Press release - Difficulties with French: Alloprof is developing new tools for students

Montreal, February 9, 2023 – In honour of Hooked on School Days, which starts on February 13, Alloprof is launching two new and fully revamped interactive tools to help students with French spelling and reading comprehension. These tools could not have come at a better time, since a recent Leger survey shows that French is the subject that poses the greatest challenge for students in elementary and high school. Among the parents of school-aged children in Quebec who were surveyed, 40% said that French was the subject their child struggled with the most. This was well ahead of math, which came in second at 18%.

Alloprof recently launched a new version of its  reading comprehension game, Grimoire, which is available on all platforms. In addition to being even more fun and visually appealing than before, the game’s pedagogical structure is now improved, with new interactive questions that allow students to progress even faster. The game also provides kids with an opportunity to discover the works of well-known local authors such as Simon Boulerice, Gilles Vigneault, Jacques Newashish, and Annie Groovie.

“Reading comprehension is undoubtedly the most important skill kids develop in school. When you have a hard time understanding a text, that makes all other subjects more challenging,” explains Annie Harvey, a spokesperson for Alloprof. “We know that getting children interested in reading at an early age is the best way to ensure their academic success, and games can be a great way to appeal to students who might be more reluctant.”

What’s more, Alloprof is also launching  a new interactive exercise (available in French only) that allows elementary students to be more independent when practising how to spell vocabulary words. Using a list created by Alloprof, a teacher or parent, the exercise allows children to type the words they hear on a mobile device, tablet, or computer, and get feedback on whether they got it right or wrong in real time.

With Hooked on School Days right around the corner, Alloprof would like to highlight that its website contains entire sections on  academic perseverance and  keeping kids in school. These topic sections are filled with practical tips for parents and grandparents who help children throughout their academic journey. According to a survey Alloprof conducted among 350 parents, when it comes to their child’s academic progress, parents are most concerned about motivation and perseverance (36%), closely followed by stress and performance anxiety levels (25%).

“With the labour shortage, more and more high schoolers are entering the job market. For some students, it can be hard to understand why finishing school might be important,” says Ms. Harvey. “Our practical tips and personalized services allow parents to know what to say when their child asks questions such as What’s the point of school? or Why do I need to learn this? Our goal is to promote academic perseverance and keep kids in school.”

In fact, the Alloprof Parents team is organizing a  Facebook Live event on February 15, at 8 p.m., that will feature tips on how to help children stay motivated and persevere, along with a question and answer period.

 

For some students, the reason they lose motivation and become discouraged is because small problems and misunderstandings build up over time. To encourage them to get help with their school-related questions, Alloprof has created the When Helping Means Winning contest, which runs until April 30. Every time a student asks a question in the  Help Zone—a professionally moderated, seven-day-a-week help forum—they get a chance to win one of three $500 scholarships.

“Ever since it was launched, the Help Zone has been gaining a great deal of traction among Quebec students. It allows kids who might be a little shier to ask their questions with complete confidentiality, as well as answer questions from their peers. It’s a great way to increase students’ confidence,” says Ms. Harvey.

Here are the different resources available online:

●  Grimoire, reading comprehension game (French only)

●  Interactive vocabulary exercise (French only)

●  Academic perseverance

●  Keeping your child in school

●  Help Zone

●  Support for parents  

 

About Alloprof

As a charitable organization, Alloprof promotes academic engagement and success by providing Quebec students and their parents with professional, stimulating educational support free of charge. This year, it will have helped more than 550,000 students, 60 million times. The organization is supported by many generous partners, including the Gouvernement du Québec, Rio Tinto, the Desjardins Foundation, the Pathy Family Foundation, the Trottier Family Foundation, the Rossy Foundation, National Bank, CIBC, the RBC Foundation, the Valero Energy Foundation of Canada, CDPQ, SNC-Lavalin, Télé-Québec, Hydro-Québec, and Power Corporation of Canada. Click here to see all our partners.

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For visuals and videos,  visit our press room.

For more information:

Laurence de Tilly

Communications Officer, Alloprof

Phone: 514-509-2025 ext. 0 / Email: ldetilly@alloprof.qc.ca

 

 

 

An online survey was conducted among 1,005 Quebecers who speak English or French. The sample included 197 parents of children currently attending elementary or high school. The results of this report are therefore based on 197 parents of school-aged children. The data was collected from January 27 to 29, 2023, and the questionnaire was available in French and English, depending on the choice of the respondent. Respondents were randomly chosen from a sample of users belonging to the Leger opinion panel, the largest Canadian-owned internet panel with over 200,000 members across Quebec.

It is not possible to calculate a margin of error on a panel sample, but for comparison purposes, the maximum margin of error for a sample of 197 respondents is ± 7.0%, 19 times out of 20. To ensure a representative sample of the population under examination, the results were weighted by gender, age, mother tongue, region, and level of education in accordance with the latest Statistics Canada Census.