10 August 2006
The newly appointed members, along with The Princeton Review, will join the continuing members of the Council in providing insight to the VTech team on its product development and product offerings, and use their vast knowledge to offer helpful tips for parents.
“VTech consistently provides parents with educational products and content that grows with their children throughout the years,” said Julia Fitzgerald, vice president of marketing, VTech Electronics North America, LLC, “This year’s Advisory Council and partnership with The Princeton Review will continue to enhance VTech’s offerings and resources to parents through providing expert tips and advice at every stage of a child’s development.”
Robin Raskin and Emily Kaufman return to their roles on the Advisory Council to advise the VTech team and apply their expertise to offer even more helpful tips to parents related to raising digital kids and family travel respectively. Lise Eliot and Ginny Paleg join the Advisory Council for the first time this year to offer expertise in early child development and children with special needs.
Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn, creators of the Baby Signs® programs and coauthors of, “Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk,” provide a wealth of baby sign language research and expertise to VTech. Specifically, Drs. Acredolo and Goodwyn have provided expert advice during the development of the interactive baby sign language component for the V.Smile Baby Infant Development System™.
Nationally recognized, The Princeton Review’s Andrew Lutz, brings extensive knowledge and experience on educational content to the VTech Advisory Council. The Princeton Review will review and approve content for VTech’s V.Flash™ Home Edutainment System, a new video game console for kids (ages 6 to 10) that connects directly to the TV to deliver educational video gaming, MP3-quality sound, videos, 3-D graphics and real-life images scheduled to release this fall.
“VTech seamlessly blends video gaming and creativity into an educational platform with the new V.Flash,” says Andrew Lutz. “The Princeton Review will continue to collaborate with VTech to ensure that content is age-appropriate and in line with what kids are seeking in fun, educational gaming experiences.”
2006 VTech Advisory Council
Andrew Lutz, Vice President for Product Development at The Princeton Review, is an expert on standardized testing and the design of related learning products. The Princeton Review’s test preparation courses, e-learning programs, and trade books set the standard for consumer satisfaction, and have garnered numerous awards and notable praise over the years.
Dr. Linda Acredolo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn, both child development experts, discovered the effectiveness of signing with babies in 1982. After two decades of research, Acredolo and Goodwyn have found that babies whose parents introduce them to signing through the Baby Signs® program learn to talk sooner, get a jump-start on their intellectual development, express emotions more effectively, and develop stronger bonds with their parents.
Acredolo currently serves as professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California at Davis, while Goodwyn serves as professor emeritus of psychology and childhood development at California State University, Stanislaus. Over the course of their careers they have published many scholarly articles and co-authored best-selling, parent-oriented books, “Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk,” “Baby Minds: Brain-Building Games Your Baby Will Love, “ and “Baby Hearts: A Guide to Giving your Child an Emotional Head Start.”
Lise Eliot is a leading authority on early brain development and the growth of perception, emotion, language and intelligence. Dr. Eliot is Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at the Chicago Medical School/Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. She authored the acclaimed “What’s Going On in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life,” charting the latest thinking about the brain’s development from conception through the critical early years.
Robin Raskin is an industry veteran on today’s family and their relationship with technology. Previously, she was editor in chief of FamilyPC, editor of PC Magazine, and columnist for USA Today online and Gannett News Service. Raskin has authored six books about parenting in the digital age, including “Parents, Kids and Computers: An Activity Guide for Family Fun and Learning,” and recently released a new book entitled “Parent’s Guide to College Life.” Raskin also serves as a consultant to the Princeton Review in the area of new media, lectures at schools around the country on Internet Safety issues, and writes a column from the Boomer’s perspective for Yahoo!Tech.
Emily Kaufman, “The Travel Mom” offers tips and practical pointers on all aspects of travel — addressing the varied needs of women travelers as a wife, sister, friend, businessperson and mom. She’s appeared on national television programs, including “Good Morning America,” “The View” and “The Today Show”, and is a frequent resource to magazines such as Redbook and Woman’s Day, online travel sites like Orbitz.com and Away.com, and recently released a book entitled “The Travel Mom’s Ultimate Book of Family Travel: Planning, Surviving, and Enjoying Your Vacation Together” with Broadway Books.
Ginny Paleg is an expert on positioning and mobility for children with special needs and currently works for the Montgomery County Infants and Toddler Program. Paleg earned her masters degree in physical therapy from Emory University and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland. She serves on the board of directors for PT Products and Rehab Management magazines, is a frequent contributor to The Advance for PT, and an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA). Paleg also presents continuing education courses on Spasticity Management, Alternative Gross Motor Therapies and more.
About VTech
VTech, the creator of the Electronic Learning Products (ELP) Category and the award-winning V.Smile TV Learning System, is a world leader of age-appropriate learning toys. Since 1976, VTech has been developing high-quality, innovative educational products for children from birth to preteen that deliver “smart play” through the combination of entertaining electronic formats and engaging, age-appropriate content that help children learn while having fun.
VTech Electronics North America, LLC is based in Arlington Heights, Ill. VTech Electronics Ltd. is headquartered in Hong Kong and is a pioneer in the establishment of China-based manufacturing facilities, selling its products via a strong brand platform supported by a well-established distribution network in North America, Europe and Asia.
About The Baby Signs Program
Child development experts Linda Acredolo, Ph.D., and Susan Goodwyn, Ph.D., discovered the effectiveness of signing with babies in 1982. After two decades of research, Acredolo and Goodwyn have found that babies whose parents introduce them to signing through the Baby Signs® program learn to talk sooner, have fewer tantrums, get a jump-start on their intellectual development, express emotions more effectively, and develop stronger bonds with their parents. Their ground-breaking book, Baby Signs: How to Talk to Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk, was published in 1996 and quickly became a bestseller with more than 500,000 copies sold in the U.S. alone. The book also has been translated into 14 foreign languages.
About The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review (Nasdaq: REVU) is a pioneer in the world of education. Founded in 1981 and headquartered in New York City, The Princeton Review offers classroom and online test preparation, as well as private tutoring, to help students improve their scores on college and graduate school admissions tests. The Princeton Review works with school districts around the U.S. to measurably strengthen students’ academic skills by connecting ongoing assessment with instruction and by providing districts with college and career resources for both students and guidance counselors. The Princeton Review also authors more than 190 print and software titles on test preparation; college and graduate school selection and admissions; and related topics.
