Learning Without Tears Announces Assessments to Guide Instruction; Expanding Impact of Get Set for School®, a Complete Multisensory, Early Childhood Curriculum

Focus on Assessment Adds to Powerful Educational Program for Teaching the Earliest Learners 

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Learning Without Tears' acclaimed Early Childhood curriculum, Get Set for School^® (GSS), will now include the new Assessments to Guide Instruction, an addition to the complete program that provides greater value and more complete foundational learning. This new assessment tool allows educators to easily assess, track, and remediate student performance over the course of the school year.  With AGI, teachers can easily provide updates and suggestions to families, building strong school-to-home connections, an important element of young learners' success. 

"We have been experts in successful early childhood education for 40 years," said Terry Nealon, CEO of Learning Without Tears. "Get Set for School is the culmination of that learning expertise, and is being used by thousands of schools across the country. The addition of Assessments to Guide Instruction expands the impact GSS can have on very young learners. With a clear, individual assessment of what their students need at this early point in their education, teachers can create a lifelong learner and lover of reading, by meeting students where they are." 

The award-winning Get Set for School complete curriculum is divided into six learning areas that seamlessly create a better academic outcome for pre-K students. Students are taught developmentally, learning the easiest skills first, then building on that knowledge as learning progresses. Multi-sensory activities provide hands-on learning and play-based opportunities for students to learn.   

This complete pre-K curriculum prepares students for kindergarten in delightful ways, developing the foundational learning skills necessary for overall academic success. With the new Assessments to Guide Instruction, teachers can: 

• Identify the skills students need to improve 
• Enable data-driven enhancements of teacher-led instruction 
• Visualize student progress reports and share with families and administrators 
• Organize student assessments through a digital dashboard 
• Ensure student success over time, with digital progress monitoring 
• Remediate student skills with guided suggestions per unit 

The impact pandemic school shutdowns had on student progress will be measured and monitored for many upcoming years. But the Nation's Report Card released last week by NAEP, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, reported what many feared: student performance declined significantly, with lower performing students seeing a shaper decline than some of their peers. "Each early learner is starting school this year at a different spot," CEO Nealon explained. "Some students are starting preschool with foundational learning skills already in place, while other students still need to develop those building blocks of learning. Many of these young children have never been in a formal learning environment. All of this impacts student achievement and progress."  

Assessment of each student's skills and progress is vital, so teachers have the data to know where each student is, in terms of learning. With assessment in place, teachers can tailor their instruction based on each students' performance. Teachers can follow and track the progress students make as they get ready for kindergarten.  

Get Set for School helps teachers keep students on-track for kindergarten readiness in a simple way: by expanding early learning possibilities. Embedded Professional Development will empower and inspire teachers with real-time guided and just-in-time learning modules. Digital teaching tools, multi-sensory manipulatives, activities, play-based lessons, and a host of other important educational tools, are included in the complete version of GSS. 

In all elements of the GSS program, teachers are supported with guided lessons and other learning opportunities. Students will access a hands-on curriculum that engages their minds, and helps many kids gain a real love for reading. As a complete pre-K curriculum, Get Set for School aligns to standards developed by Head Start and the National Association for the Education of Young Children and addresses each subject area throughout the course of research-based instruction.  

Get Set for School is eligible for federal funding sources. 

Learning Without Tears is a leading early education company offering a proven and unique approach to teaching and learning, from crucial readiness skills in pre-K to foundational writing and typing skills, including handwriting, keyboarding and cursive. The elementary school-level programs benefit all learners with multisensory, developmentally appropriate, proven practices, and are used by millions of students around the world. Learning Without Tears professional development programs deliver early education expertise to thousands of teachers, tutors, and occupational therapists in the US and across the globe.  

SOURCE Learning Without Tears