All Around This World believes that teaching little kids in the real world is absolutely superior to teaching kids using videos; to us, real life engagement is categorically better than plunking kids down in front of even the most thoughtful video-based "educational content." (There is some really great stuff out there, and it can be a wonderful part of your kids' world... but first, go out and play!) With that firmly in mind, All Around This World's classes and curriculum materials are different! Yes, Jay will teach All Around This World's livecast concerts and classes to your school and you'll sing and dance while he's on a screen, but there is nothing pre-programmed, quick-cut or slick -- Jay is a real person who will be teaching a real live class to your kids and uses Zoom like a relative who happens to live far away. The goal is to inspire your students to sing, drum and dance together in the real world. The actual learning is happening not online, but in your classroom. The same holds true for All Around This World's pre-recorded videos and ample curriculum content; All Around This World gives you tools you won't find anywhere else. (Yes, you can have your kids meet the culture-bearers and Jay in their recordings as they introduce exciting things...but what we want is for your kids to learn by doing.) We want your kids to sing, we want your kids to dance, and drum, and leap (sometimes literally) into holiday celebrations. All Around This World is not a program that exists online; it's an interactive educational experience that you have in your classroom that you happen to access online.

Nope! Since Jay started to create the All Around This World curriculum many years ago he has always expected to open his e-mail to a message from another teacher who says, "Hi! I saw your program! I do what you do!" Not yet. Yes, there are educators who focus, and focus well, on introducing kids to culture from one part of the world, or teaching songs in one language, or introducing older kids to culture with a "survey of global music," but we don't know of another educational program for young children that offers hundreds of songs and cultural experiences that originate from countries on every inhabited content with as broad and exuberant of a goal. Jay translated, adapted (and, when working with non-public-domain material, licensed) each and every song in the curriculum, then tested each extensively in classrooms to make sure they're all hits. He adapted each cultural experience with the specific goal of "translating" each into an inspiring classroom event. While your school may have a music teacher who teaches global music to kids or have a yearly "international day" that celebrates your school community's diversity, All Around This World's curriculum provides a uniquely immersive, thoroughly kid-tested approach.

Over 300 kid-tested multilingual songs and cultural experiences that originate from over 100 countries.

Multiple affordable curriculum options. Live and recorded online classes with AATW founder and lead teacher Jay Sand. Prerecorded teaching videos with international "culture-bearers," Clickable PDF lesson plans for all of your teachers. (Click for example of PDF lesson)

Engaging live and recorded online concerts and classes enable a school to offer an extraordinary world cultures program with one click.

All Around This World offers a range of livecast online events — concerts, workshops, classes and other musical adventures. As our livecast events gain enough students to take place we will make every effort to schedule them at multiple times throughout the week so your school can make music during a school-day daytime in your time zone.

Schools can subscribe to our “All Access Pass” to have access (all!) to our full “core curriculum” to enjoy all of our hundreds of songs and lessons — available online any time.

All Around This World's core curriculum consists of 12 individual "seasons," or sections of material -- ten based in geography -- Africa, the Caribbean, East and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Oceania and the Pacific Islands, South and Central Asia, the U.S. and Canada, West Asia and the Middle East, Western Europe -- and two that leap across international borders – "Everything is a Drum" and "Connecting the Dots." Each season introduces 20 to 25 songs that originate from the region/s and ten kid-friendly cultural experiences for all to enjoy.

While the majority of All Around This World’s concerts and classes are full of active singing, dancing and drumming along — classes that work best for our youngest kids, infants through 9 years-old.

All Around This World’s core curriculum lesson plans (here’s an example!) augment our active sing-along, dance-along live and recorded classes by providing teachers with contextualizing information and step-by-step “how-to” guides that help teachers adapt the material to work for their students, no matter what age. Each cultural experience lesson plan also suggest questions that teacher may use to inspire culturally-inspired discussions among their older kids. Teachers know their students best, and will be able to find material in each lesson that can relate to every age group.

Jay teaches livecast concerts and classes from his classroom in Philadelphia using Zoom, and simulcasts some on Facebook Live. In addition to keeping the menu of monthly classes up to date on the webiste, Jay will communicate with subscribers to let them know the options for each month. When your school reserves a spot at an event Jay will send a unique Zoom login so your classroom will be able to join.

GREAT! All Around This World is a cultural inclusion program that uses music as a means to the end of introducing kids to the diversity of global cultures. All Around This World's classes complement, but do not necessarily replace, your music instruction program. With that said, students in these classes experience music joyfully and develop an intensely musical relationship with the world.

No! During livecasts you will be able to see Jay, but he doesn't have to see you.

Jay will welcome classrooms to join him in Zoom five minutes before he starts each live event. Classes often say hi with their video on, then turn off their camera during class. We then return to say goodbye at the end.

(Yes, classrooms have to mute themselves during live online events Sing loud and proud in your room.)

All Around This World is aspiring to offer live events at multiple times so you will be able to have weekday/daytime option in your time zone.

YES! In '21 - '22 Jay taught classes at four times each week that corresponded to weekday daytimes in most time zones -- one for schools in Asia (from India through Indonesia), one for Europe and Africa and two for North, Central and South America and the Caribbean..

No! Any classroom teacher or associate can teach All Around This World lessons in your school by following All Around This World's lesson plans with your students, not just your music teacher. All songs (find an example here!) and cultural experiences include a recorded video of either an international teacher or Jay introducing and teaching the lesson. Your teachers can watch the videos, learn from the contextualizing material in the lesson plans and teach the material to students themselves, or welcome Jay and other AATW educators as your teachers.

No!

Yes, All Around This World's curriculum materials are in English, and Jay teaches livecast classes -- consisting of multilingual songs -- in English. Any English-speaking teacher can learn from All Around World's materials and impart the lessons to their students. Jay offers livecast concerts and classes with minimal English-speaking that work well for really young kids and older students for whom English isn't their primary language.

Jay developed the curriculum over the course of many years, drawing upon his own musical global travels, intense online and offline research and extensive collaboration with translators, cultural educators, ethnomusicologists and multinational musicians. Jay has thoroughly kid-tested all of the songs and cultural experience in his classes and live performances.

Yes! You are welcome to share every All Around This World song and cultural experience with the families in your school community by distributing free logins to the online curriculum. Families can also "come to class" online by signing in to any livecasts that Jay is teaching during school or non-school hours.

Yes, yes, yes and yes! If a class time fits with your after-school timing, you should definitely consider offering class as an afterschool program. Kids have so much energy after school! All Around This World classes will encourage them to burn through it as they sing, drum and dance.

The Empatico “Musical Pen Pal Program” in partnership with All Around This World (previously known as “Now I Know You”) connects your school with other cultural engaged schools on several continents. All Around This World has partnered with Empatico.org, an NGO/non-profit that facilitates cultura exchanges between schools, to match your class with a classroom of kids on another continents to share their favorite cultural songs, dances and holidays. While registration for the current season of the Musical Pen Pal Progarm is closed, if you missed the boat and you’d like a spot on the wait list, be in touch.

If you are new to All Around This World and you sign up to an attend an event we will give you the option to join the All Around This World weekly e-mail list. Each week we’ll send two messages, one with background about the week’s “featured country,” and another with information about monthly concerts, classes and other offerings.

No! At points in each class or during recorded teaching videos Jay may bring out instruments like sticks, shakers/rattles/hand percussion instruments or drums, but you don’t have to have these things in your classroom for the kids to have fun. Your kids can absolutely pretend to have any instrument…and they can definitely drum on their knees or the floor.

Because every school in every part of the world is so very different we ask schools that are new to All Around This World to contact us before signing up for classes. If you’re curious in any way, contact us to set up a Zoom or call to meet Jay and explore the possibilties. We will figure out the best path, and tuition amount, that fits you best.

With a nearly infinite number of variables in schools worldwide, pricing for this program is infinitely complicated. We wish we could provide a one-click price for every school, but every school's needs are unique, and we need to talk first before we decide on tuition. Contact Jay and we'll set up a Zoom or call.

Absolutely. All Around This World will not turn away a school due to lack of funds.

Absolutely. Contact us for details.

All Around This World hosts our curriculum on our website, which partners with international networks like Stripe and Paypal to accept payments from most countries in your currency. When we are in contact we’ll work out the payment method that fits your school best.

While All Around This World has worked with hundreds of teachers worldwide who have learned our songs and other materials to share in their own classrooms, the pandemic diverted our burgeoning teacher accreditation program. There currently are not fully trained and certified All Around This World teachers available for your school to hire in your local area. We’re working hard to make that change.

Yes! Contact us with a proposal. All ideas are good ideas.

There is much more to know, and you should know it! Contact us today to set up a Zoom or phone introduction.