Novakid: approach and teaching methods
Involve, to study e activate: it is on these three fundamental concepts that the work of the Novakid teachers is based, who can boast extensive previous experience with children, the International Certification of Teacher of the English language and regularly attend training courses.
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The primary purpose of the approach used by Novakid, thecommunicative approach (world famous and based on solid science) is teaching children to speak and use the English language in real life situations, continuously stimulating their interest and curiosity through tools such as interactive whiteboards, pictures, songs, games and even VR experiences, with virtual visits to important museums and art galleries.
Students use a graphical interface, such as presentations, and teachers explain the content with words, expressions and gestures, without translation or additional explanations. The children thus begin to make mental associations, learn sounds and terms of the English language and, in a few lessons, they can easily understand the instructions, repeat and correctly choose the answers to the questions posed by the teachers.
The lessons last 25 minutes (the most appropriate time to facilitate children's learning and avoid stress, according to numerous studies) and are made on the basis of current knowledge and psychological characteristics of children, so that they can learn new words consistently, passing for increasing levels of difficulty, with the possibility of gradually improving their knowledge of English grammar, pronunciation and, more generally, of the spoken language.
Game-based activities and tasks they then allow the child to acquire new skills without ever getting bored and "challenging" other students. All without having to install programs on the computer and with the possibility, by the parent, to manage the lessons in a flexible way, monitor the child's study progress and access the teaching material with ease.
Novakid: costs and requirements
Before getting into the practical part of this guide and explaining yourself how to use Novakid, it seems only right to tell you which are the prices of the service and i hardware and software requirements necessary to use it.
Well, Novakid offers the possibility to request 1 free trial lesson lasting 25 minutes, after which you can choose one of the available plans.
- Subscription 4 lessons for 4 weeks, includes 1 lesson per week with automatic monthly renewal. It costs 30,80 euros (7,70 euros per lesson) in the Standard version with lessons by teachers with a high level of knowledge of the English language and 55,20 euros (13,80 euros per lesson) in the Premium version with lessons by mother tongue teachers English.
- Subscription 8 lessons for 4 weeks, includes 2 lessons per week with automatic monthly renewal. It costs 55,20 euros (6,90 euros per lesson) in the Standard version with lessons by teachers with a high level of knowledge of the English language and 99,20 euros (12,40 euros per lesson) in the Premium version with lessons by mother tongue teachers English. It is the plan most appreciated by Novakid users.
- Subscription 12 lessons for 4 weeks, includes 3 lessons per week with automatic monthly renewal. It costs 78 euros (6,50 euros per lesson) in the Standard version with lessons by teachers with a high level of knowledge of the English language and 140,40 euros (11,70 euros per lesson) in the Premium version with lessons by native English teachers. It is considered the most effective plan for children to learn the language, as it does not overload them with work and does not allow too much time to pass between lessons.
If you do not have time to complete all the lessons included in the subscription, half of the unused lessons will be transformed into a bonus and credited to your Novakid account.
It should be noted that one is also available -25% discount if you have 3 children studying with Novakid. In addition, you can find seasonal discounts and other promotions in the official Novakid groups on social networks (for example on Facebook) and in the area Bonus of your profile on the Novakid website.
To access the lessons you need a desktop or laptop computer equipped with webcam. The operating system must be Windows 7 or later or, in the case of Macs, macOS 10.10 or later.
Because the lessons happen away browser, the use of Google Chrome, which is available for free for both Windows and macOS - if you haven't yet installed it on your computer, check out my guide on how to download Chrome. Alternatively you can also use Firefox.
If you don't have a PC available, you can use a iPad with the browser Safari. On the other hand, iPhones and smartphones of any kind are not recommended, since the small screen size would not allow a correct use of the lessons.
Also, make sure you have one fast connection with stable performance of at least 1-5Mbit/s in download: if you do not know how to test the speed of your connection, read my guide dedicated to the topic.
There is also aNovakid app for Android and iOS / iPadOS devices, but it is not designed for the use of the lessons. Instead, it allows you to keep track of your child's progress, adjust their learning program and schedule lessons - I'll talk about it more later in this guide.
Novakid: registration and free trial lesson
As already mentioned, Novakid offers 1 free trial lesson, which you can easily request from the official website and program freely according to your needs. To take advantage of this possibility and thus create your account, connect to the Novakid website and click on the button try free.
On the page that opens, if you want a taste of how the lessons are carried out on Novakid, click on the button See how we teach! and a video will start automatically. Then go on to fill in the form on the right, with name, email address e telephone number. If you have a friend code, click on the appropriate button and enter the code in question to get a bonus on your account. Then click on the button try free.
At this point, enter the child's name in the appropriate text field, specify yours gender of belonging, Its date of birth, indicate if after the test you would like to join the plan Standard (with teachers with a high level of knowledge of the English language) or on the piano Premium (with native English teachers) by Novakid and choose date e Now in which to program the trial lesson, inserting them in the appropriate fields.
After this step too, press the button Book your lesson, type il verification code which is sent to you via SMS to the number indicated above and you will get your Novakid account with the trial lesson booked. To confirm everything, you will also receive communications via email.
If you find it more convenient, I would like to point out that you can register and book your free trial lesson also through theNovakid app for Android and iOS / iPadOS: just download it on your device, start it, press the button SUBSCRIBE and follow the instructions I gave you just now for the PC procedure: the steps to be taken are practically the same.
The day before the scheduled lesson, go to your personal space on Novakid and check the operation of the necessary equipment and the speed of the connection. The connection, in fact, must be ready within 5 minutes before the start of the lesson. The teacher cannot wait.
To perform the test in question, connect to the Novakid website and click on the button Log in, located at the top right. Then enter the telephone number with which you registered for the service (including international prefix, eg. prefix for the city), press the button Receive the code and enter the verification code you receive via SMS, in order to access your personal area. Alternatively, you can click on the entry for log in with your email address and log in with your email address.
Once logged in, click on you don't know, to access theparent area, and tick the boxes relating to the acceptance of Privacy Policy e Terms and conditions and the compliance of yours equipment; then choose if agree to have a substitute teacher in case your teacher is unable to lead a lesson (later, you can change this preference from the section Account of your profile) and press the button I agree, to access your personal management panel.
Finally there we are: click on the button Checking the equipment, at the top, allow Novakid to access the webcam and microphone and test the operation of your equipment.
Make sure, therefore, that everything is in order in terms of video and audio (and that in the drop-down menu Select the webcam the correct device is selected) and press the button Yes, I see, to confirm and conclude the test.
To carry out the connection speed test, click on the item instead Account that you find in the top menu, then on the link Internet speed test present on the page that opens and, finally, on the button Perform the speed test which appears in the center of the screen.
On the day of the lesson, all you have to do is log back into your personal area on Novakid, locate the box related to the lesson (with all the details relating to date, time, teacher, etc.) and click on the button Enter the classroom. Please, try to be punctual!
During the first lesson, the teacher will assess the pupil's level and give a lesson aimed at arousing the child's interest in the English language.
While waiting for the connection with the teacher, the child will be offered playful activities aimed at learning English, for example games of association between terms and figures on the screen. In the side menu of the page there are also buttons to activate the chat, call up the customer service e go out from the room.
If necessary, it is possible cancel a lesson, without losing it, 8 hours before the start of the same. You can do this by pressing on the voice Cancel present in the box dedicated to the lesson. If you fail to cancel a lesson in time, you can move it up to 7 days within 1 hour of starting it. In an emergency (if, for example, the child is sick or there is a power failure at home), you can write to support chat by Novakid (the cartoon icon).
At the end of each lesson, parents receive an email with a summary of the lesson and the child receives homework based on his or her study progress.
Novakid: top-up of the balance and management of the lessons
After the free trial lesson, you can purchase a subscription for your child by reloading the Novakid account balance. To do this, access the parents area of the Novakid website as explained above and press the button Top up your balance, located at the top left.
In the box that opens, choose the teacher category, selecting an option from Standard (teacher with a high level of knowledge of the English language) e Premium (native English teacher); indicates the number of lessons per week that you intend to have your child follow and choose asubscription option among those available. Finally, type a promotional code (if you have it) in the appropriate text field, and click on the button for go to payment. You can pay with cards Visa, MasterCard e JCB and also with Apple Pay (your Mac).
Once you have ordered the new lessons, you will be able to view their details and manage them from the section main of your administration panel, with the possibility of canceling / postponing them in case of need (just as seen before in the chapter dedicated to the first trial lesson).
By clicking on the button Add a lesson you can choose the days and times for lessons and also the teacher you prefer. In case of problems, you can contact Novakid support via chat by clicking on the icon comic present at the bottom right or by clicking on the item Contact me present at the top of the home page of the site.
Once you have scheduled your lessons, you will find them listed in appropriate boxes in the section main of your account, where by clicking on them names you will be able to preview some contents; by clicking on the name of the teacher you will be able to view a presentation of it complete with videos.
To accept or not the replacement of the teacher in case of unavailability, go to the form Account of your management panel and check the box Yes or box No at the item Replacement of the teacher.
In the tab LibraryInstead, you can find a number of educational materials while selecting the tab Successes you can monitor all your child's progress, level by level. Convenient, right?
Novakid: homework, quizzes and educational games
By connecting to the Novakid site and logging into your account, you can enter the parent management panel, as seen in the previous sections of this guide, but you can also access thechildren's area.
In the latter, i tasks to do and gods educational games to train your understanding of the English language. For example, there are gods quiz with which to challenge other students in guessing the exact correspondences between images and terms shown on the screen.
To access the games or homework, just choose your own avatar and then click (or tap, if you work from a mobile device) on the content of your interest. It is all very colorful and represented with a very nice cartoon style graphics. Not to be missed!
Novakid: app
As previously mentioned, Novakid's video lessons must be followed by a browser and not by a smartphone; however I would like to point out the existence ofNovakid's official app for Android and iOS / iPadOS that allows you to manage your account, schedule lessons and follow the progress of your children in a very convenient way, both from smartphones and tablets.
To get it, all you have to do is look for it in the store of your device, select its icon e premere sul pulsating Installa / Ottieni. If you're using an iPhone or iPad, you may be asked to verify your identity with Face ID, Touch ID, or Apple ID password.
Once the installation is complete, start the Novakid application, press the button for log in and authenticated via telephone number (then entering the code you receive via SMS) or email address. You will then be able to accessparent area, to manage the lessons and monitor the progress of your children, or tobaby area, which contains homework, quizzes and other educational pastimes.
The management area is very intuitive and includes all the functions of the site that I told you about in the previous sections of this guide. You can navigate between the various areas of the app via the menu at the bottom: the icon of star gives you a general overview of the scheduled lessons; that of program allows you to view the scheduled lessons (with the possibility of viewing their details, moving or canceling them, by selecting them) and to schedule new ones; the icon of trophy allows you to monitor your children's study progress, while the comic allows you to access the Novakid chat service. Convenient, right?
Article created in collaboration with Novakid.
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