Zid Zid: A language learning platform for preschool children

Early childhood educators want to offer world language programs because of the proven benefits linked to enhanced cognitive, social, and emotional development, and improved learning outcomes in academic performance. But the vast majority of schools don’t have the means to implement such programs.

Zid Zid empowers early childhood educators, serving children ages 2-6, and their parents to guide world language learning through bilingual stories, songs, and play-based activities. Educators find it easy, parents enjoy engaging creatively with their children, and children have fun learning through play and quality human interactions.

With Zid Zid, any early childhood educator, parents, and caregivers, anywhere, can become a world language teacher. Zid Zid requires minimal training and comes at a fraction of the current market costs. Educators do not need to know the language to start guiding learning experiences.

The American Academy of Arts & Sciences conducted a report in 2017, which highlights that the study of world languages provides gains in academic performance, cognitive ability, social and emotional development. And according to the Center of the Developing Child at Harvard University, the best time to learn is before the age of six, when the brain is forming more than 1 million new neural connections every second. 

Early childhood educators in the U.S. and all around the world understand the importance of offering world language programs. But the vast majority has limited (or no) resources to implement such programs. Out of 12 million young children in the U.S., less than 2 in 10 have the opportunity to learn another language, according to the Pew Research Center data. And global demand for teaching English in Pre-K keeps rising, particularly in East Asia. 

Beneficiaries are preschool children ages 2-5, early childhood educators, and parents. Educators lead learning experiences in schools; families can continue learning at home through play and face-to-face learning experiences. 

Our approach has proven to be successful within several play-based learning environments, including private schools, Montessori, public, and Head Start. We have successfully impacted 5000+ preschool children, 800+ teachers, and 1,500+ parents, in more than 100 preschools located across 30 states in the U.S. in only one-year-and-a-half since we launched Zid Zid.

To measure and track user engagement, we use powerful user analytics tools, and we monitor each school through quarterly check-ins by phone and emails. The feedback we continue to receive is excellent, and everyone is "blown away" by how fast children are learning, and how long they retain the information. Zid Zid is a B2B subscription-based software service, billed to preschools on an annual or monthly basis.

Our approach enables teachers and parents in any socio-economic setting to teach a world language in a non-threatening way, all through play. The language learning platform is designed to empower teachers and parents to learn the fundamentals of a world language and guide learning through bilingual stories, songs, and play-based activities. The best part? Teachers and parents do not need to know the language to start guiding children's learning experiences. 

Zid Zid's approach requires minimal training and comes at a fraction of the current market costs. For educators, Zid Zid is easy to use, requires minimal training or professional development, and comes at a fraction of the ongoing market costs. Parents enjoy learning together with their children, watch their progress first-hand, and bond emotionally. For kids, Zid Zid is fun because they learn through high-quality-human interactions and real-world play. 

The challenge of teaching a new language is not whether young children can grasp the information. The problem we chose to address is how to provide teachers and parents who are not fluent in that language to have the confidence to learn the basics and lead learning. To solve the problem, Zid Zid has five key components:

1) EMPOWERMENT: Teachers and parents learn through training videos and interactive audio resources.

2) AGE-APPROPRIATE MEDIA: A library of animated bilingual stories, songs, and play-based activities for the classroom and the home.

3) ACTIVE COMMUNICATION PROGRAM: Best practices, success stories, tips and tricks, contests, and giveaways.

4) A COMMUNITY OF PEERS: An exchange community for teachers and parents to share challenges and successes and learn from each other.

5) PERSONALIZED CURRICULUM: Adaptative learning and AI-powered software offering customized content based on caregiver and child proficiency.

Learning starts in the classroom when a preschool teacher explains, for example, the concepts of shapes, numbers, or colors in English. He/she can use the Zid Zid curriculum to introduce the same ideas in Spanish simultaneously and seamlessly. Also, parents can continue the learning experiences with their children at home. This holistic approach is transformative for children! 

The current curriculum is for the Spanish language, but we plan to add other languages to the platform, including sign language for infants and toddlers. Because of our successful early track record and cost-effective approach, Zid Zid is uniquely positioned to become the gold standard in world language early education in the U.S. and beyond.

Zid Zid is the FIRST play-based language learning platform for preschool children designed to empower teachers and families to learn the fundamentals of a world language together. 

Zid Zid is better and less costly than:

1) Having in-house teachers rely on random YouTube videos, Google Translate, and boring textbooks and worksheets to compile custom language programs.

2) Contracting small companies that outsource language instructors.

3) Hiring rare and expensive qualified language instructors.

The benefits of our comprehensive approach, based on human interactions and playful multi-sensory experiences, conducted at the most critical developmental ages, transcend the lifetime advantages of language learning. Zid Zid aims to set a strong foundation for future learning and success in school and life, regardless of a child's socio-economic background. There are no other companies to date that has attempted to implement a similar approach.

Zid Zid is a B2B subscription-based software service, billed to preschools on an annual or monthly basis. It is available as a standalone app, and as a web app, accessible from any device. Zid Zid is the first to design and implement play-based language learning platform for preschool children, early childhood educators, and families. 

Our tech stack is PHP, MYSQL, JavaScript, and RESTful API. To improve learning outcomes and enhance the core technology that our solution utilizes, we intend to expand our capabilities in competency-based learning, adaptive learning, and AI.

We’ve reached a significant number of schools, children, and families, and the feedback is excellent. Everyone is “blown away" by how fast children are learning and how long they retain the information. 

We are ready to put evidence-based research behind our approach, and measure the impact Zid Zid has on the teacher and the child’s self-confidence, with an emphasis on each child’s social-emotional growth, cognitive growth, and dual vocabulary acquisition.

1. CURRENT NUMBER: Zid Zid is on an upward trajectory, with 21% average month-to-month growth. We are currently serving 5000+ preschool children, 800+ teachers, and 1,500+ parents in 100+ preschools located across 30 states in the U.S. 

2. PROJECTED NUMBER IN ONE YEAR: The expected number we’ll be serving in one year is 250+ preschools,15,000+ children, 2,400+ teachers, and 5,000+ parents.

3. PROJECTED NUMBER IN FIVE YEARS: The expected number we’ll be serving in five years is 2,500 to 3,000 preschools, 200,000+ children, 25,000+ teachers, and 50,000+ parents.

We aim to introduce millions of children from any socioeconomic status to world languages. The goal is to provide them with the benefit of understanding languages and cultures, and the bonus benefit of overall gains in critical thinking, cognitive, social, and emotional development. Ultimately, helping set a strong foundation for future success in school and life. 

According to new data from Sageworks, the number of child daycare businesses in the U.S. has consistently grown in recent years. In a typical week during the spring of 2011, 61% of children under the age of five (12.5 million children) were in some regular childcare facility (Laughlin, 2013). This number has only grown in the past eight years as more American women have entered the workforce. Today, there are more daycare centers in the U.S. than restaurants! The need for quality early childhood education is becoming critical. 

Our next goal is to expand our platform and technology to new content to include topics such as Sign Language for infants and toddlers, and English as a Second Language. Compelling content such as this will allow us to serve a more significant, in need, audience. Also, we aim to strengthen adaptative learning and AI-powered software into our existing platform as a way to improve learning outcomes. Zid Zid will provide a destination for millions of early childhood educators and families to learn and teach world languages together successfully.

The biggest challenge we are facing is the difficulty of implementing efficient and unique pathways to reach the decision-makers, introduce our product, and ultimately build relationships to help support the students and families they serve, within a highly fragmented market. 

The second barrier is the difficulty of connecting with mission-aligned investors to raise (smart) capital to fuel growth.

The third barrier facing our effort to conduct evidence-based research are the sensitivities in "testing" the impact on this age group, and the high cost attached to launching a formal study.

Our plan for growth has two phases.
1) Focus on large private chains and private preschools. At this stage, selling to private preschools chains is the most effective way for us to reach our target customers. We’ve established a successful partnership with The Goddard School, which we can use as a template to form new alliances.
2) Penetrate new distribution channels through federal, state, and local ECD organizations, plus public school districts that run preschools. The successful pilot program we’ve been conducting with four local HeadStart schools can set the stage for future partnerships.

To access smart capital to fuel growth, we will get guidance and connections from subject matter experts, fellow entrepreneurs, and target customers to connect with mission-aligned investors. 

To overcome the evidence-based research challenge, we will formalize a partnership with an established research team and define the cost to implement a study within the HeadStart/low-income schools we serve. Next, we will design a mixed-methods evaluation approach, which may include pre- and post- student observations, and assessments, teacher interviews, and parent focus groups. 

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• Two co-founders. 
• Two part-time employees. 
• And five contractors (part-time).

We, the co-founders, Julie Klear & Moulay Essakalli, are an experienced duo-entrepreneurs with a passion for education, design, and technology. Previously, we built a brand centered on soft toys and furnishings for children. The company was based in Morocco and the products were distributed in 20+ countries. We had a successful exit in 2016.

Moulay Essakalli is the Chief Executive Officer, a serial entrepreneur, with 10+ years designing and manufacturing children’s play products, former French teacher, principal experience designer, and Dad of two trilingual kids. Julie Klear is the Chief Product Officer, an award-winning product designer, Fulbright art educator, children's book illustrator, entrepreneur, and Mom of two trilingual kids; yes, the same kids!

To support our vision, we have assembled a talented team of educators, designers, language experts, engineers, and data scientists who believe in our mission, and are committed to making it a success

We have two essential ongoing partnerships:

1) The Goddard School. Zid Zid is the only approved world language program for the company's network of 500+ franchisees. The results are excellent. The current renewal rate is 95%.

2) For the past two years, we've been conducting a successful pilot with four Head Start sponsored schools located in the Greater Cincinnati area. Everyone is impressed by the results, and we are eager to expand our reach to low-income or at-risk children and families. 

Also, Zid Zid is a member of the Preschool Promise Network, and The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).

KEY CUSTOMERS AND BENEFICIARIES:
Beneficiaries are preschool children 2-5 years of age, early childhood educators, and families. 

WHAT PRODUCT OR SERVICE WE PROVIDE AND HOW WE OFFER IT:
Zid Zid is a B2B subscription-based software service, billed to preschools on an annual or monthly basis.

We have been mainly self-funded since we established the company three years ago.

1. Our current MRR is $10K+ and growing.
2. Average month-to-month growth during the same period last year was 28%. 
3. Current renewal rate is 95%.
4. We have personal means we can tap into if needed.

Our main goal will be to leverage the SOLVE child-focus ecosystem to learn and grow. Following are the top objectives we will pursue: 

1) Outline a plan and demonstrate the ability to penetrate new distribution channels. 

2) Get guidance and connections from subject matter experts, fellow entrepreneurs, and target customers; and be a connector for others.

3) Connect with mission-aligned investors and raise (smart) capital if necessary, to fuel growth.

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Private chains. Local, state, and federal ECD programs, including HeadStart, and schools districts that are running preschools

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