Last week I had the pleasure of attending a luncheon at PBS Headquarters in Arlington,Virginia to learn about PBS Kids and Super Why! We got a behind-the-scenes look at how each episode is conceptualized and produced. "Super Why" is targeted at pre-schoolers and designed to teach them or supplement their learning of how to read by emphasizing that letters make up words and words make sentences and sentences have meanings.
It was a really interesting day and I'm psyched and encouraged to be a part of the group of moms that PBS wants to talk with about their programming to find out what we think of the shows and our kids reactions to the characters and story lines.
PBS Kids makes a bunch of high quality shows for young children including "Clifford", "Sid the Science Kid" and "Word Girl".
Tech Savvy Mama is way more word savvy than I am, apparently, she didn't sit at a conference table with a cracker-eating, crumb-producing twenty-five pound toddler on her lap, so I offer you her synopsis. Her children happily stayed in the childcare room.
"SuperWhy" is amazing because it includes all the literacy concepts a child needs to know to move towards reading fluency... With shows that are only 30 minutes, "SuperWhy" packs in concepts like letter recognition, letter naming, word families, letter sounds, rhyming, retelling, word recognition, and spelling into shows that are based on classic stories like The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc.
Gayle, from Everyday I Write the Book summarized a press release that PBS announced last week.
PBS announced last week that research from two separate studies has actually shown that children, especially from low income families, are learning early literacy skills from "Super Why", including letter and sound naming skills, symbolic and linguistic awareness, and reading comprehension.
I think it is wonderful that the producers of television for children have taken the necessary steps to reach out to those children most in need of enriching television shows. These statistics are encouraging.
Above all, I'm flattered to have been asked my opinion, but more so, I think it speaks volumes about the network and the producers when they care and make the time to ask parents what their thoughts are on what their kids are watching on television.
Growing up, we were discouraged from watching television. I constantly heard that it "rotted my brain" and "ruined my eyes". SHOCKING DECLARATION: I didn't have cable television until I went to college. We lived in a rural area, it wasn't available and my parents didn't want satellite. I also grew up in the 80s, the MTV-Generation. I remember a time before the Internet. While majoring in American Studies in college I became very interested in media and cultural history.
And then I became a blogger and went to PBS. I digress....
As a parent I am not shying away or trying to shield my son from media influences and opinions, but rather viewing them with him and planning to use what we view on television and other media as a springboard for honest discussions and learning opportunities. PBS embraces this concept and has reached out to parents to get their opinions and thoughts about kids reactions to what they deem educational television.