NOT ON THE TEST IS COMING!
[Posted February 2019]
Not On The Test is a curiosity-driven podcast that conspires with kids 7 to 11 to let them in on secrets about our cool world. It celebrates the weird, wonderful bits of knowledge that make our understanding more richly three-dimensional, but which are too often skimmed or trimmed from school learning. Why?
Simple. They’re not on the test.
Each week, Not On The Test will explore a single topic through an eclectic blend of art, history, language, music, food, and cultural traditions. Cats, colors, constellations, cartoons—any topic is up for grabs in a kid-friendly way that celebrates the diversity of human culture. Each 20-ish minute episode will present a scrapbook of ideas and facts that are chosen specifically for their power to intrigue and inspire further exploration. Is it cool? Is it surprising? Funny? Obscure? Kinda weird? We’re here for it!
And this show is meant to be more than a podcast. It will inspire listeners to learn more on their own—to embrace an innate enthusiasm for discovery. To do that, the show will institute a unique model. The Not On The Test audio podcast will be free, now and forever. No ads will be run, and no sponsored content will be permitted. Ever. But, for those who want more, $1 per month will gain subscribers a downloadable, shareable set of “Extra Credit” notes that enhance each show: supplemental images, links to books and music, recipes, field trip ideas, and other content that makes it easy to explore each topic further.
Our amazing world is waiting to be explored. Let Not On The Test open the door.
[Posted February 2019]
Not On The Test is a curiosity-driven podcast that conspires with kids 7 to 11 to let them in on secrets about our cool world. It celebrates the weird, wonderful bits of knowledge that make our understanding more richly three-dimensional, but which are too often skimmed or trimmed from school learning. Why?
Simple. They’re not on the test.
Each week, Not On The Test will explore a single topic through an eclectic blend of art, history, language, music, food, and cultural traditions. Cats, colors, constellations, cartoons—any topic is up for grabs in a kid-friendly way that celebrates the diversity of human culture. Each 20-ish minute episode will present a scrapbook of ideas and facts that are chosen specifically for their power to intrigue and inspire further exploration. Is it cool? Is it surprising? Funny? Obscure? Kinda weird? We’re here for it!
And this show is meant to be more than a podcast. It will inspire listeners to learn more on their own—to embrace an innate enthusiasm for discovery. To do that, the show will institute a unique model. The Not On The Test audio podcast will be free, now and forever. No ads will be run, and no sponsored content will be permitted. Ever. But, for those who want more, $1 per month will gain subscribers a downloadable, shareable set of “Extra Credit” notes that enhance each show: supplemental images, links to books and music, recipes, field trip ideas, and other content that makes it easy to explore each topic further.
Our amazing world is waiting to be explored. Let Not On The Test open the door.
OUR TARGET AUDIENCE
Not On The Test is targeted to kids aged 7-11, along with their parents, caregivers and teachers—the people who are on an endless hunt for cool content to keep their kids engaged and learning.
The young Not On The Test listener has yet to mature into the “too cool to care” phase. Their eyes sparkle when they discover something new, they push adults for more, and you can all but see the flash of neurons firing as they process, sort, question, and build new knowledge.
The kids in our target age range occupy a special intellectual niche, transitioning across a developmental boundary from the wide-ranging curiosity of young childhood to the more complex thinking capabilities of young adults. They are openly inquisitive about the world, but also able to grasp the larger ramifications of culture, language, art—tools by which we shape a particular understanding of that world. They know, and insist, that they’re not “little kids” anymore, which is why a hallmark of Not On The Test will be language—and ideas—that are smart and snappy, not dumbed-down and childish.
Our target listener is also at a critical turning point in which interests and enthusiasms are built or culled for life. Researchers, for example, have pointed to these years as the most important for building (or tearing down) long-term interest in STEM careers. As a result, current educational initiatives have strongly shifted in favor of STEM to encourage kids in this age group towards those fields.
But, this same truth holds for other fields, as well. Not everybody wants to be an industrial engineer or programmer! By targeting humanities-based content, Not On The Test gives kids a counterpoint to increasingly STEM-focused education. It reveals—and revels in—a huge world of opportunities to build lifelong enthusiasms (and careers) for those whose interests lie elsewhere.
The curious minds of our target audience want to be fed, but where to go? Right now, the answer is largely television and books. Museums and other cultural institutions are another outlet, but attendance is highly dependent on location and complex social factors that podcasts don’t face.
Surprisingly, given the huge surge in podcasting in recent years, the niche of kid-oriented podcasts remains highly underserved. In March 2016, The Atlantic bemoaned the lack of podcasts for kids, despite a massive potential market. Since then, however, kid-oriented content has not appreciably grown. In the top 200 “Kids & Family” podcasts on Apple, only 30 actually target kids!
The vast majority of content aimed at kids is story-based (Story Pirates, Storynory, The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel, etc.). The other dominant category is science/STEM-focused podcasting (Brains On!, Wow in the World, But Why). Finally, there are a few great history-focused podcasts like The Past & The Curious, and newly-launched Forever Ago. But podcast explorations based in the humanities just aren’t there. Nothing like Not On The Test currently exists in any visible way. The market for our target audience is wide open and eagerly waiting.
Not On The Test is targeted to kids aged 7-11, along with their parents, caregivers and teachers—the people who are on an endless hunt for cool content to keep their kids engaged and learning.
The young Not On The Test listener has yet to mature into the “too cool to care” phase. Their eyes sparkle when they discover something new, they push adults for more, and you can all but see the flash of neurons firing as they process, sort, question, and build new knowledge.
The kids in our target age range occupy a special intellectual niche, transitioning across a developmental boundary from the wide-ranging curiosity of young childhood to the more complex thinking capabilities of young adults. They are openly inquisitive about the world, but also able to grasp the larger ramifications of culture, language, art—tools by which we shape a particular understanding of that world. They know, and insist, that they’re not “little kids” anymore, which is why a hallmark of Not On The Test will be language—and ideas—that are smart and snappy, not dumbed-down and childish.
Our target listener is also at a critical turning point in which interests and enthusiasms are built or culled for life. Researchers, for example, have pointed to these years as the most important for building (or tearing down) long-term interest in STEM careers. As a result, current educational initiatives have strongly shifted in favor of STEM to encourage kids in this age group towards those fields.
But, this same truth holds for other fields, as well. Not everybody wants to be an industrial engineer or programmer! By targeting humanities-based content, Not On The Test gives kids a counterpoint to increasingly STEM-focused education. It reveals—and revels in—a huge world of opportunities to build lifelong enthusiasms (and careers) for those whose interests lie elsewhere.
The curious minds of our target audience want to be fed, but where to go? Right now, the answer is largely television and books. Museums and other cultural institutions are another outlet, but attendance is highly dependent on location and complex social factors that podcasts don’t face.
Surprisingly, given the huge surge in podcasting in recent years, the niche of kid-oriented podcasts remains highly underserved. In March 2016, The Atlantic bemoaned the lack of podcasts for kids, despite a massive potential market. Since then, however, kid-oriented content has not appreciably grown. In the top 200 “Kids & Family” podcasts on Apple, only 30 actually target kids!
The vast majority of content aimed at kids is story-based (Story Pirates, Storynory, The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel, etc.). The other dominant category is science/STEM-focused podcasting (Brains On!, Wow in the World, But Why). Finally, there are a few great history-focused podcasts like The Past & The Curious, and newly-launched Forever Ago. But podcast explorations based in the humanities just aren’t there. Nothing like Not On The Test currently exists in any visible way. The market for our target audience is wide open and eagerly waiting.
OUR FORMAT
Not On The Test will be an episodic podcast, with each week’s entry produced as a standalone product. Listeners can pick up the show at any time, or wander between episodes based on their interests, in a reflection of the podcast’s own “Let’s get curious and explore!” ethos.
Each episode of Not On The Test will be 20-ish minutes long—enough time to present a variety of information, but not so long that it overwhelms a young, active mind.
Those 20-ish minutes will be divided into a set series of segments, each 3 to 5 minutes in length. Segmenting will keep the podcast organized and lively for young minds, while providing convenient break points that help the podcast function well as an accompaniment to school commutes or other instances where stopping and starting may be needed.
The naming of specific segments is still being refined, but a typical episode would include:
In addition to the audio podcast, Not On The Test is specifically structured to provide more opportunities for exploration outside of its 20-ish minutes. The podcast itself will always be free—and completely free of ads and/or sponsored content. A few topic links for further exploration will be provided each week through its branded social media presence on Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook.
But, for those who want more, $1 per month (or 25 cents per show based on one episode per week) will gain subscribers a set of “Extra Credit” notes that enhance each show. Each set of Extra Credit will include: supplemental images; suggestions for age-appropriate books, music, TV shows or movies; an easy-to-produce recipe to build practical cooking skills in a fun way; ideas for free or cheap field trips; and other content that makes it easy for anyone to explore each topic further.
Extra Credit for subscribers will be purposefully designed to be downloadable and shareable. Are you a teacher? An OST/afterschool program? A woefully underfunded school in a low-income area? No problem! For $12 a year, here are 52 sets of cool ways to poke around our world that you can share with every one of your kids (and their parents/caregivers), because Not On The Test is dedicated to one thing—fostering curiosity and exploration. Podcasts are a burgeoning field, and the time is ripe for them to evolve into something more profound and affective, especially when it comes to kids and education. This low-cost, shareable model will take one step forward in that evolution.
Not On The Test will be an episodic podcast, with each week’s entry produced as a standalone product. Listeners can pick up the show at any time, or wander between episodes based on their interests, in a reflection of the podcast’s own “Let’s get curious and explore!” ethos.
Each episode of Not On The Test will be 20-ish minutes long—enough time to present a variety of information, but not so long that it overwhelms a young, active mind.
Those 20-ish minutes will be divided into a set series of segments, each 3 to 5 minutes in length. Segmenting will keep the podcast organized and lively for young minds, while providing convenient break points that help the podcast function well as an accompaniment to school commutes or other instances where stopping and starting may be needed.
The naming of specific segments is still being refined, but a typical episode would include:
- Welcome/Intro: What are we talking about and why? This opening segment gives an overview of the topic being discussed, why it means something to people around the globe (possibly in very different ways), and a few cool, surprising things about it.
- Culture Club: Mythology, customs, festivals, and/or culturally specific quirks related to the topic, presented in a way that celebrates humanity’s awesome diversity.
- The Studio: One or two representations of the topic from the worlds of art, music, and/or design. For example, the podcast could feature a cool song, or ask listeners to close their eyes and use their imaginations to “see” a painting that is described in detail.
- What’s the Word: A wonderful, culturally specific word or words related to the topic. This segment allows us to introduce language, and its relation to the way people see and experience the world through very different lenses.
- Here’s the Thing: The outro segment in which something unexpected about the main story is presented that gets the listener thinking about it differently, and makes them curious to find out more. This—and the podcast—would end with a reminder about the ability to subscribe and receive a link to the “Extra Credit” show notes (described below).
In addition to the audio podcast, Not On The Test is specifically structured to provide more opportunities for exploration outside of its 20-ish minutes. The podcast itself will always be free—and completely free of ads and/or sponsored content. A few topic links for further exploration will be provided each week through its branded social media presence on Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook.
But, for those who want more, $1 per month (or 25 cents per show based on one episode per week) will gain subscribers a set of “Extra Credit” notes that enhance each show. Each set of Extra Credit will include: supplemental images; suggestions for age-appropriate books, music, TV shows or movies; an easy-to-produce recipe to build practical cooking skills in a fun way; ideas for free or cheap field trips; and other content that makes it easy for anyone to explore each topic further.
Extra Credit for subscribers will be purposefully designed to be downloadable and shareable. Are you a teacher? An OST/afterschool program? A woefully underfunded school in a low-income area? No problem! For $12 a year, here are 52 sets of cool ways to poke around our world that you can share with every one of your kids (and their parents/caregivers), because Not On The Test is dedicated to one thing—fostering curiosity and exploration. Podcasts are a burgeoning field, and the time is ripe for them to evolve into something more profound and affective, especially when it comes to kids and education. This low-cost, shareable model will take one step forward in that evolution.