What Professionals Say

For the first two years of pre-school my daughter would not speak with anyone at school, she loved going to school, making new friends and learning, in fact she was above average academically and enjoyed playing with friends but would not say a word in front of anyone.

We met with counselors at school and had a private evaluation by a psychologist, speaking on public created a lot of anxiety for her and the recommendation was to not force her and encourage her to participate in non-verbal ways, hoping that gradually while working with her therapist and with the help of the teachers she could gradually conquer her fear.

In PreK 4, it took her six months before she was able to speak to her teacher. At the start of Kindergarten, she only spoke to her teacher, the teacher’s aide, and one friend. In December of Kindergarten, she started speaking to the administrative assistant and school nurse. We were making slow but steady progress.

In the middle of March, “Off the Chart!: The Amazing Story of the Alphabet Zebra” was introduced to her kindergarten class. Her class named their zebra Stripe. Stripe was an instant friend. My daughter understood that he loved her and wanted her to be successful. My daughter told me that Stripe made a deal with her that with every new friend she spoke to he would leave a special prize at night for her in her cubby. The one condition was that each new friend she spoke to had to verify it with her teachers and my daughter had to tell Stripe she spoke to a new friend.

Stripe helped change the environment for my daughter. Stripe made school no longer scary but a place she looked forward to entering and seeing what prize (typically a peppermint) the zebra rewarded her for her accomplishments. Within two weeks of Stripe being in the classroom, she spoke to every student in her class! The zebra acted as a loving third party, it was no longer me or the teachers trying to persuade my daughter to talk. With Stripe she felt no pressure, only fun, love, and a sense of accomplishment. By May, my daughter was reading her journals out loud to the class and she even gave an oral presentation of her zoo animal.

I am so proud of my daughter for conquering her fear and so grateful for Stripe! Off the Chart!: The Amazing Story of the Alphabet Zebra brought success!

I have been teaching for 19 years. I am a certified early childhood/ bilingual teacher. My Kindergarten class was selected to pilot the Off the Chart! program. It surpassed all my expectations. Off the Chart! is by far the best behavioral/ academic incentive program that I have ever used. My class is now an Off the Chart! class.

What a delightful book. Not only does it teach students their letters but it also teaches them to achieve value-based goals. As the school counselor at a lower elementary school I have seen it impact students in multiple ways. Firstly, my students who were not making positive choices and needed some extra positive reinforcement to work towards the correct choices started to become better friends. Then my students who were hesitant and shy about talking in class or participating blossomed and came out of their shells to become class leaders. Zack the zebra sees everything that the students are doing in class. Zack in the form of the teacher gives out compliments and rewards resulting in the children working hard to earn them because they love him. Even those students who had never talked in a classroom setting started talking! This book is an asset and should be in every teacher’s class.