VTech® Launches Educator-Approved Online Milestones Guide to Help Parents Make More Informed Toy Selections

Recommendations From Esteemed Early Childhood Mental Development Expert, Dr. Lise Eliot

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Oct 03, 2013, 09:00 ET

CHICAGO, Oct. 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- VTech® (www.vtechkids.com), a world leader in age-appropriate and developmental stage-based electronic learning products for children, today launched their educator-approved Milestones guide on vtechkids.com/milestones, strengthening the company's ongoing commitment to educator-endorsed toy development and parental support. Developed in partnership with Dr. Lise Eliot, Early Childhood Mental Development Expert and member of VTech's Panel of Experts, Milestones is a resource to help parents select toys based on the individual needs of children 0-9 years old. By understanding their child's mental, emotional and physical development, parents are able to determine which toys and games are appropriate at each unique age and developmental stage, so they can in turn make smarter toy selections.

"As a pioneer in the learning toy category, VTech strives to not only develop innovative educational products that enrich children's development, but to also be a trusted resource for parents looking for support," said William To, President, VTech Electronics North America. "VTech understands that parents can be overwhelmed by the choices available to them in the toy aisle. We have worked with Dr. Eliot to assist parents and provide them with guidelines and recommendations to help them make informed decisions."

"Parents want the best for their child, but don't always know where to start," said Dr. Eliot. "VTech's Milestones provides a 'one-stop' destination for parents to better grasp their child's developmental progress and identify appropriate playthings for his or her age and stage."

The Milestones online guide focuses on three key areas of development:

Language & Cognitive Development – Encourages language immersion as a key to children's cognitive and emotional growth
Physical & Motor Development – Highlights how children exercise their gross and fine motor skills, honing the brain pathways for smooth, purposeful physical movements
Social & Emotional Development – Explores how children develop relationships, learn to read other people's emotions and how to control their own.

The milestones in these key areas help identify a child's particular stage of development and can help parents make informed decisions about which toys are appropriate.

To learn more about Milestones, please visit www.vtechkids.com/milestones.

About VTech®
VTech^® is a world leader in age-appropriate and developmental stage-based electronic learning products for children. As a pioneer in the learning toy category, VTech develops high-quality, innovative educational products that enrich children's development and make learning fun. With a rich, almost 35 year history, VTech has not only established itself as a learning authority but also consistently remains at the forefront of innovation with award-winning products such as the InnoTab^® 2S Wi-Fi Learning App Tablet, one of the first children's learning-based tablets with Wi-Fi, MobiGo^®, V.Reader^® and V.Smile^®. The Learning Lodge™, VTech's comprehensive app store, features a robust library of more than 350 educational and entertaining games, e-books, music and videos with engaging age-appropriate content across the widest variety of curricula, with content expanding to offer more than 600 titles by the end of 2013. The company also has a broad range of award-winning infant and preschool products available in 24 different languages worldwide, with more than 100 new products introduced every year.

VTech Electronics North America, LLC is based in Arlington Heights, Illinois. VTech Electronics Ltd. is headquartered in Hong Kong with distribution globally. VTech is the largest supplier of ELPs from infancy to preschool in the US and Western Europe.

For more information on VTech's additional product lines, visit www.VTechKids.com, www.facebook.com/VTechtoys on Facebook or follow @VTechToys on Twitter.

About Dr. Lise Eliot
Dr. Lise Eliot is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience at The Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science. A Chicago native, she received an A.B. degree from Harvard University, a Ph.D. from Columbia University, and did post-doctoral research at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. In addition to more than 50 published peer-reviewed journal articles and magazine pieces on children's brain and mental development, Dr. Eliot has authored two books.

SOURCE VTech