| Thank you for the kind words and good questions! 1.) We match students to pods after a family interview and spending time with the students. The dimensions we use for matching include geography, age, online program, extra-curricular interests, learning personalities, and other needs that students may have. Despite our best efforts, we will certainly have situations where some kids may not like each other, but we train our Learning Coaches in building positive group dynamics and helping kids learn to work together (very much like the real world!). 2. We definitely don't ask our Coaches to be content experts; that would indeed be a really hard job as you point out. Instead, we ask them to be able to sit down with the student and figure things out using the course content. When the duo figures out a complex topic together, we hear from students that they enjoyed it a lot more (and learned more!) than someone just telling them how to do it. And in the situations where the duo can't figure it out either, the coach works with the online teacher to make sure the student gets the help they need. 3. Kids mostly build camaraderie around the enrichment activities we plan every day (e.g., music classes, building bridges with spaghetti/marshmallows) where they team up. We also have breaks for free play (e.g., badminton in the yard, Bananagrams with the Learning Coaches). Academically, it's hard for students in the same pod to 'bond' since students can be in different grades (up to a 3 year age band in each pod), can choose which subject to work on and when, and can move at their own pace. Instead, students actually get that type of camaraderie with their online school classmates. Hope that made sense; but let me know if not! |