We’re only mid-way through the schoolyear and one kindergartener, according to his teacher, has already gone “all the way from knowing nothing to being an ‘A’ student”. What a way to celebrate our one-year anniversary of this new, technology-driven tutoring program!
We began on January 24, 2022 with only four iPads. Now we have 26 iPads among five kindergarten classrooms.
We did not set out to abandon the 1-tutor-to-1-student model. We serve far northwest Jacksonville where there are not many businesses and, therefore, not an abundance of volunteers available during the school day. Nor are there after-school tutoring programs. So, to respond to teacher requests for tutors, our only option was to reinvent the way tutoring is done.
To best meet the needs of kindergarteners and their families, we shifted to online tutoring using the free, award-winning Khan Academy Kids app. Armed with iPads, one tutor can now provide individualized tutoring to a group of six children in the classroom. The kindergarteners then take home the iPads for after-school learning. Connected via cellular Internet, learning is not dependent on wi-fi in the home.
Once we get 30 iPads in full use in kindergarten with volunteers in every classroom three times a week, we have plans to expand to first grade. The school we call home, Dinsmore Elementary, is a public elementary school which means there will always be newly enrolled students with learning gaps needing tutoring.
Here’s more about our Online Tutoring Program.
