These days kids are speaking a whole new language. With texting, status updates, uploads, downloads, Spanglish, and iPods® and MP3s, it's almost like we need a whole new dictionary to define all the changes that have entered our vocabulary in the last few years. That's not to mention all that Internet jargon and muddled abbreviations that teens use over instant messaging systems!

A 2005 report by the Pew Research Center states that 87% of those between 12 and 17 are online. Imagine how much that number has even changed! With all this new "techno-speak" comes a real need to connect young students with a curriculum geared to this new generational wave. (Perhaps a tidal wave might be a more accurate description.)

It's not just in the online realm that different languages are being spoken. This also applies to real life with English as Second Language (ESL) learners.Today's classrooms are more diverse then ever, as evidence of a society composed of multiple cultures and races. America, always the melting pot, has seen a rise in multi-cultural families, especially in the past several decades.

According to Cheryl Van Hook, estimates project that by the year 2020, 40% of students in U.S. public school classrooms will be students of color (or non-Caucasian). If your school has not experienced these changes already, there is no doubt your Christian school will see changes or shifts in classroom demographics as well. ESL learners are a part of that growing change. Schools have difficulty addressing the needs of ESL since many schools cannot afford additional teachers to support them.

However, Switched-On® from Alpha Omega Publications can help your Christian school better address the diverse needs of ESL learners! How? Switched-On is an online-based, Bible-centered curriculum that focuses on individualism through customizable lessons. Teachers can easily create and adjust lessons with self-authoring tools to appeal to students of different cultures! Not only that, but this tech-driven curriculum comes with a text translating tool.

Converting lesson text into eight different languages like Spanish, French, Korean, and Chinese, Switched-On literally teaches in a student's own language! Not only that, but Switched-On meets students at their level, too, with online, media-rich elements like clickable videos, dynamic text, and 3-D animated games, all incorporated into lessons.

The world is changing. Your students are starting to speak a new language. Is your Christian school ready?