Portals to Learning^TM is dedicated to providing teachers and students with opportunities for quality instruction. Our understanding of student learning is based on a cognitive/developmental approach and built upon the SEAL framework. The elements of the SEAL framework carry support from the research and involve best practices in instructional design and implementation. SEAL is an acronym for four essential instructional principles that guide our understanding of student learning.

We know that children learn best with instruction that is presented systematically and explicitly, instructional principles which are thoroughly supported by research. We also believe learning experiences should be authentic, involving children in the real world of informational content, quality literature, numerical models and meaningful applications leading to generalization. We make sure our instruction is interactive and lively so that students fully collaborate in the learning process, thereby becoming increasingly more metacognitive, independent learners.