The Problem is Urgent
Every August, another cohort of children will enter kindergarten. The parents and grandparents of these children depend on our education system to prepare them for bright futures, thriving careers, and a shot at the American Dream. We must not fail them.
The lack of progress over the past 30+ years is an indication that it will take more than incremental change to address the crisis before us. We need a new, innovative approach that taps into the latest in technology, and we need to use what we have learned about education. KLiCWOW is a 3-legged project that combines early learning strategies with the use of technology and engagement on the part of parents and the community as a whole.
Although providing a free tablet to each three and four-year old is inherent in this project, KLiCWOW is not really a technology project.
Central to the KLiCWOW approach is the concept that it will take parental engagement and support from the entire community for us to change educational outcomes in Clermont County.
STATEMENT OF VALUES
This is first and foremost a community project that supports our commitment to lifelong learning.
We believe in education.
We are committed to maximizing opportunities for all of our children.
We believe in our parents and our educators.
We are committed to helping them, to supporting them.
We believe in nurturing the whole child.
We are committed to more than just handing out tablets.
We believe that technology should be fully embraced, but that it is only a tool and that it has its limitation, especially for very young children.
We are cognizant of the potential of technology in all aspects of our lives.
We believe that there is already enough evidence to suggest that tablets and other technologies are very helpful to early learning, but we recommend that parents/guardians need to carefully manage these options.
We are committed to providing tools to our early learners and tips to the parents/guardians of our early learners.
“If there is one thing educators can agree on, it’s this: children can do better in school when their parents get involved in their learning.”
FACT OR FICTION?
"The United States is not among the top five nations in the world when it comes to educational systems."
FICTION. The updated 2023 global report on education lists these countries in the top five: South Korea, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Slovenia. The United States is no longer in the top 20 countries. Each country’s ranking is based on five educational levels: early-childhood enrollment rates, Elementary Math, Science and Reading scores, Middle-School Math, Science and Reading scores, High School Graduation rates, and College Graduation rates. Source.
“In 29 years in education, I can tell you we have not moved the needle.”
FACT OR FICTION?
One of the top answers to the question “How would you improve your country’s education system?” was “More technology."
FACT. These were the top five responses from this year’s public opinion poll:
- "Better teachers"
- "More government funding for education"
- "More challenging classes"
- "No standardized testing"
- "More technology"
69% of the participants were students, 13% parents, 9% taxpayers (others), 5% teachers, and 4% educators. Source.
“Ultimately, getting the whole community involved is what’s going to move the needle. Our parents will make the difference.”
Want To Read More About The Tablet And WoW Pouch?
KLiCWOW supports the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics:
Children and
Media Tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics
5/1/2018
In a world where children are
"growing up digital," it's important to help them learn healthy
concepts of digital use and citizenship. Parents play an important role in teaching
these skills. Here are a few tips from the AAP to help families manage the
ever-changing digital landscape.·
Make your
own family media use plan. Media
should work for you and within your family values and parenting style. When
used thoughtfully and appropriately, media can enhance daily life. But when
used inappropriately or without thought, media can displace many important
activities such as face-to-face interaction, family-time, outdoor-play,
exercise, unplugged downtime and sleep. Make your plan at
HealthyChildren.org/MediaUsePlan.·
Treat media
as you would any other environment in your child's life. The same parenting guidelines apply
in both real and virtual environments. Set limits; kids need and expect them.
Know your children's friends, both online and off. Know what platforms,
software, and apps your children are using, what sites they are visiting on the
web, and what they are doing online.·
Set limits
and encourage playtime. Media use, like all other
activities, should have reasonable limits. Unstructured and offline play
stimulates creativity. Make unplugged playtime a daily priority,
especially for very young children.·
Screen time
shouldn't always be alone time. Co-view,
co-play and co-engage with your children when they are using screens -
it encourages social interactions, bonding, and learning. Play a video game with your kids. It's a good way to
demonstrate good sportsmanship and gaming etiquette. Watch a show with
them; you will have the opportunity to introduce and share your own
life experiences and perspectives, and guidance. Don't just monitor
children online, interact with them - you can understand what they are doing
and be a part of it.·
Be a good
role model. Teach and model kindness and good
manners online. Because children are great mimics, limit your own media use. In
fact, you'll be more available for and connected with your children if you're
interacting, hugging and playing with them rather than simply staring at a
screen. ·
Know the
value of face-to-face communication. Very
young children learn best through two-way communication. Engaging in
back-and-forth "talk time" is critical for language development. Conversations can be face-to-face or, if necessary, by
video chat with a traveling parent or far-away grandparent. Research has shown
that it's that "back-and-forth conversation" that improves language
skills—much more so than "passive" listening or one-way interaction
with a screen. ·
Limit
digital media for your youngest family members. Avoid digital media for toddlers younger than 18 to 24
months other than video chatting. For children 18 to 24 months, watch digital
media with them because they learn from watching and talking with you.
Limit screen use for preschool
children, ages 2 to 5, to just 1 hour a day of high-quality programming.
Again, co-viewing is best when possible and for young children
they learn best when they are re-taught in the real world what they just
learned through a screen. So, if Ernie
just taught the letter D, you can reiterate this
later when you are having dinner or spending time with your child.·
Create
tech-free zones. Keep family mealtimes, other family
and social gatherings, and children's bedrooms screen free. Turn off
televisions that you aren't watching, because background TV can get in the way
of face-to-face time with kids. Recharge devices overnight—outside your child
bedroom to help avoid the temptation to use them when they should be sleeping.
These changes encourage more family time, healthier eating habits, and better
sleep.·
Don't use
technology as an emotional pacifier. Media
can be very effective in keeping kids calm and quiet, but it should not be the
only way they learn to calm down. Children need to be taught how to identify
and handle strong emotions, come up with activities to manage boredom, or calm
down through breathing, talking about ways to solve the problem, and finding
other strategies for channeling emotions.·
Apps for
kids – do your homework. More
than 80,000 apps are labeled as educational, but little research has
demonstrated their actual quality. Products pitched as "interactive"
should require more than "pushing and swiping." Look to organizations
like Common Sense Media (www.commonsensemedia.org) for reviews about age-appropriate apps, games and programs
to guide you in making the best choices for your children.·
It's OK for
your teen to be online. Online
relationships are part of typical adolescent development. Social media can
support teens as they explore and discover more about themselves and their
place in the grown-up world. Just be sure your teen is behaving appropriately
in both the real and online worlds. Many teens need to be reminded that a
platform's privacy settings do not make things actually "private" and
that images, thoughts, and behaviors teens share online will instantly become a
part of their digital footprint indefinitely. Keep lines of communication open
and let them know you're there if they have questions or concerns.·
Warn
children about the importance of privacy and the dangers of predators and
sexting. Teens need to know that once
content is shared with others, they will not be able to delete or remove it
completely and includes texting of inappropriate pictures. They may also
not know about or choose not to use privacy settings, and they need to be
warned that sex offenders often use social networking, chat rooms, e-mail, and
online gaming to contact and exploit children.·
Remember:
Kids will be kids. Kids will make mistakes using
media. Try to handle errors with empathy and turn a mistake into a teachable
moment. But some indiscretions, such as sexting, bullying, or posting self-harm
images, may be a red flag that hints at trouble ahead. Parents must observe
carefully their children's behaviors and, if needed, enlist supportive
professional help, including the family pediatrician.
Media and digital devices are an
integral part of our world today. The benefits of these devices, if used
moderately and appropriately, can be great. But, research has shown that face-to-face
time with family, friends, and teachers plays a pivotal and even more important
role in promoting children's learning and healthy development. Keep the
face-to-face up front, and don't let it get lost behind a stream of media and
tech.
Children and Media – Tips for
Parents was written from two AAP policies, "Media Use in School-Aged
Children and Adolescents" and "Media and Young Minds," and the
technical report entitled "Children and Adolescents and Digital
Media," which were published in the November 2016 edition of Pediatrics.
They were also drawn from the proceedings of the AAP Sponsored Growing Up Digital: Media
Research Symposium, a gathering of media experts,
researchers and pediatricians held in 2015 to address new developments in
research and media and their impact on children.
Agenda For The Future
When over 500 members of the Clermont County community collaborated on the Agenda for the Future project in 2012 and 2013, seven themes emerged as critical to the progress needed in the near future:
Economic Opportunity
Transportation
Parks, Nature & Recreation
Community
Lifelong Learning
Health & Wellness
Housing
Within the Lifelong Learning theme, three goals stood out:
Clermont residents and stakeholders understand the importance of, and invest in, the social and economic value of learning.
Every child enters kindergarten prepared for success in school.
Every child in Clermont County has equal access to learning that helps them succeed in school and life.
KLiCWOW is an innovative community process focused on these three goals. Our inspired Shared Vision: provide a free tablet and WOW Pouch to all Clermont County, Ohio children ages three & four, to help them become better prepared for K-12 education.
Our project is an innovative approach to early childhood learning that seeks to maximize the opportunities for learning that young children can experience during this period of rapid brain growth. Our mission is to create positive early learning experiences, cultivate curiosity and enthusiasm about learning, and support individual cognitive growth and development.