Global Collaboration

Dr Kimberley O’Brien and The Quirky Kid team have recently collaborated with Hodder Education UK to write and published five exciting titles to support Social and Emotional Education for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Program (PYP) curriculum.

The books deal came after a smaller collaboration with Hodder Education aimed at the Cambridge International Global Perspectives programme. Quirky Kid produced 24 worksheets for children; lesson plans for educators on topics including: Critical Thinking and Problem-solving, Independent Research, Communication, Reflection, Innovation and Creative Thinking and Collaboration.

The larger and more recent commission called on the creative juices of the QK team to help create a collection of student’s workbooks, while Dr Kimberley also wrote a textbook for educators on the topic of Wellbeing as part of the  IB PYP programme. The interactive series of workbooks for children covered the following topics:

• Interpersonal Relationships
• Growth Mindset
• Mindfulness
• Social and Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Management
• Wellbeing

So-Shan Au, Senior Publisher at Hodder Education, commissioned the book deal with QK. She recalled “ I first came across the work of Quirky Kid when I was on a panel with Leo Rocker at Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair in 2015. The panel was on ‘Education and Entertainment: How mobile devices and new technology are transforming how children are interacting with content’ and I talked about how new technology changes the way children interact with content. Leo looked at it from the child psychology point of view. Our viewpoints aligned and I knew I wanted to work with him, Dr Kimberley O’Brien and the team at Quirky Kid.”

On the topic of QK resources, So-Shan Au’s opinion as a Publisher in the International  Education market made an impact on the QK team. She stated, “I really love the innovative and exciting resources they have created for their psychological programs, all based on the work that Dr Kimberley O’Brien is doing at their clinics”. According to So-Shan Au,  “I could see how their resources encompassed and aligned so well with the IB ethos and I could see the potential for PYP and the international school market” .

Wellbeing for the IB PYP: Teaching  for Success, provides practical strategies for educators to foster social and emotional learning (SEL) among their students. Case examples are used to illustrate how emotions influence behaviour and what educators can do to encourage individuals and groups to self-regulate. In the book, Dr Kimberley O’Brien aims to share the recipe for creating a calm and collaborative PYP classroom filled with happy, high-achieving students and educators.

This set of resources is designed to help PYP teachers to deliver inquiry-based learning on topics, such as emotional well being, while creating inviting and intentional learning spaces to boost the wellbeing of educators and students alike.