New Kindergarten Readiness Program Allows Automated Progression for Preschoolers
A new kindergarten readiness software program allows
children
to automatically progress toward more advanced skills while following a
story
and playing games.
Hatch Early Learning's new Shell
Squad Adventures teaches 18 core early
literacy and math skills as it determines each child's individual
learning
level in real time.
The software program is available on the company's
own Hatch
Tablets, its All-in-One computers and iPads. It is delivered on the
company's
iStartSmart Elite Learning Solution, which includes a report management
system
that allows administrators to monitor performance in all classrooms in a
school
or all the schools in a district.
Shell Squad Adventures has a story line that features
two
animated characters, Luna the mother and Orwell the owl. They join three
other
characters children might be familiar with if they have used an earlier
Hatch
program, Shell Squad Games, which focuses on early math and literacy
concepts such as sorting, letter recognition and early vocabulary
lessons:
Henry the chick, Platty the platypus and Cami the chameleon.
The
characters go on a journey through 18 worlds — corresponding with the 18
core
literacy and math skills — in order to help Orwell the owl find missing
artifacts for a museum.
The
program also features:
- A blended
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation system for eight skills;
- A
storyline designed to help children develop empathy as the characters solve
their
problems;
- A way
for children to develop a sense of story with beginnings, middles and
endings;
- A log-in
that allows each child independent access by selecting their own
picture;
- Progression
rules designed to help the child progress to more complex skills without
teacher
intervention;
- An
animated tutorial; and
- A speech
pathologist who pronounces words and sounds when appropriate.
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.