Apogee Cincinnati

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Apogee Cincinnati

Apogee Cincinnati is a community education hub. We provide education and support for the whole family.

We offer an alternative to public education - prioritizing physical health, project based learning, and time in nature.

08/27/2026

Last week marked the 20th anniversary of me starting my first teaching job. There were celebrations in Chicago this past weekend that I didn’t partake in, but I got to see lots of reminiscing photos from former students, and have been reflecting a lot myself.

At the same time, I have been working extra hours at my part time job, which involves reading through and analyzing hundreds of transcripts of math tutoring sessions.

The tricky part is, usually the best way to help them is to not help, or rather, to help in a way that pushes them to help themselves.

Here are a few key reminders from these reflections:

Less talking, more listening. They learn by doing and through struggle, not by you telling or doing everything for them.

Just because they said they need help, doesn’t mean they actually do. Empower them. “Let me see you try.”

See what they can do before jumping in.

When you do help, try to guide them in small amounts or with questions, so that they can still be engaged and figuring it out along the way. Break it down, then stop helping as soon as they are able to continue on their own.

Helping can actually hinder or delay the learning process. The more we support kids in doing the hard things themselves, the more capable they become.

The pride they build in their own capability will keep them motivated to learn more. They start believing in themselves when we create the environment and conditions for them to find their way through difficult tasks.

Success and learning new things feels good, accomplished. Before you know it, they’ll be pushing you away, asking you not to help them because they want to show that they can do it themselves.

They are learning to learn, and taking pride in that.

It’s in these small moments of helping less and challenging more that they develop capability and adaptability.

This is what I’ll be doing with my own son and our kids at Apogee. If it sounds like something you want support with or want to join, let me know. It’s not too late. We start September 8th.

08/22/2026

We had a great time visiting Music Resource Center - Cinci yesterday at their open house. Such a cool space with so many great resources and offerings. Be sure to check them out!

08/20/2026

Our end of session showcases are one of the coolest parts of our program! It’s such a different kind of experience for kids when they have to get up in front of a group of adults and talk about their projects, including challenges, solutions, and what they’ve learned.

For some, nerves take over and they can’t even do it, or they talk a bit more than they planned. For others, they realize that it’s not so bad and they’re more capable than they thought.

At the end, they’re mostly proud of themselves, and already coming up with ideas for their next project!

The first one is always the hardest. But the more they do it, the better they get, and these skills translate to the real world!

Kids confident to ask the librarian for a book, to order their own food, including asking for ketchup, to talk to their new bus driver about how to make sure they get picked up.

These are all examples from our families of ways that they have seen this confidence play out.

We have 7 sessions during our school year, which means 7 chances to practice speaking in front of an audience. If you want to see your kid gaining that confidence, come check us out!

We offer trial sessions and still have some spaces left when we start in a couple weeks!

08/18/2026

At our last showcase of the school year, back in June, we had a little testimonial station set up. We’ve shared what the students had to say, and one parent, but here’s more to give you a sense of what it’s like from the parent perspective.

We love our Apogee families and the community that we are all building together. We look forward to getting to know the new families that will be joining us this year and seeing what they think!

08/15/2026

Yesterday, Lincoln tested and earned his yellow band at the y. Swimming has been a skill that hasn’t come easily or quickly. We’ve had to put in a lot of time and effort to get here. Past obstacles of fear, bad teachers, and other tricky circumstances.

The first thing he did after he got it was to get as far away from me as he could while staying in the shallow end. He wouldn’t let me come with him to ask the lifeguard to test, or after to get the new band.

It reminds me of the metaphor for parenting that I heard a couple years ago from Lisa Damour. A pool metaphor, where we are the edge of the pool and our kids will kick off the side and swim into the world to have experiences and explore their independence, but always come back to the safety of the edge when they need to.

This is obviously a very literal example of that metaphor, but a good reminder of how healthy it is for our kids to desire and try out independence in different ways. Why we help them become capable and skilled so that we can trust that they will be as prepared as possible for the world.

If you want partners along the metaphorical pool wall for your kids to have safe touch points, that’s part of what we do here. Teaching the life skills for that healthy independence.

3 weeks until we start, and spaces available. Reach out if this resonates.

08/13/2026

This may be controversial, but I don’t believe in school in August. Growing up, we always started after Labor Day. For most of my teaching career, we started after Labor Day. My birthday is in August and I was never in school for it.

Lately, it seems like school start dates are getting earlier and earlier. I keep seeing back to school photos already, and it just seems wrong.

So we’re not doing it. We’re basking in the glorious break of our no school August, and we’ll start back after Labor Day.

Which means, there’s still time for you to join us! Reach out to set up a studio visit or fill out an application on our website!

08/10/2026

When kids come to our summer session, they talk about how fun it is and how they wish they could come here for the school year. When their parents come to pick them up, they don’t want to leave.

Every time we get a new group of kids and this happens over and over, it just reminds me that we must be doing something right.

07/31/2026

This kid. He is our why. We started Apogee because we wanted a different option for him that we didn’t see available.

We wanted time in nature prioritized beyond the age of six.

We wanted movement to be understood as a normal and healthy need for kids.

We wanted kids to be able to explore their ideas and interests in genuine ways so that their curiosity and desire to learn remains intact and alive throughout their lives.

We wanted them to learn how to learn and adapt, so that they can make it in this wild, quickly changing world that we’re living in.

We wanted them to know how their bodies and emotions work so that they can work with them and meet them with love. So they know that feelings aren’t a problem to be managed, but information.

We wanted them to feel free to fully express themselves, just as they are, without fear of judgment.

Two school years in, and I think we’re on the right track. Lincoln has thrived in this space. After creating and presenting 11 projects, starting when he was just 5, he has become a confident speaker with unique and sometimes complex ideas for his projects. He recently studied languages and ciphers and created his own.

He’s 7 now, reading voraciously at a 4th grade level. The librarians know us well because we have to visit so frequently to keep up with his appetite for books. He loves logic puzzles and has been working on multiplication. He’s aware of those around him and often questioning and wondering what makes them tick.

He does not just do what we say, which can be frustrating, but also shows that he has his own mind and feels safe to question the reasoning behind something. And sometimes I’m wrong!

I’m grateful that we’ve been able to create this experience for him and surround ourselves with kids and families that are curious and want their kids to have all of these things too.

We’re still welcoming in families for the fall. DM me with any questions.

07/13/2026

We wouldn’t be here without the families that have chosen to say yes and take a chance on us. We’re so grateful to get to be in community with these kids and parents.

Last week we shared the kids’ perspectives. This week we’ll be sharing what some of our parents have to say.

Maybe this is the kind of environment you want for your kids too. Spaces available for the fall.

07/06/2026

We can tell you a million different ways about why we think Apogee is great, but what really matters is what our families think about it.

Hear directly from our students what they love most about Apogee! Adult edition coming soon. 😊

Address

945 W North Bend Road
College Hill, OH
45224

Website

http://apogeecincinnati.com/

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