15 Minutes a Day: How long does it take to help your child love to learn?
By Hope Katz Gibbs
You likely remember reading Highlights as a kid, and if so, odds are good that you have shared the magic of the magazine with your own children and grandchildren. In celebration of its 75th anniversary, Highlights has a new gift for the world: “15 Minutes a Day,” an entertaining educational book series for preschoolers, kindergartners, and first graders exclusively being sold at Costco.
Each box contains 10 fun workbooks, a write-on/wipe-off practice board, a poster to track progress, and a parent guide that helps parents understand skills covered in each book, shares Christine Cully, Highlight’s Editor-in-Chief and Chief Purpose Officer.
“Studies show that 15 minutes of focused attention on a project or problem will help a child retain more information and enjoy the process of learning,” explains Cully, who hired educators to vet the series to ensure the content aligns with what kids are being taught in school. “Think of it as a burst of focus to help students be highly productive.”
Cully has spent her entire career working in children’s publishing—the last 27 for the company founded in Honesdale, PA by lifelong educators Garry and Caroline Myers. Like the educational pioneers who gave birth to Highlights for Children in 1946, she has great respect for children.
“The Myers mission was to help readers grow up to be thoughtful, literate citizens who are sensitive to the needs and ideas of others, and we continue that legacy with everything we publish,” says Cully, noting that while the world has changed tremendously in the last 75 years and Highlights has also evolved to stay relevant, the magazine remains loyal to beloved characters like Goofus and Gallant and the popular Hidden Picture Puzzles.
Cully shares that anything new to the pages of Highlights must hit two marks: “It must be good for kids and families, and it must help kids become more Curious, Creative, Caring, and Confident. These 4 Cs reflect our focus on the whole child.”
The company’s mission is to help kids love reading and learning and to also enhance their social-emotional development. “That translates,” she says, “into nurturing optimism and empathy, helping them understand that all people deserve dignity and respect. Our content illustrates the importance of being curious, working hard, and always trying to do your best. By promoting these and other core beliefs about what kids need to become their best selves, we have seen generations of compassionate children grow up to do great things.”
Sidebar:
- Editor-in-Chief and Chief Purpose Officer: Christine Cully
- Number of employees: 500
- Headquarters: Columbus, Ohio
- Website: www.highlights.com
From the Editor’s Desk: Christine Cully’s 6 tips to help children love to read and learn
- Read aloud to children, even if only for 15 minutes a day.
- If your child is reading independently, let them read to you, their stuffed animals, or a family pet.
- Make books and magazines readily accessible — in bedrooms, the den, and road trips.
- Give kids a choice about what they read. Try not to assign reading like homework or a chore.
- Show an interest in what they are reading.
- Allow them to see you reading for entertainment.