The Scolavo Journal

Notes on learning, curiosity & the craft of teaching.

Stories from behind the curriculum, homeschool playbooks, and a little learning science.

Announcements

Plug Scolavo into your own AI: the Scolavo MCP server

Schools, districts, universities, and learning teams can now ground their own chatbots and AI assistants in Scolavo’s full licensed curriculum — 3,680 class-lessons across 125 subjects — through an MCP connection. Here’s what that means, how it works, and what “licensed” actually buys you.

Jul 2026 · 6 min read
Announcements

Scolavo is free for everyone — for the next three months

We’re in soft launch. While we test and tune the platform, every lesson, every level, and all of Test Prep is completely free — you just need a free account. Here’s the deal, and what to expect.

Jun 2026 · 3 min read
Learning science

The testing effect: why a quick question teaches more than another read-through

Re-reading feels productive and barely is. Being asked to recall something is harder, feels worse, and works dramatically better. Here's the research Scolavo's quick-checks are built on.

Jun 2026 · 7 min read
Learning science

The forgetting curve: why forgetting a little is the point

Forgetting isn't the failure of learning — used on purpose, it's the engine of it. Here's the research behind why Scolavo brings ideas back days and weeks later instead of letting you cram.

Jun 2026 · 7 min read
Our method

Watch it, then do it — why every lesson has two modes

Watching a great explanation feels like learning. Often it isn't. Here's the gap between recognizing an idea and being able to use it — and the two-mode design Scolavo built to close it.

Jun 2026 · 7 min read
Homeschool

A homeschool week at the kitchen table

A loose, kind rhythm for using Scolavo with one kid or four — watch, do, check — without turning your kitchen into a classroom you both dread.

Jun 2026 · 7 min read
Learning science

Why we pair visuals with narration — the cognitive science of multimedia learning

Combining pictures with a spoken voice uses how working memory is actually built. Plain text leaves half the machinery idle. Here is the research Scolavo is designed around.

Jun 2026 · 8 min read
Learning science

The modality principle: why we narrate instead of putting text on the screen

A screen full of text fights with the diagram beside it. A voice doesn’t. The single design rule behind every narrated Scolavo lesson.

Jun 2026 · 5 min read
Learning science

When visuals don’t help: novices, experts, and the coherence principle

The multimedia effect is real — but it has boundaries. Decorative images distract, and support that helps a beginner can slow down an expert. Designing honestly means designing for who’s watching.

Jun 2026 · 5 min read
Our method

Why we film every lesson — then make you do the work

Passive video has a completion-rate problem. Here is how Scolavo pairs cinematic lessons with interactive practice so understanding actually sticks.

Jun 2026 · 6 min · Coming soon
Homeschool

A week of Scolavo: building a flexible homeschool rhythm

Five lightweight routines families use to make self-paced learning stick.

Jun 2026 · 4 min · Coming soon
Behind the scenes

How a single lesson becomes a film and an interactive course

From script to narration to the click-through version — one pipeline, two ways to learn.

May 2026 · 5 min · Coming soon
Learning science

Mastery over grades: the case for learning until it clicks

What the research says about mastery-based progression and why we built around it.

May 2026 · 7 min · Coming soon
Product

Now live: the College tier across 50 subjects

Accounting to astrophysics — our university-level library just got a lot bigger.

May 2026 · 3 min · Coming soon
Topics

Understanding AI & LLMs, one handcrafted diorama at a time

A look at our most-loved standalone Topic and the little clay world we built for it.

Apr 2026 · 4 min · Coming soon
Curiosity

Ten questions worth a whole afternoon

The kind of prompts that turn a quiet evening into a rabbit hole — in the best way.

Apr 2026 · 3 min · Coming soon
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