Six Alabama School Districts Pick Sports-Themed Kid's College From Learning Through Sports As Math and Language Arts Supplement
Posted on: Tuesday, 19 July 2005, 15:01 CDT
Learning Through Sports today announced that six more school districts in Alabama have selected Kid's College(R) as a K-8 math and language arts supplement to the district curriculum. Kid's College -- a web-based curriculum resource of over 30,000 standards-based activities and lessons -- uses a fresh and exciting delivery mechanism that engages all students but is especially appealing to reluctant learners.
The contracts for Jefferson County Title I Schools, Auburn City School District, Colbert County School District, Guntersville Board of Education, Opelika City School District, and Perry County Board of Education will make Kid's College available to every elementary school in those districts for the 2005/06 school year. Because of the sports-themed learning activities and appealing, interactive graphics, Kid's College has demonstrated success in helping children improve their math and language arts/reading skills -- a major goal for the purchasing districts.
"Kid's College is a software program that will capture the interest of the majority of our children and help them with mathematics and language arts," said Marcia A. Smiley, federal programs coordinator for the Perry County Board of Education. "It is a wonderful software program that our students enjoy using because it provides entertainment while the students are learning valuable skills."
Kid's College is a supplemental learning program used to "remediate" or enrich specific skill areas. Teachers select standards or skills for their students to work on and the program automatically selects a series of questions and then adjusts the difficulty of those questions based on their answers. If a student misses a question, they are given a hint to help them work through the problem and come up with the correct answer. Students reaching a pre-determined level earn an All-American trophy in their sport and can print a diploma acknowledging their success.
The appeal to students is that they get to select one of five sports to play: baseball, football, soccer, volleyball or basketball. Only after they answer a question correctly may they take a turn at bat, throw a pass, take a shot on goal, serve and volley, or shoot a basket. Students may post high scores to compete against other students in the class or across the country. Schools and school districts may customize the graphics and upload their own team logos and mascots.
Kid's College was conceived by founder and CEO of Learning Through Sports Brian Shulman, a former college player and NFL draftee. "Sports and games have an appeal to almost every child, especially those having trouble in school or who are uninterested in the traditional curriculum," said Mr. Shulman. "Children enjoy Kid's College and when they enjoy what they are doing, they are more focused and better able to learn."
Kid's College recently received an "A" rating in a product review by the education magazine Multimedia and Internet @ Schools, March/April 2005. A 2004 research project by Dr. Susan Nelson, adjunct professor at the University of Alabama, found students had gains in math and language arts performance after using Kid's College. Kid's College is also used and endorsed by Dr. Betsy Rogers, 2003 National Teacher of the Year.
About Learning Through Sports
Learning Through Sports (www.learningthroughsports.com) is an education publisher using interactive sports games to teach core subject areas and behavioral skills development for grades K-12. The company publishes Kid's College, a Web-based math and language arts/reading program, STAR Sportsmanship, a Web-based role-playing program for youth teaching how to make good decisions on and off the playing field, and provides Edugaming services for corporations and athletic organizations teaching youth a variety of skills utilizing highly engaging, custom-branded online sports games.
Source: Business Wire
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