Innovative online learning program helps Canadian families cope with COVID-19

Tickers:
Tags: #Education, #Environment

May 11 2020 - TheNewswire - The Planet Protector Academy, a ground-breaking digital/interactive classroom program, has been adapted for home use, and it is having a measurably positive impact on kids' and parents' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Planet Protector Academy (PPA) is a suite of web-based enviro-educational programs with an innovative arts-based approach to learning and youth engagement. It was designed to be delivered in elementary school classrooms, but in the six to seven weeks since schools closed across Canada, PPA creators DreamRider Productions have adapted the content and relaunched it as the Planet Protector Academy: HOME Edition.

Delivered free via live webcasts, the HOME Edition includes learning for kids aged 6-11 on environmental issues PLUS new content on mental health, hygiene and other pandemic-coping topics, such as how to do a "Superhero Calming Breath" to help with fear and anxiety.

In a survey of HOME Edition users, 46 per cent of parents said the PPA: HOME Edition helped their family cope with COVID. Children also responded:

  • -I feel more cheerful: (82%).

    -I feel more calm and relaxed: (71.5%).

    -My life was more interesting this week: (80.7%).

The program combines web technology, video, comedy, music and fun to inspire offline action. It's a unique hybrid: a digital program that inspires kids to sing, move, breathe, create and imagine. PPA: HOME Edition is delivered in week-long sessions, each of which includes daily one-hour webcasts, four days a week.

DreamRider actors Sara Holt and Ian Gschwind host the program live from their living rooms, taking kids through lessons and activities that include singing, dancing, games and crafts. Kids become Apprentice Planet Protectors, part of the PPA's exciting superhero story line. They receive "missions" they can do at home, to inspire family members to change behaviours, like turning off lights, taking shorter showers and reducing waste.

Kids are loving it - and parents are finding relief as well, not only from the burden of home schooling, but also from watching their kids participate joyfully in the program's activities, at a time when fun and inspiration have been hard to come by. More than 500 children across Canada have participated since the PPA: HOME Edition launched several weeks ago.

Teachers are doing the program with their students as well. Joe Filipone, a Grade 3 teacher with School District 40 in New Westminster, B.C., noted there is of growing list of online home learning tools, but many use a game format. He said the PPA: HOME Edition "is the first one I've used where kids can have a real connection. It's one thing to be a game, but there's something in a live interaction. The Planet Protector Academy: HOME Edition was superb! Easily the best thing my class has done since schools were closed!"

Aliya Jackson, of Prince George, B.C., feared her 11-year-old son Terran would be bored with the program, but when she logged on and ran the first module, "I could hear him laughing. He said, 'This is so much fun!'" Along with the requisite math and grammar lessons, the PPA: HOME Edition has become part of their daily routine. Planet Protector Academy is "100 per cent" part of a well-rounded educational experience, she said.

Another child participant said that, after a week of PPA: HOME Edition sessions, "It felt the whole time like I was in a giant hug!"

Michael Tanaka, a parent in Burnaby, B.C., called PPA: HOME Edition "a real bright light for our family during this time.

"Out of all the at-home education activities we have tried, Planet Protector Academy was the only one which our son could independently participate in, giving us parents a valuable hour of work and chore time at home. A real bright light for our family during this time."

The enviro-educational benefits of the Planet Protector Academy suite are well-documented. The PPA: HOME Edition has revealed that the program's arts-based methodology, and its emphasis on fun, kindness, and authentic connection to each other and to nature, are uniquely suited to help families cope with the stress of living through a pandemic.

Parents and kids can access the program at: https://www.PlanetProtectorAcademy.com/home-edition

Full media kit, including images: http://PlanetProtectorAcademy.com/home-edition-press-kit


Click Image To View Full Size

About DreamRider Productions

Veteran theatre artists Vanessa LeBourdais and Ian Gschwind founded DreamRider Productions in Vancouver, B.C., in 2002, with a mission to build generations of socially and ecologically responsible young citizens through the excitement of live theatre, interactive media, music and film. DreamRider, a not-for-profit charity, has reached more than one million children through live shows in the Vancouver area and through the Planet Protector Academy, which has reached more than 125 cities in Canada, six U.S. states and in India. In the 2018-19 school year, participating Canadian children completed more than 22,000 superhero missions to lead change in their families. DreamRider gratefully acknowledges the support of funders including the Province of British Columbia, Metro Vancouver, TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, TELUS Community Board (Vancouver), BC Hydro, and Edmonton Community Foundation.

Contact Information

Cinthia Nemoto, Partnerships & Marketing Manager

DreamRider Productions, creators of the Planet Protector Academy

416-303-6267 / cinthia@dreamriderproductions.com

Twitter: @EnviroHeroes

Copyright (c) 2020 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.

Data & News supplied by www.cloudquote.io
Stock quotes supplied by Barchart
Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes.
By accessing this page, you agree to the following
Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.