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1. We’ve stayed true to our ethos of play-based learning, inspiring curiosity, helping kids to learn how to learn. We could have sold out riding the coding-for-kids wave, but we didn’t.
2. We’ve helped thousands of disadvantaged children in Singapore and beyond through programmes and initiatives like Code In The Community, Pay It Forward, and Coding Cats. This wouldn’t be possible without partners and sponsors like Google.org, IMDA, Raintree Development, USAID, 21C GIRLS, Goldbell Group Foundation, etc.
3. The Saturday Kids management is 100% female (I’m non-executive) and the team is 80% female. Because this is a female-led team, empowering girls and women in STEM is high on our agenda. We are in stage 2 of Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls, and we are hopeful we will be doing more to create pathways to prosperity for women and girls.

It has not been easy keeping a social enterprise afloat for 9 years. I’m thankful for all the amazing people who have helped along the way. There’s still much to be done.

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This is how it all started.

I came across Galileo XP in April last year right when COVID-19 started hitting hard in Singapore. When in-person classes got suspended in May, my wife Maryanne (you’ll hear more from her later) suggested letting Camper and Summer – ages 10 and 9 respectively – try Galileo, an online school for homeschoolers, unschoolers and worldschoolers. Most people are familiar with the concept of homeschooling. Unschoolers are kids who don’t follow any particular curriculum – learning is learner-led, interest-driven. Worldschoolers are kids who travel the world with their families and learn wherever they are. Much of the learning is influenced by the history, culture and geography of the place they are in. 

The first thing Galileo does for a new student is to help the learner come up with a personalised learning plan.

A teacher speaks to the parents and student to understand what the learner’s learning goals are, following which the teacher together with the learner come up with a learning plan that includes online resources the learner can access to achieve those learning goals. Every weekday the learner logs on to Zoom at a scheduled time with about 6-7 other children for their daily check-in, during which learners will be held accountable for the tasks they said they would complete the previous day, and share with the class what they want to achieve today. 

Besides the daily check-in, Galileo also runs a number of nanodegrees and clubs that students can opt in to. Examples of nanodegrees include: How to Start a Business as a Kid or Teen, Digital Citizenship, Public Speaking, Negotiation, Food Innovation, Design Thinking etc. Examples of clubs include Spanish Club, Coding Club, Math Club, High Noon Film Making Club etc.

You can imagine how any of these might be more interesting and engaging than what’s offered in traditional schools.

And this is really how it all started for Camper and Summer. When school resumed in June, both kids continued with Galileo while attending school. They go to school in the morning, get home around 2pm, do their Galileo check-in at 3 or 4pm, then do a couple of nanodegrees and clubs at night between 6-10pm. This makes us sound like slave driving tiger parents, but we didn’t push them to join any nanodegree or club. They are all so interesting we had a problem with FOMO – the kids wanted to join everything!

At some point late last year, Camper asked us why he’s still attending school.

Summer too much prefers Galileo to school. The only reason she hasn’t asked to be withdrawn is because of her friends in school, and I can see where they are coming from.

I’ve long maintained that mainstream education is not adequately preparing kids for the future.

Too much rote learning, memorisation, exam techniques, not enough self-directed learning, real world context, global citizenship. The world is changing at a much faster pace than mainstream education can evolve. State eduction ministries all over the world are playing catch up. 

Some people will say Camper can do this because he has a safety net, that it doesn’t matter if this doesn’t work out for him. But personally, I’d argue that if we believe the Galileo way of learning is fundamentally better for kids, then it’s morally wrong to tell kids from families with lesser means that they just focus on getting good grades in school. All kids deserve an education that prepares them for the future. Not just kids from privileged backgrounds.

So here we are, at the start of a new year. Here’s to less exam-prep, more slime making. 

Maryanne and I will continue to document Camper’s homeschooling journey here in Singapore, as well as ours as parents. Follow them here on Circle, or watch this space for more #HomeschoolingDiaries coming your way.

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From a coding school to a curiosity school.

Saturday Kids opened as a side project in 2012 when I first started dabbling in tech investing. Meeting tech entrepreneurs all day made me realise how useful it is to know how to code, so I started a coding school for kids because cause there weren’t any back then.

These days, I call Saturday Kids a curiosity school rather than a coding school because the goal isn’t to churn out software engineers. The goal is to inspire every child to become a curious, self-directed learner.

Inspiring curiosity is at the heart of everything we do at Saturday Kids. We like to think we are making a stand against tuition and parents’ obsession with grades.

The world’s facing unprecedented challenges, and we need to raise more mavericks to take them on.

It scares me that parents my generation are telling their kids the same thing my parents told me—study hard, get a good job, life is taken care of.

I worry kids in Singapore grow up with a sense of entitlement, thinking that someone owes them a well-paying job just because they did well in school.

I worry kids are so busy cramming for tests and exams they haven’t heard of Greta Thunberg and climate change.

Most of all, I worry kids from disadvantaged backgrounds don’t get the same opportunities in life and therefore are trapped in that narrative of study hard, go to college on a scholarship, get a good job.

I have nothing against ‘good’ jobs; but the fact is technology is disrupting so many industries that very few people can predict what sort of jobs kids will have in the future, or what will constitute a ‘good’ job at all.

In Singapore for example, our city’s success is built on a professional class of bankers, lawyers, accountants. But for Singapore to continue to thrive, we cannot just be providers of professional services. Many white-collar jobs in finance, law, even medicine will be automated into obsolescence.

The world is facing unprecedented challenges—environmental, social, political. Our generation is not going to solve all of these problems. It is up to our kids and the generation(s) after them to come up with the solutions that will ensure humanity continues to thrive.

To thrive and to remain relevant, more kids need to think like entrepreneurs and makers, with the curiosity, enterprise and imagination to take on humanity’s challenges.

Next, we’re focussing on using code to create access and opportunities so that every child has the chance to use tech to change the world.

After 8 years, we’ve learned a thing or two about teaching kids how to learn. We’ve also learned a lot about inequality – whether arising from gender, urban poverty, or infrastructure poverty.

President Obama once said, “Life isn’t always fair. It distributes opportunities in different ways.”

As we grow beyond our 8 years, the keyword we’re focussing on is opportunity. Creating opportunities for those on the ‘wrong’ side of the divide, and putting in the groundwork to ensure that opportunities are distributed more fairly in years to come.

That’s what our social impact programmes like Code in the Community, Coding Cats, and Project Empower, and initiatives like Pay it Forward are all about. 

As we continue building on these programmes, it’s also our hope that children from disadvantaged backgrounds are afforded the same opportunities to use their imagination to tackle problems like climate change.

We’ve seen from the tech industry that diverse problem-solvers make for richer, more comprehensive products and solutions. By investing in bringing a diversity of voices and experiences to the table, we’re investing in a future that’s not only more inclusive, but better for everyone.

That’s why after focussing on creative coding for 8 years, we’re now expanding our ambition to get kids excited about applied coding: applying code to projects grounded in the context of the real world. We’ve gotten started with Code Meets World, a year-long pilot for kids ages 10-12 to use code to explore, analyse and communicate the big questions and ideas shaping the world. In the first phase of the programme, we’ve seen kids still in primary school code websites and wiki pages about issues they’re concerned about, like plastic pollution and COVID-19. With 3 modules to go and lots more to learn, we’re excited about where their curiosity will take them as they venture into data visualisation, animations, and other web-based projects. 

Beyond building more products like Code Meets World, we are committed to access and developing sustainable channels to ensure that it’s not just privileged kids who get access to opportunities to change the world with tech, but kids living in rural areas, disaster zones, low-income communities, and more. The future is here, and our goal is to leave no kid behind.

President Obama also said to “rejoice in the opportunity to change the world”. As we enter our 9th year, we’re embracing this opportunity as an organisation, and we do what we do so that the kids we reach can embrace it too.

We’re excited. And if you feel the same way, we’d love to connect and explore how we might work together to make sure no child gets left behind.

Whether you’re a parent who’s been with Saturday Kids from the start, or represent a non-profit, development agency, or corporate – we invite you to download our very first Impact Report and to get in touch if it resonates.

We never know what we can achieve if we put our heads together.

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Well, it’s not as crazy as it sounds, and I do get stuff done. Here’s how…

Keeping to some sort of a schedule.

While I don’t have a certain time to be out of the house by, I still wake up around 730 every morning, start the day learning Japanese and reading the papers.

By around 830 or 9 I’m at my desk -i.e. my dining table – working. It’s nice to be able to have breakfast with all five kids every morning – something we rarely ever got to do because the older ones take the school bus at 530am, and on weekends the kids’ activities start early.

My wonder woman wife.

My wife, for the most part, deals with the kids’ home-based learning (while working a full-time job as legal counsel – superwoman she is!), so I’m able to get in a couple of hours of work in the morning.

Letting go of unrealistic expectations and going with the flow.

I expect to be interrupted by one or more of the kids experiencing technical difficulties with Zoom, needing help with math, and so on. Working from home with kids around requires one to go with the flow. It’s just not realistic to expect to have hours of uninterrupted, focussed work, or to have a quiet environment conducive for calls. Obviously, it can get noisy with five kids around. 

Making the most of time with the kids.

Quinn, the youngest of my five, is 18 months old. Kids are super fun at this age, so one of the nice things about working from home is that there’s entertainment whenever I need to stop staring at a screen. The same goes for Sienna, Cory, Summer and Camper. They are fun to be around, so I’m making the most of this enforced stay-at-home-order.

Before the outbreak of COVID-19, I was traveling every month. For me, it’s been a luxury to be home for a prolonged period. With these newfound hours, my wife and I got the kids to launch a fundraising campaign to raise money for disadvantaged Singaporeans affected by the Corona Virus.

It’s a nice little family project, helps the kids learn empathy and hustle, and most importantly, benefits disadvantaged communities. Solidarity Gift for SG Livelihoods Fund by Camper, Summer, Cory, Sienna, Quinn has so far raised $7,770 out of a target of $12,000. With some hustle from the kids, hopefully they’ll reach their fundraising target.

Another routine with the kids is an evening workout – it’s something to look forward to at the end of the work day, helps the kids expend energy, and it’s great bonding time too.

Aside from the Nike Training App, my wife and I, together with the boys, have also joined in Summer’s and Sienna’s hiphop dance class by following the routine on TV. Other fun stuff we’ve done with the kids in the last couple of weeks include baking cookies and brownies, and making home-made jelly hearts.

. . .

So I’m stuck in the house with 5 kids. There’s room for them to run around and play with each other. Our helpers take good care of them. The fridge is full. If your home situation is somewhat like ours, there really is nothing to complain about. There are many others who are less fortunate. Let’s just count our blessings, extend a helping hand to the less fortunate wherever we can, and be grateful for this extra family time.    

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