As the folks at the Fremont Solstice reminded us last weekend, the days may be getting shorter, but thankfully, the weather is perking up and with July and August being as nice as they are here in Seattle, the best of Summer is definitely in front of us.

Picture: BlossomingYogis.com

One way to enjoy the Summer is by finding great classes to sign your kids up for so you can get out and enjoy the sunshine. Or, perhaps checking a class out with your young one. Either way, here are some kid friendly classes on TeachStreet that might be of interest this Summer.

Classes for your Kids…

Language Classes
Sponge has language classes for kids ranging from newborn to seven years old. They have classes in Spanish, Mandarin, French, Japanese, as well as classes about learning other cultures (i.e. traditions, customs, etc.)

Child Development
Nancy Moe, building off of 20 years of experience, offers several classes, including “Baby Signs” for parents and kids up to three years old to improve cognitive and social child development. I had never heard of using signs to accelerate child development, but it’s an interesting idea and the research is pretty compelling.

Yoga For Kids
Yoga for tots. What a great idea! Perhaps not plank, but Anna over at Blossoming Yogis will get your toddler doing downward dog in no time. Really though, the above picture says it all. Awesome, Anna!

Reading Programs
What happens when you mix dog training and a passion for kids with a passion for education? Answer: Reading with Rover. Becky Bishop, dog trainer extraordinaire at Puppy Manners, uses her dogs in the reading classes she offers through “Reading with Rover.”

Great Music Lessons
When she’s not conducting for the Seattle Girls Choir, or directing at Ancora (a women’s choir here in the Seattle area), Miss Tess teaches a plethora of music classes. Miss Tess has lots of musical experience, has gotten great reviews and is eager share her knowledge with aspiring musicians!

Due to the fact that there are so many great writing teachers, cooking instructors, golf coaches, personal trainers, and other experts on TeachStreet, I am excited to announce a new feature we’re launching next week on the TeachStreet Blog: featured teacher segments.

Photo: Newspaper Stands | Wili Hybrid

Since we’ve gotten a number of requests from teachers wanting to post on the blog, we’ve decided to do just that: turn 5 posts a month over to you. It will be kind of like having your own newsletter only without having to host or syndicate it yourself.

The way it will works is as follows. At the end of this week Friday June 27th, we’ll be selecting 5 standout teachers to have featured monthly segments. These teachers will be able to share tips, videos (up to 2 minutes long), stories, upcoming events, editorials, or whatever else they’d like with folks on TeachStreet. The posts will be on the TeachStreet Blog, but the content (up to 800 words), will be all yours, including:

• Tips
• Videos
• Events
• Editorials

Though 2 of the 5 teachers have already been selected, we still have 3 spots remaining spots. So if you’re a registered member of TeachStreet and would like to reach out to more students by sharing some tips and tricks of your own. Submit a request by emailing me at sam@teachstreet.com. In your email be sure to include your name, what you teach, and what you’d like to include in your monthly segment (and, of course, your TeachStreet URL / screenname).

We’re looking forward to hearing from you, but as mentioned, all requests must be submitted by Friday June 27th.

We spend so much time talking about all-things TeachStreet that we sometimes forget there are other “little engines that could” striving to make the world a better place — one of them, Trusera, just officially went live last night, and we couldn’t be happier for them.

Trusera.com, which allows consumers to find and share real-world health experiences with others who’ve been there, is a new online health network founded by a good friend, Keith Schorsch (and fellow ex-Amazon.com alumni). The company vision was based on Keith’s own struggle with Lyme disease and the difficulty in finding credible health insights from others. After meeting with 11 doctors, it was one phone call from a friend that finally led to his diagnosis and saved his life.

During his diagnosis and recovery, Keith realized that there’s actually too much health information on the Internet today. Many people find it overwhelming to navigate and hard to trust. He found the most useful information came from people with similar health experiences and their own personal health stories. He founded Trusera to inspire people to learn from each other to inform important health decisions.

Click here for a free membership to Trusera, the online health network

We mentioned this in last week’s marketing mail, but some teachers got a different mail, so may not have heard the news — we’re excited to announce the winner of our Seattle Launch promotion: Dr. Tri! He won a month’s worth of free classes (up to $500 in value) with the TeachStreet member of his choice — we’re excited for him! Wonder what he’ll learn? Maybe hone up on his espanol and learn Spanish? or maybe Piano lessons? Whatever it is, we’re excited for him!

Among other things, Dr. Tri (a.k.a. Dr. Michael Ross) is a Seattle triathlon coach. He’s one of the thousands of teachers here on TeachStreet who’s sharing his personal passion with students and life-long learners. If you’re here in Seattle, check out his awesome fitness classes!

Last week, we decided that it was time to bust out of the office and find ourselves — we’d had enough of feature prioritization, scrum/sprint planning and meetings! So, we packed up and headed to Seattle’s Center for Wooden Boats — if you haven’t been there before, you should definitely check it out. Not only are they a TeachStreet teacher/school with tons of great boatbuilding classes, but they have a fantastic facility for offsites (we rented the upstairs library for a discussion of TeachStreet Values, Philosophy, and more).

Afterward, they also arranged a 2 hour sail on Lake Union — while it was a little overcast, we had a great day and also got to experience some of the rowing skills (video below) of team members Fred, Sam and Scott — not sure why rowing should have been necessary, but sometimes that’s what it takes to get back to solid ground!

Video:

Photos:

Regardless of whether or not you’ve ever been to an event, you’ve probably heard of Meetup.com. If not, the idea is simple. Find a local community group with a common interest, meet up, and do whatever it is you enjoy doing. And though sometimes one person is a teacher, frequently it’s just two two people who are interested in something.

At TeachStreet there are a number of resources for folks with teaching businesses, but what about those who know a lot about literature and want to talk books, or the aspiring harmonica player who may not be an expert, but still has something to teach?

It has been cool to see the idea that anyone can be a teacher begin to emerge on TeachStreet. Folks who don’t necessarily define themselves as teachers, with day jobs and no teaching background, have begun coming to the site and registering classes. And just as the a-ha moment happened for millions of buyers on eBay, who came to realize they could sell, too, the a-ha moment is happening for students who realize they too have something to teach.

Perhaps you’re good at chess, but never really thought about the fact that you could try your hand at being a chess teacher?”

But regardless or whether or not your aspiration to teach is there, you can always learn. One great Meetup group here in Seattle is the Craft Sellers Meetup. And they are putting on an event at the NW Senior Center over in Ballard on Saturday June 28th, if you want to check out their craft show.

Or, if you can’t make it to the Senior Center on the 28th, there are quite a few jewelry making classes on TeachStreet. In particular, both Marlo M and Julie Charles are two great crafts-women who teach some pretty awesome classes. And it doesn’t take more many clicks around their profiles or Google searches to see that I’m not alone with that opinion.

While part of the team has been out talking to folks looking to find classes, be they students seeking to find yoga instructors, or belly dancing instructors trying to find belly dancing students, the dev team has been hard at work making TeachStreet a better place to do all those things. What’s new? Funny you should ask. A veritable laundry list, really, but here are a few worth noting.

For Students…

• Recommendations on home page that queue off of Tags and Favorites.

• Classes in nearby cities atop search results: The jewelry making class you were looking for might not be in Bellevue, but perhaps it’s in Seattle. So we expanded a search results here to help folks find these nearby classes.

• Tabs on Profile Pages: Stylish tabs that show the number of items (classes, reviews ,etc) behind them, too.

• Other Classes from this Teacher Widget: To help students find similar, relevant classes taught by a specific teacher.

• Take This Class Button: Makes it easier to sign up for classes.

For Teachers…

• Class cloning tools: It’s now easier for teachers to create more classes, more easily.

• Ads for Teachers: HTML friendly ads to help teachers with their Craigslist posts.

For Everyone…

• Add/Edit Photo buttons: Added at top of pages for easier uploading.

• Add/Edit Photo Tool: Image Uploads now show % completion and have better messaging.

• Newsletter: We now have a bi-weekly newsletter for teachers & students alike.

And of course, last but not least, there are some faces to go along with the site. Pics of the team have been added. And yes, Jim Cooley, of TechCrunch fame, is featured prominently. (I’m confused though, Jim, no switch in the team pic?)

Thanks to Lora Shinn (she’s the parenting columnist at NWsource (she also runs the blog Little Kids Big City — if you’re a Seattle parent, definitely check that out)) for showing some love for our humble little website — she interviewed our own Marketing and Operations Goddess, Ms. Katie Gruver about what we’re working to build, and we couldn’t be happier with her article about TeachStreet!

Personally, I loved her last sentence

“I liked the fact that I could find independent teachers, and unusual subspecialties — whether beekeeping or talking to kids about the birds and bees.”

From Vera’s to the Tractor Tavern, Ballard is full of Seattle landmarks, hangouts, and well, Scandinavians, too.

And though there are classes at the Nordic Heritage Museum for those looking to brush up on their Norse language skills this month, there are also numerous other classes in Ballard, both on and off Market, that don’t require the ability to read a single rune.

Creative Commons: Ballard Locks | Waqas Ahmed

• Golf Conditioning -Outrageously Fit.
  It’s about that time of year again! Outrageously fit offers one-on-one or small group training sessions by appointment for golfers looking to improve their strength, flexibility or posture. Call 206. 782. 2199 for more info.

• Belly Dancing Class - Ballard Health Center & Wellness Spa.
  Kyndra Bade teaches belly dancing Thursday nights from 8:30 - 9:30 pm at the Ballard Health Center & Wellness Spa. Call 206. 783. 0404 for more info.

• Tennis Lessons - Chris Lewis Tennis.
  Chris, who played his college tennis at Cal Berkeley, in addition to being a standout player, is also a standout coach. He’s been teaching in Ballard and around the Seattle area for over 5 years. Send Chris an email for more info.

• Glass Blowing Class - Blowing Sands Glass Studio.
  In addition to their gallery, Blowing Sands also has a studio for those looking to take classes. Stop by or call them at 206. 783. 5413 for more information about class times.

• Sewing Classes - Quality Sewing.
  Quality Sewing has locations all over town, but their Ballard shop has a number of classes for those looking to make bags, trench coats, shirts, or anything else. For more info send them an email or call at 206. 782. 9400.

And for those who can’t get enough of Ballard, here are some Ballard blogs worth checking out.

• Seattle P-I Ballard Reader Blog

• MyBallard Blog

• Ballardite Blog

• Ballard Blog

• Ballard Gossip Girl