The Khan Academy Kids platform is adaptive to children’s development and lets the child navigate through the platform at their own pace. According to the Educational App Store, there are now over 500,000 apps marketed as “educational”, the majority targeting young children, with minimal quality learning experiences.
However, for so many parents and educators, the digital experience and choice of quality content is confusing. Recent research by the University of Washington’s Information School shows that thoughtfully designed digital apps that intentionally support parent-child interactions facilitate the same type of child play and development as analog solutions. Of US homes with 0 to 8-year-olds, 98 percent have a mobile device, and 74 percent of low income families (<$30,000/year) have high-speed internet access. While we strongly adhere to the American Association of Pediatrics’ recommendations regarding young children’s media usage, one way to help more children reach these important early learning milestones may be to leverage digital experiences toward quality learning.
As a result, fewer than half of low-income children are ready for school at age five in the United States. Yet, too many children do not have access to pre-kindergarten or only have access to low quality or unaffordable programs and solutions. Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of early childhood interventions and have shown that kindergarten readiness is a leading indicator of future success. What’s more is Khan Academy Kids will be distributed to children, families, and educators for free.
Khan Academy Kids, targeting two- to five-year-old children, was developed in partnership with leading educators at Stanford University and the National Head Start Association, and created by Caroline Hu Flexer and her team who built the award-winning Duck Duck Moose apps. T oday, Khan Academy announces the launch of Khan Academy Kids - the first early learning platform that is both personalized and focused on the whole child - and we could not be more excited for them as a respected leader in children’s education as well as one of Omidyar Network’s investees who we initially supported to expand into early learning.
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