Maybe you’re seeing behaviors that concern you: A never-finished worksheet peeking out of a school backpack. Sighs, shrugs, or mumbles when you ask how school was. A tense face and slow steps out the door every weekday morning.
Or maybe your kid has complained outright:
“The teacher yelled at me for daydreaming, but I already know all that stuff.”
“I didn’t understand the lesson. I don’t know what to do.”
“I don’t want to go to school anymore.”
The fact is, not every child thrives in a traditional school setting. The 2 Hour Learning model’s personalized learning approach through AI tutors and human guides (mentors) could be the alternative your child needs.
The big question: how can you tell if it’s the right fit?
Below are some signs that your child might thrive in a two-hour learning environment:
1. Your child finds school boring
Teachers in traditional classrooms have little to no time to do anything other than stick to a standardized core curriculum. Students have limited opportunities to explore new interests or apply existing interests to their learning. If they’re lucky, they may have after school activities that they find engaging, but those activities make up a very small fraction of their time at school.
In the 2 Hour Learning model, AI-powered instruction adapts to each student’s needs, keeping them engaged and motivated by presenting new challenges at just the right moment. Plus, four hours of the afternoon are devoted to enrichment activities such as sports, esports, developing life skills, etc.
2. Your child is self-motivated (or you want them to be)
In traditional classrooms, every decision about a student’s learning typically falls to their teachers. Having no say in their own learning often saps students’ learning motivation. So if a student gets labeled as a ‘C’ student, they are likely to stay a C student for the rest of their academic career.
In a 2 Hour Learning environment, kids are shown how to take proactive responsibility. Students take charge of their education, setting goals and pushing themselves to achieve more. That self-motivation is reinforced in the afternoon component of the 2 Hour Learning model. For example, at our flagship school, Alpha, second graders sign up for the Jingle Bells 5K Run on the very first day of school. Most of them exclaim, “That’s gonna be impossible!” But they learn to achieve the impossible one step at a time, first walking the track and then building up to running.
This incremental approach helps them realize that they can indeed complete a 5K run. By breaking down the task into manageable steps, those students learn a foundational life skill: how to approach and accomplish seemingly impossible goals.
3. Your child struggles with traditional classroom environments
If your child finds it difficult to sit still and listen to lectures for long periods, normal schools can be torture.
At 2 Hour Learning schools, students complete core academics quickly (a couple of hours in the morning) and then spend the rest of the day in athletics or real-world skills development via projects, teamwork, and leadership experiences. For example, third and fourth graders at Alpha get to be active while developing their grit through Rubik’s Cube or juggling tournaments as well as running triathlons. Second graders develop public speaking skills through activities such as creating a schoolwide Alpha Weekly Newscast.
4. Your child learns faster (or slower) than their peers
Every child learns at their own pace, but standard schools often don’t allow for much flexibility. Instead, students in a classroom move through courses at the same pace. As a result, some sit through lessons they don’t need and others find themselves rushing past concepts they haven’t mastered.
Whether your child is advanced and eager to move ahead or needs more time to fully grasp concepts, the 2 Hour Learning model can meet them where they are. AI-powered instruction assesses their knowledge in real time and helps them rectify any gaps. Students can even move on to course material designed for higher grade levels whenever they show sufficient mastery.
5. You recognize the importance of learning life skills
Individuals who are equipped with skills such as financial literacy, leadership, problem-solving, resilience, etc. are better positioned for life success. However, electives and afterschool activities that develop such skills typically comprise a miniscule percentage of the school day.
In the 2 Hour Learning model, each afternoon is devoted to the development of real-world skills. Students start businesses, train for athletic challenges, and develop confidence in public speaking. For example, Alpha second graders have started a lemonade stand business to support a charitable cause they researched and voted on. Third and fourth graders code self-driving cars and drones and grades five through eight ran a student-led fundraising gala to earn money for traveling to Poland and training 500 Ukrainian student refugees.
Questions to ask yourself as a parent
If you need some help thinking through the signs discussed above, here are some questions that can help you determine if the 2 Hour Learning model is worth looking at. You can even use these questions to start a discussion with your child about their experiences at their school.
- Does my child seem happy or dissatisfied with school?
- Does my child show excitement about learning (e.g., they’re usually eager to tell me about what they’ve learned)?
- Is my child naturally curious and self-motivated? Have those characteristics increased or lessened over their years in school?
- Does my child feel supported in each class?
- Does my child dislike the amount of desk time required in their school?
- Am I looking for an education that goes beyond academics to teach real-world skills?
How to learn more about the 2 Hour model
The future of education is evolving, and you have more choices than ever before. If you’re looking for a smarter, more effective way for your child to learn and grow, the 2 Hour model could be exactly what they need.
If 2 Hour Learning seems like a promising alternative for your child, find out more about how it works.
