Novi Mom Takes Learning Into Her Own Hands

When Jackie Stassinopoulos’ oldest son started kindergarten, she quickly realized that he needed learning to be fun and visual. But when she tried to find flashcards that could help him practice at home, she couldn’t find any that correlated to what he was learning in school.

So she decided to make her own. Now she makes and sells flashcards for children in kindergarten through fourth grade to help them learn what they need to in each grade.

“There should be no struggling. You want your kids to come home after a hard day and still be able to play and have fun and not have all this trouble with their homework,” she said. “Things are different from when I went to school.”

Stassinopoulos, a Novi resident, sat down with several teachers and a curriculum consultant to make the flashcards based on state standards. It took months for her to create the content and assemble the cards, and she was already busy with her two sons and all their extra-curricular activities. 

Soon she realized there were a lot of other parents who didn’t have time to construct their own flashcards and could benefit from simply buying some.

“I had to make it easier for me and then to do it all at the same time,” Stassinopoulos said. “That’s when I realized that suffering as a stay-at-home mom, I couldn’t picture the single parents, or parents at work, what they were even doing – they had to be in the same boat I was.”

So Stassinopoulos decided to produce her flashcards on a mass scale. Now parents can purchase "You'll Flip" books online, and Novi Schools has purchased several sets for its elementary schools.

Each grade level offers flashcards that correspond to subjects the students should be learning, including numbers, colors and word sounds. The cards are laminated, color-coded, gender-neutral and small enough for children to take with them. Stassinopoulos is currently working on making cards for fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

Beyond the classroom

When Stassinopoulos first started putting together the books in her house, she hired high school students to collate them. Then she found out her neighbor, who is a neuropsychologist, runs a shelter to rehabilitate people with brain injuries back into the workforce. Now they collate the flashcards for her.

“For me, it’s heartwarming. I love that," Stassinopoulos said.

She has also seen people purchase the books to help speech therapy patients and English Language Learners.

A portion of all proceeds go toward donating the flashcards to parents who can't afford them. Stassinopoulos has plans to go into underprivileged school districts to give them out.

“We want help out those parents who don’t even really know how to do this themselves and help them help their children,” she said. “I’m excited about it. I think it could help in so many ways in so many different areas.”