Back to School or Not Back to School? For Pre-School, What are the Options?

 Think Tank is Changing Early Education in Spite of and WITH Remote Learning

 

 

New York, August 19th, 2020

 

Struggling with whether your child is going to be able to go to school in the Fall? Are you worried about the quality of online academic learning? Do you want to have access to the most up to date and proven methods for teaching your child? Are you concerned about your child losing out on the most crucial intellectual development that occurs during the early childhood years? If physical attendance is not possible, how do you justify the cost of preschool?

 

Dawn Lesley Stewart founded Perry School in 2001. Through her ongoing research into Early Childhood Development, Dawn created Think Tank in 2008. Think Tank is a unique learning system that combines small group online academic instruction with one-on-one sessions with each individual child as well as parent/caregiver coaching.

 

If remote learning is the only option, educational technology has not been a strong point for preschoolers. Think Tank was originally created with the idea in mind to make it accessible not only to the current Perry School community, but to families outside the walls of the school as well—-through an online/Zoom based curriculum. In the era of online learning, Dawn offers these tips for “best practices:”

 

“At this age, focus is always a challenge, whether it is online or in person education. In your home, set up an area that is conducive to learning, ie., reduce distractions. Kids need structure. Set a schedule, set one up each day and stick to it. We really encourage movement as it is a type of play, very important and actually helps their focus.”

 

Since Think Tank’s inception, parental participation has always been key. The structure is such that the number of hours parents are involved in their child’s learning each week is minimal yet allows parents to be active participants in their child’s learning process. Think Tank’s parental involvement is not to have them help “teach”, but have them help their kids “understand”.

 

Parents are currently grappling with what makes sense for their child from a health and safety as well as an academic perspective. Throughout the current times, the goal is for children to thrive in a highly engaging online learning environment.

 

“Think Tank is a program that is unique to Perry School. The children who are enrolled in the program are being taught at a very high level—-children as young as two are learning 200 written words. Children who go through all four levels of Think Tank are much better prepared for their future education. Our “graduates” are getting into the best schools in New York. With our online presence, Think Tank grads will get into the best schools in the rest of the country as well.”

 

Think Tank has been years in the making, resulting in a multitude of success stories. Up until now, you had to go to Perry School in NYC to get this education. As a result of the lockdown and the challenges of Zoom meetings for preschoolers, Think Tank provides a customized live experience for part of the process, and a complete website with level specific lesson plans including videos and slideshows.

 

From a parent: “My 3yr old and 5yr old are learning to read via Zoom with Dawn and her Think Tank class, and already know over 120 vocabulary words using her ‘whole word’ method. She not only educates the children but she educates parents, grandparents and caregivers. This enables more flexibility for parents so that they can better juggle their own work. and effectively help their children learn remotely. The energy and excitement she brings truly makes learning something the children look forward to and they haven't missed a beat - even with the classes on Zoom.”

 

Online learning is the “new normal.” Children will be continuing to be educated this way until we have a vaccine.

 

For more information, go to www.dawnlesleystewartmethod.com.

 

About Dawn Lesley Stewart – Dawn is the Founder/Director of Perry School. She started Perry School in the West Village neighborhood of NYC in 2001. She has been at the forefront of early childhood education for 20 years. Dawn is thrilled to have the opportunity to impact more lives through the online Think Tank program. Think Tank provides high quality academic programming in which children thrive and it helps instill the joy of learning for a lifetime.