Organisation & planning- Thoughts and views & CEO News

Hello,

One of my personal goals in 2020 is to get "rigourously organised' it is a work in progress but I am pleased to say even 4 weeks in we are making great progress as a company and also at home ;-)

How we have helped you? .. . The brochure is already online for the holiday programmes

February 2020 | April 2020 | July 2020 | August 2020 is ready ... themes fixed already ;-)

You can already look and book your places ;-) I don't think that has ever happened before.

So if you like to plan, like I do ... to be sure your child is on the theme programme of their choice for the dates of your choice - you now can do that.

Please don't come to me at the last minute, it is always so sad to tell you I can't take you.

Every client is important to me and I just can't find extra places at the last minute as it reduces our impact and quality for those that did plan and book, so please don't ask me to ...

Right now , here in Jan/Feb I'm giving you the chance to be organised like me ;-) DOWNLOAD THE BROCHURE

IT IN EDUCATION

Over the December break and since .. I have had time to think about the future of Education. As I mentioned last month, Finland is of great interest to me right now and I listen with frustration but also a little hope to Sir Ken Robinson to how the Western Education systems must change.

TED TALK SIR KEN

I wonder about languages and if how we learn them will change and whether we need to change what we do at KidooLand.

Printed Books? For the moment we have made a conscious decision to continue with physical books. There is actually something quite beautiful about a printed book that you don't get from a screen.. I have actually taken to reading some physical books over my Kindle again.

It's also interesting to read studies also show that the written word impacts us more phycologically than typing it .. STUDY

Having watched the collegians move to ipads/tablettes and hear how they are (and are not!) using them I do not think the younger children are ready for this responsibility in KidooLand, especially as we don't have a government budget to give you all ipads (yet) .

For maternelle and primary this seems a much better option for the moment.

So for now we keep our printed books.

As a parent, to you a parent, I also consider this a gift to you .. once your children reach adolescence and are always on a screen you will understand that having some dedicated screen free time is a real gift .. you are very welcome ;-)

That all said, we are moving with the times so you will start to see little introductions of IT.

Already we now use Kidscare to communicate with you.

In class we have already run a Scratch computer programming course, teenagers work with PCs and do presentations, teachers use mp3 audio recordings for certain activities. We use our own ipads to show some images or an animated song but 90% still relies on human interaction.

Interestingly, the feedback I hear most frequently from adults is .. they fear travelling and not understanding / being understood .. and at the moment AI is not at a level or price where it can help our children on that.

SO I made the choice to invest in great teachers , not like the ones many of you had at school .. ones with great accents, tonnes of passion , bagfuls of ideas , a dedication to serving families and a commitment to results. I would say that's better than an iPad wouldn't you ?

APPS =>> I understand that screens are a valuable resource (and fun too) so I have added a lesson on applications and mobile phones into our Boost Your English course which I hope you will find useful. A few recommendations and suggestions to help you at home and make screen time work.

A final organisation reminder for March and April ...

SEPTEMBER 2020 - current members can reserve from 9th MARCH 2020

I should tell you (especially if this is your first year with KidooLand) that some of our weekly classes have waiting lists already for September 2020. YES I know ..

Generally, children will stay with us for several years. It all depends on what level you want your child to reach .. to become bilingual is a marathon not a sprint and it takes time and takes a certain amount of quality contact hours. So if you are not yet bilingual .. you may carry on with us, which is great as we now KNOW you and this 'agreed pathway' helps get to the goals.

Last year we had 87% renewals from existing members.

1) In MARCH 2020 we will issue the Sep2020-June2021 calendar and brochure.

2) There will be a short dedicated period "members renewals" in March reserved for current members on a first come first served basis, please note sometimes children want to switch time and day so be quick to get the place you want.

3) We will need your inscription form, contract & payment method agreed

APRIL We then open inscriptions to everyone.... so those members that haven't yet made up their mind and non members who are on the waiting lists.

The prices will change from April and we can't make exceptions so save money by registering in March, become a member in February and March in our parent child classes or Stage Vacances.

Please note we plan to change payments to direct debit and CB. Another sign of the IT times .. which will help you parents as you won't need to write cheques anymore.

We will still accept cheques and CESU/ANCV under certain circumstances, a small charge for the processing will apply.