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Homeschool Buyers Co-op is set to revolutionize homeschooling with artificial intelligence

NEW YORK, April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Homeschooling is set to be revolutionized by artificial intelligence, as US homeschoolers are offered use of the world’s leading AI learning engine for the first time.

Families can now access a low-cost AI teaching assistant that automatically grades, plans work and personalizes learning for children.

The world’s largest buying club for homeschoolers, Homeschool Buyers Co-op, has announced a new premium curriculum collection, Virtua. Teaming up with British AI pioneers CENTURY Tech, they have developed the program’s cornerstone curriculum Virtua School – a bespoke AI-powered learning platform for US homeschoolers. Having worked with thousands of families and schools across the world, CENTURY has used its educational expertise to develop a new AI platform tailored specifically to the needs of homeschooling families.

Available to try for just $1, Virtua School offers learners the latest in adaptive learning technology for learners from grades 2 to 10. It provides children with learning content most appropriate to their individual needs while equipping parents with data on their child’s learning to empower them to make the best educational choices for their learners.

Virtua School goes beyond meeting the needs of each child and supports the home educator with automated, real-time grading, recommended activities to identify gaps or challenges students and robust reporting. It allows home educators to agilely tailor to the needs of each child.

Jae Choi, CEO of Homeschool Buyers Co-op, said:

“Virtua School offers incredible educational content for students, but it goes so much further by serving as a virtual ‘teacher’s aid’ to home educating parents. The support it provides parents, who are often overlooked in the home homeschool ecosystem, is unparalleled. We are excited to offer a tool that enhances the homeschool experience for the entire family.”

Eugene Dapper, a parent using the platform, said:

“The AI that the learning platform provides is outstanding, it identifies gaps in my child’s learning and then targets those areas before they tackle future learning. My 8-year-old has found this both enjoyable and challenging, and it helps me to help her. This will definitely become part of our household learning for years to come.”

Priya Lakhani OBE, Founder CEO of CENTURY Tech, whose AI will power Virtua School, said:

“AI is proving a game-changer for children’s learning across the world. Homeschoolers can now reap the vast benefits of AI, from personalization to automated grading and planning.”

CENTURY Tech works with thousands of schools and families across the world, from world-leading independent schools to entire school systems. Founded in 2013 by Priya Lakhani OBE, CENTURY’s technology has won numerous educational awards, including the MIT Solve, CogX Innovation, EdtechX and Reimagine Education Awards. 

Notes to editors:

  1. What is Virtua School?
    Virtua School is a new learning platform powered by CENTURY, a unique, award-winning teaching and learning AI platform. The platform uses learning science, artificial intelligence and neuroscience to create constantly adapting pathways for students and powerful assessment data for parents.
  2. How does Virtua School work?
    Virtua School works in three ways:
    1.  The artificial intelligence engine creates personalized learning pathways that plug gaps in knowledge and remedy misconceptions.
    2.  Easy-to-use data dashboards help parents to guide their children through their learning. Areas where the child requires additional support or challenge are quickly identified.
    3.  Families are provided with thousands of high-quality resources for use in a variety of learning models.
  3. How does Virtua School’s AI work?
    Virtua School‘s artificial intelligence learns how students learn, adapts to their strengths and weaknesses and constantly adjusts to provide the support or challenge each learner requires. As children learn on the platform, every click, score, and interaction is recorded. This data feeds into artificially intelligent algorithms that learn how each individual student learns and plot the most effective route through learning material for each individual. Gaps in foundational knowledge are quickly identified and remedied, weaknesses are scaffolded, and strengths built upon, with automated, constructive feedback provided at the point of need. Differentiated material is provided, based on a learner’s focus, difficulty levels and pace of learning, among other factors.

SOURCE Homeschool Buyers Co-op

Related Links

Homeschool Curriculum and Affordable Homeschooling Programs

Why we’re here: School districts get huge discounts on their curriculum. Why not homeschoolers? The reason is simple: school districts have purchasing power and homeschoolers don’t because we purchase as individuals. The Homeschool Buyers Co-op changes that for homeschoolers everywhere. What we provide: We save you 20%-90% on your homeschool curriculum.

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Homeschool App Provided Free During COVID-19 Pandemic

Southern Pines, NC, March 19, 2020 –(PR.com)– The coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic has forced the closing of many of America’s 133,000 schools, leaving many parents searching for educational experiences for their children at home. Some schools are providing online classes, but others are just on an extended spring break at this point.

Classical Conversations, one of the largest homeschooling organizations in the world, emphasizes memorization for its elementary-age students. Young students quickly learn math facts, spelling, science and geography facts and organization, the timeline of history, etc. Classical Conversations is now making one of its key elementary-age resources available free of charge to parents trying to educate their kids at home for the first time.

“COVID-19 is a real concern for America as it has been for much of the rest of the world,” said Robert Bortins, CEO of Classical Conversations. “Our 50,000 families are used to doing school at home, and we want to offer some of our expertise and resources to our neighbors who are trying to do school at home for the first time.”

Classical Conversations is offering a free version of the Foundations Memory Work Cycle 2 app for Apple iOS, Google and Android this week, pending their approval by each app store. The free app, which normally costs $15.99, contains all of CC’s Foundations (elementary-aged) memory work for an entire year. This covers all of its subjects including history, geography, science, math, English grammar, Latin and timeline threads.

In order to find the free app in the app stores, search for “Free Cycle 2 Memory Work.”

For more information about CC, visit www.classicalconversations.com.

Classical Conversations now has more than 122,000 students enrolled in its tutoring programs, which are provided by 2,500 CC communities in all 50 states and 39 foreign countries. CC provides resources, guidance and a community for a Christian home school curriculum using a classical education model in three developmental stages: grammar, dialectic and rhetoric.

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Science Experiment Kit Helps People Understand How Virus Transmission Works

Billings, MT, March 26, 2020 –(PR.com)– In today’s world of adjusting to living with social distancing, business and school closures and the ever-present fears of contracting COVID-19, countries across the globe are struggling in various ways; while thousands of school children settle in at home, parents, youth and caregivers are adapting to a “new normal.”

This kit called the “Coronavirus Education Kit*” provides detailed, scientifically accurate information about viruses, epidemics, pandemics, explanations of contagion, immunity, and the role of treatments, isolation, and quarantine. Through 6 hands-on activities, individuals will gain an appreciation for virus transmission, better understand the importance of hygienic practices, and begin to understand the consequences and responses of spread through a community.

“In a time of uncertainty, all of us have many questions – about our safety, our health, and our future. In the new Coronavirus Education Kit, we don’t claim to have the answers. Rather, we hope to bring to life the science behind the recommendations of world health authorities; things like washing your hands, social distancing and quarantines. The hands-on activities in this kit allow students of all ages to understand and explore disease transmission and consider ways they can help reduce the spread. While uncertainty will remain, we hope this kit provides students and families a strong scientific foundation through which they can interpret current circumstances and that what they learn here inspires them to explore even more,” says Trevor Zuroff, Ph.D., HST Product Development Manager.

The kit includes six hands-on activities:

1. Testing hand-washing techniques for the removal of simulated viruses and germs on hands; practicing proper hand hygiene;
2. Exploring person-to-person virus transmission using simulated “germs”;
3. Assessing the possibility of surface-to-person transmission;
4. Demonstrating droplet-based transmission from a sneeze or cough;
5. Finding the source of a virus outbreak in a fictitious scenario; and
6. Creating a potential solution that could be implemented in the fictitious community to protect citizens, prevent the spread of infectious disease, and care for infected patients.

This Coronavirus Education Kit can be found here.

“Teaching science is one of the most challenging subjects for most of our homeschool families and many other customers. Finding the time, knowing what to do, and gathering the necessary materials are part of the challenge. Regardless of where you or your kids are in your/their science journey, Home Science Tools is here to fully support you. We provide the expertise, products, and services to save you time and make your life easier while bringing science to life,” says Frank Schaner, Founder/President.

Over its 25+ years in business, HST has created a strong collection of 500+ science projects, experiments and/or guides, which are accessible to anyone through its online “Learning Center.” “We deeply value being able to offer quality tools and tips to families who are actively looking for relevant learning to share at home,” says Frank. “That’s always been our company’s primary focus, and we are hopeful we’ll be able to share valuable resources to those looking for help now with social distancing and an increased need for in home learning.”

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CodeWizardsHQ Announces The Dragon Quest, a 21-Day FREE Global Coding Challenge for Kids

AUSTIN, Texas, March 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ –In a new and exciting effort to inspire kids to learn to code, CodeWizardsHQ announces The Dragon Quest, a free coding challenge for kids ages 8-18. The Dragon Quest is a 21-day virtual event in which aspiring coders complete 21 levels of Python and JavaScript challenges with one final “Boss Level” question where participants write code. The 21 levels are a staircase to both continue to spark a passion for coding and reinforce skills that young coders have already learned.

The Dragon Quest, designed by Alex Van Winkel, a CodeWizardsHQ senior instructor, was inspired by Tolkien ideals creating a storyline in which kids become heroines and heroes by defeating a trespassing dragon while learning to code. To broaden the reach of this event, CodeWizardsHQ is partnering with homeschool education blogs, STEM nonprofits, and edtech leaders Terminal Two from Endless, Coder Bunnyz’ and ChickTech.

“T2 games are entertaining coding games because they are made by gamers,” said Virginia McArthur, Executive Producer, Endless. “Our games are the perfect companion to CodeWizardsHQ, as they keep students engaged with the core hacking and coding mechanics and reinforce the skills they have been taught.” Winners of this challenge will receive free Steam Access codes and become Ambassadors to the Endless Mission.

As to the importance of coding, Samaira Mehta, Founder of CoderBunnyz, comments, “Coding is more than just lines and lines of letters and numbers. It is something that gives you a different mindset about problems, and that is what coding is: a simple way to solve problems.” Samaira donated two games to amp up excitement through a giveaway.

Jey Iyempandi, Founder and CEO of CodeWizardsHQ underlines, “The best impetus for a student’s success is the motivation and curiosity. We wanted to offer a kids coding challenge to spark curiosity amongst students globally. Without a doubt, this event will provide much-needed fun and an interactive reprieve at the right time!”

About CodeWizardsHQ
CodeWizardsHQ is the leading online coding school for kids and teens ages 8-18. We deliver the most fun and effective live, online coding classes that teach real programming languages like Python, Java, HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and more to give our students the programming knowledge, skills, and confidence to thrive in a digital world.

About Terminal Two, by Endless
Terminal Two (T2) is a collection of online coding games that guide students systematically through the invaluable first steps of learning to code. Targeting ages 10-15, our games start simple, only to unfold into more and more advanced concepts, each teaching a specific programming concept.

About CoderBunnyz, CoderMindz & Yes One Billion Kids Can Code
Coder Bunnyz is a coding board game that was created by Samaira Mehta. Coder Bunnyz is designed for 1-4 players ages 4 and older, and the difficulty scales up as players master game skills. Samaira has also developed an online curriculum with learning objectives that align with both CoderBunnyz and CoderMindz. “Yes One Billion Kids Can Code” is a non-profit organization with the mission to get all 1 billion kids into coding and computer science.

About ChickTech
ChickTech is a 501(c)3 US-based nonprofit dedicated to retaining women in the technology workforce and increasing the number of female- and nonbinary-identifying youth and adults pursuing tech-based careers.

For a full list of partners visit https://codewizardshq.com/challenge-partners

Contact: Ana-María Medina, CodeWizardsHQ
512.957.9102
Email: 236764@email4pr.com

SOURCE CodeWizardsHQ

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Research on What Has Been Working for New Homeschooling Parents, according to edHelper

MCLEAN, Va., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Parents are scrambling to meet the ever-changing needs and demands from school closures, shelter-in-place orders, trying to work from home, and homeschooling. Things that have been working include building a routine, deciding collectively on a plan for screen time and daily movement, and setting academic expectations.

To help with homeschooling, edHelper.com has been releasing daily math, puzzle, and reading workbooks for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade. In the last week, parents have downloaded over 500,000 books free to the public.  But has this been working?  EdHelper reached out to parents to see, and results show that parents who have reduced screen time to a period of 3–4 hours during the day have experienced sanity in their family life. During this time allotment, kids can read, play, exercise, and do chores, and edHelper suggests they work for 15–45 minutes on math worksheets. Some parents also have put a poster on their refrigerator with ideas for this time period.

You can read more about the feedback on edHelper’s program on Facebook:

“[I] love how easy it was to access these without registering and jumping through hoops. Thank you! And these are way better than the tons of supplies and workbooks I’ve been buying for my second- and sixth-graders.”—Josie R.

“My son is in first grade and just loves math! I had just printed a packet for him, and he immediately went to work. He got halfway through and begged me to print ALL of the papers that I could! I can’t thank you enough for giving out these free worksheets! It gets him off of his tablet and using his brain … and he has fun!!!”—Brenda G.

While there are several options for online math games, videos, and tutorials, research still showcases the power of paper and pencil when it comes to developing and internalizing skills and standards. These resources can help limit screen time and encourage strategic academic growth.

New homeschooling parents have a new appreciation for what their child’s teacher does each day, especially when you consider that he or she works with close to thirty students at a time! When school finally resumes, parents will no doubt be ready to shower their children’s teachers with praise, but until then, edHelper.com will keep them engaged with high-quality and engaging materials.

About edHelper, Inc.

edHelper is an online service that provides printable worksheets and educational resources to teachers and homeschooling parents. As a leader providing weekly math workbooks and supplemental reading materials, developed by educational experts, for over 20 years, edHelper now serves more than 100,000 educators in 150 countries.

Press Contact: Russell Frey, author@edhelper.com, 1-571-329-5536

SOURCE edHelper, Inc.