Aristotle Circle is a New York company who provides tutoring and admission advisory services. They have developed a range of workbooks for use in test preparation.

From Aristotle Circle:
Aristotle Circle has developed and published numerous award-winning publications for pre-school to high school students. The workbooks are engaging and extremely effective at reducing stress and achieving optimal test results. Aristotle Circle's guides to standardized childhood testing are developed by child psychologists, testing and education experts.

Aristotle Circle's workbooks are created by experts and insiders with two overriding goals: to demystify the tests for you and to help your child succeed. They debunk common misconceptions about what the tests are, how they are administered, what is actually being tested, and how to best prepare. The guides break down each test into its components and include exercises and activities that focus exclusively on the concepts that are tested.

From Think Tonight:
Aristotle Circle's material is priced at the high end of tutoring materials offered in the market. You are paying for very targeted content - so targeted that ethical issues have been raised with respect to using their workbooks for some tests - and design features which add to production cost.

We have had positive feedback from parents and tutors with respect to these titles. We also find that these titles are returned more than anything we sell - primarily by parents who didn't realize how few questions they'd be getting for their money.

• Visual perception - observation, comparision, recognition, visual discrimination, shapes, colors, sizes
• Concentration - focusing on task, retention, extending attention span
• Critical thinking and higher order thinking skills - association, relationship, sequencing, sorting, combining, orientation, logical thinking and reasoning, spatial analysis
• Language and general knowledge development - vocabulary, tools, activities, animals, seasons, environments
• Math - counting, matching objects with numbers, consecutive numbers, addition, subtraction, elements of geometry, spatial relationships.

B&B Publishing is a Canadian company. They began publishing Veritech in the 1960s.  More recently they've added the Baba series, a storybook and game for children (ages 3+) and parents alike.  Quickcheck Math is their latest series of books. It is a hands-on resource ideal for assessing, practicing and consolidating key math concepts in Gr K-3.

Veritech and Quickcheck math use the same self-checking play system as miniLUK.  Baba and Bambino are comparable to Beyond123's Bambino series.

While the way in which the tiles and tray are used is the same in LUK and Veritech the markings on the tiles are different.  The miniLUK controller and Veritech Case are interchangeable but the Bambino and Quick Think Math cases are different from the BambinoLUK Controller.

We have some information to help you learn to play Veritech.

Carson-Dellosa

Columbia Games

Since 1958 The Critical Thinking Co has published award-winning products which have helped students of all abilities achieve better academic results with highly effective lessons that sharpen the mind as they teach standards-based reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history.

Higher Grades and Top Test Scores!
These riddles, puzzles, games, and lessons develop thinking skills and improve standards-based learning. Each activity requires students to analyze, synthesize, and apply what they learn. The more students think about what they are learning, the more students understand what they are learning.

Empower the Mind!
Critical thinking doesn’t just guarantee academic success, it prepares children for the countless challenges they will encounter throughout their lives. Empowering the mind through critical thinking is one of the best ways to prepare for life's journey.

Learning Becomes Fun!
This thinking approach makes learning fun, motivating and effective. Students enjoy use workbooks from The Critical Thinking Co. and ask for them by name.

The Critical Thinking Co.™ is recommended by Learning® Magazine, The Well-Trained Mind, College Prep Genius, Creative Child Magazine, Dr. Toy, and used by Sylvan Learning® Centers, Club Z In-Home Tutoring, leading U.S. public schools, and gifted and talented programs in 57 countries throughout the world.

The name Didax comes from the Greek didaktikos, meaning "to teach". Didax specializes in helping educators to address individual learning styles and diverse student needs.

We have selected from the Didax range parent friendly titles which build thinking skills across ages.

"My kid see these books as a fun activity rather than 'work.' They each do a few activities a day and find them enjoyable and very easy to do independently!" -T. S.

"My son reads a lot and this book is a wonderful addition. It's not just more things to read at his level but includes questions on each story that requires him to think about what he read and process it. He's enjoying the book a lot and we're happy with his progress in it." - S. N.

"This book is wonderful! We completed teaching our son to read using "The Reading lesson: Teach your child to read in 20 easy lessons". We looked at many "reading" books, but so many of them were actually fill in the blank vocabulary sheets, or incredibly short passages. This book is organized very well, usually teaming two pages together for a topic. The first is an informative, more non-fiction passage with comprehension questions, and the second is a fiction passage also with comprehension activities. It also teaches nouns, verbs, main vs supporting ideas and adds many vocabulary words that normally don't come up in conversation." -Amazon Reviewer

"My daughter is in first grade and we supplement her regular school work with this book. She really enjoys the exercises, the reading is just right between challenging and not too frustrating, and I like how many of the exercises are interrelated. I will buy more from this series." -L.N.

FoxMind publishes family and educational games which are easy to learn, quick to play, smart and fun.  We carry a selection of their logic puzzles and  spatial visualization games.

Funny Bones Toys creates card games, toys, and gifts for lovers of good design.

Funny Bones Toys are new to the toy market. Of the six games they have released we've chosen to carry CUBU - a game where visual illusion leads to confusion.

As the parent of a gifted learner you may wish to expose your child to more advanced mathematics without pre-teaching material they'll be exposed to in school in due course. Ed Zaccaro's math books answer the call for material that truly and appropriately challenges mathematically gifted children. Use these titles to expand your child's understanding without simply accelerating them in a standard curriculum.

For the child who is gifted in mathematics their reward is often more of the same with perhaps a few more difficult problems added to the mix to keep them occupied. Math is often taught as all scales and no music. These books add the music. Children will be shown the fascinating connections between mathematics and the real world and be taught that challenge and frustration are part of learning and life. They'll learn to appreciate their gift for mathematics as they advance their skills.

The type of problem solving and thinking around the problem that these math books teach is what is needed to do well in many tests for gifted program entry where quantitative reasoning is tested.

Incentive Publications specializes in challenging, innovative resources for middle grade learners.

We've cherry picked the titles from their catalog that are most likely to be of interest to parents with highly capable children.

Teachers you'll appreciate knowing that all of these titles are reproducible for individual classroom use.

Kane Miller selects the best of the best from award winning internationally published children's authors and brings them to us.

Kane Miller books come from all over the world to bring a different feel, culture, or just a silly story that kids everywhere can enjoy. Fantastic fiction series make Kane Miller a wonderful choice for the readers in your life.

Their most popular titles are picture books dealing with challenging themes like aging and bodily functions. They also offer board books for younger children and chapter books for older ones.

The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Books in the World are a challenging collection of connect-the-dot surprises that stand apart because of their complexity and variety. In addition to traditional dot-to-dots, there are unique innovations and variations for those who can count into the hundreds and follow simple instructions.

Practice following directions, counting, connecting grid co-ordinates, using compass co-ordinates, mapping, sequencing, alphabetical order, visual closure (image recognition), visual discrimination, visual motor integration and much more while having fun. Improving non-verbal thinking skills was never so much fun! Exercises are self-correcting and there is a clear pay-off on completion. As an additional benefit your child will have an opportunity to build their concentration and attention to detail.

Don't forget the adults in the family. You'll find yourself happy to work in a book alongside your child. A convalescing friend or puzzle loving older adult would thank you for a copy. Teachers and therapists are another appreciative audience.

Please scroll to the bottom of the page for a list of Dot-to-Dot books and customer reviews.

Try before you buy with these downloadable, printable, examples:

• Innovative "Dandelion Seed" puzzle design from The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Adventure Book 1
• "Stars" format puzzle from The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Book 4
• "Sets" format puzzle from The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Book 5
• Connect the dots from 1-496 in this puzzle from The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Book 6
• A grid of numbers hides the puzzle in this example from The Greatest Dot-to-Dot Book 7
• "Sets" Puzzle especially for Mother's Day

Prufrock Press is a publisher focused on gifted education and advanced learning. The majority of their range is for teachers and therapists but they have a number of titles which are suitable for home use.  We're pleased to offer a selection of their products which match our mission to help children to think, learn and succeed.

Red Hen Books & Toys provides special, hard-to-find, educational materials, toys, and books for discriminating parents and educators worldwide. Their mission is to keep certain types of toys on the market that the big box stores have abandoned. As a result, some of their items are Red Hen exclusives (and whenever possible, made in the USA).

We've selected from their range some activities that will really build your children's awareness of shape and color and location, all essential skills for non-verbal reasoning. Use these with young children to teach the basics and with older children, and even adults, to extend the learning and for the pleasure of playing with colors and shapes.

These toys are classics for a reason - children love to play with them and, while they play, they build essential skills.

We carry the following series from Shell Education:

• 180 Days of Language: Practice, Assess, Diagnose
• 180 Days of Math: Practice, Assess, Diagnose
• 180 Days of Problem Solving: Practice, Assess, Diagnose
• 180 Days of Reading: Practice, Assess, Diagnose
• 180 Days of Writing: Practice, Assess, Diagnose
• Bright and Brainy
• Comprehension and Critical Thinking
• Greek and Latin Roots
• Increasing Fluency with High Frequency Word Phrases
• Nonfiction Comprehension Test Practice
• Purposeful Play for Early Childhood Phonological Awareness
• Read and Succeed: Comprehension
• Starting with Prefixes and Suffixes

For many years when customers have called and asked for suggestions to improve their child's spatial reasoning or perhaps their performance in the Block Design section of the WISC or the Stanford-Binet we've suggested they use Tangram Puzzles. We grew up with Tangrams and thought they were a classic which everyone knew about. Apparently not. To make it easy for all those future customers looking for fun and effective resources we now carry tangram puzzles from Tangoes/Smart Games. We hope that you enjoy them as much as we did.

For preschoolers Tangoes Jr. is the place to start. From about age 5 you can use Tangoes Classic. Most 5 year olds won't be able to do all these puzzles. Most adults won't be able to do all these puzzles. But start your child at 5 and work on it gradually and you'll amazed at how soon they surpass you.

Tangoes are also perfect for older adults looking for brain building exercises.

Making Children More Successful!

The Spectrum series of books offer students essential preparation needed to achieve success of standardized tests.

Creative thinking focuses on exploring ideas, generating possibilities and looking for many answers instead of the one correct answer. It's more difficult to test for but it's just as important a skill for a successful life as critical thinking.

Think-ets is an educational and fun-filled game using adorable tiny treasures from around the world that inspire creativity and test memory.

Think-ets is an at-home game, a travel game, a party game, a storytelling game, a camping game—perfect for children and their families.

Kids will love to collect, connect and create with Think-ets. There are so many games you can play using these trinkets—and, guess what? Think-ets even stimulate your imagination and increase brainpower!