All right, everybody. Welcome to Bitcoin homeschoolers. We're so excited to have a very special guest with us today. Her name is Bridget Johnson and I met her at a local women's networking group. She has a fascinating story, a wonderful project that we can't wait to share with you. Hi, Bridget. Thank you for joining us.

Thank you for asking me.

So I was telling my husband about how we met and your backstory, and I will love for you to just give him and our audience an understanding of who you are. How did you get to this project? How you generated that idea? And of course about your granddaughter and her cousin.

Okay, well, my name is Bridget Johnson, and, I am a former hairdresser, when I, I wanted to go back into the workforce, and I had five children, so, you know, child care can be very, very cost, costly, and so, I, thought about what I could do, and my sister in law suggested, why don't you go, go into the school system, that way, when the kids get out of school, because they were getting older, you know, you get home at the same time that they would, And so I did that. I went and I became a substitute teacher. Um, my first job was at McFerrin Elementary in Louisville, Kentucky. And so, from there, I was a preferred sub for eight years. And, before the principal retired, she asked me to go back to college. And I said, who me? And she said, yes, you. I said, at the age of 45? And she said, yes, you. So I thought, well, I thought about the math and I thought about every other, you know, thing I could think about, computers and all that. So I took her up on it and I went and, but while I was there substituting, I saw a lot of, challenging behaviors, a lot of, problems I wish I could solve, but I didn't have a degree. So I would jingle off of songs and I would create big dramatic plays and, you know, I would. If there was a Kroger, you know, I invented it. I made a Kroger. I made a, uh, uh, Dr. McStuffins Hospital, anything that they needed me to do, I made. So, the principal said, you know, you're such a good fit with children. You just, you can make things, create things. And so, uh, I saw the behavior issues were a lot for the teachers, so I would jingle off the songs. And I had a keyboard that lighted up, so I would, you know. Take the keyboard around and act like I was playing it, with play tunes, but it was already predestined in the keyboard So the kids thought I knew how to play and so it would play different songs So you push a button and play different things and so I would take it to the to the classrooms and I would jingle off the songs And so I told my son one day I said won't you give me some music off the internet? Because, I came up with a five senses rap, and, and, you know, the kids would say, Hey, you know, I know my five sense, you know, I would say that, and then the kids would say, What you say? And so, we would jingle back and forth and say different things. And I would say, uh, uh, sense number one, I can smell. That's why we have noses. If it smells it, I can tell. And I would go senses, and kids would know, I know my five senses. What you say? And so I became DJ BJ, the rapping school teacher or the five senses lady to the kids. And so I would, you know, get popular with these little rhymes and jams. And, the teachers liked it. The parents liked it. And so they said, when are you going to go in the studio? I was like, who me? I was like, I can make a joyful noise, but I don't know about singing. And so, I thought about it and I went in the studio with my joyful noise and I recorded five songs and that became the, beginning of me being a children's author. And so I authored a book to go with each of them. And so then they deemed me DJ BJ, the rapping school teacher. So that was how that came about. And so, all of my books have a rapping, Kid friendly aspect to them, because it captures the kids attention and they like to dance and different things like that. So, that was the beginning of that. And, I started a business called Creatively Invented. I create fun, catchy, hip hop educational products for home and school. And so, I've always been a different teacher. I've always used different genres of music in my classroom from Michael Jackson instrumental beats to, to reggae music. And so, uh, I could take a song like this is how you do it and put the alphabet in it. You know, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z. Get busy, you know, but it would be the, this is how you do it, you know, theme music. And so the kids loved it and, uh. I would just use different types of music to keep the energy going in the classroom. So my principal started to notice that I could handle behavior kids. And so he would just open up the door and just send them to me. He wouldn't send me an email or anything. He would just say, they're yours. I'm like, Oh Lord. So he saw that me using edutainment and, really not following up. I was following the curriculum, but I really had to kind of like, I had to adjust it to the kids, behave, to the type of children that they were. So, uh, I began to jingle off of more songs, create more songs, more books, and, to handle those challenging behaviors. And so one of the books that I wrote was called Use Your Manners. It's, two superheroes, Mighty Manners and Etta Kitt. And, they are two super, superheroes. Mighty Manners is a superhero of all good deeds. And etiquette is a super girl about etiquette. And so we would rap about saying, yes ma'am, no ma'am, thank you, please. I'm sorry because manners was at an all time low, really. And I would ask the kids, you sit like that at a restaurant, they would go, yeah, they would sit all slaps over. They would never say, hardly some of them would say thank you when you give them something, so. Those two superheroes, the kids love the, aspect of, being able to, identify with the superhero that use manners and, etiquette. So, that was the beginning of me, getting into that type of, general with the kids and, my business, Cravely Invented. It goes on, to other things that I created also.

Can you, could you maybe just highlight one? Is there a particular case maybe where someone came in, whatever it was, that seemed like an impossible, very difficult case, but then you, with the music, you reached them. I think that would help the audience just to hear a specific case, if any stand out in your mind.

Yes, I have one particular child that nobody wanted him in the classroom, and he had a lot of things going on at home too, so, but he finally ended up in my room, and I would, I use robots, I would use marble trees, just different things in there to capture his attention, but what I did I try to find out the things that he liked, like, uh, some kids like Spongebob, some like Ninja Turtles, so I would create things, like I would have pencils like that, I would have, uh, placements like that, anything that I could associate with the things that they liked, I had it in my classroom, whether if I made a poster board, I went and created one, if it was, Sonic, then, I had that in there, so I had a lot of things that they liked, that wasn't really in the curriculum, but they could identify with this. So he liked superheroes and he liked, uh, robots and different things like this. So I had that in there, but the, the manners, he liked mighty manners, he, and he would like the, he liked the ram, like, I am mighty manners. And I'm here to say, I don't like bad manners and I'm on my way. So one day he wanted to be the teacher. He liked to be in control and like to be the head of everything. So I let him be the lead teacher. And so he read the book to the kids and he would look out the window and tell them Mighty Manners was on the way, you know, that they had to do the right thing, follow the circus hand rules and all that. So he really, I gave him like a leadership position and, Because he always wanted to take over. So I let him be the leader. And so that gave him an inspiration to do the right thing himself, even though he was telling me who else was doing the wrong thing, it gave him an incentive to do the right thing. And so, uh, we had great success with him. He ended up staying in my classroom for two years and a very, very intelligent, just had, you know, issues with challenging behaviors and, you know, words that weren't conducive for the classroom. But he ended up being really like the top. Uh, person that tested in the kindergarten, like probably a 98. 7 success rate with him. even knowing his address, his telephone number, I mean, he didn't have a problem with any of it. He could really basically tutor some of the other children. So just really helping him regulate some of the things that he likes, blending it in with education. it turned out to really be a, a, a nice, uh, young man. And uh, right now, I guess he probably in the, probably, I guess, third grade by now. I don't know. But yes, he was, nobody wanted him, nobody. And they would actually look in the classroom to see how he was doing, like peeking her to see like, is he jumping off the bookcase? Is he knocking over something? But giving him that leadership role, and I always kept microphones and different things in the classroom, and he was the one that had one. And so, uh, I would use different things to get them to, help learn the phonics. I had like a flat drum and I put the alphabet on there and I created a song called Beat It, which I took the tune from, you know, somebody else's tune. And, we would say, beat the syllables in your name. It's a really cool, a really cool game. Just beat it. And so he would be ah, ah, buh, buh, kuh, kuh, you know, so just different things like that I would use. And he loved it. You know, he was, he loved it. So I think I brought out that theatrical aspects of the kids. I think that's what they liked. It was this, wasn't just rope, you know, and me just telling them what to say and repeat after me. It was more or less letting them be creative.

Oh Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I love that story. I think there's a lot of homeschooling families who have no background in education believe that you need a teacher's certificate in order to educate your children. And you literally are a walking proof that it's the passion and it's the creativity and your willingness to meet the kids where they are. That's so, so important. And edutainment. I love that concept. I love that you can rap songs that the kids would repeat. So what about if you have a parent who can't rap? What do you say to them? Like they were wanting to reach their kids

Hey, they learned the nursery rhymes, didn't they?

They did

They learned the nursery rhymes. So, if Mary had a little lamb, you could take it. If you know Mary had a little lamb, maybe you could put, you know, Mary has some numbers, numbers, numbers. Mary has some numbers. She taught her kids to count.

Love that Right off the cuff, like, just, bam. That's

be, I'd be intimidated because I don't like to, I don't know how to sing, so I wouldn't be, I wouldn't feel intimidated. But the cool thing is, I don't think most kids

kids care either. They just want to have fun with you, right?

just want to have

I'd

Kids just want to have fun. Some kids don't learn the traditional way. You know, you got kids with autism, you have kids that are developmentally delayed, and that's what I liked about it. Like, there was one child that I had when I was, uh, I think I just got my associate's degree and I was at Malpin Elementary and, uh, he was nonverbal. And his grandmother had custody of him. She was really concerned about him fitting in. And at first he did cry a lot and different things like that. But as, when you're in an environment where it's constantly being done every day, like if you put the child in that environment, Where there's music, where there's talking, where there's language, then they begin to catch on. So, this little boy ended up being, I mean, he didn't really care for music too much. Like, he ended up joining in, he could sing, uh, you know, his, um, uh, phonics and his alphabet knowledge grew. I wish I had a I don't know if I kept those testimonials but just like a saying that a child can begin with artistic nonverbal, and he left talking, you know, in the classroom because he was in that environment where was so much, going on with us talking and verbal and singing and, and he ended up talking which was a great testimony. He was nonverbal he didn't say anything in the beginning just cried a lot.

Wow, if you could catch her, that, that would really help to Not only just to, to sell your program or tell others about it, but for parents that are looking at it to say, this is proof that you can do it. You know, maybe it's autism, maybe it's something else. They have some kind of challenge. If they see somebody else do it, that could be very helpful.

Yeah, and just to know that there's not one way to teach kids anything. There's all kinds of ways. Just see what the kids respond to. Right. So you said that your, your classroom is full of music, creativity, uh, movement, stands. So do you, when they come into your room, do you just sort of push all the furniture to the side and they just have this open area where they can be creative and move? Or how did you, how did you organize that?

Well, I'm a former preschool teacher. I go back and sub, but, I just arranged the room with like, I would have microphones and stuff, but I would have, sometimes I'd have to stand with the microphone in it, but, I just didn't let they, it wasn't like wrote, like they had to be over 20 minutes and 15, it was whatever they wanted to do. Like I had, area. Where I didn't have nothing but sensory, like, shaving cream and food coloring. And then I might have, marshmallows. I might just have spaghetti this color. I would have all of that in one, excuse me, I'm so sorry. I might have that in one section. And, and that would be a section they could go to, they could stay over the whole time. And music movement, the whole, area up front was open for that, dramatic play. Wasn't a traditional dramatic play. I would have things that they actually could make like, I would have flour, real flour and things like that. We would make fake pizza and different things like that. So just really kind of, I had a large classroom, which I was thankful for that. Cause I, when I, when I came from Malpin to Duval, I, I came over to pre, scat out everything and I, I said, I want this room right here. And I ended up getting that room cause it was large. So I've always had large rooms. But, the ones that don't have the, larger rooms, it's kind of hard to do a lot of things, but I would have, I got a lot of things from DonorsChoose, they would donate things to your classroom if you had a different theme, and I remember I had a, a, a fish tank that was like a globe, it was like a magnifying glass, and the fish looked bigger than what they were. I would have things like that, like I, uh, created, uh, something on DonorsChoose where, uh, It was called, uh, uh, let me see, it was something with stem. This is so stemulating. So I got everything that had to do with stem, things that they could touch and feel. And so, and I got rain sticks, giant rain sticks that were like six foot tall. And then you would, you could tip them and it just sounded like rain coming down. I would just have different things, like I had a marble tree that was like, probably like, I guess maybe three foot, and it would, you put the little wooden things on it, it would just, make the sounds. I had a lot of things that affected the sound. So, I don't know. I just created like a, it was almost like a mini science center, to tell you the truth, my classroom was. I just liked to have, and I always kept music going on, like the kids, I would have a social emotional thing on the, on the door. We used Second Steps a lot. And now they use conscious discipline, but like, I had the emotions on the door with their names and with a popsicle stick, and I would always keep music going, but like, sometimes when they get to the door, this one particular one that they gave me that I have the testimonial for, he would say, he would always be mad. He would take his stick out and put it on, you know, anger. You know, I'm, I'm, I'm, uh. You know, I'm, I'm mad. And so I said, why, why are you mad? And he would say, my mother wouldn't let me watch something on TV. So I was like, well, there's no reason, we said we would talk about it before they come to classroom, but I would always have music and he would break dance and he would flip. But those days I knew that he put anger on, I knew something was wrong. So it was like, I would try to counteract everything. So I would have on, We might have been moonwalking or something or some type of music that they like, and I headed on to try to change his, disposition before he actually got started in the day, because I kind of knew if he came in with that attitude, it was going to be, a day that, He was gonna have a rough day. So I always kept some type of music going, whether it be instrumental, or I got the power, or, uh, this is how you do it instrumental, or any type of upbeat, song that I know the kids love. I would always have something going. Some people say, kids that are autistic, they don't like a lot of noise, but I don't know, is this, I think, When they know that something exciting is coming up, coming, coming, even if they have a bad day get in the car or coming off the bus or whatever, they kind of feel like, ooh, we're going to do something great today. I would dress up in different characters like Mickey Mouse. I might be Dr. Seuss one day. I even had a good, a glove, a silver glove before, so I've been Michael Jackson. I've been all of them. They come in and they, they said, where's Ms. Johnson? I said, she's not here today. So,

so what happens with, I, I have an impression, maybe I'm wrong, that some people choose homeschooling not because they just want the kids to excel, but they want that individual attention. And if someone has special needs, like someone who has autism, they don't feel that their son or daughter is going to get as much as they could in a, in a different setting with other kids. So, the kids that you saw were pretty fortunate because they had, they got you. Right. What's it like in the system for a lot of these kids? Is it that didn't have you like if you weren't there to help when they said, okay, we've got this,

this

kid who's angry all the time or doesn't even know he's angry. He's the kid who has issues. What happens to most of them? I just, it, cause my impression again is that some people use, this is the reason they go to homeschooling is specifically to give the care at that. They want their children to experience.

A lot of people might say, like, I overdo things. Like, some of the teachers are like, well, I'm not, you know, going to that extreme. So, I think it depends on your passion. And so, when the kids don't have a teacher that is passionate, They do miss a lot of things that they ordinarily could get because if the passion is not there for you to really push that child to the next level, I mean, to some people teaching is a paycheck, you know, and some people like me, I would say like to seven at night, sometimes get my classroom ready for the next day. You know, and my husband kind of like, what are you at? Like, I'm still at the school. Like, what could you still be doing at that late? but I loved it. And, I just think. And then a lot of teachers would come and say, what are you doing? We would exchange ideas back and forth. And then the principal at one time, which he got caught up being busy, wanted me to say how I use edutainment in different things, in the classroom with different children. Like, they would say, well, how did you get so and so to come in off the playground or whatever? And, and then they were discussing it and the principal, our administrator, was saying it's the technique, it's the technique that you do. So, like, some people just feel like, I'm just here to teach and I'm not going to do anything extra. Uh, but the kids that we have now, you have to go above and beyond and it ain't going to be because you're getting paid a lot. It's got to be a passion of yours, you know. So, I just hate to see a child that feels like, that they can't measure up to what the other kids are doing. I mean, we've gotten children that have been in wheelchairs. We have, we've had kids that have been traumatized, beaten, you know, by certain peoples, and, come in, in, the testimonies that I went back and subbed, and one little boy that, he was beaten so bad that, he couldn't walk, he couldn't talk, and he had a lot of head injuries. And when I went back to substitute, who Uh, this year, he's walking with a walker, he's engaging with the kids, everybody loves him. And being in that atmosphere brought him out of all of that, and I mean, it is just heartbreaking to see what he had went through, but then seeing the progress, of him going down the hallway, walking with a walker, and when he couldn't even walk at first, and his head had such trauma, like, it wouldn't stay up, like, and seeing him smile and laugh, It's just, because we put the time in, and other, other teachers invest into the child to keep on working with them till they got to that point. And so I just think that, you know, even if you're homeschooling at home, you know, there's other like, uh, Southeast Christian has a homeschool association. They have a homeschool, you know, group. I think you have to put your child, I've homeschooled before, I meant to tell you that. And I took, uh, for field trips, we went with Southeast Christian, they had a camp in Indiana. So I was able to take them, my two sons to that camp and they were around other children. So not only just homeschooling, but, put them in a Spanish class or put them in something that somebody might have this extracurricular to add to what you're doing, so, you don't have to feel like, or either, like I said, even if they're not getting it in the regular school system. Then you can have different options to take them to different things to, to get them what they need. But, it's not going to come to you. You got to research it. You got to, talk to people and, get involved in the community. Because I think there are a lot of homeschool groups that people may not even know about.

Yeah. Can I, uh, I just want to backtrack, uh, just a little bit. When you were talking about greeting that child who was angry coming through the door and you had a, uh, emotion chart you said. You named two things and you said, I use one of them. What were those two things that you, that were options for the way the kids will enter the room?

Um, they could get a, we had like, uh, we had an apron on us and it had different pictures in there. Like, if you wanted a half or had a frog, if you wanted to be happy. So we hop, you know, or I'm happy, or we gave high fives, or it was a picture with a hug. They could do that. Or they could pick the emotion, you know, that they were in, but it had their name on it. And so it wasn't only like the traditional ones, like anger, happy, it had frustrated, it had excited, it had other social emotional words that they could use. A lot of times he put it on frustrated. So it just didn't have the traditional ones, but we were trying to expand their social emotional language. So it had, I guess it had at least probably, I would say at least at least 15 social emotional words that they could use, to express how they felt. And then, like I said, the popsicle stick had their name on it. So, and then you could use that, too, to kind of, well, he came in all week, frustrated. Like, maybe that could be something you could talk to the parents about or talk to the child about. So it really kind of created language to let them be able to express, what was really going on. Some of them, it would be, they got in trouble at home, something they did, or something in the car, happened. Or mom might not have been having a good day. And, and some of them it's really serious because, uh, one little boy would say that my mom said that she was going to, commit suicide. And, we had to report it and everything. So just like some of it was just really, and you would think, well, he's making that up or whatever. No, it's actually true. And then I think a couple of years later, it really actually happened. So you have to really pay attention to, those, Those things that we put out, like, not just look at him like, oh, he's happy every day or he's sad every day or whatever, like, maybe asking them, why and how, if they keep exhibiting a certain one that they putting it on. So, social, emotional part is a big piece of, of,

Where'd you get the

of real

Where'd you

putting up the

steps.

poster, uh, do Second Steps, and that's really good, a social emotional program that anybody can purchase, but the school had it for us.

Okay.

They have songs, they have songs that go with it, they have, uh, even things that help them, uh, Regulate, you know, being still. Eyes are watching, ears are listening, voice is quiet, body's calm. This is how we listen. This is how we listen at this time, at this time. So it helps them to know, and the kids begin, I know, body calm, if you hold up the picture, they already, they like, cause I would just use a lot of visuals. I tell any homeschool parent, Use a lot of visuals. Use a lot of environmental print. Cause all of that is pre reading. And so even though they don't know the words, they know the picture. And don't, don't let me hold up Walmart. Oh. Don't let me hold up Dollar General. Or Family Dollar. They know it. They know it. They don't know the words, but they know they go there. Target. So, environmental print, visuals, and I think that ideal for that, um, the visuals on the door is just really, the kids would just come in and so many different, happy 1 minute, sad 1 minute. Some of them may want to go with their father. They was at the, with their mother this weekend, just different things. So, like, using that can kind of tell us. You know, again, we had it in our room, but we never had it on the front of the door and we never I put pockets on it. And I put popsicle sticks and we never use it that way, but we have always had the chart in the room that we can point to and, and talk to him about. We had like a cozy corner because they was having problems. They could go there and then we would have the chart there so they could talk about the different emotions. But putting it on the door was just something different or to add to what we already had. But second steps. I love second steps. I like conscious discipline too, but a lot of kids, yeah. Don't relate to conscious discipline, which is a very popular social emotional program that I've helped a lot of children. Uh, but I love Second Stealth. I love Second Stealth.

think it's so important for them to feel understood and to They don't have the vocabulary as you mentioned before they don't they just know anchor, but there's different nuances of anger The feeling of anger, right? So for them to feel understood right as they're entering the room That's just so amazing because I didn't grow up with that like the teachers didn't care you walked in whatever you had You better just keep it zipped and just sit down to your work. You know, I love that What do you think did you experience anything like that? I didn't

No, we didn't have anything like that. That's why I was curious where the resources were. Because it doesn't matter if you're in a school or you're in home

home. Yeah, it's so

a micro school or anything else. The tools, the tools sound like they're useful in a lot of different settings. Or you could modify them. So maybe you don't go out and buy it, but you like the idea. And then.

do it

You do it with your own stuff at home. If you're happy, you take this doll out. If you're sad, you take this doll out. And you, you could come up with a creative way for your child to communicate with you that I never, I never would have

thought about I wish I knew that when my kids were little

So I'm curious just because, um, the, the

their own pictures too of the kids. They can take the pictures of their own kids,

Oh, wow. See, see, that's, oh, that's fantastic. Yeah. Get a picture of them in every state and then they could take a picture. They just hold up their own

That's

I think that's,

I love that, I love that.

and with all the AI out there now, you could even. You could take anybody and put them into any kind of goofy pose that you that you want Would you be okay tolly if we move to some of her current stuff that she's working on and what she's

to do? Yeah, uh, yes, I do. I wanted to ask her to talk about the preschool she's in the process of launching, but I also wanted you to talk about your Superpreneur Project, so.

Okay, well, like I said, when I came out of the classroom, because I like to do things different, I knew I couldn't change the whole system. So I've always desired to have my own preschool and so that's how Wow Factor Academy Inc. came about. And the reason why I had WOW, the acronym is Wonders of the World. I wanted every day to be a WOW experience for the children, not just. I'm coming, but actually when they leave, you know, they're saying, wow, you know, I can't wait to come back tomorrow. So, um, because I think sometimes we can get so curriculum based and make sure we're following every little, you know, well, I got to do this next and I do that next five minutes for this. That we're losing a lot of the kids with that, you know, and so then the behavior issues come in, and then we don't get anything done. Harley, some of the books, the new we've switched curriculum over and over in the school system. A lot of it would have books that were just entirely too long, like, you know, the kids sitting there, you know, gave him fidgets, but then, like, after a while, they're throwing the fidgets, they're doing this and that. So I wanted to be able to design a room that, you know, where children can have a wild experience and well. I'm using invention education and engineering. I'm using edutainment, which is what I do. I'm using manners and the performing arts as a part of my program and a creative artistic studio that I haven't been talking about much lately, but I want the kids to be able to not have a time limit. I want them to have enough time to explore and create their own realities. I want them to be able to have time to build and create. And I had to do a project for Campbellsville, where I went to get my bachelor's degree. And, we had to do, a video with the kids. And so I came up with the machine factory. And so, uh, my assistant videotaped me. And so I gave them all just a bunch of, Things you could put together. It might have been tinker toys. It might have been magnet. I might have been just a six. I just gave my stack of everything. And so when we went around to interview them to ask them, you know what they made, somebody had made a mixer and they had the gear on there like it was turning and they had the little things at the bottom. I was like, it's really a mixer. So everybody that I went to, somebody had an arm. Like, I'm like, they really created the things that, they told me what it was, it actually looked like that. So I thought, why don't we, have something where they can really create and really actually build things and actually really come up with a prototype. because there was a little boy that, needed a project for science and he didn't know what to do. And his dog went past and knocked a Christmas tree. And, um, he said, Oh, I got it. So him and his brother went around, they interviewed everybody that had Christmas trees, asking what was the number one problem. They said the bulbs falling off. And, why? Well, the dog ran. Well, somebody, tipped the tree or whatever. And so they created Ornalock and the bulbs do not come off. It locks onto the tree, and they're millionaires right now, and, they've been on Shark Tank and everything, and so, I just think that if we take that challenging behavior energy, my belief, and we put it into them inventing and creating, that we could, flip the script on a lot of the issues that we're having now, kids, so I want to be able to have a freedom to do that. Uh, use engineering and invention education in the classrooms. That's one of the reasons to why I started. And then I forgot about financial literacy because, during COVID, we were all in and, toward as COVID was ending, I went to a yard sale and I bought a lemonade stand. And so, My grandkids did a photo shoot at Glamour Shops when it used to be open, and they had on superhero outfits because I'm very theatrical minded, and so their cousins, they both had on the outfits, and so we were there after we'd taken pictures, and I said, you know what? I said, y'all gonna be the superpreneurs. I said, y'all gonna be entrepreneurs who save and invest, and so from there, I did the book, they're on the book cover, and then, they started the lemonade, stamp, and when COVID was ending, we, we sold almost 100 bottles, and so, that was the beginning of me writing the book, and then, it continued on until it turned into curriculum, and now we, they have a journal, they have flashcards, and, now we teach money principles, And so, pre school to third grade entrepreneurship, teach them how to start their own business so they don't make the same financial mistakes that we've made in the past. And, uh, Robert Kawasaki said he thinks that financial literacy should start in early learning. And so, uh,

Yeah.

uh, You know, we look at all the debt and, all the debt that we've incurred with not knowing, you know, certain things. Well, really not even really talking about money. So, it's just a fun way to introduce kids to something that could last a lifetime. And actually really change their whole, I told my grandkids they can pay for their own college. I said, take one class at a time, and what you'll do is take your money and pay for your own classes. So,

That's so cool. So how do you, so one of the things that Talia and I are frustrated with is we're very passionate about teaching about money as well, maybe to an older audience, but sometimes, for example, when we went to homeschooling conference, The awareness that people need this, or that this is valuable. We, it wasn't, it wasn't like they were coming to us saying, we're looking for a solution for this, where they're saying, this is something that's really valuable, but we were, we were talking to people who,

Who

didn't see the need.

And, and so what they saw, they knew there was a need but it was very low on their priority list

Yeah. So, so I I'm, I'm dying to know from your point of view, that the, The parents that are coming to you, do they know they have this need? Are you helping them understand that? How? Cause that's something that we've struggled with. So what are you seeing from your point of view?

well, I think by me going to different networking groups. Like whoa, like new entrepreneur, uh, network of entrepreneurial women, uh, being in a program called master builders, which is through my church. Uh, I think just talking to people and really When people begin to learn about financial literacy, when they begin to think of, I wish I had known that myself. And then I've been running into people since having my student loan forgiven, which was 68, 000. People talking about, they wish they had known certain things before now. And then my grandkids performed at the Rotary Club. They were invited by Delaine, and she's a part of the Network of Entrepreneur Women. And Nate Morris was there. He's like a billionaire. And, uh, New Directions was there. And it was, uh, Who else was there? Kevin Fields was there. He's with, a community center, down off of, Muhammad Ali Boulevard. They were, they were like, after they saw my grandkids perform, they did the financial literacy rap. And then they taught, they showed the video and everything about their lemonade business. And they were saying, we need this, we need this, we need to start early with kids. So, I think just, you just have to knock on the right door to get people's interest. Like, when they see what you're doing, like, the kids need this. And when we would, uh, the financial literacy program that I just piloted, I'm at Spiritfield Church. I really want my own location. Um, because I want to design it the way, I like colors. I like, for kids to be like, Ooh, so, but anyway, this church is letting me, host my financial literacy program there for right now. Uh, the pastor's wife was in on one of the sessions, which one of our first sessions is what is money. And we were doing bingo and, the kids had the, the coins and the dollar bills. And when I was calling out some of them, they didn't know, what a half dollar was. They didn't know, what some of the bills were and she was like, kids really need this because they're so used to doing their phones like they don't, think, we've taken field trips to McDonald's, see if they can get the right change back. Some of them so used to add enough stuff on the phone that they don't even know how to basically really count money or, and I know they're getting rid of some coins and different things like that. But. I just think it's just basic stuff they don't know. If they didn't have the phone with them, could they get the correct change back, you know? Could they take a 20 bill and get, Change back and know that that's how much they're supposed to have. And so I think when people start seeing, because the little boy's mother was like, Boy, you got to go home and start counting. Like, I don't think the parents know until they actually see their kid. Like, she was like, I can't believe you don't know that. like, she was getting, she wasn't mad at him, but she was like, Boy, that's a dollar, that's a, that's a quarter, that's a half dollar. And so, just that little simple, simple activity was fun, but you got to ask somebody what that is. you don't know it. And that, that was an older child that I let in the program. It was this, I think, when, when, in the past, I was like, kids really need this, this is critical. Like, we, we've gotten so far away from them just using their phones to do things. And to tell them what to do that they don't actually really know if, if the phone went down, if they had a 50 bill and went shopping, they wouldn't even know really basically how to count the chains they got back, so,

Where, where are you now with this program and rolling it out? Is it available for online? I totally probably already knows this. I don't. Um, but also for the audience, what, what is available now for people? What's, what impact have you already had and where, what's the next step? So

had several children to start their own businesses, uh, I palleted with New Directions in the beginning, because their fundraiser was at the Rotary Club and he, was interested. And so I did a pallet program at one of their sites. And so, we had, Lip Gloss Goddess, where she sold about 200 and I said, no, at least 250 worth of products, selling lip gloss, little purses and cake pops and sunglasses. We had brother and sister business that had, they sold cookies and cupcakes, although they argued the whole time because he said he wanted to sell chips next time. and then we had. Nari's Lemonade, she was three or four, she was four, and she knew what assets were, she could tell you what an entrepreneur was, because we had the flashcards throughout the, the lessons and everything, and, she had Lemonade Biz, and I think her whole family came out, grandparents and grandmother, and then New Directions, their employees came out to support the kids. We had Jell O Jigglers, uh, Uh, they had jello, different types of jello. And we had, uh, uh, somebody that was doing bracelets. So, just really getting the kids started in entrepreneurship has been the takeaway. That now they can make their own business. They, they, they got a business plan within that eight week program. They had three ideals. They had to go home and ask their parents. Uh, being in partnership with them, what can I do, to, get this business started and they, they had to come back and say what materials they were going to need. And even in the financial literacy program, they haven't did their pop up shot yet because of the holidays. But we even created a mock pizza business where they had to, they had to see how much the spaghetti sauce cost. I mean, the, pizza sauce cost. They had to find out how much the cheese was going to be. They had to find out, all the things they were going to need to start the business, how much it was going to cost, and where they were going to get the money from. And in the book, Dior and Kamani borrowed money from their parents to buy the table, to buy the cash box, to buy the lemons and the sugar. And so, they were explaining to Lavinia, because she wanted to know in the book, Well, I got five dollars, I'm going to take my money and just go buy video, I mean candy and, play some games with it. And they were explaining to her that if they bought the lemonade, and they sold it for, Uh, say like if they had 30 cups and they sold it, for a dollar a piece, well, if they, they, they, they spent 15 and then they sold it for a dollar, they would double their profit and make 30. So they would explain to her about profit, net profit, gross profit. They explain to her about capital. So it throughout the book, they're explaining that to her and everywhere in the book where you see entrepreneurial, word, then, then you would see, it would be colored because in the back, there's a glossary and the parent or the children can go look up if they didn't know what assets were, they can go look up assets and they, if they didn't know what, entrepreneurship was, they could look that word up, but they didn't know what capital was and they didn't know what, What, gross profit and net profit is, the difference between the two. And, they didn't know all those terms. They could look at it in the back of the book and it would tell them what page is on and where they could find it. And so in the end, Lavinia is so convinced that she invests 5 into the business and, She goes off with them and they start a superpreneur's, network to help people during COVID, get medical supplies and all that. So, and then they fly off to go save the day again, which save means saving an investment. So, they go off the, so, that's available. they have a, we have a book, we have a journal, we have a smart goals workbook that we just published, for smart kids and for smart families. So the family can do it together with the children or either the children can do it by themselves and the children in the program now have set smart goals. On what they want to accomplish in their business. One little boy wanted to buy his own tennis shoes. And so, he put his smart goal was that, the tennis shoes. And then he, is it achievable? He said, yes, it was achievable. A smart, it was measurable. And then it was, achievable. He said it was achievable. And then it was it revelant. He was like, yes, he wanted to not have his mother pay for his tennis shoes. He wanted to buy his own. And so, then he had time base. How long is it going to take you? So, he put 20 a week. Um, I think he said five weeks and then he would have enough money to purchase a tennis shoes. So we use that and we, they have to have, they have a chore chart and they have to go home and see how they're going to make this money to support their smart goals. And so each month is more goes up to 12 months. They can set a smart goal and how much money they want to make in the business. And, um. This is really a good program. I'm like you, I, I, I mean, you try to tell people about it, but until they actually see it, and I, I've been making videos and more content trying to show people, and then we do a week of affirmations, which is a powerful, mindset week where we talk about I am a wealth magnet. I am powerful. I am strong. I am the world's greatest reader. I have big goals. I am intelligent. Different things like that. And then we have t shirts and stuff to go with that. So, really it's a good program. Like you said, I think we just, with your program and my program, we just have to keep knocking on the door. I think there's somebody out there that's gonna By these programs

So,

they're needful.

yeah. So, all of your books, the flashcards, the workbook, the affirmation book, they're all available on Amazon. Is that correct?

Yes,

what I thought. Um, okay. So, before we wrap up, I just want to kind of circle back way to the beginning when we started this thing. I feel like what you, what sets you apart as an educator is that You meet the kids where they are, and you're creative, and you give them the freedom to self express. Would you, what would you say to a homeschooling parent who's just starting out, freaked out about the responsibility of teaching their preschooler? What would you say to them? Mm.

to join a homeschool association somewhere. And I would say, try to do as much research as you can, if you're thinking about doing it. I think when I homeschooled I used. A curriculum called, school of tomorrow and what they did, they would keep up with the grades and everything because I knew that they were eventually going to go back into the school system. So, what they did when I did want to go back, everything was already in order. They had, I would sit whenever I tested them or did anything work with them, I would send the grades to school tomorrow and then they would send it back in a professional report card. So then when I went to the school, when they went back into the school system, they could show documentation. I even had to keep attendance, because one thing with homeschooling, and, when you leave the school system, you have to fill out everything and let them know that you're starting a homeschool. And you have to make sure you're lined up with, with their statutes on how it's supposed to be done. And so, I kept a professional record of everything that I was doing, so, and if they could enter back in, then they would have documentation of that. And, the teachers could tell that they had been homeschooled. They was like, were they homeschooled? Because they didn't believe me. And I was like, we were homeschooled. And they was like, no, you weren't. And so they could tell the difference on just that one on one, you know. But I would tell them that I joined the Homeschool Association and then go to the conferences like what you all did to check out the different curriculums and, you know, talk to other parents that are doing it.

Yeah, have you been to one? Have you, have you, have you brought your, your program?

already? not, not. I haven't been to one since I homeschooled, which I went. To look at their curriculum, and uh, I loved it, and there was a dad that was homeschooling like 10 children, uh, and I was like shocked. I didn't know a dad, I mean, I knew that they could do it, but actually seeing it. Yeah, he had some curriculum called beta, beta curriculum, but, uh, no, I haven't been to any homeschool conferences with any of the things I'm doing. That's one thing this year I'm going to try to do is just get, because I have other books too, Alphabet, Fast Senses, and I, I started creating professional development to go with some of my books so I could get started. All right. Because I'm a trainer for the Division of Child Care, and I can train teachers. I also sell my curriculum, too. So, I'm, I want to do that this year to get to more homeschool conferences. Some of them that I tried to go to, the vendors, uh, prices were extremely high. I mean, you know, like, 3, 000 just to

you

show your stuff.

you, we can give you some ideas for sure. But I wanna, um, I, I want you to say something else. I'm still looking from the point of view of, uh, of parents who are even just considering homeschooling, right? So. So from our conversation, I think it's really, really clear that it takes a village to train up a child. It's not just mom or dad. And even if you cannot homeschool because you're both working jobs and you want the best for your child, you, there are still teachers out there like you, super passionate with resources, with support that can really bring up a child. And so if you. Want to homeschool, but you can't, you can, of course, supplement at home, you know, in any creative way that you you want to, but just understand that there's still Really wonderful teachers and passionate Educators out there in the school system working hard and championing for your child's well being. So I just wanted to Restate that Yeah,

yes,

so

thank you. There are, and we're

Yeah,

yeah, I think thank you for for the the impact you're having on all these all these families all these lives

Yeah, yeah.

um

Amazing resources. I've seen her books and she, she brought them in the box to the dinner. We sat next to each other and I flip to them like these are really good. I think that families, whether they homeschool or not homeschool can really benefit from just having that conversation and just doing the workbook even just one time, you know, they may not necessarily go out there and start a business. at their street corner, but they can still gain so much by just going through your workbooks and your storybooks and love your manner books, all that stuff. I love your rap. I think that's really, really cool for kids. You know, like the rhyming is so reinforcing for their language skills. So yeah, super, super excited about your work and Best of luck with your preschool project. I know you're looking for a location right now. So, um, maybe we can follow up with you a year or two from now when you have your own space, you've got your own program rolling strong, you know, uh, we would love to ta chat with you again.

we're going to bring your program in, too. We're going to bring your program in, too, because we need all of it.

We need all of it. It takes a village. It takes a village. Thank you so much for chatting with us. It is New Year's Eve Bridget is hopping on with us.

This is fantastic. Great to meet you. Once we, once we do, stop the recording, just hang on for a second there, but, we wish you all the best. We'll get all your links out there so we can tell people about what you're doing. Is there anything in particular that you need help with that you want to just ask the audience?

Know what, we do have very passionate

we have a passionate audience. Is there, if there's something that would help you

looking for board members. I'm looking for board members and looking for sponsorships.

Okay. Well, it's a good thing you guys are networking. I'm very confident you will, guys will, will

Yeah, yeah.