Virtual Microschool
An instructional framework connecting strong subject teaching with interdisciplinary projects, real-world application, communication and reflection.
Explore the school ›The Skhillz Academy learning framework
Beyond STEM.Beyond STEAM.Welcome to STREAME.
A complete approach to learning for a connected world.
At Skhillz Academy™, we believe students need more than technical knowledge to thrive. They must be able to understand what they read, communicate what they know, think creatively, solve unfamiliar problems, and apply their learning in meaningful ways.
That is why we use STREAME: Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, Math, and English.
STREAME expands the traditional STEM and STEAM models by intentionally placing Reading and English alongside science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. Literacy is not treated as a separate subject that students use only during language arts. It is the foundation that allows them to understand information, follow processes, evaluate evidence, explain their reasoning, present ideas, and participate fully in every other area of learning.
Why STREAME
The real world does not separate learning into subjects.
Scientists must read research and communicate their findings. Engineers must understand written specifications, calculate accurately, design solutions, and explain how those solutions work. Entrepreneurs use technology, analyze numbers, develop creative ideas, and communicate with customers. Artists conduct research, use digital tools, solve design problems, and tell meaningful stories.
STREAME helps students recognize and use these connections.
Instead of learning individual skills without understanding how they fit together, students experience a more complete learning process. They may read about a real-world problem, investigate the science behind it, use math to analyze information, apply engineering to develop a solution, incorporate technology to improve it, use the arts to design or present it, and rely on English to document and communicate what they have learned.
Seven strands
Each area strengthens the others.
- Investigate
Science
Science encourages students to investigate, question, observe, and understand the world around them.
- Create
Technology
Technology gives students tools to research, create, connect, and develop solutions.
- Understand
Reading
Reading helps students comprehend instructions, gather information, evaluate sources, and build knowledge.
- Solve
Engineering
Engineering teaches students to design, test, revise, and keep working through challenges.
- Imagine
Arts
Arts develops creativity, imagination, expression, innovation, and visual thinking.
- Reason
Math
Math strengthens reasoning, measurement, analysis, accuracy, and decision-making.
- Communicate
English
English helps students write, speak, explain, present, persuade, and communicate with confidence.
Together, these disciplines create a learning experience that is deeper, more practical, and more relevant to how students will use their knowledge beyond the classroom.
The two letters that make it STREAME
Why Reading and English both matter.
Reading and English are closely connected, but they serve different purposes within the STREAME framework.
Reading
Reading gives students access to knowledge.
It helps them understand concepts, interpret directions, research questions, identify important information, and make meaning from what they encounter.
English
English gives students the ability to use and communicate that knowledge.
It strengthens writing, speaking, vocabulary, grammar, discussion, storytelling, presentation, and self-expression.
A student may be able to build an effective solution, but that student must also be able to explain the problem, document the process, defend a decision, and share the final idea. By including both Reading and English, STREAME supports students as learners, creators, collaborators, and communicators.
Learning that works together
Active, connected, and designed around application.
Depending on the program and age level, students may participate in:
- Hands-on experiments and investigations
- Engineering and design challenges
- Reading and research activities
- Writing, storytelling, and presentations
- Technology-supported projects
- Art and creative expression
- Math-based problem-solving
- Collaborative projects and discussions
- Real-world and community-centered challenges
- Career, innovation, and entrepreneurship exploration
These experiences help students understand not only what they are learning, but also why it matters and how it can be used.
The heart of the school
STREAME is not added after the real subjects. It shapes how the subjects connect.
Inside the Skhillz Virtual Microschool, learners still receive explicit instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, science, social studies and the other required areas. STREAME does not replace strong subject teaching.
It makes sure learners also get to connect those subjects, through real questions, applied projects, design challenges, research, communication, reflection and revision.
Depending on the grade and the unit, a learner may
- read fiction, informational text, directions, research or firsthand accounts
- investigate a scientific, community, historical or practical question
- use mathematics to measure, compare, model or interpret evidence
- use technology to research, organize, create, simulate or present
- design, build, test and revise a possible solution
- use art and design to communicate meaning and improve the experience
- write, speak, discuss, present or defend the final thinking
- reflect on what changed between the first idea and the final explanation
The STREAME learning cycle
Predict. Test. Learn. Revise. Explain again.
This is what a learner actually does with the seven strands. It runs through Skhillz projects and reflection at every age. Younger children draw, dictate, build and talk. Older learners write analyses, present evidence, compare models and defend a decision.
- Step 1
Predict
What do I think will happen? What do I already know, and what makes me think my first idea is right?
- Step 2
Test
What happens when I actually try it, under conditions somebody else could watch and repeat?
- Step 3
Learn
What did the evidence show? What worked, what did not, and what surprised me?
- Step 4
Revise
What should I change, and why would that change make the result better?
- Step 5
Explain again
Can I use words, pictures, measurements and evidence to explain what I understand now that I did not understand before?
What STREAME looks like across Skhillz
One framework. Different expressions.
Learning Center
Targeted instruction stays focused on the learner's academic need, with applied reading, reasoning, communication and problem-solving brought in when they help.
Explore the Learning Center ›Summer Academy
Short, immersive programs where learners investigate, design, create, collaborate and present something they finished.
Explore summer programs ›Curious Little Engineers Discovery Club
A parent-managed digital experience for children ages 4 to 11, free of artificial intelligence, where monthly adventures make the cycle visible through stories, planning, hands-on challenges, evidence and explanation.
Explore the Discovery Club ›College, career and entrepreneurship
Where academic knowledge meets communication, technology, design, financial reasoning and the ability to explain an idea to the people it has to reach.
Explore College & Career Pathways ›Professional Learning
Support for educators and organizations who want connected, applied, literacy-rich learning without weakening subject-area rigor.
Explore Professional Learning ›Supporting the whole learner
Nobody should have to choose which half of themselves to develop.
STREAME aligns with the Skhillz Academy mission to provide meaningful, accessible, and future-ready learning experiences for students and families. It supports our vision of learners who are prepared to succeed in school, work, entrepreneurship, and life.
The framework also reflects the values at the heart of Skhillz Academy: curiosity, creativity, communication, inclusion, practical learning, confidence, and lifelong growth.
We recognize that students have different interests, abilities, and ways of learning. One student may connect with a project through building. Another may connect through reading, drawing, calculating, researching, writing, or presenting. STREAME provides multiple ways for students to enter the learning experience, contribute their strengths, develop new skills, and demonstrate what they know.
That completeness matters. Students should not have to choose between being creative and analytical, technical and expressive, or academically prepared and practically capable. They need opportunities to develop all of those abilities and understand how to use them together.
Preparing students for more than the next grade
Not to pass the class. To be capable after it.
The goal of STREAME is not simply to help students complete an activity or pass a class. It is to help them become capable thinkers, confident communicators, creative problem-solvers, and adaptable learners.
Through STREAME, students learn how to ask better questions, find reliable information, test their ideas, learn from mistakes, work with others, and communicate solutions. These are skills they can carry into future classrooms, careers, businesses, communities, and everyday life.
STREAME is how Skhillz Academy prepares the whole learner for the real world.
Discover STREAME at Skhillz Academy
Read, think, build, create, communicate, and grow.
Explore STREAME-centered programs, projects, learning experiences, and resources designed to help students read, think, build, create, communicate, and grow.