Learning Connections is a company that is devoted to enhancing children’s literacy skills as well as promoting parent involvement. Its ‘flagship’ products are Literacy Kits and Parent Packs which are purchased by schools, organizations, and parents. Literacy Kits and Parent Packs can be checked out to students and sent home, much like a library book. Each Literacy Kit contains one or two books (one in English and, if available, one in Spanish), an English or bilingual guide for parents, a hands-on educational activity, and a response journal, and is housed in a colorful backpack on which the logo can be personalized.
Literacy Kits and Parent Packs are designed for parents to use with their children to enhance literacy skills and to encourage parents to spend quality, one-on-one time with their children doing educational activities. Parent Packs are a smaller version of the Literacy Kits and come in one language, either English or Spanish, if the book is available in Spanish. Each Parent Pack includes one book, an educational manipulative, and a guide with tips for reading the book as well as how to do the activity.. Please click on the link above for more information.
How did we get started?
Learning Connections, Inc., was created by Judy Guenzel in 2006. Judy taught kindergarten, first, and second grades for 26 years for Lincoln Public Schools in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 2002, she was contacted by the creators of the television program Reading Rainbow and asked to work on a project for them. This work created the opportunity for her to become their Educational Consultant. One of her tasks was to create literacy kits, of which they sold over 18,000 in three years. Other responsibilities included writing curriculum guides, theme weeks, and lesson plans for the Reading Rainbow website. Judy also created and presented a variety of workshops in California, Ohio, Missouri, and Kansas.
Judy wrote the literacy kit The Piggy in the Puddle for Reading Rainbow that won the Parents’ Choice Award from Learning Magazine in 2004, an award judged by teachers.
After Reading Rainbow was sold in February, 2006, Judy started her own business, Learning Connections, Inc. She saw a tremendous need for such literacy kits and parent packs to enhance children’s literacy skills as well as promote parent involvement. Along with a very important team of a graphic designer, a translator, and an illustrator, and medical consultants for the healthy living kits, she has created Literacy Kits and Parent Packs for Birth to Age 3 and Pre-K through 5th grades.
Since its ‘birth’ in 2006, Learning Connections has sold over 50,000 kits in forty-five states and Canada.
Download the printable order forms here.