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SHOPPING FANATIC
Next time your kids have disposable income and feel they deserve a trip to the toy store, take them to a place where the playthings are good for them. Tools to help kids
learn at playTake them to Education Works in Mapunapuna. They may think it's a dirty trick, but, hey, can they drive? Besides, there is fun to be found here.
Education Works is first of all a place for teachers to get classroom supplies, but it is open to anyone. The shelves are stocked with games, puzzles, blocks and "manipulatives" -- which is a code word for "toys that teach."
The store, a division of Servco Pacific, opened 29 years ago as Film Services of Hawaii, renting 16 mm projectors. Over the years, more teaching materials were added until two years ago the store changed its name and set out to draw a clientele from beyond the classroom.
"Until a couple years ago, most of the general public felt it was just for teachers," says Diane Morita, the former preschool teacher who is now the store's general manager. "They thought they had to be a teacher or it was some sort of membership store."
Morita says the most popular items among teachers are materials for dressing up bulletin boards, as well as charts and posters. Parents go for the workbooks and resource materials on subjects such as homework skills.
But that's not even the half of it. Here you can get puzzles where the pieces are magnetic and you fish them off the board, or Dinosaur Counters that teach sorting, color recognition, addition and subtraction using little plastic dinos (or teddy bears or fish, if your kid prefers less scary critters).
And there are tons of things in which the learning is more obvious -- flashcards, books of brainteasers, activity books and more. Education Works also sells uniforms for 15 schools.
On Oct. 25 the store launches a promotion where schools can collect panels from Meadow Gold cartons. Each panel is worth 25 cents in shopping credit.
Education Works, 2850 Pukoloa St., is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, closed Sunday. Call 837-0540.
Betty Shimabukuro, Star-Bulletin
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