Virtual Preschool: Yes, That's Now a Real Option
Now an option for parents of young children: a "virtual" preschool with digital learning materials, activity guides, learning analytics, and "homeroom teachers," all accessible online through your computer, tablet, or smartphone.
Really. This is not satire (as was the case when The Onion lampooned the notion in an eerily prescient story a few months ago.)
"We call it a virtual school, because we deliver the curriculum and the content and everything else through online tools," said Dan Yang, the female founder of VINCI Education, a four-year old company with headquarters in Ottawa, Canada; North Andover, Mass.; and Hong Kong. "To be honest, we haven't had anybody who has said, 'That's a bad idea.'"
Early-childhood education experts consulted by Education Week offered a different take.
"My first reaction was concern," said Kyle Snow, the research director for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, a Washington-based nonprofit.
"There are some red flags for me," said Seeta Pai, the vice president of research at Common Sense Media, a San Francisco nonprofit.
"Honestly, my first reaction is this preys on anxious parents with money to burn," said Lisa Guernsey, the director of the Early Education Initiative at the New America Foundation, a Washington think tank.
Here's how the virtual preschool, known as ClassVINCI Home, is supposed to work:
Parents sign up for a subscription service ranging from $80 to $645 annually. All packages include weekly electronic delivery of digital books, songs, and games, as well as an activity guide for parents. Children are expected to use the digital learning games about 30 minutes per week. Parents are expected to do about 30 minutes worth of activities per week with their child, plus read the book together with their child every day. The child's work is tracked through the company's online learning management system. Parents who purchase the more expensive packages receive up to 90 minutes per month of time to interact online with a "trained and specialized" teacher who will discuss the child's progress, answer the parent's questions, and offer advice and customized activities and suggestions.
The company's marketing materials stress skill development and readiness for kindergarten and the Common Core State Standards (From the website: "Let's face it. You are not sure about how well your child will be doing in school. Now you can gain that confidence by preparing early.")
But Yang said the company's actual practice is heavily grounded in Montessori methods, which focus on fostering each individual child's interests and natural inclination to learn, often in the context of practical life skills and hands-on play. In addition to a digital game, she said, suggested activities might include using a bucket of water and scooping tools, to promote fine motor skills, or putting strawberries on different plates to help teach one-to-one numerical correspondence.
"It's not really about making a math genius at two years old, but to show parents what sequential learning can look like," Yang said. "The purpose is to provide parents with guidance on how to interact with their children."
VINCI also operates an international chain of brick-and-mortar early childhood centers, including three franchises in North America and more than 50 in China. Yang said those centers blend Virtual Preschool: Yes, That's Now a Real Option - Digital Education - Education Week:
at play
