Attention Homeschooling Families!
Hello, my name is Kathryn Smallwood and as a previous home school parent I appreciated the opportunities that arose allowing us to creatively teach our daughter.  There are many different ways to teach our children as there are different ways that our children learn and comprehend.  As home school parents, being invested in your children’s education is a full time commitment. Finding fun and creative ways to reinforce what you teach offers children and families engaging experiences in which to learn  

Toys and games are fun tools that children can use to learn.  They allow children to develop their physical and muscle strength, develop their sensory skills, allow their imagination to soar, their creativity to blossom and allow their social and intellectual skills to grow.  Children gain self-confidence as they play and master new skills.  Children learn to cooperate as they play; they learn how to build friendships, how to communicate, how others think and feel and how to handle their own emotions.

Games require children to use critical thinking skills while making decisions and solving problems. Math games are a great way for children to learn math in a real world way allowing them to practice what they are learning in a fun way.  Board games, which involve tossing dice or spinning a wheel with numbers, are great way to help them learn sequential math.  By keeping score during a game, children can tally by clusters of five and practice counting by fives. Playing games will help your children with math, encourages them to read, as well as understand geography and map skills.


 Games and play has become an important part of children’s learning.  So important that the Learning Support Program which is part of the Harvard After School Initiative (HASI) which supports after-school programs in the Boston area has incorporated board games into their program.  As part of this program 10 after-school programs received a kit of dozens of games and other learning items valued at $1,500 as well as training and support from the HASI team. Games are used to encourage strategic thinking, enrich math learning, and build vocabulary.  The students love it and the staff says the results are dramatic.

So come join us at the Chicago International Toy and Game Fair and have some fun!

THE CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL TOY AND GAME FAIR

The Chicago International Toy and Game Fair invites you as our guest, both to our Fair and to a special Homeschool Networking Event, on Friday Night November 17, 2006; between 4 pm and 9 pm in the Chess Utopia/PlunderChess Tournament Booth. Come and meet home schooling families from all over the United States . For more information on the event, visit http://www.chitag.com.

Let us know if you can join us by emailing info@chitag.com and please put "Homeschool Family Event" in the subject line.

Homeschooling Parent will be handing out their current issue themed GAMES.

Many of the games on exhibit at the fair cannot be found in your local department stores. The games come from all over the world and are a different generation of games. For instance, one of our largest booths is Rio Grande Games. Go to http://www.riograndegames.com/ to read about these European games and are available in different languages. We have exhibitors from Australia , Belgium , West Indies , United Kingdom  and more.

If you are interested in participating in the chess tournaments on Saturday and Sunday, email either Jeff at plunderchess@cox.net or Frank at SWINCHESS@aol.com.

We want to make this a successful event for you and would appreciate your any help spreading the word to other home schooling families. Also, if anyone knows of a supplier who wants to reach the home schooling community and would like to give a gift for all the home school attendees families, let us know.

Thank you and hope to see you in November.

Below is a recent PR piece. Something for everyone!

Our Best,

Mary Couzin, Executive Director
mcouzin@chitag.com

THE CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL TOY AND GAME FAIR

Why should you come to Chi-Tag? Let us count the ways:
·                                 Cool Stuff! Exhibitors span the globe, from as far as Australia , Belgium and the West Indies . Exhibitors large and small, from Hasbro to Independents.
·                                 The only non-hobby toy and game fair in the United States .
·                                 The media loves this event! From the recent New York Times Chicago Connection Magazine to travel magazines, tourist websites, industry media, TV, radio, magazines, newspapers and more.
·                                 Something for everyone! Attractions like the Star Wars 501st Legion, Characters, Sports Mascots, Music, Ronald McDonald, Tournaments, Raffles, Open Gaming, Radio Disney Party Patrol with 4Kids TV featuring the Teenage Mutant Turtle characters live and in person, loads of chances to win awesome prizes including Bratz dolls, Yu-Gi-Oh and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle stuff and MORE!
·                                 Events like Homeschooling Networking Night and a Singles Speed Gaming Night.
·                                 There is still time to sign up for the Industry Forum! Listen and ask questions of Mike Hirtle from Hasbro, Jeffrey Breslow from Big Monster Toys and Joey Breslow from Grape Games with Tim Walsh from The Playmakers/ Timeless Toys moderating.
·                                 Trade, media and educators are our guests!
Playing around the world with Chi-Tag in the heartland of the USA .
Fair Dates:
Friday, November 17th, 2006, 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Saturday, November 18th, 2006, 10:00 am to 7:00 pm
Sunday, November 19th, 2006, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

Hotel:
Renaissance Hotel attached to the convention center, special rates, 800-266-9432 or visit https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_gi_new&groupID=58766.
Contact Information:
847-677-8277
info@chitag.com
http://www.chitag.com