The Helen Doron Educational Group, international leader in educational programs for children, launches its newest early English educational programme, Jump with Joey, for young learners ages 6-9 years old. The programme is one of the first interactive, multimedia English courses for children to integrate augmented reality technology into its learning materials. Augmented Reality (AR) has a magical dimension that brings two-dimensional characters on the page to life with three-dimensional animation and sound.

The new course was officially introduced by CEO Helen Doron, at the Annual Helen Doron English Franchising Conference, held in Antalya, Turkey in March. Doron explains, “This exciting new technology is perfectly suited to teaching English and enhances our proven methodology. It keeps students engaged and provides additional opportunities for them to hear correctly spoken English and improve their own English skills.”

800 Helen Doron English Learning Centres will introduce Jump with Joey during the 2014-2015 school year. 3700 certified Helen Doron English teachers will receive intensive teacher trainings for the one-of-a-kind programme, filled with 53 original songs and 26 engaging animation stories. As with all other Helen Doron Early English products, all of the exclusive music and lyrics were written especially for each programme’s target age group and level, and are an integral part of the learning process, reinforcing vocabulary and grammar.

Students learn this course over one or two years of study. They learn about 1700 vocabulary words as they follow the adventures of Kangi the Kangaroo, her mischievous baby Joey, and 7-year-old Paul and Millie. Paul and Millie have a secret club, the Kangi Club housed in a large hollow tree trunk. When Kangi sends a call for help, Paul and Millie fly to the land of Storyville where characters from folklore stories live and where familiar fairy tales unfold with surprising twists. Paul and Millie help Kangi and Joey, solve mysteries in Storyville.

In addition, Jump with Joey teaches English language skills while broadening the horizons of young minds with age appropriate stories that encourage them to better understand the world they live in. Students learn about important values such as friendship, healthy eating and protecting the environment.

The ongoing storyline offers students a familiar setting from which to “jump” into new territory—in this case new vocabulary words and an important life value taught in each episode. All language is learnt in context and authentic natural English becomes a part of the children’s lives. To encourage spoken English outside of the classroom, stories are supplemented with “magical” activity books interspersed with Augmented Reality activities which draw students into them, thus encouraging them to spend more time at home exploring and learning in English.

Doron explains, “Although we have adopted some of the latest technology advances for the course, the Jump with Joey programme remains faithful to the core Helen Doron English methodology, based on four basic principles: positive reinforcement, small group learning, background hearing, and specially trained teachers, which has proven itself over and over again during the past 30 years.”

Find out more about Jump with Joey and Augmented Reality.