We were honored for our School Continuity Initiative, a program we created in March 2020 when schools were forced to close, impacting the academic lives and growth of millions of children. True to our mission to help children everywhere build a strong foundation for academic success and a lifelong love of learning, we created this program to offer preschool through middle school students free home access to our leading digital education programs—ABCmouse, Adventure Academy, and ReadingIQ. More than 80,000 schools, school districts, and teachers contacted us within days of announcing the School Continuity Initiative, allowing us to reach more than 1.2 million children. The children who participated in the program not only continued learning while sheltered at home, but they also experienced academic gains.

We recently shared the findings of an independently funded study that analyzed how children engaged with ABCmouse during the summer of 2020. The study found that:

• Children using ABCmouse for at least 45 minutes per week across three days, and completing 15 Learning Activities, were able to increase learning and minimize the learning loss that often takes place during the summer.
• ABCmouse is especially beneficial to those who start the summer with lower skills: with regular program usage, those students were able to catch up to their higher-skilled peers by the summer’s end, closing the gap by up to 87 percent.

Here is what we heard from a few of the many parents and teachers who reached out during this time:

“My daughter loves ABCmouse!  She has become more confident and quicker with her ability to add and subtract…I’m so proud of how I’ve seen growth even since schools closed!” – Parent of ABCmouse user

“This program has really helped our children grow at a time when social distancing was enforced.” – PreK Teacher, Pennsylvania 

“Last year I had the privilege of being the Kindergarten Virtual Teacher. I was able to provide ABCmouse for families and happy to say that for my students who used the apps and consistently attended school or watched recorded sessions they were reading at or above grade level by the end of the year.” – PreK Teacher, Texas

Thank you again to the City of Glendale for this award. It is an honor to be recognized by our community for our work in helping children everywhere build a strong foundation for academic success and a lifelong love of learning.

The post Age of Learning Recognized by City of Glendale for Our School Continuity Initiative first appeared on Age of Learning.

 Starting today, all Costa Rican families will enjoy free access to ABCmouse Aprende Inglés, a comprehensive digital English language learning program for children ages 3 – 11. Available on computers, tablets, and smartphones, ABCmouse Aprende Inglés was created by Age of Learning and is being offered at no cost throughout Costa Rica by the company’s philanthropic Age of Learning Foundation led by Chairman Doug Dohring. Aligned to international language learning standards, ABCmouse Aprende Inglés is designed specifically to help Spanish-speaking children learn to speak English fluently and confidently and support their important journey to becoming bilingual at an early age. Its engaging, game-based language learning activities makes learning English fun for kids.

In Costa Rica, the ABCmouse Aprende Inglés app is endorsed by the Ministry of Public Education as a valued complement to the English classes received by students in their schools.

Offering more than 4,000 English learning activities expertly designed to teach and practice the language, ABCmouse Aprende Inglés also helps children build confidence in understanding and speaking English as they independently progress along the Step-by-Step Learning Path. While the program is easy for children to use on their own, parents are encouraged to accompany their children in the English learning process and, at the same time, have fun and learn together.

“Everyone at Age of Learning is very excited to be offering ABCmouse Aprende Inglés to all families in Costa Rica at no cost—it’s the first time we’ve made  our English  language learning program available for free in Central America. We want to give Costa Rican children the life-changing  opportunity to become fluent in English from an early age, so they can expand their opportunities as they grow,” says Dr. Rebecca Palacios, a U.S. Hall of Fame teacher with more than 30 years of experience, an expert in dual-language learning, and the spokesperson for  ABCmouse Aprende Inglés.  “We are hoping to reach as many children and their families as possible throughout the country.”

Anyone in Costa Rica interested in taking advantage of this free offer can simply go to www.ABCmouseAprendeIngles.cr  to download the program or open the App  Store on their Android or iOS device, search for the ABCmouse Aprende Inglés app, and download it for free on their mobile devices.

According to Manuel Rojas, advisor to the academic office and coordinator of the Alliance for Bilingualism at MEP, it is extremely important that students have digital resources adaptable to the interests of the student body.

“With the recent approval of the Educational Policy for the Promotion of Languages, guidelines are included that enhance technology as a tool in the language learning process. Based on real content and fun activities with pedagogical intentions, the student population strengthens reading, speaking or listening inside or outside the classroom; with the purpose of expanding exposure to the language and strengthening the entire language learning process,” Rojas says.

Costa Rican families can also visit the program’s new Facebook and Instagram pages for additional information about the app, helpful tips, complementary language learning activities, and much more. On Facebook, go to ABCmouse Ingles Centroamerica.

The post Age of Learning Foundation Offers Families in Costa Rica Free Program to Help All Children Learn English first appeared on Age of Learning.

As in a real classroom, each week focuses on what curriculum experts call a “Big Idea,” such as community, responsibility, change, communication, and cooperation. Students are thoughtfully instructed in reading, math, social studies, and science explorations tied to each week’s Big Idea.

Each daily class encompasses more than an hour of high-quality, engaging, concentrated learning as part of an expertly designed curriculum that addresses standards-based educational objectives. After a teacher-student video segment, students complete independent learning activities including interactive games, art, puzzles, and offline activities.

“At a time when it’s more critical than ever to support children’s individual learning at home, My ABCmouse Classroom Live! meets kids and their parents in the moment with these valuable classes,” said Paul Candland, CEO of Age of Learning. “Experienced teachers make it feel like real in-classroom instruction, right in the home, and their expertly designed classes follow the pattern that young children are used to in school.”

My ABCmouse Classroom Live! is available for free exclusively on the ABCmouse mobile app.

Visit www.ABCmouse.com to learn more about this interactive, structured, daily learning experience designed to help children learn independently at home.

The post Announcing the Launch of My ABCmouse Classroom Live! first appeared on Age of Learning.

Based on our highly popular Search and Explore book series and characters in ABCmouse Early Learning Academy that millions of children have come to love, the new animated series for the first time expands ABCmouse’s educational content to longform storytelling. Search and Explore engages children ages 2 to 8 in the joy of learning and helps develop their skills, knowledge, and vocabulary across academic domains including science, technology, engineering, art, math, music, social studies, and literacy. The first season of Search and Explore launched yesterday with eight original episodes, with additional seasons to be released this summer and beyond.

Age of Learning CEO Paul Candland shared his excitement about our new video series and partnership with Tubi:

“As Age of Learning continues to expand our educational content and technology, we are also expanding the ways we reach children in the U.S. and globally. We are excited to partner with Tubi to launch the Search and Explore series on the Tubi Kids platform. Particularly during these challenging times when many families are struggling to support their children’s education at home, this series can help children build a love of learning and experience learning adventures across the United States and around the world.”

Tubi CEO Farhad Massoudi added his perspective,“Tubi Kids puts parents in the driver’s seat with their children’s education, as a subscription-free premium destination for families. ABCmouse content provides significant value to our customers and we are thrilled to begin our collaboration as the exclusive home of Search and Explore.”

As with all our offerings at Age of Learning, the development of Search and Explore began with our curriculum team of master educators and early childhood education experts, who specified detailed curriculum objectives for each episode to help children learn key concepts and skills across academic domains. Closely collaborating with our curriculum team, our creative team—including the creator of an award-winning PBS educational television series, and animators who have worked on some of the most beloved animated films of all time—developed compelling stories in a charming, classic animation style highly appealing to young children.

As children watch each episode, they embark on adventures with ABC Mouse and best friends 1•2•3 Mouse and Do-Re-Mi Mouse to destinations around the world. Every story within Search and Explore introduces children to exciting destinations and new learning topics. The friends slide down the cables of the Golden Gate Bridge, jump over the Statue of Liberty’s hidden broken chains, and hike through the Grand Canyon as they learn about the animals that live there. In one episode, children learn about the history of the Great Wall of China, and in another, about the Amazon River and its ecosystem, plants, and animals. Each episode ends with an engaging original song that pulls together the key learning objectives of the episode.

Tubi Kids features a robust library of children’s content–over 1,200 age-appropriate movies and television shows or over 5,000 hours of content–completely free in a dedicated section built just for families. A destination for age-appropriate content on the service, Tubi Kids helps alleviate parents’ worries over what their children are watching.

The post ABCmouse Search and Explore Educational Animated Series Launches on Tubi Kids first appeared on Age of Learning.

Set a Routine

First, routine is critical. Kids in their early years thrive on routine, and they most consistently get this in school. It’s important to establish a daily routine while your child is at home and to follow it. Set times for reading, math, snack time, lunch, and even free play.

Keep a Journal

Encourage your child to write down what they see, hear, think, and feel briefly each day. If your child isn’t ready to write independently, have him or her dictate their thoughts to you. Any subject is fair game, whether or not it relates to the coronavirus. You’ll be making a lot of memories together during this time, and written recordings of them will become treasures for you and your child later on in life.

Start a Pen Pal Program

Kids love to get mail. Because contact with other kids may be limited, consider starting a pen pal program with classmates, family, and other friends. They can send their letters by email or by good old-fashioned snail mail. And, not only do kids get the benefit of writing, they’ll also love practicing reading when they receive letters from their pen pals!

Tell a Shared Story

Work together to make up a fun story. Begin a with an opening like “Once upon a time, there was a hungry frog.” Then ask your child to say the next sentence. Continue taking turns adding to the story until it is finished. This is a rich literacy and language-development activity that’s bound to bring big laughs. And when you’re done, you can create illustrations that bring the story to life.

Practice Measurement 

Before kids learn about standard units of measurement, like inches, feet, pints, and gallons, they can begin to understand the concept of measurement using non-standard units. Use shoes to measure the distance across a room (How many shoes does it take to cross the room?) or pencils to measure the length of a table. Use different sizes of cups and glasses to fill a large bowl or bucket with water. Then talk about how the size or the cup or glass affects the number of times you use it to fill the bowl or bucket.

Work with Patterns

We’re most familiar with visual patterns—patterns of shapes, sizes, or colors, for example—but patterns can also involve sounds or movements. Work with your child to identify the next item in a pattern you start, or alternatively have him or her start patterns for you to continue. Here are a few examples: Visual Patterns

• Small, large, small, large
• Red, red, blue, red, red, blue
• Circle, square, triangle, circle, square, triangle

Sound Patterns

• Snap, snap, clap, snap, snap, clap
• Long sound, short sound, long sound, short sound

Motion Patterns

• Sit, stand, sit, stand
• Arms up, arms out, arms down, arms up, arms out, arms down

Sort, Count, Compare

Provide your child with a pile of objects that includes different colors, shapes, or sizes, such as buttons, paper clips, or blocks. Ask your child to sort the objects, count how many are in each group, and order the groups from fewest to most. Challenge your child to find other ways the objects could be sorted. As an edtech company, we’re excited to do what we can to help everyone make the best of this unprecedented situation. And we’re here to tell you that you can do a lot to for your children during this time. Take a deep breath, do a little prep, and good luck!

Our Digital Learning Programs

Lastly, if you’re looking for educational screen time, we are providing free access to our award-winning digital library, ReadingIQ. Use the code LOVEREADING. You can also sign up for ABCmouse and Adventure Academy, or get free access through your school district. — Joel Kupperstein, SVP Curriculum at Age of Learning

The post You’re Suddenly a Homeschooler! How To Keep Your Preschooler or Kindergartener Learning. first appeared on Age of Learning.

Reaching this 4-billion milestone demonstrates the power of highly engaging educational activities to bring learning to life for children. It also represents a meaningful contribution to improving educational outcomes at scale. A growing body of researchassessing ABCmouse’s effectiveness shows that the program accelerates learning and helps children make significant gains in early literacy and math skills, with as little as 45 minutes of usage or 15 learning activities completed per week.

Developed by education experts and launched in 2010, ABCmouse is the leading and most comprehensive digital learning resource for children ages 2–8 and has won numerous top awards from education, parent, and media organizations. With a research-validated curriculum for preschool, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and 1st and 2nd grades, ABCmouse has more than 10,000 individual learning activities. ABCmouse is available to families on a low-cost subscription basis for use on computers, tablets, and smartphones.

To support children who are furthest from opportunity, Age of Learning makes ABCmouse available for free in classrooms, public libraries, public housing authorities, and other community centers. Cumulatively, these initiatives have helped educate more than 6 million children across all 50 states, at no cost to families, teachers, or libraries.

“From the beginning, we have strived to help educate children everywhere by making high-quality learning easily accessible to families and educators,” said Doug Dohring, CEO and co-founder of Age of Learning. “We are thrilled to see so many kids engaging with ABCmouse in a meaningful way. We couldn’t be more excited to build on this milestone as we continue to enhance and expand our educational programs.”

ABCmouse is available at www.ABCmouse.com and on all major smartphones and tablets via the Apple App Store, Google Play, or Amazon Appstore.

The post first appeared on Age of Learning.