Grand Haven Firm Launches Kiddie Tablet

GRAND HAVEN (WWJ) -- Grand Haven-based School Zone Publishing, a provider of children's educational workbooks, flash cards and software for more than 35 years, announced the launch of the School Zone Little Scholar -- a $199 tablet computer designed expressly for children with exclusive educational and entertainment content.

This tablet debuts an original kids' educational video series, "Charlie & Company," along with educational apps, progressive e-books and lively music.

School Zone says the tablet will lead children in pre-school through first grade on an early learning journey that teaches them math, reading, spelling, science, geography and creativity. This engaging new content is exclusive to the School Zone Little Scholar.

"The launch of the School Zone Little Scholar adds a new and exciting dimension to our company," said Jonathan Hoffman, CEO of School Zone. "School Zone Little Scholar offers children a safe and easy-to-use educational experience to explore and enjoy learning skills critical to their educational development. Additionally, our expansion into kids' video broadcasting with the Charlie and Company series marks a whole new era for School Zone."

"Charlie and Company" will premiere with four 22-minute, live action/animated episodes. The early learning-based series has been developed by School Zone and includes original music from Brian Vander Ark of the acclaimed band The Verve Pipe. Each "Charlie and Company" video – starring Charlie the Golden Retriever, teacher Miss Ellie and their delightful animal friends – represents an educational lesson to guide children through age-appropriate, entertaining and educational adventures. As Miss Ellie says, "A School Zone is anywhere you want it to be."

The School Zone Little Scholar will come pre-loaded with four episodes of Charlie and Company with additional downloadable episodes scheduled for release later this year.

In addition to providing exclusive viewing access to "Charlie and Company," the first-generation of the School Zone Little Scholar will offer an enriched interactive experience with pre-loaded features, including 45 educational apps based on core early learning concepts and skills, 87 fun and upbeat children's sing-a-long songs and 45 learn-to-read children's e-books.

School Zone says it designed the tablet with large buttons and easy navigation for young users. It has a front- and rear-facing camera and an A+ app that allows parents to track their child's progress and see how much time their child has spent on each app. This safe environment allows children to enjoy learning without being able to connect to the Internet – unless their parents specifically log into Parent Settings and enable Internet access.

For more information on the School Zone Little Scholar and the premiere of "Charlie and Company," visit www.schoolzone.com/littlescholar.