Lori Shao • Aug 23, 2019       For many working families the return of school may inspire a sigh of relief, but it is often short lived. When most schools end between 2pm and 3pm, there are at least two hours worth of time during which their children need to be occupied before...

Lori Shao • Aug 16, 2019 Our mission here at Finli is to make it easier for families to get the critical financial support they need for their most meaningful expenses. For many families, education comes first. Whether its day care, pre-school, or private school, Finli makes it possible for friends and family to directly...

Lori Shao | Aug 09, 2019 Believe it or not, summer is already coming to an end and the school year is quickly approaching. While it feels like just a few weeks ago we were talking about the cost of summer, we now have to shift our financial focus to the increasingly expensive experience that...

Lori Shao • Aug 02, 2019 Among families saving to send their kids to college, 529 savings plans are one of the most popular options. For those who aren’t familiar with 529 savings plans, they are a tax-advantaged investment account that parents and relatives (or anyone really) can open on behalf of a beneficiary (usually...

Lori Shao • July 26, 2019 This past week the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) at UC Berkeley and the Economic Policy Institute published a report on the cost and quality of early child care and education (ECE) in California. The report includes a number of findings regarding the cost of...

Lori Shao • July 19, 2019 With one in five parents in America spending more than $3000 for summer care (and 12% spending more than $4000), we believe that families should be aware of as many ways as possible to make summer child care more affordable. Employers can contribute to the summer child-care expenses of...

Lori Shao • July 12, 2019 This week, Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) made headlines as the House of Representatives approved $260 million in funding for “whole child” programs in the Department of Education.  The funding would cover areas including grants for innovations dealing with students’ “social, emotional, and cognitive well-being,” teacher professional development, and helping schools...

Virtual is here to stay; it’s time to commit to the screen. Teaching has fundamentally changed. Though the initial frenzy created by the onset of COVID-19 has died down, it brought a single question to the forefront of our minds: what will learning, instruction, and classes look like in the future for ballet, karate, piano...

Utilize Zoom’s instructor-friendly settings Most of our clients use Zoom to host their virtual classes. We also use Zoom for our clients that part take in Finli’s #standupforsmallbusiness program. There is more to Zoom than the popular “gallery view.” Consider using the following during class: Polling: take attendance easily, ask questions, and get a feel...