In a bid to empower parents on child learning and development amidst Covid times, NudgEd, a non-profit organization working to improve the quality of school education, announced the launch of ‘Top Parent 2.0’ – a free Android app to support home education. The mobile application is a one-stop solution that provides parents strategies and resources in simple languages to help them support their child’s learning and well-being during these tough times.
With the rise in COVID-19 cases across India, it is unlikely that children will return to schools. This means a severe learning loss especially for younger children and those from low-income populations.
In view of the unprecedented situation, Top Parent comes as a handy solution when interactions between students and teachers have stopped completely due to lack of online support in most parts of the country.
Developed by NudgEd, with funding support from the Central Square Foundation – a non-profit organization working to improve the quality of school education, ‘Top Parent’ offers curriculum based on the NCERT pattern for children aged between 3-8 years.
Speaking about ‘Top Parent 2.0’, Sashwati Banerjee, Founder and Entrepreneur behind Top Parent said, “The early years are the most important when 90% brain development happens. Ensuring continuous learning and providing the right stimulus is critical in these years. The pandemic unfortunately marginalizes millions of children from low-income communities who are first generation learners. With no access to schools or tuitions and lack of any support at home, we needed a bold solution.”
The worksheets are age and grade specific and are in sync to what the children are expected to learn in schools/class. The algorithm applied ensures that the content deployed to parents and children is customised.
It offers users information on parenting, multimedia resources to support a child’s education and fun family activities designed for constructive engagement with the kids.
Appreciated as a reliable solution by the state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh for combating the COVID crisis, ‘Top Parent 2.0’ the latest version is even better – as it boasts a plethora of videos that show parents how they can use everyday activities and materials at home to enhance children’s learning skills; especially on language and Math.
According to Ms Banerjee, the App has been developed using a human centric design. “It provides parents with language, skills, and strategies on early childhood development as well as recommended EdTech solutions that have shown global efficacy in improving children’s literacy and numeracy outcomes, she added.
Worldwide research has found that parental engagement is highly important to children’s learning ability and has positive effects on their schooling journey. The content for ‘Top Parent’ App has been developed and aligns with the National Curriculum Framework, Harvard Centre of the Developing Child Research and EdTech Developer’s Guide. It lays out information and strategies for parents on children’s cognitive, social-emotional health, well-being, and safety outcomes along with building responsible digital citizenship in parents and children. It provides educational videos and worksheets as well as monthly challenges to track a child’s learning progress – all in one place.
The Top Parent app also allows parents to win exciting rewards every month if they continue to engage with the app in a variety of ways. Parents can collect points and exchange points with exciting gifts. The quiz for parents and children is an exciting way to expand general knowledge and engage with their child in a constructive manner.
