Blue Lake Children's Publishing Announces Early Reading Program Designed to Build "The Six Skills for Early Literacy"

The Tessy & Tab Reading Club program for preschoolers and their families builds early reading skills in children ages 2-6. The child receives a new magazine in the mail twice a month containing real-life adventures with Tessy the duck and Tab the kangaroo. The Parent's Guide to Building Early Reading Skills provides parents with tips and tools to foster reading skills at every age level, and online learning tools and activities complement and enhance the child's reading experience.

Portland, OR (PRWEB) August 29, 2007 -- Blue Lake Children's Publishing announces The Tessy & Tab Reading Club - an early literacy program for children and parents to build the Six Skills for Early Literacy. Research concludes that learning to read and write starts at home, long before children go to school. The Tessy & Tab Reading Club provides simple, fun tools to begin weaving language and literacy into your preschooler's life, blending elements of both 'whole language' and 'phonics-based' approaches.

Numerous studies confirm that children should learn many things about reading before they actually learn to read. This is often referred to as "getting ready to read." The Tessy & Tab Reading Club is designed to help your child build the Six Skills for Early Literacy at every age level.

The Six Skills for Early Literacy are:
1.   Print Motivation: Showing interest in books and knowing that books are fun
2.   Print Awareness: Understanding how books work
3.   Vocabulary: Knowing the names of things
4.   Narrative Skills: Being able to tell stories
5.   Letter Knowledge: Recognizing and naming letters
6.   Phonological Awareness: Knowing about letter sounds, rhyming, syllables and sentences

These Six Skills are based on the expertise of Blue Lake Children's Publishing's educational advisors and work published by The American Library Association, PBS.org, The National Institute for Literacy, The Early Literacy Initiative, and the U.S. Department of Education.

"In a world saturated with electronic media and in an environment where children spend an average of four hours a day watching television, it is more important than ever that young children build a foundation for reading print material such as books and magazines," says Judy Johnston, CEO and co-founder of Blue Lake Children's Publishing. "Many children's magazines exist, but only a few are effective at getting young children interested in reading. The Tessy & Tab Reading Club is designed for kids ages 2-6 to read all by themselves, with simple story lines and modern characters kids love."

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, a reading program that 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 visit www.tessyandtab.com.

Contact:
Linda Collier
Blue Lake Children's Publishing
503.595.6651 office
503-267-8373 cell
linda(at)bluelakepublishing.com
www.tessyandtab.com

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