About

The story began in 2016…

• Nittany Kiwanis Club members wanted to create a fun material that would help parents build math and thinking skills with their young children

• Club member, Jim Johnson, a professor of early childhood education at Penn State, had two graduate students who wanted to get involved

• The graduate students researched the needs of parents and their young children and suggested some ideas for fun activities

• Community members from school districts, home visiting organizations, and child care experts developed the activities further

• Skills shop manager, Mike Jewell, an experienced wood-worker and designer, had ideas for designing the process of constructing the Preschool Learning Kit

• Mike worked with Skills members to develop a process to make the Preschool Learning Kit