NEA Teaching Excellence and Disney Teacher Honoree Says Parents Can Help Prevent Summer Brain Drain With Teachable Moments and Learning Adventures
As the last bell rings at schools across the country, parents are gearing up to take on the challenge of keeping learning alive for their children during the long weeks of summer vacation. Studies show that teachers spend approximately one month every fall re-teaching core concepts because children forget up to 25 percent of their reading and math skills from the previous year's learning. Award-winning teacher Brian Freeman, as recognized by the National Education Association (NEA), Wal-Mart and the Disney Corporation, sees summer as the perfect chance for parents to transform traditional summer activities into learning opportunities.
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:LF) , a leading manufacturer of educational products, today released Brian Freeman's top five tips for preventing summer brain drain among children.
Teaching Expert Brian Freeman's Top Summer Teaching Tips for Parents:
1. Attend local library events or museum exhibits. Organize group trips to encourage group learning with friends and neighbors. Research and visit a local historical site or participate in a cultural activity or community celebration.
2. Gather facts about your vacation destination. Help children learn the history and culture of the places they are traveling to for summer vacation. Locate places of interest on the map.
3. Plan a creative project such as building a lemonade stand. The young entrepreneur will use math and develop social skills as they learn to design, build and handle finances while having fun with friends and neighbors.
4. Let children pick the reading materials and the topic. The best and simplest way to prevent summer learning loss is to keep reading. Use books, comics, tour books, sports or hobby magazines -- whatever it takes as long as it stimulates them. Remember, it does not have to be a classic to add learning value.
5. Choose engaging products that are educational and make learning fun. Quality learning aids allow children to play and learn at home or on the go. Make the most of idle time (traveling, waiting in lines, doctor's offices, etc.) by letting children bring along portable learning tools, like the LeapPad(R) learning system. Incorporate their favorite characters, like Batman, The Incredibles, Madagascar, and Disney Princesses, to make learning even more enjoyable.
"Summer is a great time for parents to make every moment with their children a teachable moment," said award-winning teacher Brian Freeman. "Learning should be fun and I have found with my students that the LeapPad learning system instills confidence, which in turn helps them achieve faster growth and better learning progress. I encourage parents to extend that learning opportunity into the home with quality learning products that keep children actively engaged and learning without even knowing it."
LeapFrog's LeapPad learning system brings to life the magic of books and reading while developing phonics awareness, spelling and vocabulary skills. The LeapPad learning system has an expansive library, with more than 75 books that are appropriate for children from six months to 11-years old, as well as a reading competency Phonics Program that spans from early reading to reading comprehension. Popular titles include loveable summer movie characters from Madagascar, to heroes such as Batman and Spiderman, to favorite characters like SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Disney Princesses and the very sassy Bratz dolls.
More summer learning tips and education information can be found on LeapFrog's Web site at www.leapfrog.com/summerlearning.
About Brian Freeman
Brian Freeman is a National Board Certified second grade teacher and was selected as the recipient of the National Education Association's Teaching Excellence Award (2003) and as one of Disney's 39 Teacher Honorees for 2004. He is also recognized as one of Wal-Mart's North Carolina Teachers of the Year for 2005.
About LeapFrog
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. is a leading designer, developer and marketer of innovative, technology-based learning products and related proprietary content, dedicated to making learning effective and engaging for all ages, at home and in schools, around the world. The company was founded in 1995 and is based in Emeryville, California. LeapFrog has developed a family of learning platforms that come to life with more than 100 interactive software titles, covering important subjects such as phonics, reading, writing, math, music, geography, social studies, spelling, vocabulary and science. In addition, the company has created more than 35 stand-alone educational products for children from birth to 16 years. LeapFrog's award-winning U.S. consumer products are available in six languages at major retailers in more than 25 countries around the world. The LeapFrog SchoolHouse(TM) curriculum programs are currently in more than 80,000 classrooms across the U.S. with over 200 interactive books and over 450 skill cards representing more than 6,000 pages of educational content. LeapFrog SchoolHouse products have won numerous awards from the education industry, including the Golden Lamp Award and Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers, the Award of Excellence from Technology & Learning magazine and the Teacher's Choice Award from Learning magazine.
Contact: Jaeme Sines LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. 510-596-3497 jsines@leapfrog.com Shannon Eis Inc. Kaplow Communications 212-221-1713 shannone@kaplowpr.com
Source: LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.
CONTACT: Jaeme Sines of LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc., +1-510-596-3497, or
jsines@leapfrog.com; or Shannon Eis of Kaplow Communications, +1-212-221-1713,
or shannone@kaplowpr.com, for LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.
Web site: http://www.leapfrog.com/