Softer, Faster, Stronger: EdTech Startup Building Kids’ Soft Skills

Three decades ago, the World Health Organization released a paper on the importance of soft skills development in children. After that, soft skills have been talked about so widely that it has become sickeningly commonplace in discussions about the priorities in schooling. But how far have we gone since it was announced on a global level that we should teach kids life skills and not take these competencies for granted?

According to the results of the American Teacher Panel survey, only 53 percent of more than 1,200 K-12 teachers witnessed that their school implemented a school-created or commercially available social-emotional learning (e.g. SEL) curricula in the 2021-2022 school year. Nearly three-quarters of teachers reported receiving some SEL-related professional education but with much of it in the form of informal dialogue with colleagues and participation in professional networks. In the same survey, the need for additional education for teachers on integrating SEL into learning instructions and developing their own social-emotional skills was articulated.

On a school level, the situation with SEL clearly reflects the remaining need for specialized learning solutions in this field. The lack of the high-level soft skills teaching, especially in remote areas, the growing number of homeschoolers, and the expected prevalence of the blended learning format in the nearest future are the issues that can be addressed by KIDDIO, an online learning service providing affordable soft skills classes for preschool and elementary students.

Learn more about soft skills-fuelled EdTech startup from the interview with Andrew Grechkin, CEO & Founder of KIDDIO.

#Q: How did you come up with an idea of online soft skills classes?

A: Through my own parenting experience. When my son was growing older, I faced the situation where there were lots of possibilities for academic skills development but I could hardly find a program on emotional management or interpersonal skills.

Yes, kids can learn these things from their families but what if caregivers’ people skills are far from perfect? That’s definitely a case for professional educators. Besides, what I see around is that parents want to have more time with their kids just playing and being friends instead of driving them around to classes or being their teachers. I thought it would be nice to create an online service to help kids become well-rounded people without putting an additional pressure on parents – that’s how KIDDIO appeared.

#Q: Tell us about KIDDIO’s learning products: how does it all work and what does it consist of?

A: Today we have a range of five soft skills-based programs for ages from three to nine. Our live online classes are held in small groups via Zoom by the teachers who have a vast experience in online education.

The Social, Emotional, and Cognitive Skills program is fully dedicated to SEL and major higher-thinking skills development, such as creative, logical, critical thinking, and problem-solving. In these classes, students participate in instructional talks and role-playing, learn to perform meditations, emotional management techniques, and mindset exercises.

Preschool Core and Kindergarten Core programs help form a solid grade-level academic foundation along with the basics of social-emotional intelligence.

Our Arts & Crafts curriculum is aligned with the world art history chronology, empowering young artists with the greatest examples of cultural heritage. It also helps boost their confidence and self-reliance through completing interpretive-friendly art projects.

Our most recent Science, Space, Dinosaurs program introduces young minds to the scientific concepts and encourages self-motivation towards learning due to experiments that appeal to the natural interests of kids.

All KIDDIO’s programs are age-appropriate and well-adapted to the needs of online learning.

#Q: From a design perspective, what are the main challenges of building an effective online program on soft skills?

A: Because we’re talking about teaching kids, engagement goes first. In online education, the content and teachers' acting abilities should be twice as impressive and captivating than in usual offline classrooms. As our classes are held in small groups of up to five or six learners, our teachers can give more personal attention to each student combined with the benefits of the group dynamic. Learning soft skills can be done effectively only in live interactions with other people, that’s why our programs include group discussions, collaborative projects, giving and receiving feedback, and optional real-world assignments. If any students seem to be struggling with soft skills, we reach out to the parents because their involvement and extra support is the key factor for the successful learning experience.

#Q: What are KIDDIO’s plans for the future?

A: We are entering the B2B market with online courses on social, emotional, and cognitive skills for every year of elementary and middle school made in collaboration with STEAM profession kit producers. This allows us to put even more emphasis on the practical side of learning: kids get acquainted with real-world jobs, participate in projects with live online instructions, and develop their most important life skills. Our curricula, teachers, and supplies will deliver SEL & STEAM learning directly to US classrooms – only a projector or laptops and some offline supervision are needed. As our SEL & STEAM courses are completely self-contained, we hope to introduce more kids from distant areas that may have a lack of educators specializing in these fields to our progressive learning solutions. 

#Q: How will online learning change by the end of this decade?

A: I think the future of learning is about finding a balance between the human and technological side of the educational environment. My hope is that we will find new ways to use services on building individual learning trajectories or customizing already existing learning paths of the students. Speaking about learning soft skills online in particular, I hope we will see somewhat of a VR-service for acquiring social-emotional skills: it will simulate common social situations and guide learners through them.