Children’s futures are shaped by those who teach them. In many homes across India — where parents often lack access to appropriate educational resources — caregivers and educators are the primary source of learning for young children. For a chance at a better future, however, we believe the responsibility towards learning should not rest solely on these educators and caregivers, but must also lie with the children themselves. Our efforts should concentrate on making children more independent while learning. 

Why Focus On Creating Independent Learners?

Research driven by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) shows independent learning has immense benefits to children, and is a high-impact, low-cost way to improve learning outcomes.

The advantages of inculcating independent study skills are far-reaching. A report named ‘What is Independent Learning and What are the Benefits for Students? (2008)’, stated the following benefits of independent learning for children:

– Develop more self-confidence
– They feel in control
– Creativity increases
– Increased social inclusion
– Ability to complete varied tasks set by teachers and caregivers

Encouraging such independent learning can happen from a very young age, but educators and caregivers need to understand how much guided intervention is needed, and when children are expected to be self-reliant. Here are five simple strategies to help turn young children into independent learners.

1.  Partner with parents

“In a 24-hour day, eight hours are the school’s time, eight hours are the child’s own time of sleep, and eight hours are the home time. Any learning that is happening in early childhood education, 1/3 rd of it is happening at home,” says Dr. Jawahar Surisetti (Advisor to Government, TED Speaker, Smart City Consultant, Start-Up Mentor, Psychologist, Bestselling Author, Speaking Tree Columnist).

Studies indicate children’s learning outcomes improve when they have the right guidance and instructional support even outside the classroom. Build a looped early learning ecosystem by increasing parental involvement in their child’s learning. Higher parental engagement supports learning even outside school hours and increases the likelihood of children wanting to learn without guided instruction.

For example, Square Panda India’s learning program for children has an in-built adaptive engine that reads individual children’s digital activity and provides real-time data to adults (parents, teachers, district administrators), whether the child is at home or is in school.

2.  Build special learning spaces

A key step to inculcating self-learning habits is designating a special space to learn. Set aside one corner of the classroom/home as a ‘learning corner’ filled with fun learning props. Partnering with parents comes in handy here; recruit them, or better yet, ask your students to help in creating their own learning spaces. Some examples of such spaces include:

• Reading Corner: To turn your pre-readers into independent readers, you will need to give them easy access to books, both physical and digital. Hang a basket or set a colourful bucket within easy reach of your kids, and fill it with books of all kinds. This gives them an opportunity to read a book of their choosing.
• Creative Corner: Fill this space with child-friendly creative tools like paint, crayons, art paper, magazine cutouts, colour pencils, and more. Let children doodle, finger paint, and express their ideas in any way they choose.
• Free-play Area: Grab different toys and trinkets you think your little learners would play with, and let them enjoy this space.

3.  Offer children a choice

Choices reflect preferences and interests. Children that are given a choice are encouraged to take a bigger role in their own learning. Asking them to make a choice on something simple (which colour do you want to use) or more complex (what items do you want to add in this learning corner) empowers children and gives them control over varied aspects of their learning.

4.  Assign groups

Children should be able to identify the people around them as potential resources to solve problems. Build teams and groups of children for projects and play-time as well. Letting them learn from their peers can benefit their independent learning as well. Working with others not only develops their social emotional skills, but also helps them solve problems on their own to get answers rather than rely on the teacher/educator.

5.  Identify and understand problem areas

Diverse classrooms with diverse learners mean educators and caregivers are faced with a diverse set of problems. Not every learner adapts to free expression quite the same way. In fact, multiple research studies into independent learning models prove some children do struggle with aspects of self-learning. Our task is identifying what these stumbling blocks are, and working with our early learning partners to solve these problems.

Some children could be more introverted than others and avoid speaking up, allowing others to take the lead. Caregivers need to monitor and address such issues, taking care to let everyone take a turn equally, in a safe, non-judgemental space.

Square Panda India’s Foundational Program Encourages Independent Learning

To show the efficacy of our foundational literacy program, we conducted projects across the states of Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Pune, with children aged 2-10. A comparison of results pre and post implementation showed us:

– Children across all three states could independently use words we taught in brand-new sentences.
– Children explored concepts and skills independently without guided instruction, at schools and at home.
– They learnt to use digital devices without guidance.
– The utility of Square Panda as an exploratory platform for independent learning.
– The high level of effectiveness teachers can achieve with it if used as a method of instruction.

Learn more about Square Panda India and our NEP 2020-aligned teaching-learning programs at ecce.squarepanda.in

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Multiple articles and research show just how important acquisition of reading skills is, particularly for very young learners. Development of these skills turns emerging readers into independent and fluent readers for life, adding to their global competency, future job prospects, and overall quality of life. Every parent/teacher chooses to introduce the reading habit to the child/student in their life. What happens, though, if an otherwise enthusiastic child suddenly shows a definite reluctance to read? How do you entice young children to make an effort to pick up a book?

Take help from the below tried-and-tested steps, to help you inculcate a reading habit in your little learners:

#1: Create The Perfect Reading Spot.

Finding the perfect book for emerging readers will take experimentation and time, but as adults, you can ensure they are prepared for this experience by setting aside a dedicated reading space to call their own, inside homes and classrooms. Add comfortable pillows, blankets, and bright lighting. Fit in a desk full of books at a height they can easily reach, and voilà, you have a junior reader’s paradise!

#2: Teach By Example.

Your kids look to the closest adults to teach them things, which, more often than not, is you. So pick up a book, and show your kids how much fun reading can be. When they see you reading, it will automatically encourage them to try it themselves.

#3: Take Reading To The Next Level.

Forcing your kids to read can make them view the reading habit, which is already hard enough to acquire, as a major chore. Use various tricks and activities to show them that the reading habit is more than just reading, it is exploring new worlds, meeting new characters, and learning new things.
Introduce a new story using life-like images and sound effects (you can get these on the internet; just check the terms of usage).
Encourage more interaction by reading through live-action ‘stage shows’ with your kids acting out their favourite part of a book.
Change up their reading routine slightly; make them read the story aloud to you. Their pronunciation gets a huge boost, along with their confidence level.
Host storytelling competitions amongst the children; the winner gets an extra half hour of playtime with Square Panda, or gets a snack of their choice.

#4: Get A Daily Dose Of Reading In With Square Panda.

Even the most resistant learners will never say no to Square Panda play-learn time! With educational games and an early reading app that is perfect for kids as young as 2 till the age of 8, combined with adaptive technology that personalises according to an individual child’s learning level, you could not ask for more! Additionally, our educational screen time is backed by a curriculum that is completely research-based.

#5: Ease Up On The Pressure.

Children shouldn’t like reading just because the adults in their life do, nor do they have to read the same books you favour. In fact, the more choice they feel they have in choosing how, when, and which books to read, the more likely they are to turn into fluent and confident readers for life.  Let them discover their own likes and dislikes. Children will be more inclined to become lifelong readers if they are not forced into it. Give them as many different reading options as you can, like, different genres of books, special reading apps, kid-friendly podcasts, and more.

#Bonus Point: Discuss What You’ve Read.

Take a minute to chat about what you just read, whether it was the label on a toy box, or a magazine cover, or even a picture book. Have an open conversation with much structure, so it doesn’t resemble a lesson in any way. Open-ended questions like ‘Why do you think Pan sat on the mat?’ can encourage children to reason with you, asking them to recall a certain page can help their memory. This task has the added benefit of helping develop vocabulary skills, further leading down the path to reading success.

Remember that each child learns to read differently. Let them set their own pace. Provide all the support you can so your child/student feels less self-conscious about coming to you for help.

Want more educational tips and articles just like this? Watch this space for more…
Until then, grab a SquareBox (our very own multisensory educational kit for kindergarten), which not only has the Square Panda phonics early literacy playset, it also boasts loads of additional fun learning materials to make schooling at home a breeze during the lockdown.



Written by Sanjana Shukla (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

Crack open a book and it can sweep you away to fascinating new places all over the globe (and some that exist only in the author’s mind).

Turn that page to figure out something you never knew until today.

Read the next sentence, and see a new word leaping out at you.

Whether it is a best-selling fiction novel, a popular self-help book, a cookbook full of delicious recipes, or even the latest issue of your favourite magazine, each page fills your head with knowledge and facts, both obscure and ordinary.

Numerous studies have been conducted on the importance of reading in everyday life. Special research highlights a crucial fact–reading instruction needs to start early on in a child’s education, to have the greatest impact.

Watch this article in blog format here.

Every educator out there knows this, which is why most schools across the globe and in India, start phonics teaching in preschool and kindergarten.

We’re certain that you, being an educator yourself, do the same, incorporating phonics education early, into your curriculum.

Did you ever stop to wonder how your instruction is taken by them? What exactly goes on in a young learner’s brain as you teach them reading skills?

To enlighten you and hopefully give you more insight into an early learner’s reading brain, we have compiled this list of facts and research from our own in-house team as well as experts in the field of early childhood literacy.

Let’s take a peek into the reading brain with this infographic:

Watch our Vice President of Curriculum and cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Vera Blau-McCandliss, talk about the research and science that goes into early childhood education.

Watch guest speaker and cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Nandini Chatterjee Singh speak about biliteracy and its effect on shaping an early learner’s brain at the Square Panda India Launch.

Stay tuned for our next post, which will focus on the neuroscience research conducted, both by our own researchers as well as those not affiliated with Square Panda, into early childhood education, literacy, and language acquisition.

What are your thoughts on reading and the early learner’s brain? Comment in the section below.

– Sanjana Shukla, Content Writer, Square Panda India

After all these years, you probably have a routine ready. Your methods, derived from years of experience in teaching little learners, have never failed you. The decor on the walls of your classroom(s) are a testament to the hours you have spent making sure that each child’s term in school was not only well spent, but also fun. No doubt exemplary, your learning module (with the constant and diligent support of your hard-working educators) has carried generations of young learners through the gates of early education, into the glittering expanse of future learning.
And to this, if you would like to add a little something extra, if you want to further enhance your students’ language acquisition skills, if you would love to extend additional support to your educators, you are in the right place.

Watch this article in video format here.

Square Panda India is offering schools, preschools, and educators all over India the chance to become a part of the Square Panda brand. You too can be a part of the educational revolution that is sweeping the nation.

With increasingly grim stats (a UNESCO report in 2012 estimated around 124 million children between the ages of 6-15 haven’t started their schooling or have dropped out, globally), we need all the tools we can get to entice kids into learning.
That’s where we come in:

Assisted by an adaptive cloud-based software, Square Panda’s multisensory phonics learning system empowers young learners to learn through educational and interactive gameplay.

*Read all about Square Panda India and its many many attributes here.

Here are eight reasons why you should partner with Square Panda India:

Personalised Learning System Based On AI:

We have created (and are constantly updating) an adaptive software that is based on Artificial Intelligence. This diagnostic engine measures every learner’s learning level, progress, challenges, game preferences, and play patterns, each time he/she plays a game. It gradually personalises their learning experience by showing the most appropriate level in each game for that child at that particular point in time. This analysis helps you fuel their reading and learning resources, creating an interactive and effective learning environment for young learners.

Comprehensive Well-Researched Curriculum:

We based our curriculum on the following teaching styles–Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio Emilia, and Gardner’s ‘Theory of Multiple Intelligences’. We added to this the latest findings from neuroscience research on young learner’s brains, both by our in-house teams and outside researchers, and created a library of age-appropriate games that are suitable for any curriculum, be it ICSE, CBSE, SSC, IB, or ICGSE.

Complete Curriculum Package:

Not only do we offer a comprehensive curriculum to enhance language and literacy skills, we offer an entire curriculum package that consists of:

• A flexible syllabus tailor-made for Indian schools.
• Yearly updation of said syllabus, to keep up with the changing boards.
• Storybooks, reinforcing the regular teaching system.
• Workbooks, for additional practice.
• Rhymes and songbooks.
• Stories based on Indian festivals, to increase understanding and knowledge of Indian customs and traditions.

 Real-Time Assessment:

Our adaptive engine gives educators an instant look into individual students’ performance–their strengths, deficiencies, their progress in each game, and even suggestions on which games they can play to improve their skills, all in clear and concise reports.

Teacher Manual:

For ease in operating our system, we provide complete and detailed guidelines on how to run our curriculum alongside yours, as well as instructions on each game and its expected outcome.

Periodical Teacher Training:

We don’t expect every educator to have engineer-level technical skills, which is why we give technical training to every person operating our phonics platform. There is also an online certificate course for pre-primary teachers.

Extensive Support To Teachers:

Teachers everywhere, across all grades, whether in pre-kindergarten or higher, are always in a flurry of activity. Acknowledging this, we created a support system that we think will help them. We offer:

• Workbooks.
• Storybooks.
• Periodical Teacher Training (for guidance on how to use our learning system, what each game brings to the table, and more).
• Teacher Manual (for other essential information).
• Song and Rhymes books.
• Syllabus (that perfectly aligns with your school’s syllabus).

 Co-Branding:

Partner schools link their name to the first literacy product, ever, to win STEM approval. We give our partner schools all the above benefits, and more, as they come along.

Hurry! Your school can become a ‘Square Panda Partner School’ too!

– Sanjana Shukla, Content Writer, Square Panda India

The moment we had been waiting for finally arrived!

Square Panda celebrated its launch in India on February 19, 2019 at the Westin Hotel in Mumbai.

You may recall, dear reader, from our previous post, that while we are well-known across America, we have just opened our doors in India.

We introduced our amazing multisensory phonics learning system to India at the ‘Language, Literacy, and Early Childhood Education‘ event.

An audience comprised of the biggest names in education were left completely enthralled with the talks presented by our speakers…

especially when Guest of Honour Andre Agassi walked in.

Take a look…

Square Panda CEO and co-founder Andy Butler with Andre Agassi, who spoke about his journey from tennis to education, and from there, to Square Panda. (below) (Watch the video here.)

(above) Andre Agassi’s Q & A session with the audience.

Read his interviews with the Times of India, Economic Times, and Inside Sport.

Our Speakers:

Ashish Jhalani, Managing Director, Square Panda India, kicking off the event with an introduction to Square Panda. (Watch his speech here.)

Dr. Nandini Chatterjee Singh, cognitive neuroscientist from National Brain Research Centre on deputation to UNESCO-MGIEP, talking about ‘Shaping the Biliterate Brain – Acquisition of Literacy Skills in Two Distinct Languages’. (Watch her talk here.)

Dr. Vera Blau-McCandliss, VP of Education and Research, Square Panda, speaking about ‘The Research & Science Behind Today’s Early Childhood Learning’. (Watch her speech here.)

Andy Butler, CEO and co-founder, Square Panda, enlightening the audience on the ‘Future of Technology for Early Learners’.

Dhruv Bhargava,  VP, Data Science & Software, Square Panda, on Personalisation & Adaptiveness for Better Young Learners’. (Watch his speech here.)

Also actively engaging the audience interest were our two panels:

Panel I: The 6 C’s of Early Education—Collaboration, Communication, Content, Creativity, Critical Thinking, ConfidencePanel Speakers (from left to right): Bhavin Shah-Moderator, (Director-CEO, Education World), Vani Shastri (Director at SEED & Seed Academy, Chennai), Nitya Ramaswami (Executive Mentor, Alfa Group of Schools), Bhargavi Ajit (Adapt India).

Panel II: Evolution of Artificial Intelligence Aided TeachingPanel Speakers (from left to right): Fatema Agarkar (Co-founder, KA EduAssociates), Pooja Goyal Sharma (Head of Strategy and New Initiatives, Klay Prep Schools and Daycare, Bangalore), Dr. Seema Negi (Principal, Sanjeevani World School), Dhruv Bhargava (VP of Data Science & Software Engineering, Square Panda, California).

Appreciating all the efforts made in the education sector, the following people were awarded a special Square Panda trophy:

For more photos, visit our Facebook and Instagram pages.

Thank you to everyone who made it to the event; we couldn’t have done it without you. We hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did.

To know more about Square Panda, visit our website.

– Sanjana Shukla, Content Writer, Square Panda India