Leading Education Brands Reading Rainbow and Kindermusik International Partner to Build Early Literacy Skills in Children

Partnership Combines the Power of Music with Digital Reading For Music in Our Schools Month and Read Across America Day

LOS ANGELES, CA & GREENSBORO, NC – February 18, 2014 – Reading Rainbow and Kindermusik International, two of the most trusted brands in childhood education, today announced a partnership that combines Kindermusik International’s research-based musical learning curriculum with Reading Rainbow’s award-winning mobile reading service in a digital library available on tablet devices. New digital content will launch March 2, 2014, in time for Music in our Schools Month (MIOSM), and National Read Across America Day (RAAD).

Music Mountain Reading Rainbow“This partnership with Kindermusik emphasizes the important, proven connection between literacy and music,” said LeVar Burton, RRKidz/Reading Rainbow co-founder. “We know that when young children are engaged by music in age-appropriate ways, they can build skills that are the foundation for reading. By integrating the other arts and sciences, we aim to further inspire a lifelong love of learning.”

Reading Rainbow’s tablet-based reading service, hosted by Burton, guides children on a reading adventure to themed “islands,” each filled with hundreds of children’s books and video field trips. More than ten million books have been read and video field trips viewed since the mid-2012 launch. With the addition of Music Mountain Island, Kindermusik’s music-themed books and videos will be featured alongside other newly produced content from Reading Rainbow and their acclaimed partners.

“Our collaboration with Reading Rainbow reinforces what our own experience and the growing body of research clearly states, that there is a clear tie between music and literacy and language development,” explained Michael Dougherty, CEO at Kindermusik International. “We are thrilled to put our research-based content into some of the best development hands and are excited this new content area within Reading Rainbow will arrive in time to celebrate Music in Our Schools Month.”

While the partnership between these two brands is new, the links between music and reading are not. Research has shown music supports a child’s literacy development in many ways, including phonological awareness, vocabulary building, listening skills, reading accuracy, and prosody. Results from a 2012-2013 study of nearly 300 preschool children by independent research firm, SEG Measurement, indicated that students who utilized Kindermusik’s ABC Music & Me curriculum for just 30 minutes each week showed greater gains in literacy. The treatment group who utilized the music and movement curriculum showed a 32% higher gain in Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) scores over the control group.

The Music Mountain Island featuring Kindermusik’s content will be available in the Reading Rainbow app and the Kindle Fire app by March 2, 2014. The app is free to try and for an unlimited reading experience, parents can subscribe for $9.99 per month or $29.99 for a six-month subscription. Additional information about the Reading Rainbow iPad app can be found by visiting the iTunes App Store here.

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About LeVar Burton:

Best known for his Reading Rainbow stewardship as well as his other

distinguished TV roles (most notably Kunta Kinte on Roots and Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation), LeVar Burton comes from a family of educators and is widely recognized for his lifelong advocacy of children’s literacy. He speaks passionately on the topics of early learning and technology and has been a keynote speaker at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, South by Southwest (SXSW) Edu and received the Eliot-Pearson Award for Excellence in Children’s Media from Tufts University as well as The 2013 Children’s Media Award from Common Sense Media.

About RRKidz, Inc.:

Respected by millions and one of the most watched children’s television series in PBS history, Reading Rainbow has been connecting families to the joy of reading for over 30 years. In 2011, famed actor/producer/educational advocate LeVar Burton and his business partner, Mark Wolfe, formed RRKidz. They hold the global rights to the Reading Rainbow brand through a partnership with series creator, WNED/Buffalo. RRKidz’s flagship product, the award-winning Reading Rainbow app, is a reading subscription service filled with a library of quality ebooks, kids videos, and educational games. New children’s books and reading activities are added every week encouraging children to “go anywhere, be anything.” Free to try, the educational app is available on the iPad (http://bit.ly/10sgjbs) and Kindle Fire (http://amzn.to/14tOPzY).

About Kindermusik International:

Kindermusik International is the world’s leading provider of music, movement and literacy programs for young children, enjoyed by more than two million families in over 70 countries. For more than 35 years, Kindermusik has helped children and their families discover how music can enrich their lives and lay the foundation for a lifetime love of learning. Kindermusik offers developmentally-specific educational programs for children ages newborn to seven. Kindermusik curriculum is taught by the best educators in the best schools and studios world-wide. Visit Kindermusik.com to learn more about Kindermusik early childhood programs and music classes for kids.

Connect with Reading Rainbow:

Facebook: Facebook.com/ReadingRainbow

Twitter: @readingrainbow

YouTube: Youtube.com/readingrainbow

Blog: readingrainbow.com/blog

 

Connect with Kindermusik:

Facebook: Facebook.com/Kindermusik

Google+: Plus.Google.com/+Kindermusik

Pinterest: Pinterest.com/Kindermusik

Twitter: @Kindermusik

YouTube: Youtube.com/KindermusikRocks

Contacts for Reading Rainbow:

Julie Nathanson Teri Weigel

310.854.8191 310.854.8290

jnathanson@rogersandcowan.com tweigel@rogersandcowan.com

Contacts for Kindermusik

Jamie Sterling Lauren Burke

336.543.6218 410.975.9638

jsterling@kindermusik.com Lauren@kehcomm.com

 

Help us name our new Reading Rainbow music island and WIN!

why_music_quotes16Author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Gabriela Mistral wrote: “Many things we need can wait. The child cannot. Now is the time his bones are formed, his mind developed. To him we cannot say tomorrow, his name is today.”
Children need both music and reading at a young age. The research clearly shows how both can impact the the trajectory of a child’s life. It’s one of the reasons Kindermusik is partnering with Reading Rainbow, the beloved leader in early literacy and education. Together we are bringing a “Musical Island” to the RRKidz iPad app. And we need you to help name the island! See below for details.

Within this educational app for kids are different ‘islands,’ each of which has its own theme. Within each island are a few short educational videos (many pulled from the Reading Rainbow archives) and a selection of the best children’s books, in eBook format. We need the help of Kindermusik families in the United States to name the new Kindermusik “Musical Island.”

Reading Rainbow + Kindermusik Island Naming Sweepstakes

Reading Rainbow sweepstakesThe new Kindermusik Island will contain a limited selection of eBooks from the Kindermusik library and some additional videos that Reading Rainbow and Kindermusik will produce together around musical topics (similar to many of our video field trips in Kindermusik@Home).
Help us name the new Kindermusik/Reading Rainbow Music Island! Enter your suggestion by clicking on this link. If your name is chosen you will win a $100 Amazon Gift Card, a free 6-month subscription to Reading Rainbow AND a Kindermusik prize package!
(Mobile Users click here.)

Accepting entries October 9-October 31, 2013. Enter today!