Has Liked You!Guestoria
Geography, Reading, Social, Technology, Writing
(Penpals) Let’s learn with kids around the world!
Personalized Writing & Real-World Exploration for Kids
Guestoria® is a secure, globally-connected platform for K-12 students – the ultimate 21st Century Penpal Club, which combines online and offline writing collaboration for kids. This is the #1 parent and teacher approved way for students to develop essential peer-to-peer skills in digital citizenship, language arts, geography, and social emotional growth. Through meaningful connections, students gain lifelong friendships, global perspective, and vital academic and social skills that support school achievement and testing benchmarks.📚
🎓The Types of Kids Who Participate: This program works best for those who are gifted writers and even those who are learning to become better writers. Many of the students first language is English, but there are also others where English may be their 2nd or 3rd language. You’ll find that many of the kids in the Penpal Program have an array of personalities and interests which makes it super exciting to share commonalities & diversity. Many peer-to-peer penpal friendships have been developed all over the world, including: the USA, Canada, Uganda, Australia, France and more. And what makes this work well is that kids are developing as a “learner” and a “person”.
🔒Safety: This program is built on safe interactions with kid participants only, where a screening process takes place in order to qualify for entry. If you’re a school/teacher, we’ll need to meet in person or online, or get verification from the school that you work there. If you’re a parent, we’ll meet online with at least one of your kids available.
- Less stress for teachers & parents to get kids motivated to write
- More personalized learning
- Improvement in writing, reading, spelling and penmanship
- Kids have discovered more things they are interested in
- Insight into how safe technology can connect us to the world
- Character building (patience, empathy, leadership, critical thinking, creativity, confidence)
- Better prepared to take ESL Assessment tests (eg. TELPAS)
- Culture & diversity exploration
- Observing the world more to get rid of limited thinking
- Excitement about something to look forward to
- More aware of people and cultural differences in order to function in the real world
- Overcoming writers block to gain freedom of expression for college & scholarship essay applications
- Better communicators
Trusted by schools around the world!
How do you ensure safety? All participating families, teachers, and schools go through a safety check. For families, the safety check happens on Zoom. For teachers/schools we may meet on Zoom or verification comes from the school. Only those who have been granted a login will be able to make a penpal profile and connect with penpals.
Who can participate? School classrooms and individual students. Public School, Private School, Homeschool and all others
How do kids connect in order to become penpals? Each kid has a safe online penpal profile where they are able to send/receive penpal requests
What data will be displayed on my penpal profile? The penpal profile will contain (first name, city/state/country, a tagline, any youtube/vimeo link of their favorite video (optional), a description of kid and their interests, grade level, age, image)
What device do I need to make my profile and initially connect with penpals? Any device will work (phone, tablet, laptop, computer). There is no app needed.
Once I make a penpal, can we do email letter exchanges? Yes, you can send email letter exchanges to your penpal if that’s preferred. Many of the kids are writing and mailing physical letters, but there are also others who prefer to write via email exchanges to get their letters to the penpal quicker. Some kids even do a combination of both. It’s left up to you and your penpal.
Do I have to show my physical mailing address or email anywhere? No, you do not. When you send a request for someone to become your penpal, then they’ll automatically have just your email or the teacher or parents email (whichever you prefer). Then, if you agree with your penpal to mail letters via snail mail, then you can send your physical mailing address directly to your penpal’s email address that they gave you.
How many penpals can my kids have? As many as they want. It’s unlimited.
How often do kids write? Everything is flexible which means you get to determine the frequency in which your kids write. On average, some kids write once every couple weeks or so.
How will I know when someone wants to be my penpal? You’ll receive an email and also the message will be stored on your dashboard when you log in. If you are enrolled as a teacher, all the penpal requests will be on your dashboard next to the student’s penpal profile listing.
Can I request for someone to be my penpal too? Yes, and you can also have more than one penpal.
What language will my kids be writing in? Many of the students first language is English, but there are also others where English may be their 2nd or 3rd language.
Do we promote specific religions? Kids are able to mention their religion on their profiles and discuss with one another as they wish.
When should I enroll my kids/students? At times, there may be a waitlist. Enrollment periods and security checks are open only during certain periods, so if the opportunity presents itself then you should be ready to enroll now if you feel like the program will benefit your kids.
Is there a fee? For the majority, there is a fee. In rare cases there is no fee. This program is not a one-size-fits-all, so you’ll need to determine how long you want your kids to have access to the club and online login. 6 months and 1 year are typically available, and on occasion we may offer 1 month.
Shaleen P.
(Guestoria) CEO & Chief Penpal Engagement Specialist
Shaleen has a passion for fostering the growth of kids through educational, motivational & fun learning experiences. Throughout her journey, she has worked with K-12 and college students in various capacities. She has a lot of versatility and has taught English Language Arts, Engineering, Science, Environmental Sustainability, and even Job Interviewing Skills. Shaleen holds a Masters of Science in Engineering Technology and also has a Bachelors of Science in Chemical Engineering.