GLENDALE—“Gakavig,” a colorful new monthly magazine for children, is being launched in Southern California in the first week of February.
Parents of young children in the Armenian-American community have long complained of a shortage of child-friendly books and magazines in the Armenian language. For children 7 and under, parents can find hundreds of books with simple stories, basic vocabulary, and powerful images — in English. Not so in Armenian.
Enter Juliette Davtian. Her clear vision: to give Armenian children a colorful and fun way to see and hear stories in Armenian, to learn reading and counting in Armenian, and to relate to the world around them in the Armenian language.
“Children learn best through colorful images,” Davtian said. “They have different talents. As adults, we should recognize children’s different styles of learning and interacting, and promote the best possible development of their natural strengths and weaknesses.”
The magazine has colorful artwork and will feature stories, poems, riddles, songs, cut-and-paste projects, children’s cooking projects, a bit of science, and more. Using classical Armenian spelling, the magazine is in both Eastern and Western Armenian.
A successful venture starts with a vision, but it requires much more. Davtian brings it all to the table. She has an MBA and marketing experience, as well as years of experience as a preschool teacher, Armenian Saturday school teacher, and a resident counselor for children and teenage girls, With a degree in psychology and child development, she is exceptionally well prepared for the venture she has started.
Now it’s a matter of hard work and enthusiastic community response.
“Starting a print publication in the Armenian-American community, especially in a time of economic uncertainty, is not a safe path to take, and several people have kindly reminded me of this fact,” Davtian said.
“At the same time, I have been touched by the generous support of several distinguished members of our community. They understand that our community needs an excellent children’s magazine, and share my confidence that parents and children will be excited to have ‘Gakavig’ in their homes every month.”
“Gakavig” will be available through several Armenian schools and in Southern California grocery stores. Subscriptions are available by calling 818.548.2438 or writing gakavig@gmail.com
I am interested
Wonderful idea
It’s about time!!
keep me posted
Holy Martyrs Armenian Day School
209-15 Horace Harding Expressway
Oakland Gardens, NY 11364
This is one big step forward, I encourage authors of such magazines, please do not hesitate a bit, we very very much need such magazines, as well as, professional videos in Armenian language for children. I have already completed my HySpell Armenian Spell Checker for Office 2007 Word and will give a free copy of it to anyone who does such cultural deeds (Armenian Schools also qualify for free copies). Please contact me at FreeCopy@hyspell.com email to get a free copy of HySpell Mesrobian Classical Orthography Spell Checker for Microsoft Office Word 2007 (or above).
There is also plans to include newly design Armenian Fonts in the HySpell package.
I am also developing Armenian fonts and keyboard for iPhone, so that kids and people can text with each other in Armenian. We also need people who can work on developing professional videos for kids in Armenian. I will write a short book/video on movie making and post it for free download at my http://www.hyspell.com site. This website will become online in the next couple of weeks, so please stay tuned at the port.
We, at the Kirikian Armenian School are very excited about this news. Hopefully it will be released soon and children will benefit as soon as possible. Please keep me posted.
Kirikian Armenian School
c/0 Ani Capan
105 Dyer Court
Norwood, NJ 07648
I will definitely subscribe. Is it available yet? Please let me know.
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