New Tech Kids | All posts

24 Mar 2020

Free Digital Reading Resource: Time Magazine for Kids

Time Magazine has generously made its 'Time for Kids' digital library available free-of-charge for the rest of the school year to help keep kids engaged with news and information during the Coronavirus pandemic. Subscribe here. The magazine editions available present news and information in a kid-friendly way with lots of visuals and charts. Content includes turnkey teaching tools, with worksheets and quizzes for families or teachers. Useful for kids and their families and teachers, this digital library

28 Mar 2020

Activity for Kids, Parents and Teachers: Help the U.N.

By NewTechKids

Challenge children to help the United Nations spread public health messages about the behaviours and habits that people should adopt to fight the spread of Coronavirus. The UN is asking creatives (designers, illustrators, storytellers, marketeers, artists as well as people with creative ideas) to contribute to “translating critical public health messages into different languages, different cultures, communities and platforms, reaching everyone, everywhere”. These messages will be spread across different mediums, including social to print, radio, television,

7 Mar 2020

NewTechKids Founder featured in Dutch Newspaper

By NewTechKids

Deborah Carter, NewTechKids' Founder, Director and occasional teacher, was recently featured in a special supplement about technology and child welfare on February 26, 2020 in het Parool, one of the Netherlands' major newspapers. In it, she shared her experience and opinions on topics ranging ranging screen usage, gaming and how to teach kids about computer science, programming and robotics to engage a more inclusive group of students, including girls. Read article in Dutch. Here's a

3 Mar 2020

Kids Prototype Tech for Coronavirus Control

By NewTechKids

Today, NewTechKids kicked off a week of classes for kids ages 8-12 which will encourage students to think critically about how technology can be used to screen and monitor the Coronavirus and help people who contract it. We taught classes at an international private school and several Dutch primary schools for kids ages 8-12. We discussed some of the technology being used to combat the virus: thermal imaging, drones in China which issue warnings to people

26 Jan 2020

Book Review: ‘Make it Stick: the Science of Successful Learning’

By NewTechKids

Being able to learn constantly and apply knowledge and skills throughout one's life will be the key to achieving success in the 21st century. It also reflects a mindset which needs to be nurtured from a young age, especially for future innovators. But how do you get to this point. Turns out that there are tried and true effective learning and studying techniques which are backed by science. Unfortunately, most people aren't using them. Which

25 Jan 2020

NewTechKids teaching in Amstelveen

By NewTechKids

Starting this week, NewTechKids is teaching new programs at schools in Amstelveen, a city just outside Amsterdam. We're teaching students at Amity International School Amsterdam and Kindercampus King. Amity is an English-language private school which opened in February 2018 and offers education for students ages 3-18. Students are multicultural, with students and teachers coming from all over the world. We were approached by one of its science teachers who was interesting in augmenting their current curriculum

15 Jan 2020

Computer Science at Metis Montessori Lyceum Amsterdam

By NewTechKids

It's that time of the year. When students in group 8 in Dutch primary schools receive their definitive 'advies' on the type of high school they will attend and the type of secondary education they will pursue: pre-vocational, senior general or pre-university. This advice is based on a combination of their marks from groups 6-8, the results of standardized tests they take in group 8, and the advice of their group 8 teacher. In some

4 Jan 2020

Possible 4-day teaching week in Amsterdam

By NewTechKids

How are school systems in the Netherlands dealing with teacher shortages, teacher burnout and the shrinking number of people choosing to become teachers? Some Dutch primary schools in Amsterdam are considering an emergency measure: shifting to a four-day teaching week. Why? Amsterdam has been hit particularly hard by teacher shortages. At the beginning of this school year which began in August 2019, the city was short 280 teachers. This shortage has now grown to almost

29 Dec 2019

Sharenting: think carefully!

By NewTechKids

We reached out to Leah Plunkett, author of the book "Sharenthood: why we should think before we talk about our kids online", and she had this advice for parents, caregivers and teachers engaged in social media activities. "Use a holiday card rule of thumb to decide whether, when, how, why, and with whom to sharent: if you would put the photo or news update into a hard copy letter, print and mail out hundreds of copies