CambriLearn — a unique education for your unique child 

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Meet Claudia Swartzberg, co-founder and CEO of the online school, CambriLearn. Claudia’s schooling journey didn’t start on perfect footing. When Claudia was in pre-primary school, her teachers didn’t want to progress her to grade 1 because she couldn’t cut straight. Coming from a family of rocket scientists and high academic performers this was difficult for her parents to process. 

Despite the advice of her teachers, her parents decided to put her into grade one. She struggled in primary school and she started to become anxious and didn’t want to go to school. 

Many parents have experienced difficulties in motivating their kids to wake up and go to school. This aversion from kids is often dismissed and parents might not consider that there could be an alternative education solution for their child, one that harnesses their unique learning needs and abilities and most importantly motivates them to wantto study. 

From below average to CEO

Claudia’s father recognised the difficulties his daughter was experiencing and started to spend his evenings taking her through her coursework, creating practice material in a way that was relevant to her. He understood her preferred style of learning and how she best absorbed information and started tailoring her lessons to her unique learning needs. 

Soon her grades began to pick up and her drive and passion to achieve snowballed as she developed more confidence and purpose. Claudia ended up graduating top of her class in high school and went on to study Actuarial Science specialising in data science. 

A personalised learning solution

In a typical classroom environment, with a 1:25 teacher-to-learner ratio, a teacher isn’t able to tailor-make each lesson to suit each individual child. Most teachers will pitch the coursework to the average student. This approach can lead to many children feeling left behind as they struggle to keep up with the coursework. It can also lead to learners feeling bored and disinterested as they may comprehend the lesson quickly and feel frustrated at the pace. 

That is why Claudia founded CambriLearn’s intelligent learning system. The flexible, interactive online schooling platform makes it possible for a tutor or parent to teach individuals and not classes. 

The benefit of choosing an online schooling curriculum is the freedom and flexibility to study at your own pace and personalise your child’s learning schedule to their unique circumstances. Students can set the tempo of their learning, meaning they can speed up or slow down depending on what they can manage at the time. 

CambriLearn is breaking away from static, content-fed lessons into a culture of interaction, discovery and mastery. Students tend to feel less judgment and peer pressure in a virtual classroom environment. This helps build their confidence and self-regulation, which are some of the most important skills to ensure future success. 

Future-ready education

For centuries, a child’s intelligence has been measured by academic test scores. The higher the child scores on the test the more capable they are perceived to be. The problem with this approach is that it doesn’t take into account problem-solving ability, creativity, motivation levels, perception or social intelligence. 

If a child is getting good grades, it’s not a guarantee they will be successful. In his book, Frames of Mind, Howard Garner challenges the notion that academic intelligence is a single yardstick on which to measure a person’s abilities and chances of future success. 

Every child is different, with unique learning needs and personalities. Saying that one intelligence type is more important than another is like saying that it is more important to learn mathematics than languages. While each subject is important in schooling, what is most important is that a child builds educational foundations that will serve them through their adult life. 

Studies have shown that only 25% of your success is determined by IQ, whereas 75% of your success is determined by your perception, optimism levels, social support and ability to see stress as a challenge rather than as a threat. 

Social interaction

The number one concern of parents who wish to enrol in an online school is the fear of less social interaction. There are many ways that homeschooled children can socialise. From attending community club sports like soccer or cricket to more personalised activities like homeschooling meet-ups and play dates. 

Homeschooling families treat socialisation as a priority and they consciously pursue and participate in tailored activities. This approach means that children can socialise with other kids across different age groups who share common interests. 

Optimal Learning Zone

In a typical school day at a traditional school, students only spend 55% of their day on actual academic lessons. The rest of their time is spent in assemblies, breaks, walking to class and so forth. CambriLearn provides more effective and efficient scheduling. Designed to spend less time sitting at a desk, children have more time and energy to participate in social activities in a natural and positive way. 

This is why many academically gifted children, like Christopher Oosthuizen, choose online schooling over a traditional schooling environment. To professionally compete in sports or to excel in academics, learners need the flexibility to adapt their education to their unique schedules, circumstances and abilities. 

As the idiom goes: When a flower doesn’t bloom, we don’t change the flower, we change the environment in order for the flower to bloom. 

As someone who was lucky enough to have parents who understood — and put into practice — the importance of personalised learning, Claudia Swartzberg has made it her life’s work to make a powerful and positive impact on the youth of today, through a proactive and personalised approach to education. 

P.S. She still can’t cut straight. 

CambriLearn has created this FREE online quiz to help parents better understand their child’s preferred style of learning. Take the quiz to find out more about how you can tailor your child’s education to their unique learning needs.