Today, education aims to develop critical-thinking citizens who are capable of engaging with the advancements of the globalized world. Fluency in English is a pathway that facilitates this process by expanding students’ repertoire and learning methods, as well as connecting them with people from many other countries.

Our mission with Skies Learning by Red Balloon—a program designed for elementary education—is precisely to promote this type of education in schools. And the best part is that students can become bilingual even if the school’s curriculum isn’t bilingual in and of itself. We tailor our instructional sequence to the daily routine of each school and class, always contextualizing the learning experience for both the children and the teachers.

Language Instruction vs. Bilingual Education

The difference between the two methodologies depends largely on the approach adopted by both language schools and bilingual education programs. Generally, language instruction is geared toward learning a specific language, with classes structured around the four skills (Speaking, Listening, Writing, and Reading). Therefore, the focus is on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, listening and reading comprehension, as well as conversation. 

Bilingual education, on the other hand, aims to broaden students’ academic repertoires in two different languages, so they can develop proficiency in both the additional language and their native language at the same time. For example, students would take basic math classes in both Portuguese and English.

Educating Bilingual Students

Schools can play a leading role in language education and produce bilingual students by choosing a solution that adds value and is flexible. In practice, a school should never have to compromise its identity to launch a project—a partnership should always work to serve the school, respecting its own pace. 

That’s what we do at Skies Learning. Together with the school, we identify the key components of our program and the indicators of success. This ensures that the classes are implemented effectively, and everyone understands the “how” and “why” behind this new initiative. 

How does Skies Learning contribute to family satisfaction? 

In addition to supporting its students' education, the school aims to increase parent satisfaction through the implementation of Skies Learning.

The program provides school administrators with metrics that help increase engagement and loyalty, highlighting necessary adjustments and tracking students’ progress. Since the NPS (Net Promoter Score) is a metric that measures family satisfaction and loyalty, the school can expect increasingly higher scores with our solution! 

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