Waterford Updates Early Learning, Launches SmartStart Curriculum -- THE Journal

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Waterford Updates Early Learning, Launches SmartStart Curriculum

By Leila Meyer
08/17/16

The Waterford Institute has released its Waterford Early Learning math and science curriculum and Waterford SmartStart curriculum on the iPad.

The Waterford Institute is a nonprofit research center that creates personalized, cloud-based curriculum, content and assessment for preschool through grade 2. For decades, the organization has incorporated math and science into its literacy programs, citing research findings that early math skills can improve literacy.

Last year, the organization released its Waterford Early Learning literacy program on the iPad, and it has now added math and science components to the program. "It was important for this release to bring the subjects back together for mobile because math skills have a tremendous impact on early literacy," said Benjamin Heuston, president of Waterford, in a news release.

The updated Waterford Early Learning app includes approximately 450 touch-screen optimized activities. The literacy component covers phonics, phonological awareness, reading comprehension, vocabulary, language concepts, writing and reading fluency. The new math and science component covers numbers, mathematical operations and algebraic thinking, geometry, measurement and data analysis, scientific exploration and method and earth, life and physical science. Waterford Early Learning is available now to Waterford Cloud subscribers for free on the App Store.

SmartStart is a new comprehensive curriculum for preschool through kindergarten that includes software, offline materials, teacher lesson plans and parent resources. Like Waterford Early Learning, SmartStart blends several subjects as part of its literacy curriculum, including reading, math, science and social studies, as well as executive functioning and cognition. SmartStart features week-by-week lesson plans for teachers, a SmartStart book series, printables, interactive whiteboard activities, iPad activities and more than 400 classroom activities.

Further information about Waterford Early Learning and SmartStart can be found on Waterford's site.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

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