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Essential Prerequisites for Future Classrooms

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Browsing Tag
educational games

Using Stories To Teach Non-Native Learners The English Language

August 17, 2021 339 views 1 Comment
Little girl learning to read English and dream with stories
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Picture this. ⬇

Multilingual early learning classrooms boast a diverse group of learners. At least half of them are introduced to English as a subject. Most such children have a completely different home language than English. And most of their everyday environments are devoid of any English literature whatsoever. In some cases, even in environments not devoid of the language, these children are too young to have gained much exposure to English. Most have only learnt their native language correctly, and English then becomes a ‘second language.’

In this scenario—which holds true for most young learners across India’s early learning landscape—learning a new language, be it English or a regional language, is most fun through stories. While the languages themselves may be vastly different, with cultural, linguistic, and other distinctions, stories themselves are universal. These stories become a relatable bridge that help kids understand this new language in a familiar light. Additionally, stories for younger children tap into the main emotions all children will be able to identify — surprise, hunger, joy, anger, and even sorrow.

HOW STORIES BENEFIT ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

*and any other second-language acquisition

  • When children listen to stories, they build their oral language skills. When they begin reading, they build their emergent literacy skills. They gain exposure and are able to practice sounding out letters and words—and later, sentences—in English. This is one of the most important steps in learning a new language — simply observing the language and allowing the brain to pick up patterns in the background. Once this initial process has been accomplished, the brain adds observations to specific types of patterns, like what some groups of words look like or sound like (i.e., word families), how sounds come together to form words, and how words can be split up into individual sounds. Every observation affects children’s perception and processing power of the language.
    *What are word families? ‘Word family’ can refer to any grouping of words based on a particular pattern. Square Panda’s educational games refer to word families that have the same ending sound and spelling, like SAP-NAP-TAP and MAT-SAT-PAT.
    *Why teach word families? It helps a young brain process information faster when there is a certain pattern to the knowledge they are exposed to. Word families are one type of pattern that helps children process words in their head more easily.
  • A fun tale that is accompanied by clear illustrations and pictures—as found in most books for young readers—are crucial to develop comprehension skills. For children who have been exposed to vocabulary and words in their native language, these images give them meaning and context. For instance, vocabulary instruction for English language acquisition would include explaining the fact that ‘tree’ means ‘पेड़’ and ‘home’ means ‘घर’. However, their memory would struggle under the weight of too many new words being taught at the same time, especially if there is little repetition of certain vocabulary. Instead of stand-alone words, when children are exposed to a new language via stories and pictures, the context and narrative helps them remember new words more clearly.
  • The above narrative also taps into another basic characteristic of stories—a good story is always emotionally engaging. When we are emotionally engaged with a story, it automatically hammers a place for itself in our memory. This is why the plotline of the Aamir Khan movie “Lagaan” is at the tip of your tongue, but you might struggle to remember the year the Constitution of India was adopted. This also means that children learning English find it much easier to remember a brand new language when presented in the form of an emotionally engaging story.

NOTE: ‘Emotionally engaging’ differs as per the age. A 34-year-old might like to read about the future of education in the age of AI, but for a 4-year-old, a little animal trying to find somewhere to nap is the most engaging story of all.

  • Stories have also been shown to help children develop social cognition a.k.a. emotional intelligence. This refers to having an understanding of others in society and behaving in an accordingly cooperative way. For instance, stories can help children develop empathy, i.e., understanding that others are also people with feelings and emotions, thoughts and experiences. They merit being treated in a caring and respectful way. This concept of emotional intelligence—while basic and natural on the surface—is a complex idea that children have to develop and is not something they are automatically born into. Stories with a ‘moral’ at the end, characters that exhibit characteristics like kindness, thoughtfulness, and caring, all help children develop this understanding.

BUILDING A READING HABIT AS OPPOSED TO A SIMPLE READING LESSON

A reader can aptly describe the joys of sitting down with a book. How the words can take people to unexplored lands, how the thoughts expressed can encourage innovative thought, and how each new book inspires and uplifts people. This is not all that reading offers. A regular reading habit can enhance vocabulary, strengthen memory, decrease stress, and strengthen the connections in your brain in multiple ways. Bringing stories into the equation early on in a child’s life helps adults nurture the reading habit, turning these pre-readers into lifelong readers.

WHY SHORT STORIES ARE BETTER FOR EARLY LEARNERS

For children, most of whom have short attention spans at that age, short stories can optimise the learning process by hitting the balance between fun and tiring. Remember, most of them are just beginning to learn through the simple act of reading or listening to a story. As they start to explore various concepts like comprehension, social cognition, and patterns, short stories help them stay challenged and yet, not overwhelmed with too much information.

HOW SQUARE PANDA TEACHES CHILDREN FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY

An interpretive story forms the base for all of our educational games and apps. Two main characters, Panda and Cameo, are joined by a host of other animals accompanied by mini-storylines, for the purpose of driving learning through gamification. Each part of our curriculum is well-suited to engage a young brain, and adapts as per their individual learning levels. We carefully designed each part of our offerings with the understanding that children learn best when they are engaged, and there is nothing more engaging than a story.

To know more about our programs under the Aarambh initiative, visit our website ecce.squarepanda.in.

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Safety And Digital Learning

May 6, 2021 305 views No Comments
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A little boy watches a screen

Technology advances have swept through every sphere, be it entertainment, business, or even education. The current generation is more technologically inclined than ever, having access to knowledge and tools at their fingertips. This lean towards a digital revolution is especially endorsed by India, which is said to be a flag-bearer in percolating digitisation through to the grassroots level.

Why We Talk About Digital Safety, Especially In Education

The pandemic has driven a widespread transition towards e-learning and edutech, leaving young minds wide open to the vast expanse of the online world. The flipside of this is the challenge of monitoring online activities, with curious young minds sometimes going down unfortunate paths. While the digital learning space is a treasure trove of information and connection to peers, they also do pose certain challenges that could hinder learning.

Square Panda’s Tips To Keep Young Learners Safe Online

1) Learn About Digital Safety: 

As an early learning stakeholder (parent, early years’ educator, etc.) who is in charge of shaping young minds, you need to learn the basics of online safety before imparting knowledge about digital safety. Some common safety measures include: 

  • setting up the device with appropriate safety measures, like a firewall, antivirus protection, and security updates before handing it to children, 
  • vetting all the apps and edutech tools yourself before they find their way into a child’s hands, and 
  • ensuring digital learning labs are in an area where you can keep an eye on the children at all times.

2) Teach Children About Digital Literacy And Its Dangers:

Even with all the care you take, there is no guarantee of complete protection. In this event, safeguard children against online risks by guiding them about netiquette and the threats they could face. In particular, children should know about: 

  • Links: Never click links coming in from any source without permission. Teach children not to click on links on any app or tool (for example, WhatsApp, SMS, emails, and more). These could be phishing links.
  • Stranger Danger: Just like they are not supposed to speak to strangers in real life, children should be taught not to interact with strangers online too.
  • Divulging Personal Information: Young children often do not understand personal boundaries, revealing important personal information like home addresses or family vacation plans online. Children should be made aware of the dangers of giving out too much personal information about themselves and their families on any online space, even to people they know. 

3) Allow Open Communication: 

Create an environment where children can freely come and talk to you about whatever it is they are learning or experiencing online.

4) Teach Them Digitally, But Offline:

Digital learning doesn’t mean children study online all the time. Some early education platforms provide offline access to their content, study materials, and even educational games. Schools and homes can utilise this feature whenever possible to limit internet exposure.

How Square Panda India Is Making Digital Learning Safe

Digital learning is the future (read our thoughts about it, and AI, here), and we at Square Panda India are making sure our programs under the Aarambh initiative, especially our foundational learning program, are safe for young children.

As our core impact group is so young (Square Panda India’s initiative aims to impact children between the ages of two and eight), we make sure to control every aspect of our cloud-based digital system. The digital part of our foundational program runs in a closed environment without any extra ads or purchases interrupting the child’s learning. Strict internal data safety rules protect all participants’ information gathered during this process to the highest degree possible. With each educational game an individual child plays, data on their progress is collected, and reports are generated for the parents/teachers, viewable inside the Square Panda Playground. Our adaptive AI software inside the Square Panda platform only uses its learnings to recommend what content is to be shown to the early learners, for optimal learning outcomes.

The Square Panda India literacy tool helps track learning progress.

Digital learning promises to unite India, share information like never before, and turn the tide for socio-economic prosperity in our nation. However, digital education needs to be supported by online safety for a truly holistic and integrated educational experience. The need of the hour are policies and instruments that ensure accessible and safe early childhood education for every Indian child.

What are your thoughts on digital learning and safety? Let us know in the comments below.

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Why Learning Through Play Is Important

July 22, 2019 2,503 views No Comments
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The fact that becoming literate opens doors and avenues previously unexplored is known to all. It is the ultimate goal for all parents and teachers, something they spend their lives and careers striving to achieve. Learning to be literate is more than simply having knowledge of the alphabet and the language, however. Literacy also involves developing cognitive skills, preferably during the preschool and kindergarten years. That’s why so much of early education is play alongside learning. Research supports the ‘learning through play’ method, with esteemed psychologist Lev Vygotsky, in his article, Play And Its Role In The Mental Development Of The Child, examining the different components of play and the way they affect a little learner’s just-developing mental functions, and thus concluding that play might not be the primary activity, but, in a certain way, it is the main reason for a child’s development in the preschool years. *At the time Vygotsky conducted his research, in Russia, formal schooling started around the age of 7. So it is fair to include both preschoolers and kindergarteners in his findings. **Vygotsky only looked at play in terms of role-play (kids putting themselves in imaginary situations, kids taking on and acting out roles, and following a set of rules determined by that role). If you need more reasons to convince you learning through play is essential, read on… 1) Play Develops Their Senses: An educational game succeeds in stimulating a young learner’s senses the way simple learning cannot. Using props and educational toys that encourage kids to use multiple senses, including tactile ones, enhances their retention and learning. Multisensory Method 2) Play Helps Power Their Mind: Imagine a large battery which you can plug, and voila, your kids’ brains are that much smarter. A learning game is exactly that battery, sparking more engagement and learning in a beginner learner’s mind. Not only are their cognitive skills much more developed, they also exhibit signs of critical thinking, and can understand cause and effect. 3) Learning Games Prompt Physical Play: Not every educational game has users sit passively to learn; the ones catering to a younger audience almost always incorporate an element of kinesthetic learning-whether it is dancing, or singing, or simply getting up and moving around. Boosting large and small motor skills, these games are perfect for added reinforcement of regular learning. 4) Games Boost Creativity: When kids play a learning game, their minds are almost always actively engaged. Whether it is the animated gameplay or the engaging activities in each game, young learners can explore and expand their minds to a greater extent. Square Panda Lagoon game on playset with Smart Letters strewn about

Did you know the Square Panda Lagoon game encourages early learners to explore and experiment with making words?

5) Games Are A Confidence Booster: There is a tiny frown of concentration on your kid’s face, which clears away as soon as she realises the letter she was trying to identify is, in fact, the letter ‘A’. The more she gets answers and concepts right, the higher her confidence soars. The bite-sized lessons masquerading as games, and the colourful components both serve to make education simpler and a lot more fun. Finding this stimulating, kids’ success rates increase, which in turn raises their confidence in themselves and their learning ability. 6) Playing Games Helps Kids Play Well With Others: Whether in school or at home, playing these educational games have a positive effect on children’s social and emotional well-being. Playing these games (and sometimes losing) helps them with their emotional maturity; because they are pushed to interact with people—friends, peers, adults around them—these games can also develop their social skills. All this interaction has the added benefit of improving kids’ communication skills as well. Kids playing with Square Panda and interacting Playing, Learning, And The World: Governments around the world have started to recognise and acknowledge the importance of learning through play, and are taking steps (strides, in some countries), to incorporate a ‘play’ element for their young.
  • Early childhood development was studied as early as the 1980s, with a study being conducted on children in an underprivileged Kingston neighbourhood in Jamaica. Mothers were taught to interact and bond with their children via play, by community health workers. Focused on reducing developmental delays in at-risk kids, this program was found to have a great effect on the earnings of those kids as adults.
  • A global experiment was conducted by BRAC, the world’s largest NGO, to bring play to the world’s most underprivileged communities. Derived from BRAC’s 40 years of building schools for the at-risk members of Bangladeshi society, this program’s curriculum was created by a team of global scholars. Faced with stiff opposition in many communities who feel the ‘play and learn’ model is frivolous and cannot add value to learning, they soon change their minds when they see the results of such play in their now skilled and cognitively-developed children.
Pick An Educational Toy That Delivers Why go for a simple learning tool when you can have one that develops your child’s early literacy skills AND cognitive skills (plus a host of other essential life skills) through cool educational games? Not only that, our learning games are perfect for beginner learners as young as 2 years of age! Square Panda India offers comprehensive early childhood programs that put children on a path toward academic success by setting them up with the tools they need to succeed, and creates the supporting ecosystem needed to ensure lifelong learning and success. To know more, visit ecce.squarepanda.in  Here are some useful videos to explore the topic further: Why Educators Are The Key To Successful Early Childhood Education 5 Reasons India Needs A Strong Early Childhood Education System 8 Activities To Build Social And Emotional Skills In Early Childhood Education You may also be interested in reading some of our blogs on early education: The Economic Impact Of Early Education How Adaptive Learning Can Transform The Early Education System In India Why We Need Phonics In Early Childhood Education We hope that you enjoyed our post on early education. If you have any tips or suggestions please leave a comment below. If you would like to collaborate with us, you can drop us a mail on marketing@squarepanda.in. Follow us so that you never miss out on any updates: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube
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Square Panda Stories #1: Meet Ashish Jhalani, MD at Square Panda India

July 10, 2019 1,121 views No Comments
Ashish name spelt out in Smart Letters
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He’s got an impressive 24+ years of experience, in multiple disciplines, no less, under his belt. The shot caller at Square Panda India, he was recently promoted to Global CTO. 

He is passionate about his family, basketball, and making a social impact.

Introducing our MD and Global CTO, Ashish Jhalani, who very kindly agreed to sit down with us for a special interview, where he divulges details about his journey to Square Panda, early education, and his favourite character from our games.

Square Panda India MD Ashish Jhalani, in a rare moment of brevity during his interview

Watch the interview here, or read the transcript below:

FROM ECOMMERCE TO EDUCATION. WHAT INSPIRED THAT TRANSITION?

“I spent almost all my life in the e-commerce field since I first started working. Transferring to education was a big decision, but it kind of comes down to wanting to do something more than just build businesses and have an impact on a very little number of people. Here in education, it gives me an opportunity to impact millions of kids, especially here at Square Panda, with us having a presence in the US, in China, and in India, and then obviously, in each one of these countries there are millions of kids that are in need of literacy, and it gives me an opportunity to reach to all of those kids. So yeah, it is more of a social kind of a move at this point. You want to make an impact and not just build businesses, but here, it gives me an opportunity to do both.”

WOULD YOU HAVE USED SQUARE PANDA, HAD IT BEEN AVAILABLE WHEN YOUR CHILDREN WERE YOUNGER? WHAT INFLUENCES YOUR DECISION EITHER WAY?

“At first, challenges: would I want screen time for them? NO! Or yes. But if we looked at the product, I think I would want to use it for my kids. One, because I was a second language learner, my wife was a second language learner, and we wanted our children to obviously learn better than we did. So, I think I would have chosen Square Panda as one of the products for my children to learn from. I myself used different tools initially to learn English, so I think I would use something for my kids as well.” 

AI (ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE) AND MI (MACHINE LEARNING), THESE TERMS ARE NOW BEING USED IN THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL SPHERES, EDUCATION. HOW DOES SQUARE PANDA TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS TREND?

“AI and MI are hot topics at this point, be it education or finance. But in education, specially, we are talking about how can AI and MI help. Here at Square Panda, we take ‘first steps’ (referencing the fact that our educational games create a foundation to language learning and early literacy); all of our games are adaptive games. As children are playing these games and learning, each child learns differently. So if your child is making a mistake with a certain letter, word, etc., we recognise that. Obviously, our games ensure that the child has enough practice and enough repetition to learn that particular issue that they were having. That’s just one step. As we build our products further, we are building more algorithms to understand the demographics of the child, to understand what their patterns of learning are, and have them integrated against the new products, the new games, and the new curriculums that we are building up.”

WHAT IS THE SQUARE PANDA MISSION STATEMENT?

“Our mission here at Square Panda is very simple. We want to empower all kids with the power of literacy. We want every child to have education, we want every child to learn a language, and a language that is common across the globe.”

WHAT ARE THE GOALS SQUARE PANDA HAS?

“The goals Square Panda has is to make education and literacy, affordable and reachable to the masses across the world, may it be in China, may it be in India. We want to make sure that every child gets an opportunity to be literate, learn the language of English—which is a primary language across the world—and find better jobs as they grow up.”

WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE CHARACTER FROM OUR GAMES?

Square Panda saying hello

“My favourite character in our games is obviously Square Panda. He has got this unique thing–pandas are never square, but he is square…and I like that. So, yeah, my favourite character is Square Panda.”

WHAT SETS SQUARE PANDA APART FROM OTHER EARLY LEARNING SYSTEMS?

Square Panda spelled out with Smart Letters

“What sets us apart at Square Panda is realistically, our ability to be adaptive. Like I said, every child learns differently. That’s what Square Panda is all about. Now, obviously, we have many other important aspects too, but what differentiates us; one being ‘multisensory’. Our playset is unique in what it offers. It gives the child (the ability) to still continue to develop motor skills, etc. while using the digital adaptive platform. Now, let’s not discount the amount of research that has gone into building our curriculum. Though the user is seeing the games, the children playing it interact with the game, there is a large amount of curriculum that helps them learn, and there are learning goals for everything that the child is doing in our games.

What sets Square Panda apart in most cases is the innovation we bring. We currently have our meta game out—‘SquareLand’—where we are continuously adding more interactions, more engagements to the product, where we can complete the learning goals of each early learner. In addition to that, we have products such as ‘Buddy Reader’ that is coming out that will help children read better. In the future, we have other products that will help the child complete their full cycle of learning–from reading, to writing and recognising letters, etc. So, Square Panda is an innovative company; we are going to constantly be innovating new things. Not everything can be talked about, but there are things that are continuously in the pipeline to be introduced to the markets in India, in China, and in the US.”

Like, Share, and Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube!

Check out our website for more articles, videos, and educational games!

– Sanjana Shukla, Content Writer, Square Panda India

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Screen Time Is Learning Time With Square Panda

June 28, 2019 1,024 views No Comments
Little boy watching television
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‘Screen Time’, or the time spent by a person in front of a screen, is growing by leaps and bounds every day.

Little boy watching television

Photo by Vidmir Raic from Pixabay

Guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend no digital exposure until children are 18 months of age, and exposure with adult engagement at least until they are 5 years old. We at Square Panda follow their instructions, endorsing the use of our literacy platform for children above 2 years of age. We are also great believers of learning via screen time, for the following reasons:

WE LIVE IN A DIGITAL WORLD

Digital media has invaded every part of our lives, in offices, homes, and even schools. In such a scenario, ensuring children are digitally literate is not just smart, it is also staying a step ahead of the times. Supervised screen time, can, if handled correctly, can increase children’s confidence and prepare them for their future.

PUTTING THE ‘SELF’ IN ‘SELF-CONTROL’

An overuse of anything, be it screens or even play time, is never a good thing. With that said, parents and teachers should try to encourage children to self-regulate the time they spend in front of a device. Teaching them moderation through methods like fear (you can scare them away from too much screen time by showing them its adverse effects), and positive motivation (entice them away from the device by introducing them to something they enjoy more), can have unexpected benefits. Because they are setting their own (moderate) time in front of a device, they become more independent, confident, and self-assured. They are gradually able to identify their own needs and wants, and figure out a way to meet them.

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF SCREEN TIME

Square Panda playset

Research has proven that screen time can actually help, rather than hinder, development of young children. Screen time has also received a ‘thumbs-up’ from child media expert and Vice President of PBS KIDS Digital, Sara DeWitt, who believes screen time can be beneficial if used correctly.

  • In light of fear that excess screen time can cause obesity, look to videos, apps, and activities that encourage children to move rather than stare passively at the screen. Square Panda’s games, like Jiggity Jamble and Monster Rhymes, motivate kids to use their bodies while learning English.
    Talking to kids about their pastimes, and more specifically, their favoured games, has a way of opening up the conversation to new avenues. Experts even suggest this can lead to enhanced social and emotional interactions.
    Parents and teachers can control the content, choosing only those programs/products that have a high quality of educational age-appropriate content. And there are a lot of high-quality educational products out there!
SCREEN TIME WITH A DIFFERENCE

Say yes to screen time with Square Panda instagram post

For more such images, check out our Instagram and Facebook pages.

We ask parents and teachers across India to say a big, resounding ‘YES’ to screen time with us, because our early literacy system has 40% less screen time with our multisensory approach; kids constantly look away from the screen to search for and pick up Smart Letters while playing with games. Unlike other digital experiences, Square Panda’s phonics-based early education platform qualifies—and many parents would agree with us here—as ‘good Screen Time’. With a product that is research-based (we’ve got our own team of experts in the field of early education, working alongside educators) and has proven results in many schools and homes across America and China, Square Panda’s vast library of educational games makes a child’s time in front of a device more productive.

Library of learning games with Square Panda

For more such images, visit our Instagram and Facebook pages.

We think an introduction to the digital world is essential in today’s day and age, but we highly recommend a balanced use of screen time, with children going outdoors as regularly as they learn and play indoors.

What Do You Think:

Take this poll and let us know your thoughts about ‘Screen Time’ in your homes and classrooms:

https://discover.apester.com/media/5c8b35eef115e0e2aae10a1f?src=link

– Sanjana Shukla, Content Writer, Square Panda India

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We’re Going Back To School!

May 31, 2019 885 views No Comments
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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:

Square Panda is going back to school

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…

Girl playing with Square Panda playset

– 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.

Little girl going back to school with bag.

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.

The Jungle Book

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.

Kids playing with Square Panda playset.

– 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.

Students learning phonics via Square Panda's educational games for kids.

*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

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Fun In The Sun With Square Panda

May 24, 2019 608 views No Comments
Sunset
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They come every year, without fail. As the weather turns from cool to hot, you lose almost half your body weight in perspiration.

You can heap curses on the weather gods for turning the heat up, you can even dream of taking a leave off work to stay home under the sweet embrace of your fans and ACs. Of course, all these heat-related woes will be nothing compared to your children’s/students’ disappointed faces if you haven’t managed to pack their vacation with as many fun summer activities as possible.

Sunset

Image by Adina Voicu from Pixabay

We understand and sympathise with your time constraints, which is why we have compiled the following list of summer activities for kids to try out this summer:

Check out our comic strip on how to stay safe in summer before you take on these activities.

Square Panda India Comics

Check out all our comics on our Facebook or Instagram.

#1: Pool Time:

A nice refreshing dip in cool water sounds like heaven, doesn’t it? Try out some local swimming pools. Or take your kids on trips to places with pools/lakes. For a cheaper alternative, introduce bubble baths. You can make it more interesting by adding a ‘story’ element to the bath. Teachers, grab a hose! After all, water is still water.

#2: Mango Is King:

Who doesn’t love a sweet, juicy mango? Feed them mangoes (in moderation). Teach them easy, kid-friendly recipes incorporating mangoes, because it is never to early to learn to cook. Parents, you get a kitchen helper, and teachers, you get a parent’s eternal gratitude and devotion.

Mangoes in summer

#3: Hobbies Need Time Too:

Playing with friends, practicing a sport, reading, or even lazing around; give all activities that your kids enjoy enough time. In fact, you can create a specially ‘curated’ list of activities for kids this summer, based on what they enjoy. We also recommend adding a small element of learning into summer fun, because we hate to see children experience the ‘summer slide’.

#4: Screen Time Can Be Healthy Too:

Not all screen time is bad. Choosing to let kids play-learn with educational games like ours, which are based on research and have proven results, can greatly help increase and enhance their knowledge. You can even spend some time finding resources on free streaming sites like YouTube, which is chock-full of educational videos on learning everything from numbers to nursery rhymes.

Little boy playing with Square Panda playset

Stay tuned for more on why we think screen time with Square Panda is educationally beneficial…

Which activities are you leaning towards? Write to us in the comment section below.

– Sanjana Shukla, Content Writer, Square Panda India

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February 18, 2019 669 views No Comments
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Square Panda is now in India!

From Sunnyvale, California, to Mumbai, India, Square Panda has had a long and eventful journey.

Born out of a vision to increase the reach of early literacy, we hope to greatly boost education in beginner learners through our learning system.

Our adaptive multisensory phonics learning platform is based on Artificial Intelligence, and uses the latest neuroscience research in the field of early learning to create educational games for young students.

Watch tennis legend Andre Agassi talk about teaching children with Square Panda.

To gain a greater understanding of what beginner learners require, and to better cater to their educational needs, we partnered with educators, neuroscience researchers, and child specialists, who now form our core team.

Based on a curriculum that combines Montessori, Waldorf, and Reggio Emilia pedagogy, along with Gardner’s Theory of Intelligences, our interactive game-based learning environment supports students from all boards, whether ICSE, CBSE, IGCSE, and even IB.

Our Tools To Teach:

A multiple award-winning platform, our technology helps children develop well-rounded skills like phonemic awareness, letter and word identification, an enhanced vocabulary, and more.

Emphasizing on Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing, our instructional and exploratory platform turns children into self-directed learners.

Our intelligent software works behind the scenes, analysing the patterns of play, the preference towards a particular game, the challenges, and the progress made, to inform the system which level is most appropriate for the learner at any point in time.

Parents and educators alike can monitor children’s/students’ progress with specialised portals.

If you are worried about protests from kids for sitting down to learn, don’t be! They will be having too much fun to even notice they are studying. Don’t believe us? Watch this video…

With a cloud-based visual and vocabulary bank, and the option to add more words as per requirements, learners will constantly be getting new stimulation.

Now you know their time spent in front of the screen won’t be going to waste, aren’t you breathing easier?

To boost your own little reader(s), subscribe to Square Panda’s online educational games as soon as you can!

– Sanjana Shukla, Content Writer, Square Panda India

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