The post An Educator’s Perspective: Carmen Alvarez, Early Childhood Director, Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD) first appeared on Age of Learning.

Age of Learning began its relationship with Digital Promise in 2020 with the launch of My Math Academy, our adaptive, personalized digital program designed to help PreK through second grade students master foundational math concepts and skills. The program is based in research and education best practices. Together with Digital Promise we worked to obtain their product certifications for Research-Based Design and Learner Variability. These endorsed My Math Academy as an effective solution that is based in research about how children learn and supports the unique needs of learners, and they serve as a guide to educators and administrators looking for reliable edtech to bring into their classrooms and schools.

As we enter this new chapter with Digital Promise, we will be working with the League of Innovative Schools to develop an early learning cohort to collaborate on an action research agenda centered around PreK through third grade teaching and learning. Additionally, Age of Learning will offer select League districts the opportunity to pilot My Math Academy and My Reading Academy programs.

To kick off our new partnership, the Age of Learning School Solutions team will attend the League of Innovative Schools Fall Convening October 20-22 in Washington D.C. This event brings together district and education leaders and features a packed agenda of nation-level policy and action meetings, notable guest speakers, and networking opportunities all intended to chart innovative new paths for League schools.

On November 10, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m., we will be hosting a virtual Lunch and Learn event. In partnership with League members, this Lunch and Learn will present Age of Learning School Solutions and bring to life our approach to early learning, personalization, equity, and mastery. This webinar will be a kickoff to our Early Learning Cohort and action research projects throughout the school year.

We thank Digital Promise for our growing partnership and are honored to be supporting the League’s impactful work.

The post Age of Learning Partners with Digital Promise’s League of Innovative Schools first appeared on Age of Learning.

In early June, we announced our new Schools Solutions, which we developed to provide schools and districts with standards-based early education programs proven to help teachers differentiate instruction and accelerate learning while helping students achieve mastery. We also announced the launch of our innovative My Math Academy, the School Division’s first product, which our curriculum and production teams spent six years of development, iteration, and testing. My Math Academy is a research-proven, personalized, adaptive math program for pre-k through second grade. Multiple randomized control trials have shown that students using My Math Academy for as little as 45 minutes a week over a twelve-week period experience significant learning gains, and the children have increased engagement, interest, and confidence in learning math.

In mid-July, we shared that two Age of Learning teams behind the successful launch and ongoing development of My Math Academy published chapters in the academic journal Adaptive Instructional Systems. Design and Evaluation and were to present their work at the HCI International 2021 Conference.

In late July, the head of our Schools Division and a senior researcher on our Learning Science team were featured presenters at the #NYCSchoolsTech Summit 2021, where they shared the truly amazing results we had already seen while rolling out My Math Academy in school district pilot programs nationwide prior to its public launch. Their presentation: Results Count, My Math Academy Delivers! A PreK-2 Game-based Approach that Tripled Math Gains for Early Learners, focused primarily on the truly amazing results achieved in our pilot program in the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD) in Texas.

This pilot program was also the focus of a Government Technology magazine website article: My Math Academy Improving Early Childhood Math Skills. The article reported that after offering our My Math Academy: Classroom Edition product to more than 900 largely economically disadvantaged pre-K students in the district, math skills more than doubled for 4-year-old pre-K students and tripled for 3-year-olds. The average pre-K student aged 4 is now at mid-kindergarten level, while the average pre-K student aged 3 is approaching kindergarten-level math skills. You can watch a HCISD school district board meeting discussing the unprecedented impact of My Math Academy on children’s skills and achievement (start at 8:50 for a quicker watch).

This past week, My Math Academy received another honor, winning the Awards of Excellence from Tech & Learning, which named our adaptive early math program one of 2021’s Best Tools for Back to School. Tech & Learning’s Awards of Excellence have long recognized innovation in the edtech industry, and its latest iteration, The Best Tools for Back to School, celebrates the most impressive products and solutions that support the work of teachers, students, and parents as they prepare for the new 2021-22 school year. Tech & Learning’s panel of advisors evaluated My Math Academy on ease of use, value, versatility, and (most importantly) the product’s ability to solve a problem.

Tech & Learning Group Publisher Christine Weiser framed it this way: “As we head into another uncertain year in education, technology will continue to be one of the key drivers for innovation. Our judges chose the winning products recognized here for their versatility, compatibility, value, and ability to help schools solve challenges and support continuous instruction. Congratulations to all of our winners.”

In addition to this latest award, My Math Academy has already achieved an impressive list of certifications: Stemworks Design Principles and Rubrics for Effective STEM Programs, Digital Promise Certification for Research-Based Design, Digital Promise Certification for Research-Based Design and Learner Variability, and the kidSAFE Seal Program’s COPPA Certified seal of approval.

Click here to learn more about My Math Academy, or schedule a product demo.

The post My Math Academy: Classroom Edition Wins Tech & Learning Award of Excellence, Named One of 2021’s Best Tools for Back to School first appeared on Age of Learning.

But it’s our latest pilot program that’s been generating an exceptional amount of excitement and interest. More than 900 largely economically disadvantaged pre-K students in the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District in Texas, started using My Math Academy in the fall. As recently reported on the Government Technology magazine website, “math skills more than doubled for 4-year-old pre-K students and tripled for 3-year-olds. The average pre-K student aged 4 is now at mid-kindergarten level, while the average pre-K student aged 3 is approaching kindergarten-level math skills.”

According to Carmen Alvarez, Director, HCISD Early Childhood, for the school district, My Math Academy, which includes a robust teacher dashboard, is giving teachers unparalleled insights into the learning needs of each individual student: “It’s kind of like being a great doctor,” she said. “A great doctor is going to look at the data before they go see a patient, and that’s exactly what the teachers are doing.” She also noted that the program allows students to learn at their own pace and “gives teachers more flexibility to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to instruction.”

Read the full article on GovTech.com…

The post GovTech.com Spotlights Amazing Success of My Math Academy in Texas School District first appeared on Age of Learning.

Tomorrow, from 3:15 p.m.–3:45 p.m. (EST) , the head of our Schools Division and senior researcher on our Learning Science team will introduce Age of Learning’s newest classroom solution—My Math Academy—to Tech Summit attendees and share the truly amazing results we have seen while rolling out this new product in school district pilot programs. We hope you’ll join their presentation: Results Count, My Math Academy Delivers! A PreK-2 Game-based Approach that Tripled Math Gains for Early Learners.

Age of Learning spent six years applying the latest research and learning science to develop My Math Academy, which is a highly-individualized learning solution designed to bring equity and efficacy into every classroom. From the creators of ABCmouse, My Math Academy guides PreK through grade 2 learners through a highly-personalized learning adventure featuring engaging and just-right challenges that empower children, encourage persistence, and lead to a love of math.

During our session at #NYCSchools Tech Summit, participants will see detailed pilot results showing how My Math Academy tripled learning gains for PreK and Kindergarten students during the 20-21 school year despite the pandemic, hybrid learning conditions, and other community challenges.

Additionally, there will be an active virtual exhibit hall where participants can explore new education technology, including My Math Academy, and network with other Summit attendees. Our virtual booth will give you access to documents outlining My Math Academy’s alignment to academic achievement and funding guidelines, efficacy research, a My Math Academy Program Overview, and two instructive videos: My Math Academy Teacher Overview and Harlingen School District Spotlight.

We hope you can join us as we continue to inspire and connect through new learning techniques and resources!

The post Age of Learning Schools Division Presenting at NYCSchoolsTech Summit 2021 first appeared on Age of Learning.

Age of Learning has long recognized that learner variability in the classroom and the demands of differentiating instruction may be one of the biggest obstacles to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to succeed. However, recent advancements in technology, data science, and adaptive instructional systems (AISs) offer an opportunity to provide a solution for learner variability at scale. Age of Learning has spent years developing and iterating a mastery-based Personalized Mastery Learning Ecosystem (PMLE)—the platform for our adaptive, game-based My Math Academy and My Reading Academy—to empower teachers to differentiate instruction through real time diagnostics and a robust collection of resource materials.

We have taken a Learning Engineering approach to developing these innovative products. Our Learning Engineering team at Age of Learning is interdisciplinary—consisting of curriculum experts, learning scientists, data scientists, design researchers, efficacy researchers, and game developers—and their work applied learning sciences research to inform pedagogy and instructional design, as well as in applications of user-centered research methodologies, evidence-centered design, and learning analytics to drive learning outcomes.

Members of two Age of Learning teams developing, testing, and iterating on the development of these products have recently published chapters in the book Adaptive Instructional Systems. Design and Evaluation, which will be presented at the upcoming HCI International 2021, the International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction.

To share their insights, we are highlighting these chapters and presentations and encourage everyone to read and attend if possible.

The post Age of Learning Teams Publish Chapters in Adaptive Instructional Systems. Design and Evaluation, Present at HCI International 2021 Conference first appeared on Age of Learning.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of My Math Academy, a personalized, adaptive math program for pre-k through second grade. This is the first product offering from Age of Learning’s new Schools Division, which provides schools and districts with standards-based early education programs proven to help teachers differentiate instruction and accelerate learning while helping students achieve mastery.

An independent study of over 1,000 teachers and administrators shows that educators are focused on critical priorities that emerged from school closures in March of 2020, including addressing learning gaps and learner variability among students in the areas of math and reading. Furthermore, the same study found that schools and districts are in need of resources that individualize instruction alongside an experience that is engaging for students to use.

Multiple randomized control trials have shown that students using My Math Academy for as little as 45 minutes a week over a twelve-week period experience significant learning gains, and the children have increased engagement, interest, and confidence in learning math. In fact, the skill levels of students using My Math Academy in the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District (HCISD) in Texas have more than doubled since implementation of the program during the 2020-2021 school year.

“Our student body in Harlingen is largely economically disadvantaged and our administrators and teachers care deeply about providing each child the high-quality education they deserve. Our district was focused on addressing math deficiencies with our early learners. When we discovered My Math Academy, we were confident that it would be a powerful tool for both our students and teachers,” said Carmen Alvarez, Director, HCISD Early Childhood. “We have seen tremendous results across our classrooms with students fully engaged in math and developing a love of learning, and our teachers have been able to utilize the rich data from this program to differentiate instruction for each child and to track learning growth. Despite the pandemic, our students have been positively impacted, whether they have been learning remotely, in the classroom, or both.”

Powered by learning science and adaptive technology, the program continuously monitors students’ knowledge through embedded assessments, customized direct instruction, and formative feedback. This combination creates individualized learning paths toward mastery of foundational math skills. My Math Academy has earned both the Research-Based Design and Learner Variability product certifications from Digital Promise and is STEMworks certified by WestEd.

My Math Academy provides educators with real-time insights on student progress, accomplishments, and points of struggle, as well as actionable instruction recommendations and guidance on student groupings. These features enable teachers to spend more time teaching and less time assessing.

“Our curriculum and product teams spent six years developing My Math Academy, a truly unique program backed by research and learning science that has been proven to reduce the learning gap,” said Paul Candland, CEO of Age of Learning. “When millions of students began learning at home more than a year ago, we made it a priority to make our flagship products ABCmouse and Adventure Academy available to families in need of high-quality educational resources. We are now extending that effort by getting My Math Academy into the hands of students around the country as quickly as possible to help mitigate the impact of school closures.”

Age of Learning’s new Schools Division, headed by General Manager Sam Bonfante, is responsible for helping administrators and teachers implement My Math Academy in their districts and classrooms. Bonfante joins Age of Learning with 20 years of senior sales management experience within leading media and education publishing companies, most recently at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

For more information on My Math Academy, visit www.ageoflearning.com/schools/mymathacademy.

The post Age of Learning Enters Schools Business — Launches Personalized, Adaptive Early Learning Math Program, My Math Academy first appeared on Age of Learning.

The list below includes some of the early academic indicators of kindergarten readiness. It’s by no means comprehensive, but it will provide you with an understanding of what will be expected of your child as well as offer tips to help you prepare him or her for a successful transition to kindergarten.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child listens to and understands stories.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Begin to read board books to your child as an infant.
• Read the complete story first, for enjoyment, without interruptions.
• During additional readings, ask questions about the story, and encourage your child to ask questions.
• Let your child turn pages, showing that he or she knows it’s a story.
• Gradually introduce longer books that require more patience and focus.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can retell stories that have been read to him or her
or tell original stories.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Have your child reread a familiar book and try to retell it.
• Read nursery rhymes together, and encourage your child retell them.
• Provide puppets or flannel board cutouts that your child can use in retelling the stories.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can find matching objects.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Have your child practice matching objects, such as:
  • socks from the laundry,
  • pencils or pens,
  • earrings, and
  • food cans in the pantry.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can sort objects by their attributes: color, shape,
size, and function, such as things that roll and things he
or she can write with.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Once your child can match objects, encourage him or her to practice sorting them into categories like these:
  • Color: Find all the blue shirts, silver coins, and red blocks.
  • Size: Put big bath towels in one stack and small face towels in another.
  • Shape: Find all the round objects in the room.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can identify words that rhyme.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Talk about how some words rhyme: that is, the last part of the words sounds the same.
• Have your child find the rhyming words in nursery rhymes; for example,
  • Jill and hill rhyme in Jack and Jill;
  • Humpty and Dumpty rhyme in Humpty Dumpty; and
  • dock and clock rhyme in Hickory Dickory Dock.
• Play rhyming word games, such as “I know a word that rhymes with house. . . . It is a little animal. . . . It is a . . . mouse!”

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can identify patterns.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Point out patterns as you go about your day, such as patterns in clothing,
  in plants along a street, and in books you read.
• Play pattern-guessing games by arranging objects in a pattern
  (for example, two red, one blue; two red, one blue), and ask your
  child to identify the pattern.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can name colors.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Discuss the names of the colors; show how some colors can be made by combining other colors (For example, red and white makes pink.).
• Read books about colors, such as The Color Kittens by Margaret Wise Brown and A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni.
• Use watercolors to paint, and ask your child to mix colors and name them.
• Ask your child to name the colors around him or her, such as in his or her room, on his or her clothes, and in the crayon box.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can identify some letters and numbers.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Help your child start to distinguish letters in simple words that he or she often sees written. Begin with the letters in his or her name.
• Point out numbers on everything, such as on money, clocks, signs, phones, and the TV remote.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child begins to understand that letters stand for the sounds
he or she hears in words.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Talk about sounds for some of the letters in your child’s name, in books, and in other words that he or she often sees during the day.
• Write your child’s name and other simple words on a piece of paper or a dry-erase board to show how letters form words.
• Use magnetic letters on a refrigerator to make real and nonsense words, and sound them out with your child.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child recognizes some signs.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Ask your child to “read” words seen during his or her daily routine, such as stop on the stop sign, walk at a crosswalk, gas at a gas station, and the names of favorite stores or restaurants.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child begins to recognize some sight words.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Have your child point out words, such as the, a, an, and, I, me, is, was, are, go, and stop, that he or she sees often as you read books together.
• Write sight words on index cards, and play word games, such as a memory matching game, with your child.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child begins to “write” by scribbling; drawing; or imitating letters, numbers, forms, or shapes.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Give your child paper and writing tools in a shoebox that he or she can use to begin to write, draw, or create shapes.
• Give your child a paintbrush and a bowl of water to “paint” on the sidewalk or driveway. (Talk about evaporation as his or her creations disappear.)

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child understands how numbers are used.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Show your child how numbers are used in everyday life, such as:
  • to count items;
  • to keep track of money, distance, weight, and length; and
  • to measure amounts used in cooking.

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child can count to 20.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Look for opportunities to count items out loud for and with your child, such as:
  • setting the table,
  • sorting clothes,
  • measuring ingredients, and
  • organizing toys.
• Encourage and help your child to count objects he or she sees during the day, such as:
  • stairs,
  • cups of water, and
  • streetlights

Kindergarten-Readiness Indicator:

Your child understands how some words are opposites: up and down, big and little, tall and short, quiet and loud, as well as light and heavy.

WHAT FAMILIES CAN DO

• Point out examples of opposites that you see.
• Play an opposite-guessing game: “The opposite of day is . . . night!”

Remember, while kindergarten-readiness skills are important and will contribute to a strong foundation for future academic success, the activities that lead up to kindergarten readiness should be enjoyable for your child. Make them fun family times and part of your daily routine so that your child begins to view learning as a positive and natural experience.

The post Kindergarten Readiness: Academic Indicators first appeared on Age of Learning.

One of first learning experiences that you can provide for your young child is counting. However, counting is really a complex experience and an important building block for understanding the concepts of numbers and mathematics.

Usually, the first counting-related skill that children learn is the ability to recite the words for the numbers in the correct order: one, two, three, four, five. . . . This memory skill is important (just as it is useful to know The Alphabet Song in order to learn the names and order of the letters of the alphabet), yet even as children begin to recite the numbers in order, they typically don’t have any understanding of what the words one, two, three, and so forth actually mean. According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the standard for numbers and operations for prekindergarten through grade 2 is “count with understanding and recognize ‘how many’ in sets of objects. . . . ”

When children “count with understanding,” they understand that the word one refers to one object of any kind, the word two refers to two objects, and so on.

Everyday experiences can lead children to discover and understand the relationship between quantities and the words that are used to talk about numbers. For example, when counting, children need to learn that there is a one-to-one correspondence of object and number (like matching one person to one cookie) and also that counting two after one means that the first and second objects need to be added together to make the two, and so on!

When you give your child things to count, start with the objects displayed in a line, so that he or she can see each object individually and count the objects sequentially:

X X X X X X X X X X (10)

Counting from left to right and touching each object as it is counted helps your child to understand the one-to-one correspondence of an object to a number. In addition, moving the objects closer together while he or she counts will help your child to understand that the number four, for instance, refers to all of the objects counted up to four and not just the one called four:

XXXX (4) X X X X X X

You can also provide practice in recognizing sets of objects by the way they are grouped, like the dots on a six-sided die. Children can count the dots, recognize the pattern, and learn that they won’t have to count again as the set/pattern becomes associated with the quantity it represents. This simple game can help:

1. Hold five or six small objects (buttons, grapes, pennies) in your hand.
2. Roll out a different number of them.
3. Tell your child to look at the objects you rolled and quickly name the quantity without counting.
4. Repeat this activity.

After a while, your child will very quickly be able to identify and tell you the number for each quantity of objects.

Additionally, provide practice in recognizing sets of objects by the way they are grouped in a line, like this:

X

X X

X X X

X X X X

X X X X X

The most important thing about teaching counting and other early mathematics concepts to your child is that he or she should see numbers as part of his or her real-life experiences. Look for opportunities to count with your child whenever possible. For example, you might count everyday items, such as these:

• packages of macaroni or beans in the kitchen
• leaves that have fallen off of a tree
• buttons on a jacket or sweater
• school buses you see on the drive to school
• forks, spoons, knives, plates, and napkins to match the total number of people eating together

To nurture your child’s grasp of numbers and counting, continue to ask him or her questions like these:

• How many shells did you find? Please count them one by one to find out.
• Did you look at all of the petals on this flower? Please count them to find out how many petals there are in all.
• See these two beans? Let’s add two more beans. Please put them together and count them to find out how many beans you have in all.

Integrating counting into your child’s life will help him or her to understand that counting is an essential skill that’s important to learn—like learning to read.

And speaking of reading, here are a few captivating children’s books that will help your child develop the concept of counting:

• Doggies by Sandra Boynton
• 1-2-3: A Child’s First Counting Book by Alison Jay
• Roar! A Noisy Counting Book by Pamela Duncan Edwards
• Miss Spider’s Tea Party: The Counting Book by David Kirk
• Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth

The time you spend with your child on this subject will reap helpful rewards when he or she encounters numbers—in preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten—and already understands that these symbols and words actually represent quantities. Mathematics educators call this understanding number sense, and it’s an essential foundation for your child’s future mathematics learning.

The key foundation skill of counting and the concept of quantity will help your child develop an awareness about numbers that will serve him or her forever. This is vital, because your youngster can count on counting being around for his or her whole life!

The post Learning to Count and Counting on Learning first appeared on Age of Learning.