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School Zone Publishing sees an increase in subscriptions to the online program for young students.
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan – (GRBJ) – Since March, when schools were closed in Michigan, families have turned to the web to find educational content for their children.
One of the places they turned to is Anywhere Teacher, a year-long online education platform created by Grand Haven-based School Zone Publishing, which has been around for 40 years.
Subscriptions to the program have doubled since March, said Barbara Peacock, executive director of School Zone Publishing.
Anywhere Teacher is intended for children from 2 to 8 years old. As demand increases, Anywhere Teacher will welcome more families with the launch of the Kindergarten Guided Path portion of the program in July. The online platform already offers specific content for preschoolers and first graders.
“Anywhere Teacher is a solution to help parents looking for educational resources to keep their children engaged at home,” said Jonathan Hoffman, president of School Zone Publishing. “The content available to families has been created in collaboration with leading education professionals, is easy to use and secure. With so much uncertainty surrounding schools and the likelihood that many questions will remain over the next few months, families will need to access additional resources to improve learning at home.
The platform has been available for three years. It serves as a children’s program and offers more than 2000 activities, including books, flash cards, games, songs and a play area. Kindergarten children will be able to learn colors, numbers, and more. and the sound of letters.
“They say the summer brain drain is 20% of what they learn they lose, and it happens every summer. It doesn’t matter whether it’s during a pandemic or not, ”Peacock said. “The great thing about Anywhere Teacher is that it can be used on any device. It’s browser based, so you can use a phone or laptop and multiple kids can be connected at the same time. time.
Peacock said the curriculum for Anywhere Teacher is constantly updated. She said School Zone Publishing has been able to work with teachers at the local level to help align activities with national education standards. Some of the teachers are from the Grand Rapids area, including the Kenowa Hills and Spring Lake public school districts, and the company is also enlisting a local preschool teacher to help.
“It’s nice to have local teachers to work with because we can also go inside the classroom and watch the kids use our product so that we can improve what we make,” she said. declared. “It’s really important with digital products. With Anywhere Teacher, it’s really important to understand how quickly they are able to navigate the interface to play the games, see what they learn from the games, how they enjoy it, and just really watch them interact. When we go to the classroom, we try not to give them any help. We’re just here to watch how they use the product.
The publishing house, founded by educators James Hoffman and his wife Joan Hoffman, has been at the forefront of technological change. Anywhere Teacher is just the latest program launched by the Grand Haven Company.
A School Zone app was part of Apple’s debut on the first-generation iPad in 2010. In 2013, School Zone introduced the first of its new flagship line of Little Scholar – educational tablets for children – which eventually included the “mini”, a tablet for the little ones. hands preloaded with more than 70 apps, eBooks, songs, videos and more, according to the company’s website.
“School Zone has always been innovative in our approach to education,” said Peacock.
This story originally appeared in the Grand Rapids Business Journal. For similar content, get a copy or visit their website.
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