Unknown Speaker 0:02 I've started recording. That's okay. We just want to be able to share this. Welcome everybody. I'm so excited. We have some new bolts here some new names here. Very exciting. And I will not mute unmute you. I will ask you to unmute yourself if you want to unmute. I think that's just a personal thing that I don't want to be Unknown Speaker 0:24 in control of what sounds are coming from your house or not. Unknown Speaker 0:28 So that's on you, but I take I'm Carlton and coke Walker, I proudly serve as president of the National Organization of parents of blind children, a proud division of the National Federation of the Blind. And the National Federation of the Blind. NFP is the organizer sponsor everything behind NFP Bell Academy at Home Edition, and we are fortunate to have our Education Programs Coordinator, Karen Anderson, here to talk about NFP Bell Academy at home Unknown Speaker 1:00 Today so I have asked Karen to take it away. Unknown Speaker 1:12 Awesome, thanks, Carlton. I'm really excited to be here many parents of blind kids. This is some of my favorite people to talk to second only to your kiddos. So thanks for having me. And thank you for about Unknown Speaker 1:29 one of taxes the NFP Bell Academy. Unknown Speaker 1:32 We've been doing NFP bell for over a decade now. Unknown Speaker 1:39 So, at least in our circumstance stands for Braille enrichment for literacy. And we Unknown Speaker 1:47 started in Maryland, it was started by a couple of parents, who also happened to be teachers. Unknown Speaker 1:57 Oh, there's closer to Brandon needed. Unknown Speaker 2:00 To be success at Braille is literacy for blind kids. And we know that if taught correct blind kids can read with agency Unknown Speaker 2:13 as their counterparts and make as successful with reading as their sighted counterparts, but a lot of times real isn't taught. And it's certainly not in particularly fun. And we wanted to change though. We created the NFP Bell Academy. It started in Maryland, and over the last decade, it has branched out to Unknown Speaker 2:39 all I think laughter. I want we had it and I think more than 30 states Unknown Speaker 2:45 across the country. Unknown Speaker 2:49 And SP Bell is one of my absolute favorite things that we do. It's for kids and just Unknown Speaker 2:55 for four through 12 Unknown Speaker 3:00 I'm Unknown Speaker 3:01 planning on Unknown Speaker 3:03 Philly's ENFP Bella is super invested in make that blind kids have Unknown Speaker 3:12 a fun time literacy and non visual skills and most importantly learning that it's okay to be blind. Blind isn't a bad word. Unknown Speaker 3:24 So we love our bell Academy and when COVID-19 hit and everything for this summer changed, we knew that we had to do something. We knew the bell Academy needed and so we have created the NFP Bell Academy in Home Edition Unknown Speaker 3:44 with to be than our traditional Bellamy's our traditional Bell Academy, you would send your kiddos to sort of a day camp or two weeks usual. They would get to interact every day with bottles. Unknown Speaker 4:00 blind kids their own age, they would have six to eight hours of fun, awesome interactive lessons. And then at the end of the two weeks, you would find out what they did. But this year, we're going to be sending NFP Belgian home addition to your home, where I be. Unknown Speaker 4:25 So there are a couple of really neat thing about this. I think the first Unknown Speaker 4:32 and probably my favorite thing about it is you as parents are your kids, first teachers, you know, your, you know your kids better than I do, certainly. And you have the power to Unknown Speaker 4:49 teach them to give them the tools to succeed. It doesn't have to be specialized, with some support and some teaching and some encouragement. You can be Unknown Speaker 5:00 Some of their best. Unknown Speaker 5:02 And that is, I think the NFL Academy in Home Edition is going to do Unknown Speaker 5:07 well is rather than your kids coming to us for two weeks, you're going to get to work with them on the lessons that we select. So you are going to be learning along side with them. Oh, can they do this non visually? It does. If you don't know Braille, that's okay because we're providing all those resources in the in the kits that we're going to be sending. Um, Unknown Speaker 5:41 so we're going to have three Unknown Speaker 5:44 sort of, Unknown Speaker 5:46 I would call them sessions of NFP bell in home this year. The first one pretty cool. Oh, pardon me, starts June 1. It's June 1 through June 12. Unknown Speaker 6:00 And Unknown Speaker 6:02 like I said, that one's already full. The second one starts June 22 and runs through July 3. Unknown Speaker 6:14 And the third one starts June or July 27 and runs through August 7. Unknown Speaker 6:22 Each Unknown Speaker 6:25 two week there are going to be you can choose one of two Unknown Speaker 6:31 times when you will connect via zoom, because everybody uses zoom, right? There's nothing in the world that this doesn't use zoom. So we started we'd stick with it. You're going to connect via zoom with about Academy teacher or a couple of balcony teachers as well as other family in bell. Unknown Speaker 6:54 So those will take place at either 11 o'clock eastern which I know is very Unknown Speaker 7:00 Very early for any of you on the west coast and Unknown Speaker 7:04 ridiculously in Hawaii, or 6pm Eastern, which is a little more reasonable for you West Coast friends. Unknown Speaker 7:13 You choose the timeslot that works best for your family. You choose the session that works best for your family. We have Unknown Speaker 7:22 selected from the NFP Bell curriculum, we're going to send all of the materials for those lessons to your house. Unknown Speaker 7:33 We are going to create, we are in the processing. YouTube videos will show you how to do those lessons with your kids just opportunity to check in get to know Unknown Speaker 7:48 are some of our bell teachers and other Bell families, you can ask questions about how Oh Unknown Speaker 7:56 yeah, maybe we would or Unknown Speaker 8:00 And challenges, that's going to be your sort of opportunity to Unknown Speaker 8:04 get some tips and tricks and tips and tricks maybe unless we really well for you and did not go quite so well for someone else. Unknown Speaker 8:15 So can certainly for tips and tricks as well. One of the best parts of learning i think is is collaborating and Unknown Speaker 8:25 figuring out various thing. Unknown Speaker 8:31 We do have one session, it's going to be conducted in both English and Spanish. Unknown Speaker 8:42 Um, I said Thursday 11 o'clock time slot will be bilingual. If you have other if you speak another language then or if you speak Unknown Speaker 8:56 Spanish Unknown Speaker 9:00 Feel free to Unknown Speaker 9:04 see what we can to Unknown Speaker 9:08 these work and just available in a language that works for you. Unknown Speaker 9:14 We want this to be available to as many families as possible. So we want to work with you Unknown Speaker 9:22 to make sure that you have the support that you need. Unknown Speaker 9:30 I'm trying to think if there's anything else about this that I want to mention before I open it up for questions CRO Unknown Speaker 9:42 10am I missing anything? I must admit my mother called while you were talking. So I probably I missed some of what you said. Unknown Speaker 9:51 It's okay. Unknown Speaker 9:53 It's free. I'm going to put that in the ad. advertisement Unknown Speaker 9:59 and it's Unknown Speaker 10:00 Definitely students centered. I think that's the most important thing about they'll either at home or in person. It's student centered learning. Unknown Speaker 10:11 allowing students to learn and grow at their own pace, meeting them where they are and helping them get to where they want to go. Unknown Speaker 10:19 Exactly. What about the social our? Unknown Speaker 10:25 Hey, you, you I would. Um, so one of the Unknown Speaker 10:30 most valuable things that Academy is the opportunity with their sheer force, and three day Unknown Speaker 10:40 at three o'clock eastern, so I'm guided full time so that they can get to know each other Unknown Speaker 10:50 and talk about some of the things that maybe wouldn't get talked about enough Unknown Speaker 10:56 in the lesson times, how do you okay cool Unknown Speaker 11:00 How do you get comfortable? That's Unknown Speaker 11:04 hard when you're a kid really want me this long light stick? Maybe it's not so bad Carrie, if you can wrap it into my duct tape or princess duct tape for Unknown Speaker 11:17 me, Unknown Speaker 11:19 I started available but holy cow. Unknown Speaker 11:24 So that's Unknown Speaker 11:26 also going to be available to Unknown Speaker 11:30 provide some of those connections. The other thing that I mentioned is Unknown Speaker 11:37 we want families who register for the NFL Academy to also get to know us in the National Federation of the Blind and we really want to get to know you. So we are going to have someone your affiliates reach out to you and your Unknown Speaker 12:00 Family and do some mentoring Unknown Speaker 12:04 and serve as another resource for you so that you have somebody that you can ask questions of, again, if the lessons not going the way you expected or Unknown Speaker 12:18 you know who Unknown Speaker 12:20 who can I connect my kid with other blind people that matters? Unknown Speaker 12:27 What jobs can my kid have as a blind person? That all matters? Sorry for my phone ringing in the background. Um, so that's the other thing that I know I did neglect to mention Unknown Speaker 12:40 was the opportunity for mentoring from somebody that actually lives in your feet. And I think that's been really helpful as well. Unknown Speaker 12:54 So Unknown Speaker 12:58 does anybody have any Unknown Speaker 13:00 questions about that? Unknown Speaker 13:07 If you have a question, please. Unknown Speaker 13:11 I don't care if you want to raise your hand or if you want to just unmute yourself and Unknown Speaker 13:17 say your name. So for instance, it would be fair would say there any questions, I would unmute myself, Carlton, and then Karen would say my name just so that, you know, Carlton, and Melissa and Stephanie else say their name, same time that Karen gets to choose to talk first. Unknown Speaker 13:36 And avoid some of the talking over each other. Yeah, yeah. Which is always important. So please feel free to unmute yourself and say your name. And Karen will call on you. Unknown Speaker 13:50 Hey, my name is Juan and I'm with my wife. I'm with my wife Lisa. Tanya, we are listening to, to the to everything that you've asked. Unknown Speaker 14:00 Hi, nice to meet you. Hi, thank you for Unknown Speaker 14:04 what is the so this is our first time we just if they're being in contact with their organization, and this is the first year that my daughter is gonna be in this program so I would like to know, like, what is the what what kind of things are the learning in the in the program in the in the camera right Unknown Speaker 14:31 it's a great question. Um, what what state Do you guys from? We jersey? Awesome. Well I'm really excited that you guys are going to be part of Bel Unknown Speaker 14:44 Air it's a great question What kind of stuffer are kids going to be learning? Um, kids are going to be learning Braille. Kids are going to be learning how to travel with a cane. Because each student is going to get a free white cane that Unknown Speaker 15:00 is appropriately sized for them. Um, kids are going to be learning non visual skills. So how to do things without using their eyes. And kids are going to be learning confidence in who they are. I think that's Unknown Speaker 15:17 the most important thing that we teach the coolest thing that we teach in a lot of ways the hardest thing to teach. So great. Unknown Speaker 15:27 Thank you, buddy. We're gonna be doing that by making things like music, musical instruments, Unknown Speaker 15:35 doing crafts, playing games, so it's all done in a way that's really fun. So it doesn't feel like learning or, you know, pain and torture. Thank you. Thank you very much, Karen. Yeah. Unknown Speaker 15:52 And just to throw in even less pain and torture, everything you need. Everything you need, will be Unknown Speaker 16:00 sent to you. Yep, by NFP. So you're not going to have to hunt around for rice or anything. It's sent for sent to you. Unknown Speaker 16:11 Everything is going to come in a box, or maybe a couple boxes but Unknown Speaker 16:16 it's all going to come to you. Unknown Speaker 16:21 Hi, this is Anastasio from Hawaii. Hi, everybody. Hey, um, Unknown Speaker 16:27 um, we I was wondering when should we we signed up for the first session? When did we expect to get the box? Unknown Speaker 16:40 And how much? Unknown Speaker 16:44 Sorry, and how much time should we expect to like spend on it every day during the session during the two weeks? Unknown Speaker 16:52 So when are you going to get the box? is a fantastic question. Um, and the answer to that question. Unknown Speaker 17:00 I don't entirely know, Unknown Speaker 17:04 a lot of the things, you know, like a lot of things that are happening right now, we are putting this together very quickly. I'm really excited about it. And I think it's going to be really high quality. But I would have loved to have the boxes to you guys by now, but we are still putting them together. So, particularly for those of you who signed up for the first session, those are going to be coming probably pretty close to June 1. I'm hoping to get them there by the Friday before so the 29th. Unknown Speaker 17:38 So fingers crossed. Unknown Speaker 17:41 Um, as for how much time you're going to spend on it each day, it depends on the family. Um, the goal is to do two lessons a day. Unknown Speaker 17:52 That's what we're going to talk through on the sort of daily zoom session and Unknown Speaker 17:58 it depends on the lesson. Unknown Speaker 18:00 And it depends on your kid. One of the great things like Carlton mentioned is this is kid centered learning. And so some kids are gonna zip through some of these things really fast. And Unknown Speaker 18:15 you know, maybe that's when we, as the bell team, and as your mentors and whatever help come up with ways to make it more challenging, and some kids are going to really struggle with some things and hopefully if we've done this right, there will be a good mix of things that your kid does really easily and things that your kid is challenged by because that's how we learn. Um, Unknown Speaker 18:39 so I would say I would plan to spend an hour and a half to two hours on Bell stuff. Unknown Speaker 18:49 Each day, it might not take you that long. I Unknown Speaker 18:55 I would plan that knowing that a lot of Unknown Speaker 19:00 Other things that we're gonna be doing can hopefully be worked into things that you're already doing at home. Particularly because we are all mostly at this point home right now. There's a lot of crafting going on and a lot of what have you. Unknown Speaker 19:17 So, and again, it doesn't all have to be done at the same time. You can certainly do one lesson in the morning and one lesson at night or maybe your kid is really, really zoned in and so you want to do them all together around noon, whatever works for you, but probably an hour and a half or so a day. Unknown Speaker 19:44 Okay, so the zoom sorry, long answer to your question. Oh, yeah. So the zoom session that we signed up for, is that more just for like the kids to socialize them or is that like a lesson time Unknown Speaker 19:59 so Unknown Speaker 20:00 It's the zoom session is a top Unknown Speaker 20:03 high end to with with other Unknown Speaker 20:08 kids and tomorrow, so we're not going to try and engage Unknown Speaker 20:15 25 I've in this view that's and teach them less since because I don't know about you, but I think that sounds like an exercise in frustration mostly for you guys as parents. Unknown Speaker 20:31 But we are going to do is we're going to engage in versation and then we're going to talk to them and to you about what challenges you're having. And what was easy. What was hard. What did you learn? What did you figure out? What those kinds of things Unknown Speaker 20:53 Okay, thank you. Unknown Speaker 20:55 Yeah, absolutely. I'm looking forward to having you guys in bell. Unknown Speaker 21:02 Other questions? Unknown Speaker 21:17 Oh, good question just came in via chat come in an O and M teacher sign up for one of our students who doesn't have access to technology. Unknown Speaker 21:26 Absolutely, we've had some of that happen, as long as they can get the parents permission via phone or something. We do have Unknown Speaker 21:41 a box that says I give permission for my students to participate in the NFB Bell Academy. Unknown Speaker 21:49 So as long as the parent is comfortable with that, you might add something in the additional notes field but it's a teacher signing the student up so that we can Unknown Speaker 22:00 Make any phone calls that need to be made or anything like that, um, we do have ways of getting information to families who sign up who don't have internet. So that is definitely Unknown Speaker 22:16 something that work with. Unknown Speaker 22:38 Um, Mary asks, What are the age ranges, age ranges are four to 12 Unknown Speaker 22:50 more difficult Unknown Speaker 23:01 Other questions? Unknown Speaker 23:20 I have, except I want to make sure that you all know how to get in touch with me. Unknown Speaker 23:26 Because at least what always happens to me is people are like, do you have any questions? Do you have any questions? Oh, I got it all. And then five minutes later, Oh, I should have asked this. So, I want to make sure that you know how to get in touch with me. You can email me Unknown Speaker 23:43 at K Anderson. That's a n d e r s o n@nfb.org. Or you can Unknown Speaker 23:54 call me at 659931 for extension, two, two. Unknown Speaker 24:00 For three, and I would love to hear from you, I would love to talk to you. I really hope that you all sign your kids up for Belle Academy this summer because I really want to get to know you and all of your families and all of your kids. Unknown Speaker 24:17 Karen, this is Carlton, I would you repeat your phone number because at least on my end it cut out it might not have another fault, but I just like to make sure that it didn't. Unknown Speaker 24:31 Yes, definitely. Email is Kay Anderson. A n d e r s o n Unknown Speaker 24:39 at an sp.org Unknown Speaker 24:43 and my phone number in case that cut out was 410-659-9314 extension 2243 Unknown Speaker 24:54 Perfect. Thank you so much. Unknown Speaker 24:57 Yeah. Unknown Speaker 24:58 Well Karen, we Unknown Speaker 25:00 are very grateful to have you share with us this great information about NFP Bell Academy at Home Edition. It's a new world and a new way of doing NFL Academy. But hey, we don't grow if we don't learn and we don't do new things. So it's exciting. And I love it really is. And I think, I think in a lot of ways, this is going to change Unknown Speaker 25:29 and impact how we educate blind kids Unknown Speaker 25:33 in the future Federation is we innovate and we push it and we push the boundaries. So we're definitely doing it. I'm excited about it. Absolutely. And I love how if the Academy is taking this opportunity to be even more inclusive and a parents and empowering parents to be our children's first teachers, because we are and some of the things are different when they're medical Unknown Speaker 26:00 issues or disability issues, anything that's different. Unknown Speaker 26:05 Even adoption, anything like that it can make us feel like we're not qualified. I felt that a lot, that I was not qualified to rear my child. And NFP helped make me feel more qualified and more empowered. Unknown Speaker 26:21 So that I, I knew that I could do it with help, and I didn't have to do it alone. And I wouldn't break my child by trying to do it. So I really appreciate that. And I appreciate sharing it with other parents. Yes, Melissa? Yes. I was just going to say this is Melissa Rika. Bono. And I think it's also really fun because if you have other children in your house, oftentimes your kids go way they've ever done a bell Academy before they go to somewhere and your other kids are sort of, you know, maybe they come to the last day but it's kind of this mystery. Unknown Speaker 27:00 A bell that they go to. And my son would always say that, you know, my sisters get to go to Bethel, and I don't get to go. And so he started volunteering a little bit because he really wanted to know what they were doing. And he heard about all the cool things they were doing. But this is really also a really good way to get siblings involved. And you know, you might be thinking, gosh, I don't really know what my work situation is going to look like, you know what, what anything's gonna look like come summer. But this is something certainly, that a grandparent could do. a caregiver of any kind, even a, you know, an older teenage sibling, like, you know, 15 1617 You know, this does not happen. I mean, we would love it if every kid had a parent to do it with but if they don't have a parent, as long as there is some adult that's guiding them, helping them get the right supplies out, you know, helping making sure that they're following the directions that they're doing what they're supposed to be doing. You know, that's really the important part and if there's other siblings Unknown Speaker 28:00 are other people in your lives that want to be in on it and look on and you have extra materials from your own house that you know, your other sibling or your other children want to make something or do something. I think that's all the more powerful because it's then not just this secret thing that only one of your children do. It's something that the whole family can do and kind of be empowered Unknown Speaker 28:23 to help your child that happens to be blind. So I think that's pretty exciting as well. For us and an opportunity that doesn't happen all the time with the traditional way that we've done NFP Bell Academy Unknown Speaker 28:37 Absolutely. Melissa and, and with the Unknown Speaker 28:42 YouTube videos, the being able to practice with time, and if a sibling is having a meltdown, or if the child's having a meltdown, or the parents having a meltdown. Unknown Speaker 28:55 Because we do, you can pause that and so Unknown Speaker 29:00 Powering really exciting? Yeah, that that is really exciting. You know, my only slight worry is that my kids tend to do better sometimes with a teacher. And that's why I think having that blind mentor from your state that's paired up with your family is really going to be helpful because Unknown Speaker 29:21 some kids will do awesome stuff for their parents and other kids will sort of dig in their heels. And so I think that it's great that we have sort of both of those connections and certainly that opportunity on those zoom lessons Unknown Speaker 29:35 for parents to say, Unknown Speaker 29:37 congratulations to all you parents who have these perfect little angels that are doing just what they're supposed to do. What about my Unknown Speaker 29:44 who's still an angel, you Unknown Speaker 29:48 know, what we're aiming for and kind of having somebody to talk you through that is really important also, so you're not alone. And certainly you're not alone. If you get the box and your child. The first day looks at you. Like you Unknown Speaker 30:00 Have two heads. And, you know, I'm sure there's going to be a lot of that learning and we're all going to be doing that learning together. So don't feel overwhelmed about it, um, really take that deep breath and take it one step at a time. Because I know as a parent, I have been pretty overwhelmed with all the things all of a sudden thrown at us for distance learning. But this is going to be different because it's going to be very structured. And you'll have all the materials right there, and you can just do it one step at a time. And that's how it will be, I think, a really great experience and much better than what some of you have gotten probably for your distance learning. Plus, it really truly is all accessible without you having to do anything so. So there you go. Absolutely. And I love I'm going to repeat, like bold, underline, italicize whatever. Most said, lean on your blind mentors. That's I hadn't thought about that having the blind mentor. Work through the YouTubes with the kids. What a cool idea, making a family Unknown Speaker 31:00 time because you can schedule it how you like. Fabulous. Unknown Speaker 31:07 Take advantage. Unknown Speaker 31:09 I think the other thing I want to emphasize too is that we don't expect and we realize that these are kids. You guys have kids and that means that they are not going to do everything perfectly and it's not going to be picture perfect and there's probably going to be frustration. And that's okay. Don't feel like you have to Unknown Speaker 31:34 pull away from the program as a parent because your kid isn't the perfect Angel child. Unknown Speaker 31:43 Writing beautiful Braille sentences and making the most picture perfect of arts projects. That's not reality. That's not what's gonna happen. Your kids are probably you know, as with everything new kids are going to have Unknown Speaker 32:01 struggle probably with some of it, and that's okay. And we want to help you work through that. Both the as the bell team and also your blind mentors really want to help you guys, families, and your kids work through some of that frustration. Unknown Speaker 32:36 Okay. Oh, did I miss anything else? I think you've covered everything so beautifully. Thank you very much. Karen Anderson, thank you to the National Federation of the Blind, for allowing Karen to join us and allowing Karen to develop this fabulous program and sharing it with us and with our students and our children. Unknown Speaker 32:59 I'll do the office. Unknown Speaker 33:00 Near Going once, for last call for questions for Karen. Going once. Unknown Speaker 33:09 Going twice, all you have to do is unmute yourself Unknown Speaker 33:12 and sold. So thank you very much, Karen. I know we're all applauding even while we're muted. And oh, thank you, Carlton so much for having me. Absolutely. Thank you very much. And thank you everyone for attending. Please don't hesitate to contact Karen. Unknown Speaker 33:32 After the call contact me at no PPC Pres. In Opie, BC p r e s@gmail.com. Find us on Facebook find us. Our web page is in Opie bc.org o RG and thank you so much for being here and we're very excited to get to know you better and to share if we bill Academy and all Unknown Speaker 34:00 At Home Edition and all the great things that NFP and MPC have to offer. Have a great evening. Have a fabulous weekend and Unknown Speaker 34:11 enjoy your cells and your children. Take care. Bye. Unknown Speaker 34:44 I'm going to close down and station fun. Y'all take care and please don't hesitate to reach out. Take care. Bye Transcribed by https://otter.ai