Open To US entries and must be 18+ to enter

Giveaway Dates ~ 3/23 9:00 AM EST through 4/20 11:59PM EST
Good luck everyone!

I have teamed up with Nomad Press to giveaway TWO sets of four books about social issues of the 21st century. (Giveaway form at bottom of this post.)

Two lucky winners will receive a set of the following 4 books:

1. Feminism: The March Toward Equal Rights for Women

2. Gender Identity: Beyond Pronouns and Bathrooms

3. Immigration Nation: The American Identity in the Twenty-First Century

4. Race Relations: The Struggle for Equality in America

All 4 books are available to preorder on Amazon.
They will be released on April 9, 2019. 

* GIVEAWAY *

Set of 4 Books On Social Issues Of The 21st Century
~ 2 Winners ~

Nomad Press will be releasing the following four new books early April 2019 about social issues in the 21st century (currently available for preorder on Amazon). The books are recommended for ages 12 and up. They are a great way to teach teens about the social issues around them and get them more involved. These books would be the perfect addition for any classroom, and are also great for homeschoolers!

At the beginning of each book, there is a basic timeline, listing important events in chronological order. I loved the timelines as it gave an idea of just how far or how little we have progressed over the years.

All the books have QR codes scattered throughout that you can scan using a smartphone or tablet to explore and learn more online. Each book also has a resource page towards the end that contains a list of URLs, so you can still access the extra material even if you don't have a smartphone or tablet.

At the end of each chapter in each book, there are some discussion questions and activities to help get teens talking about social issues and how they play a role in today's world.

Below I will provide a little information and my thoughts on each book.

Feminism: The March Toward Equal Rights for Women starts out explaining what feminism is and gives a little overview of all the sections in the book. It then goes on to talk about the three waves of feminism: The Right To Vote, The Awakening, and Intersectionality. It concludes with how feminism plays a part in the 21st Century.

I really loved the section about women's lives in history. There were some important figures that I don't remember hearing about when I was in school, such as Sappho and Sofonisba Anguissola. Though the book's main focus is on feminism in America, it also provides little tidbits about feminism in other countries. It was interesting to see how feminism played out in other parts of the world.

Despite having classes titled "Social Studies," social issues beyond the civil war and women's suffrage, just weren't taught in class. I never even heard the term, "feminism," until I was in high school and it was never taught in class. I never fully understood it until I had a class in college that was actually about social issues.

I think it's extra important to talk to our teens about feminism now as women are still facing inequality today. For example, women still don't get equal pay or equal work opportunities, and there is no federal law granting paid maternity leave in the United States.

Did you know that slavery was only abolished just over 150 years ago? That's not very long ago and it explains why African Americans are still discriminated against to this day. The idea that everyone should be treated equally despite their skin color is relatively new, so it's more important than ever to educate our younger generations and raise them to be accepting of people of all colors, races, etc.

Race Relations: The Struggle for Equality in America focuses primarily on African Americans but also discusses other races, such as Hispanics and Asians. It does an excellent job explaining how racism started in America (basically our country was founded on racism) and why it still persists today. It starts out with slavery, moves onto separate but equal, and ends with modern-day activism, like the #BlackLivesMatter movement. (I actually didn't know how that movement started till I read this book!)

The book even concludes that the best hope for ending racism is in educating children, so get your teen a copy of this book and start teaching them about racism and how we can end it.

Conclusion

Overall, I loved the layout of all the books and that there is tons of extra online material. Plus the discussion questions and group activities suggestions are great! I believe these books would be a great addition to any classroom or homeschool group, or any other teen-focused learning group, or even adults! (I learned a lot when going through these to write this post!)

I have also teamed up with Nomad Press to giveaway TWO sets of these books, which you can enter here. 

Qkids hours are Mondays - Sundays 5:40 AM - 8:10 AM EST, and Fridays and Saturdays 7:40 PM - 10:50 PM EST. They do have holiday hours where they will open up more evening classes, but those last for only a couple of weeks.

Being a stay at home mom, I chose to do three classes in the morning, every day of the week, so I teach the 6:20 AM, 7:00 AM and 7:40 AM EST classes Monday to Sunday. That is the set schedule I sent them, but I am able to request off as long as it's 5 hours before class with no penalty, which is way more flexible than other ESL programs.

However, unlike other ESL companies, they do require you to be available to work for 12 classes a week, but you do get to choose which hours you are available. Others don't require this much time commitment (Dada only wanted 4 hours minimum).  

Qkids pays $8 per 30-minute class, (Basically $16 an hour, better than any part-time job I've ever had!), and $4 base pay for standby lessons (approximately 10 minutes with no teaching required). If your standby converts, then it counts as a class, so you'll get the $8 pay instead. All pay is in US dollars, even if you are Canadian. 

There is a $1 performance bonus, which depends on how well you taught the class, so that could you get you up to $9 per class.  

If you teach 15 classes per week, you can get an extra dollar per class. Please note, you have to be scheduled for 15 classes (standbys are included), it doesn't count if you have availability for 15 classes. Basically, there is the potential to earn $10 per 30-minute class ($20 an hour).

Payment is directly deposited into your bank account. There are no bank transfer fees as Qkids covers those, so you keep all the money you made. Teachers are paid once per month, no later than the 15th of each month. For example, before or on March 15th I will be paid for all the classes I have taught from February 1st to February 28th.

Please note that you are expected to enter the classroom 3 minutes prior to class (5 minutes prior highly recommended) and you have to do evaluations after class (takes less than a minute, no typing required!), so your pay isn't exactly $16 an hour. Some find this deceiving, but it's still the most I have ever been paid for a part-time job. The most I've ever made prior to this job was $10.50 an hour, so to me, this is very good pay. Plus I enjoy this job!

Also note, there are currently no opportunities to earn more than the $10 per class, so your pay will never increase no matter how long you have been working with Qkids.

The Classes

The Qkids teaching software is amazing! There is very little work and prep needed for each class. Of course, when I first started, I would put in the extra time because I was still learning all the games and activities. Now that I have been working for a month, it's so easy. I just quickly preview my classes for the next day to make sure I know what I'm teaching and if I should grab any props (takes about 5 minutes).



The information for each class is provided and there are teacher notes on each slide, so even if you haven't had time to preview the class, as in the case of standbys, you are still able to teach! I was really anxious for my first standby as I don't like the idea of not being prepared, but once I started teaching, it wasn't so bad, and I even got lots of positive feedback from the parents! After that, I got more confident and started prepping a lot less for classes.


The characters are also very cute, which many of the children will know. Momo Monkey and Koby Koala are the main characters. There are a bunch of other characters, but they seem to be hit or miss as students don't familiarize themselves with those characters as much as they aren't in every lesson.

The Students

You will be teaching up to 4 kids per class, ages range from 4 to 12 years old. Expect to see new faces each time as classes are randomly assigned. Unlike other ESL companies, Qkids picks the teachers instead of the parents.

Also, note that age doesn't always coordinate with level as each kid's English level varies. I've had 6-year-olds and 10-year-olds in the same class.

Classes are usually fun. The majority of students love to participate, talk, and "show and tell" (show off an item they have at home, usually a stuffed animal or drawing).

However, one of the downsides of teaching with Qkids (and probably ESL online or any online class in general), is that there are some situations that come up that you can't really control because you aren't physically present and the kid is usually at home (crying kids, parents yelling, parents smacking their kids, etc), but these instances are rare and should always be reported.

Application Process

Qualifications & Requirements

How to Apply

To apply for a teaching position at Qkids, you will need to submit the following required materials:

• Resume
• Availability
• Screenshot of computer specs
• 1-2 Minute Long Introduction Video: Introduce yourself, your current location, educational background, and any experience teaching or working with children, and read a short children’s story. You can record your video right on the application (Don't worry you can redo it as often as you want!), or you can upload your video to your application as a link through YouTube or Google Drive.

• Note: Your video cannot be longer than 2 minutes so you will want to either pick a short children's book (I did "Are You There Little Elephant") or only read an excerpt from a children's book. (If you have kids, you'll probably have plenty of books to choose from, if not, check out your local library or borrow from a friend or family member!)

Hiring Process

Step 1

A lot of religions and religious people believe that God interferes with our lives and gives us things (children) or cures us (disease, cancer). 

This never sat well with me because it seems very sadistic for God to deem one baby with whooping cough worth saving while letting another die because "God needed another angel," or to cure one woman with breast cancer, while another one dies because "it was her time."

So I believe God actually doesn't interfere with our world. 

Children Are Not A Gift From God

What does this have to do with children? Well, if children were really a gift from God, then God wouldn't give abusive people children. If children were a gift from God, why does the perfectly happy, in love, smart, and kind couple, who has been trying for 10 years not have a child, but the one night stand couple who wasn't even trying has a perfectly healthy baby?

The common answer "It's God's will," or "It's all part of God's plan."

To me, this is a very sadistic God and I would prefer to believe in a kinder, loving, more accepting God. Not one who is cruel and plays these kinds of pick and choose games. I don't want a God who thinks a child deserves an abusive home because it's part of some "bigger plan." I don't want a God who thinks a perfectly loving couple doesn't deserve children, while the reckless teenager was "blessed" with twins because "he wills it." I don't want a God who picks and chooses who lives or dies. I don't want that sadistic God.

Now, to be honest, I used to think children were a gift from God. I thought my daughter was a gift because I had PCOS and was told it may not happen naturally or at all for us. I turned to prayer and I prayed for a baby girl, and in the end, we got our daughter, naturally. She was a beautiful, healthy, baby girl. It was easy at that moment to believe she was "Heaven sent." 

But I don't see it that way anymore, especially after hearing from other couples who had to try for years, who have done multiple IVFs, and these are couples who would be amazing parents! Yet, I have seen plenty of terrible parents have children. You see them all the time on the news, the ones that kill their children, rape them, beat them, etc. So no, I can't see children as a gift from God, because I don't believe God would ever give an abusive person a child if he had a choice. 

So now I see it as luck. We got lucky. We are so incredibly lucky to have our daughter. God had no part. The odds were just in our favor. I ovulated at just the right time, the sperm was just fast enough, etc. It was pure coincidence that it happened when I decided to start going to church again and started praying again.

I am very pro-science, so it was easy for me to remove God and see things from a statistical or chance point of view. However, I'm not comfortable with believing we live only to die and become dirt. I still like to believe there is life after death. I just believe that it's a separate world or realm. I believe that God plays no part in this world. He may watch us, but I don't believe he has any control over how we live our lives. After all, he gave us "free will."  

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!