating a fractured future will require courage, forgiveness, and the balm of kindness.

Purchase at http://bit.ly/3gG55ix.

The Island Mother
by Jon Cohn

Leigh Ramos is a woman on the run from her own life. After escaping from a toxic relationship with a drug dealer, emotionally codependent Leigh starts life over far from the hills of Kentucky. She chooses Hawaii, where she lands a job in an exclusive resort. It seems too good to be true.

Then supernatural horrors start manifesting all around Leigh, and she starts having disturbing nightmares of impossible creatures calling out to her. To make matters worse, Leigh’s violent ex-boyfriend is close on her tail, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. Now trapped, Leigh falls back on old habits. In order to survive paradise, Leigh will need to learn from her past mistakes or she will be doomed to repeat them.

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3U4BflN.

Principles of Education
by Donald Sung

“The human brain and the human body are very complicated, and so is human education.” In Principles of Education, author Donald Sung defines and details 81 principles that parents, educators and learners need to consider to maximize a child’s learning. Together, the principles make up a childhood educational theory that tackles a learner's conditions, environment, and educational processes. 

The book will help readers understand how people learn, guide our children, assess the effectiveness of education, explore the proper and necessary tools for education, and watch children grow. The book is presented as a blueprint for success and systematically outlines each principle with brief and succinct comments. The principles are divided into three interdependent groups: learner's state (functions and conditions), learner's interactions with environment, and introducing a learner to the world.

Purchase at http://bit.ly/3fF5G3u.

Meanwhile Back Home
by Gabrielle Meeker

Most American children during World War II were aware of the threat that faced the country, and they responded to the call. They walked to school listening for air raid sirens, carried scrap metal to school for collection, offered their dimes to buy War Bonds, and sent caring packages to children in Europe. 

This work is a compilation of 50 interviews with people who experienced WWII as children, who were expected to contribute to the war effort. It can thus be described as 50 memoirs, and historical depictions of the era, with revelations of the hardships of post-war attempts to return to normal life. Fifty elders of various backgrounds and locations were interviewed. Some recollections were common, others quite unique. But in all cases, the children faced life-changing events.

Purchase at https://bit.ly/3vNUnu6.

BookBites is presented by BookTrib.com.
 

(NewsUSA) -  

Reef Road
by Deborah Goodrich Royce

When a severed hand washes ashore in the wealthy enclave of Palm Beach, FL, the lives of two women—a lonely writer obsessed with the unsolved murder of her mother’s best friend and a panicked wife whose husband has disappeared with their children—collide as the world shutters in the pandemic lockdown of 2020.

In a nod to the true crime that inspired it, “Reef Road” probes unhealed generational scars in a wrenching and original work of fiction. It is both stunning and sexy and, like a bystander surprised by a curtain left open, you won’t be able to look away. “Though pure fiction, it reads as compellingly as a mixture of memoir and exposé. It has left me shaken to the core,” says NYTimes bestselling author Luanne Rice.

Purchase at https://bit.ly/3iJung5.

Hell of Hosanna
by Kip Langton

"Kip Langton is a writer to watch", says NYT bestselling author Fiona Davis.

Imagine the Empire State Building removed from New York City. Imagine that building reconstructed brick-by-brick on your father's private island--the trappings of the past stolen from the public to indulge unfettered hypocrisy. This is James's defeated and ravaged landscape when his father successfully monopolizes all forms of industry into one perfect company called U atop the collapse of the old world.
Ownership no longer exists. Now, anyone can have anything--temporarily. But to James, the "rent and move on" lifestyle is a total hell. Then one strange day, the whole thing comes tumbling down and James can break away. In a U space shuttle, he travels to the ultimate unknown. Freedom? The real hosanna?

Purchase at https://amzn.to/3LtKV64.

I Killed Sam
by Robert A. Steadman

Inspired by the true story of a groundbreaking defense of a Flint, MI, woman who killed her abusive husband in the mid-1950s—a time when a husband could rape his wife in Michigan without facing criminal charges. 

This fictionalized account of the trial is more than a legal trial, replete with unexpected plot turns and the drama of a young, small-town lawyer trying to juggle his obligations to his client and to his fledgling law practice. There’s also romance— attorney Bob Nichols is in love with Betty, the defendant and his high school sweetheart whom he should never have let go. Nichols is tortured by the thought of losing his long-shot, legal gamble, which would mean forever losing Betty to a life sentence in prison.

Purchase at https://bit.ly/3iSoRYQ.

Make Your Factory Great & Keep It That Way
by Liam Cassidy 

Liam Cassidy is known as “The Serial Factory Fixer.” He's the man that multinationals in the USA, Canada, China, the UK and Ireland have on speed dial. The man with the plan and the one to call to fix a broken factory.  In his 40-year career, Liam has used lean principals and tools, with his unique brand of leadership, to turn around factories and supply chains all over the world including some considered “too far gone” to salvage. 

Now he shares the secret of his success and some very interesting case studies and outlines how lean principles and tools were vital in the processes he adopted to save plants. If you are determined to make your factory great, this is the only book you’ll ever need.

Purchase at https://bit.ly/3IqCKrX.

BookTrib’s Bites is presented by BookTrib.com.

(NewsUSA) - With the busy holiday season now over, there’s no better time than the present to take stock of your plans for a healthier lifestyle in the new year. But even with the best intentions, plans can sometimes fall by the wayside. No matter your age, fitness level, or current work-life balance, GOLO – the health and wellness solutions company – has tips and suggestions to help achieve tangible health and wellness benefits.

Five suggestions for the new year:

1. Set goals and make a plan: The beginning of a new year is the perfect opportunity to reevaluate your health and wellness goals. The key is to set realistic goals and create a sustainable plan of action to help achieve them.

2. Get organized: Believe it or not, one of the best ways to start planning sustainable and lasting health and wellness is by organizing your kitchen and filling it with nutritious food. Whether it’s a big family dinner or a quick snack before you head out the door, the more organized your kitchen is, the easier it will be to make better eating choices.

3. Find an accountability partner: Holding yourself accountable to a specific health goal can be difficult. You may not always feel up to the challenge of eating the best foods or exercising. Enlist the support of a friend or family member who can help hold you accountable and who’s got your back through the ups and downs of becoming a healthier you.

4. Stay active: Whether you prefer cardio, strength training, or a mix of both, you can improve your overall health by adding exercise to your daily routine. Even doing simple chores around the house like scrubbing floors and vacuuming are great ways to get in some exercise.

5. Stay Hydrated: Making sure you drink enough water is important no matter what season it is. Even if you don’t feel hot or thirsty, you should still get as much water into your system as you can. Remember, you can also get water from foods like fruits, vegetables, and soups.

“The start of a new year is a great time to revisit and refresh your health and wellness goals,” says Jennifer Brooks, President of GOLO. “As a starting point, consider the positive strides already made from the previous year and build on them.”

Wherever you are on your health and wellness journey, GOLO offers a range of innovative products designed to help, including the GOLO for Life Plan®, a game-changing nutritional approach to losing weight and a healthy alternative to conventional dieting. The program includes a healthy balanced meal plan, GOLO Release® (an all-natural dietary supplement), and free online tools.

Learn more

Visit golo.com for information and suggestions