Contact: Linda Collier, Blue Lake Children’s Publishing
503-267-8373
linda@bluelakepublishing.com
www.tessyandtab.com
Toolkit for Parents
Kindergarten Countdown DVD and The Tessy & Tab Reading Club Magazines Help Parents and Preschoolers Prepare for Kindergarten
Portland, Oregon – July 18, 2007 – The countdown to the start of the school year has officially begun. Preschoolers getting ready to start kindergarten may feel a little anxious as they get used to new routines, teachers and friends. Blue Lake Children’s Publishing and Educational Productions have created a toolkit for parents to use to make the transition as easy as possible.
The Kindergarten Countdown Toolkit, answers the questions preschoolers most want to know, such as, “How will I get there? Who is my teacher? What do I do at kindergarten?” The toolkit contains an award-winning 18-minute DVD, five Tessy & Tab magazines about school-related activities and a Kindergarten Checklist.
“Education experts agree that it is important to help preschoolers imagine what kindergarten will be like by telling school-related stories, viewing videos or reading books about going to school, and rehearsing for kindergarten through pretend play,” said Judy Johnston, CEO of Blue Lake Children’s Publishing. “This toolkit provides practical tools for parents to help prepare their preschooler for the first day of school.”
Designed for parents and children to watch together, Educational Productions’ Kindergarten Countdown DVD is a great conversation-starter that walks through all the steps of going to kindergarten. “It shows children getting on the school bus, meeting teachers, figuring out how to finding the bathroom, and doing typical activities like listening to stories, playing outside, and making new friends,” explains Linda Freedman,
CEO of Educational Productions. “Seeing children just like themselves helps preschoolers trust that starting school is going to be a good experience."
Parents can use The Tessy & Tab Reading Club New School magazine as a fun visual explanation for what kinds of things to expect on their first day at kindergarten. They will also receive Love to Share, Favorite Fruits, Ouch! and Checkup Time, each focusing on different social skills and other important school-related activities.
The Kindergarten Checklist gives parents tips such as:
• Visit the school with your child. If possible, arrange a meeting with the teacher. Learn where the bathrooms are and how they work – especially urinals for boys.
• Prepare to ride the bus by ensuring your child knows the bus number and/or the driver.
• Practice a sleeping schedule for school. Begin putting your child to bed 10-15 minutes earlier each night, and waking them earlier in the morning so their sleeping schedule will be in place when school starts.
• Make a list with your child of what can be packed for lunch and snacks as well as what should be in your child’s backpack each morning.
• Plan a special “First Day” family dinner. Make a fun meal and use the meal time for discussing the first school day.
• And many more.
The Kindergarten Countdown Toolkit is available for purchase online at www.tessyandtab.com/kindergarten for $29.95.
About Blue Lake Children’s Publishing
Founded in 2002 and based in Portland, Oregon, Blue Lake Children's Publishing creates magazines with engaging characters and innovative formats that capture the imagination of today's media-savvy children. Blue Lake’s first product is The Tessy & Tab Reading Club, which combines a children’s magazine subscription with tools for parents to help their preschooler get ready to read. This reading program builds early reading skills in children ages 2-6 and was developed to support the Six Skills for Early Literacy endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education. For more information, call 1-800-921-3284 or visit
www.tessyandtab.com.
About Educational Productions
For 25 years, Educational Productions (EdPro), based in Portland, Oregon, has been producing video training materials that are widely used throughout the U.S. and Canada to enhance the skills of adults who work with young children. EdPro training is used in colleges and universities and by trainers in parenting education, child care, preschool, and Head Start programs. The hallmark of these award-winning programs is teaching how to support each child's unique development and ways of learning. For more information, call
1-800-950-4949 or visit www.edpro.com.
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