‘Hocus & Lotus’: Not Just A Bunch of Hocus Pocus

As a parent, I love watching my children play. Many times, it seems like they learn, play, and figure out new ideas & processes all by themselves. It is our job as parents to educate our kids as best we can so that a new generation may lead the world.

I have heard time & time again that the U.S. system of education has much to be improved, & I agree. For examples, many middle-eastern systems educate students in specific trades [i.e. computing, programming] prior to graduation so they can immediately enter the work force thereafter. Oriental & European cultures often incorporate multiple languages in their curriculum to prepare students for multi-lingual business & work. It is even encouraged now for parents to provide their children with laptops to be taken and used during grade-school. Why do they do all of this? Simple, ….. all this enhanced stimulus yields smarter children who are more than ready to enter the adult workforce. So [Yeah!] I can definitely support fact that the U.S. school system needs to play catch-up with other education  systems around the world.

So why am I talking about all of this? ….. I involved my children in a school which incorporates one of these European, learning programs called ‘HOCUS & LOTUS‘ & [WOW!] did I see quite an advanced difference vs. the way I was educated. With their school predominantly German-based in curriculum, both my children are learning German at an extraordinary rate. Then a second language is to be incorporated by the 4th Grade. By the time they graduate, they are to be 100% fluent [reading & writing] in 2 other languages.

You know? The great thing about all of this that my kids are having so much fun learning from it, at an extraordinary rate. It’s so unbelievable how much they have learned & how they truly enjoy being at school.

Hocus & Locus? ….. I Don’t Get It!

What Is It?

Hocus and Lotus are two extravagant characters, two dinocrocs, created by a group of researchers of various European Universities with the aim to get children love them and, through a process of child – characters identification, facilitate the learning of a second language. Hocus and Lotus are already well known to the children of Nursery and Primary schools of various European Countries: Sweden, Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, UK, Poland, Bulgaria, Germany, Romania and Turkey. The stories are extremely simple and linear and have been thought taking into account real children experiences and their viewpoints in order to allow a real and deep comprehension of the subjects presented. Each animated cartoon lasts 5 minutes and consists in a mini-musical whose main educational content is repeated in the refrain. In this way children will learn the song and the vocabulary proposed in the story. The Languages that Hocus and Lotus teach are English, German, Italian, French and Spanish.

Hocus & Lotus introduces material using a narrative approach based on the adventures of two cartoon characters, Hocus and Lotus. Using songs, drama and stories which are acted out in the classroom, it is designed to appeal to young children’s desire to hear the same story over and over again. Texts and scripts have been carefully developed to assist the process of language acquisition through repetition and through visual clues which support understanding.

This method was scientifically tested in more than 120 Kindergarten and Primary Schools in Italy and it is used by more than 4.000 teachers and educators overall Europe.

I’m Sold On It …..

I’d love to see a translated version of all the data gathered from all tests performed.

[Click here for the English version of the web page. As of right now, it seems the English page is still under construction.]

Nevertheless, I am truly impressed with the way my children have been educated & hope that our country [U.S.] can come up with improved education programs to get the new U.S. generation just as prepared.

Because [FACE IT!], ….. I think the generation running things now pretty much screwed the financial sector up royally for us. My hope is that the new generation of children can be smarter & tough enough to fix it.

Education = Initiative & New Ideas = Great Leaders = Hopefully A Better Life For All of Us