Laptop Television Mom

SuperWhy on PBS

I grew up watching PBS television.  In fact, I vividly remember watching Sesame Street and Electric Company in my family room at home. Oddly enough, and much to my chagrin, my daughter was never into Sesame Street unless Elmo was on the screen.  But once she outgrew Elmo, we happily discovered Word World and then SuperWhy.

My kid did not watch lots of television as young toddler, but we did allow her to watch these select shows.  Looking back, it strikes me that I never questioned the quality or integrity of Word World or SuperWhy; I just trusted PBS to develop a product that was appropriate for kids.  In fact, to this day, PBS is the only network I turn on, walk away from the television, and know my daughter is watching a “safe” program.  (Before anyone asks, I usually walk away to cook dinner, wash clothes or another one of my domestic duties.)

Recently, the moms of Silicon Valley Moms Blog were invited to a special evening with the creators of SuperWhy. I tell you what, I have a whole new level of respect for the show and the brilliant *mothers* behind the educational and creative content. Here’s a snapshot of what we learned about PBS and SuperWhy programming:

• PBS does not view kids as consumers, rather as “citizens of learning.”
• There are more than 60 drafts of each 30-minute episode.
• SuperWhy is designed to teach kids word strategies, and each character teaches a different critical reading skill.
• Each episode of SuperWhy is designed to teach learning through problem-solving; in fact, “it’s not just memorizing, we want the kids to learn what we are trying to teach them.”
• Whyatt Beanstalk is the preschool version of Zac Efron.
• SuperWhy was created because “words don’t have power until we read them; we can change a story by changing the words.”
• Media is a powerful force on kids; when Fonzie took out a library card, teen ownership of library cards grew by 500 percent.

Did you also know:

• PBS wants to build relationships with parents, the goal is to develop “partners” with PBS programming.
• SuperWhy has created reading camps to inspire kids to love reading and books.
• PBS Kids has created online games to reinforce learning from all SuperWhy episodes.
• There also is an online “Child Development Tracker” to help parents develop customized at-home activities for kids of all ages.

The folks from PBS also took the opportunity to ask the room of mom-bloggers what kind of tools and resources we could use to help extend learning from the television into our homes:

• How can PBS supplement your child’s learning with SuperWhy?  Workbooks? Downloadable content?
• They also sent us home with workbooks and resources to encourage summer reading.

If you have ideas or feedback to help PBS and parents work together, the folks at PBS are readily available. Here are Twitter handles: PBS Parents, Jeannine Harvey, Kevin Dando, Stephanie Aaronson, and Angela Santomero.

– LTV Mom