Aavishkaar Capital backed Little Laureates brings innovative learning for Pre-schoolers under New Education Policy

Aavishkaar Capital’s investment in Little Laureates preschool chain is driven by the goal of achieving financial inclusion and technology across emerging low and middle income populations to build sustainable, impactful and highly scalable businesses.

Little Laureates is a leading preschool chain in Eastern India that has designed a unique technology driven blended educational model where offline and online learning goes hand in hand to ensure a holistic and measured development of the child. As we approach the end of the pandemic, 2022 seems to usher in a new dimension in preschool learning. Little Laureates has become one the leaders in the blended learning platform and is set to take the preschool domain by storm. This state-of-the-art platform is available merely for Rs 18,000 annually, which also includes students’ kit, for practice at home.

Today’s preschoolers are already technologically savvy. Most kids today are able to swipe or tap on smartphones and tablets before they are able to speak properly. This E Learning platform, enables preschoolers across the country to enroll themselves and are enjoying the learning process due to the well curated module and highly trained teachers.

When it comes to the pleasure of spending time swiping phone or tablet screens, toddlers and pre-schoolers are no exceptions to adults in today’s digital-focused world. Children spend more time swiping screens than turning pages in books. This development can have a very positive impact on children’s interactions and learning if the right technology and tools is applied along with the individual guidance of teachers.

Early childhood education involves both teacher-directed and student-centered activities putting emphasis on collaboration, constructivism and interdisciplinary tasks. Students interact with resources available in classroom during structured and non-structured activities.

Most pre-schools teach children to read, write and recite. So does Little Laureates. But that’s just a part of the whole. At Little Laureates, your child learns to communicate, collaborate, create and think critically. Not just the WHATs, Little Laureates encourages children to chase after the HOWs and the WHYs. They EXPLORE the world of language, and CONSTRUCT their own meanings.

The LL Pedagogy is called ENRICH with the vision to:

ENLIGHTEN
NURTURE
REINFORCE INVOLVE
COUNSEL
HIGHLIGHT
each and every child so that they transform into a confident, powerful and competent individual.

The goals of Little Laureates ENRICH pedagogy measures learning outcomes through the use of both cognitive and affective faculties. These can be summed up in 5 Cs which are:

• Critical Thinking
• Communication & Collaboration
• Corporeal Connectivity
• Creativity
• Cultural Consciousness

Equipped with the ENRICH pedagogy and the 5C learning outcome measurement, Little Laureates with their 10 years of pre-school experience have developed and designed an advanced Learning Management System (LMS) which brings all of these resources directly to the child’s room virtually. This gives parents the opportunity to acquaint themselves with their children’s educational tools and take part in their children’s learning.

The Little Laureates LMS platform provides a huge collection of interactive games and videos each tailor-made to focus on specific skill and thought development. The entire library of games and videos are segregated into 4 distinct categories viz.

1. I Explore
2. I Understand
3. I Apply
4. I Create

All of these are interlinked with a lesson plan for the entire academic session. During live class teachers demonstrate the videos and games via live screen share. The student can access these resources via the LMS after class hours for self-practice.

One of the unique features of Little Laureate’s LMS platform is an intelligent parent’s portal which provides access on much needed resources like:

• Practice at Home – to engage the child in after class activities
• Development Card – a monthly report card capturing student’s progress on Physical & Motor Development, Sensory & Perceptual Development, Cognitive Development, Language Development, Personal & Social Development, Creative Development and Spiritual Development.
• Term evaluation where parents can track development progress for the last 6 months
• Student Activity – Track videos, games and live classes attended

A significant aspect is the recording of live classroom and home activities which provides the opportunity for both students’ and parents to never miss a classroom.

The integrated live class platform has been specially designed for students to experience live and interactive access to teachers in the ongoing pandemic. The interactive classroom provides Full HD streaming with multiple cameras with screen. The student has access to education content anytime, anywhere and can learn at their own pace. The platform encourages for a collaborative learning to achieve a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the course. Features like whiteboard and screen share options provides the opportunity to drive live interaction with students.

Little Laureates LMS platform can cater to a high number of student enrollments and course offerings along with access to several reports to measure and track the objectives and to ensure the best usage and achievements for both students and teachers.

When it comes to technology in the classroom, a common parental concern is the over exposure of media at home. While that may be the case, when technology is used in specific and focused ways it can support and achieve early childhood education and preschool learning goals. Implementing technology in tandem with traditional activities like outdoor play and tactile learning allow more opportunities for students of varying ages and abilities to engage, communicate, and explore.

Having taught in early childhood classrooms for the last 10 years ranging from Playgroup to Senior KG, Little Laureates have discovered several key benefits for implementing technology in early education classrooms. Deliberate handling of technology benefits students today by building community, developing vital math and literacy skills, expanding imagination, promoting creativity, and fostering engagement.

The world in which a child grows up today is vastly different from the one we experienced as children. Therefore, it is important for early learners to have access to interactive technology. In an increasingly digital world, if students don’t have access to technology, not only will they miss out on the benefits but they will learn in a manner which is not conducive to their future environments. We need to recognize and meet the present as well as future needs so they are best prepared to succeed. In a society where technology is used as a tool at home, at work, and in school, providing our youngest learners with the opportunities to explore technology in thoughtful ways and promote digital citizenship is one of our many jobs as educators.