Learning comes naturally to kids, but when it comes to reading, the process slows down. Reading is an important element for early learners with a structured process which needs to be taught. It gradually seeps inside a young mind. Mostly, Educators have extensive concern for the achievement in initial reading experiences in kids. Today’s educators need the ingredients of effective educational programs to teach kids to read.

Yes, the teachers’ require to place reading instruction on solid footing. Reading is subsumed by early literacy. Here, a few substantial approaches have shed light on the reading acquisition processes and effective instructional approaches.

WHAT IS READING READINESS?

Reading readiness is the first step a child takes towards understanding early reading skills. It is the stage in development when, through the learning experience and maturation, they learn to read effectively.

According to the Ontario Government (2003), the acquisition of language is natural, but the process of learning to read is not—reading must be taught.

Did you know, that there are multiple methods and skills to determine when trying to build reading readiness capabilities in kids? Let us help you identify that the child is reading ready.

Learn Early Reading Readiness Skills

YOUNG MIND NEEDS TO LEARN THESE READING READINESS SKILLS:

Kids should be well-versed with these six critical skills before they attempt to master formal reading.

Improve Print Awareness Concepts: Kids know that the text represents spoken words. They become aware of the directions, left or right. Do kids know, how to hold a book or pen? Foster their fascination with book reading, developing a sense of rhythm and rhyme, analyse patterns. Their reading skills are emerging and they learn to predict word patterns.

Understand using Phonological Awareness: It is sensitivity to the sound structure of language. Phonological awareness has an ability to listen and identify special sounds (syllables, onsets and rimes, and phonemes) and letters in spoken words. Kids understand letters, vowels, constants, and two letters words to make new sounds. Phonological awareness increases their skills by playing with words; changing sounds or syllables. Little learners will eventually stump us with their literacy achievement.

Explore with Phonemic Awareness: Having phonemic awareness helps to create reading readiness skills in early learners. It is the first thread in the tapestry of reading. Here, the child’s ability evolves, as they listen and know how to manipulate the smallest mental units of sound—phonemes in the spoken language.
For example: When a child plays Lagoon Game, in its exploratory mode; they identify familiar sounds across a group of words, like color, cake, candy. Even can create a new word, recognise all individual phonemes in a single word, like a dog -> d,o,g.

How Does Phonics Instructions Improve Reading?

Reading fluency will foster confidence in the students. The main focus of phonics is to make children aware of the relationship between the letters of written language (graphemes) and the individual sounds of spoken language (phonemes). These instructions can be given systematically or incidentally. Children will learn to recognise words accurately and decode new words.

Discover the Alphabetic Principle (Letter Knowledge): It is an abstract concept where students receives clarity about the symbols i.e. letters and combinations of letters to represent the speech sounds in their elemental forms. The sounds are anchored to letters or strings of letters is known as the ‘Alphabetic Principle.’ In the reading development, children learn to use the alphabetic principle fluently. Using explicit phonics instruction—they understand the primary purpose of reading. The students’ grows and gains knowledge using the phonogram techniques further, they are shown, how to blend phonograms into words. After that, they’re trained to create blending practice using one-syllable consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words. Systematically, they learn how to read by recognition and naming of letter names and letter sounds.
For instance, Little learners can touch, feel and lay the ‘Smart Letters’ in the Square Panda Playset. It even engages kids in an ergonomically important ‘look-away’ time-span. Kid’s are placed in the optimally learning zone, to challenge their potential.

Motivation is the Key: There are various signs which reflects the kids are more interested in reading. If they frequently request for more read-aloud time and show enthusiasm for books or worksheets. Teachers and Parents can include various activities in kids daily routine to develop their interest in reading. Make reading an interactive and fun learning experience, which sparks their attention. Kids have short attention span- so read short story books with illustrative elements like bright colors, flags or different textures are good for keeping them engaged and motivated.

Display Listening Comprehension: Kid’s should be able to retell the story, answer the simple questions and ask more questions during the read-aloud.
For instance: In the mid-story section, a Child asked the Teacher; Why did the Panda laugh? It gives us an insight that child was paying attention and listening to the story.

Learn Reading Readiness Skills With Square Panda

After following the quick analyses, determine how the child is moving from learning to read and slowly towards the goal of reading to learn. Be sure your students are getting comfortable with these concepts before beginning the actual reading instructions. Reading readiness isn’t just about early literacy skills. It covers a set of four major competencies such as social, emotional, cognitive and physical development of the child. Build a culture at school and home, which evokes their interest in effective reading. Focus on making enjoyable reading activities rather than it being only academic centric.

QUICK TIPS TO RAISE STRONG READERS:

Prepare your students well, make them aware of the sounds of the phonograms, letter names, etc. They should be able to:

• Recite the alphabets, rhymes, etc.
• Recognise the alphabetic letters
• Re-tell a story
• Make them familiar with blends
• Place the letters
• Read there name
• Practice reading words aloud
• Use correct sounds when speaking the letters
• Understand the progression of text is placed left to right and top to bottom

Young minds are going through major development changes, in such a situation grasping reading skills quickly might seem impossible. Understanding reading readiness will enable you to teach more calmly and successfully turn your reluctant learners into avid readers for life. Most kid’s don’t develop the basic foundation of reading skills by themselves, Square Panda’s multisensory reading platform strikes a good balance here. With our tailor-made curriculum, now every child can learn to read well.

Phonics Instructions For Early Learners

Learn more about how to augment reading readiness into your child’s play. Square Panda can help you access using the multisensory techniques. Take a look at our library of games to engage early learners.

If we’ve hit your nerve and you require more insight about how to develop reading skills in your kids, leave us a comment below. Connect with us on our Facebook and LinkedIn to know more.

–Nidhi Parikh, SEO Content Writer, Square Panda India

Managing children’s progress is tiresome. It requires a considerable time and effort to track and analyse growth. In today’s times, early literacy matters, multiple educators and parents are seeking methods for more productive child experience.

In the quest for good school records, often parents and teachers neglect and ignore their children early educational needs. Scorning the child’s requirement will not help in any manner. Every child wants a special treatment or learning tool to support them. Using interactive early learning games promotes’ self-learning and motivates the kids’ to learn to read.

Square Panda’s Playground is a digital foundation for successful early literacy and language management. It has multisensory instructions, which triggers the young brains to process information; it gains deeper cognition and strengthens the little learner’s levels.

A blend of tactile letters combined with a multisensory experience uses different senses; enhances learning through play. It aids the curriculum milestones and goals in each of the classic legacy games. These mini-games adapt to the learner’s level and make them well-versed of phonological awareness, phonics, spelling, builds vocabulary and much more. Here the students achieve endless engagement, reiteration and exposure to early literacy.

Square Panda has a backbone of a deep neuroscience-based researched approach. The Teachers and Parents’ Evaluation Portal is an innovative and adaptive platform syncronised with current learning levels. Learn how to turn your average learners into smarter thinkers using Square Panda Games. Discover the ‘Playground’ and bring forward the key to successful learning.

AMAZING THINGS YOU’LL FIND IN THE SQUARE PANDA PLAYGROUND:

• • Teachers can explore the players i.e. students, customise their account, add more players, discover the badges and suggest words.
  • Square Panda’s Word Bank gives an opportunity to expand children’s vocabulary.
  • The average volume of the words in the bank:
    -Real word dictionary: 58k+ real words.
    -Phonemic dictionary: 85k+ real/nonsense or silly words pronunciations.
  • Teaching aids like flashcards, storybooks and workbooks will quicken the learning process.
  • Give them access to our open-ended exploratory play.
  • Add customise words and pictures into a child’s personalised, and private database.
  • New Classroom playset comes with a built-in ‘QR Code’, which allows quick scan.
  • Badges: Easily track the children’s accomplishments across each Square Panda’s game level and watch the badges fill with color as they enter words in different milestones.
    • Big Badges: It consists of detailed progress mapping for each curriculum milestone.
    • Mini Badges: The child earns mini badges when they spell- name, numbers and words correctly.
  • View words list and letter history. Discover every word your students have spelt the most across Square Panda learning games.
  • The word list consists of:
    • Real words played
    • Nonsense words played
    • Letters that the child played
    • Letter orientation
    • Letter mixups and areas of confusion
  • Use easy-to-read reports to track and trace students’ milestones progress.
  • Administrators can check their students time spent, the fidelity of implementation and give a real-time assessment in the form of feedback.
  • Lost Letter: Missing a few letters? Simply report them here, and the games will react intelligently, so the children can continue to learn to play.
  • Access the NewsFeed: It helps to stay plugged to all the latest updates in early education and literacy.

LISTEN TO SQUARE PANDA’S CO-FOUNDER- ANDY BUTLER AS HE UNCOVERS THE SECRETS OF OUR ‘PORTAL’.

GIVE THEM POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT:

Square Panda has a distinct administrators’ portal where they can control over the deployment within the classroom. Educators can measure their students progress with a multivariable grid of phonics skills. The reports provide a window into the students progress. It helps in boosting a positive screen time with educational elements.

HERE ARE SOME QUICK STEPS TO LOGIN THE PORTAL:

THE PARENTS PORTAL VIDEO:

THE TEACHERS PORTAL VIDEO:

Parents and Teachers can take full charge of the playground via a portal. Using their login id and password they can access every element to make early learning fun. The playground has coupled language learning with a sequence program to nurture and polish the children skills. Learning through play gives children the ability to experience the best of both worlds.

Now convert your kids’ reading time into fun time with Square Panda’s Playset and keep unproductivity at bay.

Want to become a Square Panda-Powered School? Connect with us via LinkedIn.

–Nidhi Parikh, SEO Content Writer, Square Panda India

Boredom teaches everyone that life isn’t a themed amusement park. Even young brains get easily stuck in the whirlpool of boredom, and it fills the teachers and parents’ mind with a cascade of guilt and accountability. The problem with the current education scenario is that it has somewhat submerged under the heavy load of papers with no fun elements. Learning should have a high ratio of fun quotient.

Children’s brains can easily drift into an elaborate fantasy realm which captures their attention. But, there’s a hope to channel learning equation for kids, all thanks to a new breed of early educational games apps. These apps are popularly known as ‘gamification’ in which educational and game elements are added together to generate a child’s productivity level. Gamification is the new trend in recent times, and multiple brain games for kids have changed the learning environment.

NOW EXACTLY WHAT IS GAMIFICATION?

Understand Gamification And Game-Based Learning.

For starters, gamification of learning is an educational approach which is inspiring students’ to learn using the elements of the game.  A young brain gets motivated using the lessons blended with gaming elements. This makes education more fun-filled. Often, gamification and game-based learning are used interchangeably, but it does not mean they are similar.
In the gamifying standard psychological tasks, the research has highlighted game elements can improve the task accessibility, build engagement using a system, and inspiring long-term participation. Yes, gamification is already spreading its roots in a variety of settings; there are game-based early educational platforms, multisensory systems for early learners, and as they level-up chances of winning increases. A slew of research studies have verified the connection between improvement in the engagement and better learning experience to kids. The core idea is to boost the child’s productivity using the concepts of gamified and game-based learning platform.

The gaming elements in game-based learning:

Gaming Elements In Learning

BLOOM OF GAMIFICATION IN EDUCATION

Nick Pelling (a British computer programmer, and entrepreneur) coined the word ‘gamification’ in 2002. He stated, gamification as ‘applying game-like accelerated user interface design to make electronic transactions both enjoyable and fast.’ Thus, games started to begin developed as a learning machine. Now, the gamification concept is implemented in the cultures of education, and it provides maximum value to the students.

HOW DO CLASSROOMS TAKE ADVANTAGES OF GAMIFYING EDUCATION?

The biggest challenge for the teachers is to gain their student’s interest to interact and engage them. For doing so, the teacher’s needs to redefine the course materials or the teaching techniques which will fuel efficient learners. Gamification would chalk out the right direction to encourage students by easily involving them in the classroom activities and learn well.

GAMIFY TO IMPROVE GRADES

Games are gradually turning into verified educative tools which delivers the best to raise the kid’s interest. Following a standard set of the curriculum will improve the transformation of involving preschoolers. Gamification reinforces the context which will profoundly impact classroom management. Students will develop an interest to attend regular classes. The educational games will keep the class actively hooked, engage preschoolers cognitively, emotionally and socially.

For example: If we develop a game that transforms the base of education by adding rewards or bonus points for every correct answer, then children will gain more interest to participate in each of the activities conducted.

Teachers needs to integrate educational games into the curriculum to enhance the involvement of the students. Grades will be surely rising. Moreover, a gamified classroom is a dynamic approach to teach kids.

If you want to know, how to boost a child’s productivity; here’s the lay low of how teachers can seamlessly use the gamification in early education to increase a child’s productivity level.

– GAMIFY TO RAISE ENTHUSIASM: Gamification brings in the fun element in learning any subject, even the uninspired or struggling children can be motivated to reach the next level. Early learners enjoy themselves to participate in games and without realising the fact that they are actually practicing learning. These kids begin to focus on improving schoolwork and improving skills in the class.

– Square Panda’s multisensory learning games, like Letter Lab, Lagoon, Bowling, and Space Cows, inspires kids to explore their potential while they learn to read.

– AIDS COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Numerous studies have reflected that cognitive development turns young brains into more profound learners. Neuroscience theorists believe adding gamified teaching content will stimulate cognitive skills. These skills will help to solve problems, perform strategic planning, thinking and processing the material.

It will produce a stimulating environment for the brain to find answers to questions. Gamification will create a positive effect on their cognitive functions, and achieve autonomy.

– GAMIFICATION GENERATES TEAMWORK: Preschoolers will learn to collaborate with their classmates by working together as a team. They are constantly learning something new.

-GAMIFICATION INCREASES ATTENTION SPAN: It is the cold truth: a game will capture students’ attention more than anything else. Games offers unique experiences to the participants. They will like to spend more time learning.

WHAT DOES GAMIFICATION BRING TO EDUCATION?

Let’s listen to our experts’ advice.

KNOW THE SQUARE PANDA WAY OF LEARNING

The future of learning is in the child’s early development. Kill their boredom with curiosity and advance their interest in fun learning games!

Square Panda’s neuroscience research-based multisensory learning platform to absorb the elements of phonemes, phonological awareness, vocabulary, rhymes, etc. Each lesson guides early learners with personalised gameplay.

If you are searching for the best practices for gamifying the delivery of education, then drop down your comments and we’ll help you attain your goals.

Learn how to teach your kids the multisensory way, watch the video here.

You can also connect with us on Facebook and Linkedin for more information.

–Nidhi Parikh, SEO Content Writer, Square Panda India

Ever imagined the preschoolers surpassing all the milestones and reaching their ultimate potential? Young brains requires milestones to develop their base foundation skills. 
Teachers, Parents, and Caregivers, always wonder about how to encourage the child by directing them in the right path. Now you can trigger the accurate emotions, set them on course for effective and engaging learning. Evolve their cognition’s easily.

“Cognitive Development pertains improving the skills in terms of understanding the concepts, perception, learning, thinking and processing information in the brain.”

In simpler terms, Cognition refers to thinking and memory processes while cognitive development refers to long-term changes in these processes. Here’s a better explanation by Piaget in his popular Psychological theory.
According to Jean Piaget’s (a renowned Swiss Psychologist) Theory of Cognitive Development, the children move through four different stages of brain development. The theory focuses on understanding, how young brains acquire knowledge and the nature of intelligence. As children take an active role in the learning process, make constant observations, and perform experiments their skills grows. Infact, interacting with other people adds more knowledge. He believed, cognitive development is a process which happens due to biological maturation.

Piaget’s Period Of Cognitive Development

Everyone knows, the preschool years are the most exciting and enthusiastic as a child is immersed in a highly social world. These social and cultural influences are providing the context and building the cognitive growth foundation. So, how can kids’ keep every detail in mind and solve problems? When they read a book, speak and watch a video, their young brains hold onto everything as processed info. The psychologists calls it the working memory. It underpins the child’s ability to learn. Working memory generates proper guidance to enhance the child’s decision-making process and behavior.

Yes, children’s thinking ability is tremendously developing by leaps and bounds. Especially at the age of three-five, every child’s brain begins to grow cognitively, and they require teachers to provide support and guidelines. Mentoring them with educational tools will engage the preschoolers’ thinking abilities and give a boundless exposure to their potentials.  

Square Panda inspires early learning by triggering the correct cognitive cords. There are various hallmarks in the pedagogy, which teachers must use to encourage and educate the early learners.

Here are some hallmarks on how to train the preschoolers through the lens of cognitive development.

1.Simple Reasoning and Problem-solving-

Young brains have thousands of questions and need explanations on how things work around. Teachers should pose and read aloud some thought-provoking questions for preschoolers to understand the natural causes of any phenomena, this will stimulate their cognitive abilities. Reasoning and problem solving is a technique which teachers can use to help students understand how and why things work.
For instance, Teachers can evolve their students curiosity levels by reading the different “how to” children books or guides. 

2.Growth of Social and Emotional Cognition-

Social Cognition refers to thinking about social situations and keeping emotions in control. Your child is a social being and in the pre-school years, children begin to expand their cognitive skills, and knows, how the social world works. Using the method of learning to play, they are able to grasp other people’s behaviors, displays their theory of mind and gain greater perspectives on the working of the world. Throughout their preschool years, their young brains learns to increase communication abilities and advances their cognitive workings.

3. Recollection and Boosting Memory-

Improving the capacity for memory and recollection is vital for young brains. Going hand in hand with metacognition, the children will recall their previous knowledge of different concepts. Metacognitive skills allow children to learn how to solve problems and generate thinking of their own. Using the mnemonic strategies is rudimentary in young children. Preschoolers should be able to exhibit their abilities to recall things, people, story, Etc. They should be able to address their family members.

Let’s use an example- A teacher can involve the students in book-reading or drawing activities which stimulate their ability to reflect on their own thinking. Then the teachers should ask them what they have learned from the book. It will aid the teachers to evaluate individual students learning capacity and the students will learn to recall, the teacher does the repetition of significant concepts in the story. 

4. Encourage Symbolic Play-

Symbolic representation is one of the major hallmarks of influencing the preschoolers. Their young brains begin to understand and decode the difference between things whether they are real or not. Children mostly recognises the characters in books or stories. Teachers should engage them in a symbolic play, it will inspire the children to participate in the make-believe/ pretend play. They learn the significance of real and fantasy.

For example- 

Children must be involved in the pretend to play as if they are the characters in the storybooks being read to them. Just like how in the Lagoon game, the Cameo- the chameleon’s character uses intonation, shows emotion and expression to indulge the child’s mind.

Conclusion-

Pedagogy could always nourish the child’s cognitive capabilities by optimally using all of the above hallmarks and approaches. Shape their actions, judgment, and build stronger motor skills using the learning theories and advanced phonics system.

Square Panda has some powerful findings on early childhood learning and program effectiveness.  We are helping kids ages 2 to 8 to learn to develop their Multisensory reading abilities i.e. reading using touch, sight, and sound.

Do you have the readiness to implement a cognitively rich experience for preschool children? Express your views and write to us in the comment section below.

Subscribe now to our Panda Blog and get the daily updates. Connect with us on our Social Media Account to explore more.

– Nidhi Parikh, SEO Content Writer, Square Panda India

We are extremely proud to tell you that we’ve won the ‘Parent And Teacher Choice Award‘ for 2019! Bestowed on us by a website that has been active longer than Google (!)–the website, HowToLearn.com, was started in 1996, while Google began in 1998–we were unanimously selected as the best early education system because of our “unique multisensory methods of teaching reading, as well as a library of games that truly engage the learners”.

About HowToLearn.com: This website went live two years before Google did, and is still kicking, successfully connecting parents, teachers, educators, and even resellers, with the best educational resources to enhance learning. Companies interested in boosting their online profile can throw their hat in the ring and enter their names. The best of the lot (like us!) will be chosen as the winner by a jury of parents and teachers, who base their decision on proven results, creativity, innovation, and the brain-building abilities of said company.

The first day back to school after a happy sunny summer vacation can be daunting for kids. Make sure you have everything they need; use our back-to-school guide for inspiration:

Back-To-School Parent’s Edition

– Keep up the summer learning, especially for younger learners. You don’t want your kids experiencing the ‘summer slide‘ as it is called, also the phenomenon of losing a portion of knowledge during the months of summer vacation. To keep up their skills and knowledge, introduce a portion of learning every day. Keep it simple–have them practice their name, say your phone number, correctly identify shapes and numbers.

Hint: Here’s how you can mix in fun even during summer learning…

– Offer to help. Touch base with the authorities in charge at your child’s school and ask if you can donate:

• • Your time (volunteer to be a part of some school committee)

• • Your money (which can be used for new school equipment)

• Your efforts (in the form of suggestions for new educational products, new suggestions, and more)

Schools will never say no to a helping hand.

– Make your child a goodie bag. Everyone loves a present.Hand over a brand-new item they can show off to friends, and your kid is grateful for life (or at least until the next week, when they think of something else they want). This goodie bag does not have to be extravagant or expensive; you can fill it up with cute new sunglasses, clay dough, new pencils and crayons, glue, even the goodie bag itself can all be potential ‘back-to-school’ gifts for your child.

Image by ALI TOMA from Pixabay

Back-To-School Teacher’s Edition

– ‘Theme’ up your classroom. Welcome your kids to school by decorating the classroom in a particular style–you can pick a place like the circus or the beach, fun movies like the Avengers, and even funny songs or rhymes. Choose one that you know your students will enjoy and watch their faces light up with happiness.

For example: For the theme ‘Jungle Book’, you can place cutouts of plants and trees around the classroom (or actual potted plants, if allowed), green streamers to resemble creepers, pictures of jungle animals around the desks, and random students can be Mowgli, Baloo, and Bagheera. You can even have them sing and dance to songs from the movie.

Image Source: https://bit.ly/2EGfMv4

– Break the ice between kids, again. They were best friends for a whole year, and then came their vacation. Maybe they play together, maybe not. Either way, get your students bonding again by group activities like sitting in a circle and saying what they did in the summer, or making them all special badges. Help them feel connected to each other, and the year will pass smoothly.

– Load their first day back (or even first few days back, if you can work it into the curriculum), with enjoyable activities like painting, drawing, or playing some type of learning games.

*check out our Instagram feed to see how introducing exciting educational games in the classroom magically reduces your students’ first day jitters.

Preparing kids to go back to school can be challenging (for you and them), but with enough preparation, you can make it through with flying colours!

Share your tips and tricks to getting kids ‘back-to-school’ ready; hit the comment section below!

– Sanjana Shukla, Content Writer, Square Panda India