DOC Learning Solutions

The problem we are trying to solve is undertrained, under-equipped, early childhood education (ECE) educators and environments. Educators may be either teachers or family members, tasked with caring for and educating young children.

Our solution is a digital platform with hundreds of in-school and at-home activities for children ages 2-6. Our curriculum highlights the critical early learning benchmarks found throughout each step and prompt of our guided hands-on lessons, empowering adults as they guide children through the learning process with intentionality.

Our content (available in multiple languages) easily scales across the globe to schools, in-home centers and directly to families. A Reggio-inspired approach to inquiry-based learning, our curriculum utilizes natural and recycled materials readily found in everyday life, reducing costs and barriers to entry. 

Our curriculum is approved by the State of Florida for in-school use as part of the Federal and State subsidized School Readiness and VPK programs.

In the US data shows that less than 50% of the population of 4-5 year olds are enrolled in publicly funded programs. This leads to a significant imbalance of the development of health, social-emotional, early literacy and cognitive skills, of the approx. 4 million children entering Kindergarten each year.

Lack of access to schools is compounded by the lack of quality centers due to a largely private industry in which educators are often minimum wage employees, that do not receive, nor require, the same qualifications or education of colleagues in elementary education. The minimal federal subsidies provided to middle-class families for childcare creates a market environment wherein ECE educators wages are severely discounted leading to high-turnover and under investment in training and education. 

Looking beyond our immediate environment to the larger global population, averages are often well below 50% attendance of children in ECE centers with education still in large part taking place in homes without training, structure, or support for the caregivers/educators. 

Metrics taken from US DOE and UNICEF ECE Database.

Our solution leverages technology to immediately improve the quality of care and education by offering a library of hundreds Arts & Science based age appropriate lessons, rich with digital content, conversation guides, and step by step instructions.

Highlighting ECE learning benchmarks within each individual conversation prompt and step, both deepens the exploration and trains educators in the inquiry-based approach of learning. Learning to drive conversations and fully reap the pedagogical benefits of even simple daily tasks, is true to the Reggio-inspired philosophy of our curriculum.

With a web-based distribution we are able to instantly deliver new content at a low costs, and with a shared network of users, we can offer regular virtual training, seminars and keynotes from both our authors and educational leaders across the industry.

For schools and in-home centers, our platform includes a virtual suite of tools designed to make classroom management and e-learning more appropriate and accessible. Access to media, conversation prompts, instructions and integrated video calls allow educators and families to work independently or collaboratively in a safe environment.

Our target population are mainly the educators and families who will be accessing our guided content, but also the children who will be the recipients of these hands-on experiences. As mentioned, the ECE educator community is often overlooked as they are often undertrained and lack the support to create successful learning environments. At-home caregivers are even less supported from a pedagogical content and training standpoint. Our goal is to offer age-appropriate content, an accessible platform, easily completed activities with readily found materials, and a shared network of families and educators to collaborate, inspire and engage. Giving both families and educators access to easy-to-do quality content, built in observational assessment tools, and guided lesson planning tools aims to directly impact the development of the children in their tutelage. 

Our curriculum is developed and piloted through a partnership with a lab school located in South Florida and a Federation of schools in Trentino, Italy, to ensure efficacy and quality. The development of our technology and virtual tools are also quality tested via pilot programs. During the 2020 school year we released our remote learning feature connecting educators directly with children and families in a pilot of over 20 participating schools directly to several hundred families via our local ECE governing agency. With over 30,000 hours of logged usage in its first year, the feedback from our users proved invaluable as we adjust and develop solutions for their unique needs.

Our solution is focused on educators and families of children aged 3-6. We aim to increase access to quality content, provide digital tools to enhance developmental progression, drive engagement and collaboration, and offer a flexible solution for in-school, at-home, remote and hybrid learning environments. 

Families of hybrid learners, wether fully remote or part time, will have access to the same developmental activities as schools and educators, through simplified lessons designed specifically for home learning. With the option to log-in for a live virtual class with a teacher, the possibilities for engagement stretch past physical limitations.

During the 2020 school year our curriculum received approval by the State of Florida's Office of Early Learning, and our virtual platform was approved as a Voluntary Pre-K (VPK) Flex provider during the pandemic, allowing schools to deliver virtual lessons to students quarantining. We received funding for a year long pilot of over 20 schools, 250 teachers and several hundred families both via the schools and direct access to families waitlisted for subsidized care from the Broward County Early Learning Coalition. In our first year we logged over 30,000 video call hours and had thousands of users access our content and platform.

Unfortunately preschool aged children, and their educators, remain  an often ignored and underserved population. While classroom management tools are being developed as Ed tech turns its eye to ECE, providing affordable, digital, age appropriate curriculum, to both schools and families is still an underdeveloped space.

We currently serve approx. 1-2 thousand users. In one year we would like to double that number (2-3 thousand). In five years depending on development we would like to see this number grow exponentially (10 thousand +).

Our progress is measured by active users (both families and schools) on the platform. The more adults are engaging with our content the more they are learning and in turn their little ones are exploring. Empowering at-home/community centers, with native language, pedagogically sound content, is the first step in building the foundations for success in the next generation.

3 Independently Contracted Developers

2 In house Developers

3 In house partner relations

5 In house curriculum author/editors

Our team is built of lifelong educators, business leaders and tech developers. Our digital platform and solution grew out of an existing curriculum company which had served the community for several years. 

We are committed to building a diverse leadership team built on equity and inclusions. We are an international team of diverse backgrounds and professions.

I hope to receive feedback and support form the Solver community in the form of funding, partnership and guidance. We hope to take our proven concept to the next level through exposure and support.

We have developed a successful product but lack the know-how to distribute and garner more attention and sales.

We would be open to partnering with organizations or members that have sales/marketing know-how to bring greater exposure to our product.

Most Primary education programs have Pre-K and K teachers and classrooms for which our solution fits perfectly.

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