About
Our Story
Beginning in the 90’s, kidCourses was NY-based and focused on running live courses in NY only. Our most popular course was the ABC Signs Program, a sign language program that was offered to Long Island preschoolers free of charge. When we tried to volunteer at a local library we were told “We don’t accept volunteers, we have to pay you” (generously). We then ran a mix of pro bono and paid courses.
As a mom, it was great for Jessika to get paid for a gig where it was actually a plus to bring 2 little ones along. We were happy to offer live instruction to motivate children to be life long-learners, express their creativity, spread positivity, and just plain have fun. We had also established MathLibs® as a free online math resource, garnering attention for PBSTeachers and the NCTM. Now, with the kids all grown up and a westward move, we took a hiatus from delivering live courses and started sharing our content online at (the new and improved) kidcourses.com. Please let us know what you think and what you would like to see next. You can Facebook us, as they say.
(Clicking the image above opens a new window for YouTube.)
The Team
DR. ED SOBANSKI
Dr. Sobanski has retired from teaching with over 30 years experience in the classroom, but continues to be involved in educational programs, recreational programs, and many volunteering activities, including coaching summer softball. Throughout his teaching career he created and led many in-school and after school educational programs, including computer initiatives (before computers were cool), SAT instruction, and many mathematics programs. Additionally, he the music producer for esjmusic.com.
JOYCE SOBANSKI
Joyce has her Bachelors in English and Secondary Education and her Masters in English, Elementary, and Secondary Education. She is an avid volunteer and a wonderful singer/songwriter, touring Long Island coffee houses. She plays piano, guitar, and ukulele, and is proud to get others involved in the arts. Now retired, she likes to travel coast to coast and enjoy music concerts, especially when they involve Rufus Wainwright. You can visit her website at esjmusic.com.
JESSIKA JAKE 
Jessika has taught students from the age of 2 through 50, from Wiggley Warmups to Organic Chemistry to IT Infrastructure Foundations. A veteran instructional designer & educational author with a masters from NYIT, she has created many programs for kidcourses.com, including the popular mathlibs.org site, which scored mentions from both PBS and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Her career path was defined by opportunities as they presented themselves, and some of her interesting past roles include: Web Producer for NBC Universal, teaching at various LI colleges, and instructing for The Princeton Review. Her volunteering and pro bono efforts include softball coaching, e-Yearbook development, PTO, instructing youth in scriptwriting & editing, volunteering for SaveaMother.org, running ProBono4Pups (the pro bono outreach for getFlashy.com and LoudGiraffe.com), and all sorts of dog-related volunteer activities. In recent years she became focused on Wellness, is now a certified a coach, and she has achieved WELCOA Faculty status. She is the co-founder of EmanantWellness.com, a company dedicated to helping others feel awesome so they can “do awesome.”
ATHENA DADIZ
Puppet in hand, Athena was teaching since the earliest of the ABC Signs Program days. She has spent three summers teaching elementary students in Fiji, heading her own 4th grade classroom and inventing games on the fly. Artistic and multi-talented, Athena has worked in the NYC media world and has excellent camera and video editing skills. She donated her skills to film at the Bridgehampton Polo Tournament, covering the launch of a foundation to raise money for Darfur. She was also a paid intern at tutor.com and, and followed her passion to earn her BA in Architecture, and then her Masters in Construction Management. She is now a Project Engineer working on skyscrapers and other projects. She is very focused on sustainable builds, and projects that give back.
JADE DADIZ
Jade pioneered the online video efforts for kidcourses.com. She also volunteers her talents to saveamother.org. She was the 2008/2009 president of her high school International Club and has always been active in dance, sports, wellness, and gymnastics. She has been tutoring throughout her entire academic career and has attended media-related camps at Georgetown University, with a special focus on video and animation and iPhone app development. She is a proud alum of the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine. Jade was hired as talent for a video production made by Transitions to Complete Education (below) and participated in Freedom Foundation. She is currently enrolled in college, and has taught yoga shipboard while traveling the world, Zumba, and various wellness Lunch and Learns.
Out and About Pics
Be sure to check out our Press & Praise page!