The Best Brain-Boosting Toys & Media of 2019
The independent Academics' Choice Awards program and its seals of excellence are recognized worldwide by consumers and educational institutions as indicators of genuinely effective learning products that stimulate the mind, and develop critical thinking skills for success in school and life.
APTOS, Calif., Dec. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Academics' Choice today congratulates all winners of the Fall 2019 Academics' Choice Awards, a prestigious seal of educational quality, reserved only for the best mind-building media and toys. The fall winners include brain-boosting products from Learning Resources, Fat Brain Toy Co., hand2mind, Happy Numbers, The Melody Book, Linguacious, OverDrive Education, Kayle Concepts, Sago Mini, Adventerra Games, United States Playing Card Company (USPC), Melon Rind, Historical Conquest, Pixidoku, Adacio, Clickarte, Bob Books Publishing, Teach My Toddler Inc., Everyday Speech, Premium Joy, Pai Technology, ClassLink Inc, Tech4learning Inc., PhET Interactive Simulations, Language Together, National Wildlife Federation, Age of Learning Inc., LeapFrog, and more! The full list of winners is posted online at http://www.academicschoice.com/2019.
The Academics' Choice Advisory Board consists of leading thinkers and graduates from Princeton, Harvard, George Washington University, and other reputable educational institutions. Product-appropriate volunteer reviewers, combined with the brainpower of the Board, determine the coveted winners. Entries are judged by category (i.e. mobile app, toy, book, website, magazine, etc.), subject area, and grade level, and evaluated based on standardized criteria rooted in constructivist learning theory.
"It is such an honor to have Pixidoku logic puzzles chosen as a Brain Toy award winner by Academics' Choice! The reviews we got show how enticing a mental challenge can be when it is approached playfully. Since we first created the puzzles for my own math classes, I've wanted to help other teachers bring hands-on puzzles into the classroom. This award is truly invaluable to that mission." - Heather Moore, Co-Creator, Pixidoku | Support Pixdoku on Kickstarter!
"OverDrive Education is thrilled to receive Academics' Choice Smart Media Award as acknowledgement of Sora's impact on student reading," said Brian Potash, head of school growth at OverDrive Education. "Students and educators around the world are empowered with 24/7 access to the most extensive and diverse catalog of ebooks and audiobooks which opens up a world of reading for all ages, skill levels and abilities."
"The National Wildlife Federation feels very privileged that our Ranger Rick Zoobooks and Ranger Rick Zoodinos series are now recognized by the Academics Choice Awards as Smart Book Award Winners. For nearly 40 years we have done our best to encourage, teach, and empower children to learn and grow—and your award is not only an honor, but a concrete way to help us to reach and better the lives of even more children. One of your judges mentioned having enjoyed our books during their own childhood, and we hear this over and over again: Ranger Rick Zoobooks does its job so well that it often becomes a multi-generational tradition. Thank you for backing us as we work to expand young minds, save animals, and improve our world." - Renee Burch, Editorial Director, National Wildlife Federation/Ranger Rick Zoobooks and Zoodinos
"The entire team at Everyday Speech is extremely grateful and appreciative to receive the Academics' Choice Smart Media Award," said Cal Brunell, Co-Founder of Everyday Speech. "We've worked hard to create the most effective and well-researched teaching materials we can for Social-Emotional Learning and remain committed through our solution to make a positive difference in the lives of children and adolescents."
"Language Together is honored that Sets One and Two have been selected as Academics' Choice winners. Our story-based approach was developed with teachers, and combines multiple strategies to make learning a new language fun and achievable for beginners ages 3 to 8. This recognition motivates us in our mission to spark a child's interest in new languages." - Germaine Choe, Founder of Language Together
Many of the products that are evaluated by the Academics' Choice Awards team are donated to a variety of worthy charities including the Kids In Need Foundation and the Toys for Tots Foundation.
About Academics' Choice:
Academics' Choice helps consumers find exceptional brain-boosting material. Academics' Choice is the only international awards program designed to bring increased recognition to publishers, manufacturers, independent authors and developers that aim to stimulate cognitive development. A volunteer panel of product-appropriate judges, including parents, educators, scientists, artists, doctors, nurses, librarians, students and children, evaluate submissions based on educational benefits such as higher-order thinking skills, character building, creative play, durability and originality. Only the genuine "mind-builders" are recognized with the coveted Academics' Choice Awards.
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SOURCE Academics' Choice
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