Helping Businesses Keep Going and Growing while supporting employees by meeting the care and educational needs of their children.
KidSmarts@work
Host a KidSmarts Learning Hub in your office to help employees balance their roles as parents and productive members of your workforce during this time of unprecedented change.
Like most businesses, you need employees to return to work in an office setting and cannot offer everyone the opportunity to work from home. You also understand that many of your employees have children who need day-to-day support as their schools operate virtually. You need your employees’ full attention and effort, but how do you expect them to focus only on work when they are also trying to be their child/children’s primary teacher? They are put in a difficult situation and are forced to decide how they manage their time and efforts, knowing that doing both well is nearly impossible.
You don’t have to make them choose with KidSmarts. Host a Learning Hub and provide your employees with the support they need so that they can get back to work.
What’s a KidSmarts Learning Hub?
A self-contained learning environment hosted in your office that pairs a skilled, experienced teacher with up to 8 students grades K-8 for educational support, virtual learning facilitation and enrichment activities. All you need to do is tell us what you need, supply the designated space and the students…we do the rest!
We’ve taken all of the guesswork and challenges out of forming a safe, stable learning environment for your children to learn, play and thrive as schools have opted to go virtual this fall and likely into the winter.
Many of your employees are parents too. They may be worried about how they are going to help their children with their school work, ensure that their children are learning in a way that leverages their potential, give their children needed social interactions and make sure that their children have a little fun…while also working full time themselves. We recognize that parents have been put in a challenging situation and want to provide a solution that helps provide balance and peace of mind while giving students consistency and quality educational experiences.
Let KidSmarts help you provide a solution for your employees that allows their children to thrive during this time of change
How It Works
You survey your staff and share with us their needs to support their children, the number and grade levels of the students and your plan for how to cover costs. Companies can choose to offer this service as a benefit to their employees, share the costs with employees or provide the service as an out of pocket cost to the employees. Based on the needs and number of students, we develop a plan for your company’s needs, determine the number of Learning Hubs that are required and work with you (CEO/HR/Board) to determine how your office space can be used to host Learning Hub(s.) We also recruit amazing teacher(s) and work with you to create the schedule and expectations for the Learning Hub(s.)
Your KidSmarts Learning Hub will be managed by our experienced teacher(s) and overseen by an education team with more than 60 years combined experience, ensuring a safe and productive space for the children of your employees. Your employees will have peace of mind so that you can focus on getting back to business without the fear that their greatest assets — their children — are cared for and not falling behind.
Employee Needs
Survey your staff, get us the scoop on what their needs are, and provide a budget for what they could contribute to care or let us know that you plan to cover the costs.
Scheduling, Teacher and Space
We develop a plan for a Learning Hub that meets your staff’s needs, create the schedule, identify the teacher and work with you (CEO/HR/Board) to identify a room or office in your building that could be turned into a Learning Hub.
Learning Hub
Your KidSmarts learning hub would be managed daily by an experienced teacher, and overseen by an education team with more than 60 years combined experience.
Employee Convenience
Employees have peace of mind that their most precious asset, their children, will have their needs met in a safe, convenient environment. They can focus on their work, assured that their children’s academic, social and emotional needs are being met.
Company Convenience
Companies can offer this benefit to their employees without adding to their own workload. KidSmarts takes on full responsibility for the hiring and supervision of the teacher. All companies need to do is provide the space and spread the word to the employees.
Our Pricing
Volume discounts for multiple pods available
Bringing KidSmarts to your team is easy as:
- Survey your staff to determine their needs for support. If you need assistance, contact us-we have online surveys ready for you to use
- Send us your needs, based on your survey results
- We create a plan for your team based on a minimum 9 week Learning Hub service run by KidSmarts in your office space. Our plans are designed for children grades K-8 and allow you to cover costs for staff or present to your team as an additional HR benefit that they can choose to cover out-of-pocket.
FAQs
Details You’ll Want to Know
KidSmarts was born from School Smarts, an educational consulting business founded in 2011 by Rajeshri Gandhi Bhatia that is focused on helping schools work smarter and changing the paradigm of education. The Pandemic clearly changed how schools operate and created new ways for students to learn. It also generated the need to help the business community as employees face new challenges to creating balance between the needs of their careers and the needs of their children. School Smarts has been in business for a long time, supporting organizations to get better and more productive, and we have also been leaders in teacher development and recruitment. We are also parents who struggle with the same challenges and business owners who want to help our own employees during this challenging time. As we saw the inevitable collision between people trying to be both, productive employees and supportive parents, we recognized the opportunity for us to use our experiences and add value to the situation by creating a solution for companies. We value quality and know that the key to helping students achieve long-term success is ensuring that they have consistent guidance and support from teachers who are also learning and growing with them, hence our emphasis and investment in professional development for our teachers. Creating professional Learning Hubs can also help achieve the consistency and peace of mind that parents and students need to thrive in this ‘new normal.’ Doing so in an office setting affords employees the convenience of being able to bring their students to work with them and saves them the trouble of having to find an alternative solution. It also gives them peace of mind that their children’s needs are being met, allowing them to be more focused on their own work. This type of benefit also sends a message that the company values its employees and recognizes their needs.
A room with table(s) or desks that allow students enough space to place their device (laptop, Chromebook, etc) on the table and have enough room to type and write. Ensure that there are enough plugs/outlets that are accessible from the table so that students can charge their devices and that the wifi signal is strong and accessible. There should also be enough space in and around the room for students to move around and stretch their legs. We suggest being close to bathrooms and other amenities as well. A door that can be closed and proper ventilation is also needed, windows and natural light are nice to have as well.
Learning Hub(s) will operate in the space provided and the teacher will ensure that the students’ activities will not interfere with the normal work routines of the office. Each Learning Hub will create a set of rules and processes that fit the environment. The teacher will also create and communicate a general daily schedule so that everyone knows what kinds of activities are happening in the hub. Only parents and identified office administrators will be allowed to visit the Learning Hub.
All that said, companies also need to be aware that they are sharing space with an active Learning Hub and do what they can to support its activity.
You can use our handy pricing tool to determine the exact costs for your Learning Hub(s.) We have priced it an affordable manner that still allows us to offer high levels of quality service. Companies can choose to cover the cost themselves or offer it as an out-of-pocket benefit for their employees or share the cost with employees.
We understand that there is uncertainty in terms of how long students will be engaged in virtual education. To that end, we will work with you to define an initial term for the contract, at a minimum 9 weeks, and allow you the opportunity to extend it as the end date draws nearer. Our feeling is that many schools will remain closed through the end of 2020 and it is highly likely that Learning Hubs may need to continue in some form for an extended period of time. Your employee survey will help to determine the needs for your Learning Hub and we will design something that works for you. We will also provide responsive customer service so that we can adjust based on changing needs.