WGBH Children’s Media R A I S I N G A G E N E R AT I O N O F L E A R N E R S
Raising a Generation of Learners S even-and-a-half hours a day, seven days a week. That’s how much time kids today spend consuming media, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. And with technology and devices that let them multitask, they’re packing in nearly 11 hours’ worth of daily content. It’s a media-hungry world.
Thanks to WGBH, young people don’t have to gorge on empty calories.
Whether it’s improving literacy or introducing kids to science, math, and engineering concepts, WGBH serves up curriculum-Âbased content that actually helps children learn, that reaches young audiences at every stage of development, and that parents and teachers trust. $V YDULHG DV RXU SURMHFWV DUH WKH\¡UH DOO XQLĂ€HG E\ D VLQJOH VWUDWHJ\ Every one: ‡ Tackles important educational and social issues ‡ Is curriculum-Âbased ‡ Delivers content across platforms ‡ Builds partnerships, locally and nationally, for maximum impact ‡ Makes a measurable difference in children’s lives WGBH is proud to be the largest producer of children’s content for PBS, on air and online. Brigid Sullivan w g b h v i c e p r e s i d e n t f o r c h i l d r e n ’s m e d i a
“Helping kids learn and grow is what WGBH’s educational children’s media is all about.�
Tackling Literacy O
ur nation is facing a literacy crisis. Nearly half of all American children enter kindergarten without the pre-literacy skills they need
to become successful readers. By fourth grade, 40 percent of students fail WR UHDFK HYHQ WKH EDVLF OHYHO RI UHDGLQJ SURÀFLHQF\ WGBH is using the power of media across platforms—television, the Internet, mobile devices, classroom learning tools, targeted outreach, and more—to deliver FXUULFXOXP EDVHG FRQWHQW WKDW LQGHSHQGHQW VWXGLHV FRQÀUP KHOSV FKLOGUHQ acquire the literacy skills they need to be successful in school…and life.
“Martha Speaks has definitely increased my son’s vocabulary.”
sharon from tn Curriculum materials from our series BETWEEN THE LIONS improve children’s letter sound scores, an essential early literacy skill, by nearly 300%.
72% of children expressed a strong interest in reading Marc Brown’s ARTHUR books after watching the WGBH series.
WGBH’s MARTHA SPEAKS Dog Party iPhone app has been shown to boost oral vocabulary by as much as 31%.
STEMming the Tide “
I
want us all to think about new and creative ways to engage young people in science and engineering…because our future depends on it,”
VD\V 3UHVLGHQW 2EDPD $QG ZLWK JRRG UHDVRQ 86 VWXGHQWV ODJ VLJQLÀFDQWO\ behind their global peers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). WGBH is helping meet this challenge, engaging children, tweens, and teens with innovative television programs, Web content, mobile apps, and school and community outreach initiatives. And we’re making a difference— changing attitudes and behaviors around STEM among girls and boys from a broad range of backgrounds.
“I want my daughter’s preschool to use Curious George WGBH’s CURIOUS GEORGE activity booklet, distributed to 110,000 families nationwide, introduces low-income children to fun, STEM-based activities.
Nearly 2/3 of kids were interested in participating in an engineering afterschool program after watching episodes of DESIGN SQUAD NATION.
37% of college-bound girls say our DOT DIVA national Web and outreach effort has made them more interested in pursuing a career in computing.
materials for its math and science activities.” parent from wi
Fostering Emotional Growth “
E
arly emotional development lays the foundation for later academic performance, mental health, and the capacity to form successful relation-
ships,” according to Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child. WGBH’s Arthur, based on the popular books by Marc Brown, supports children’s emotional and social development through the lens of an eight- year-old who just happens to be everyone’s favorite aardvark. The series, educational materials, and online games explore the challenges young viewers face—from maintaining friendships to dealing with anxieties—by modeling positive social behavior that emphasizes empathy, communication, and respect.
“Arthur is helping people understand kids
with Asperger’s, like my son.” maureen from pa WGBH distributed 1.65 million free ARTHUR family activity guides (in English and Spanish), offering practical tips for making friends, dealing with fears, and more.
WGBH teamed up with the Lance Armstrong Foundation to develop and distribute 25,000 family booklets that help young children cope with a loved one’s cancer diagnosis.
ARTHUR’s When Carl Met George episode raised awareness around Asperger’s syndrome, generating endorsements and links from autism organizations and advocacy groups nationwide.
Galvanizing Classrooms O
vercrowded classrooms. National and state-mandated curriculum standards. Shrinking school budgets. Students with a range of
learning styles and needs. Too little time. It’s a challenging environment for today’s teachers and students. Enter PBS LearningMedia, a public media education platform developed by PBS and WGBH. The online service gives pre-K–16 teachers and students across the country access to high-quality, curriculum-based digital content—videos, interactives, audio, images, lesson plans, and other resources—to meet 21st-century learners’ needs. And it’s free and available to teachers everywhere.
“I was thrilled to discover your self-paced online lessons… PBS LearningMedia’s online resources serve more than 650,000 users... and counting.
Free access to more than 16,000 media-rich instructional resources, contextualized for classroom use, for lessons and homework.
Draws from the best in public media, including AMERICAN EXPERIENCE and NOVA, as well as such partners as the Library of Congress and the National Archives.
a huge help to my students!”
lori from wa
Building Partnerships P
arent and community involvement in young children’s education is directly correlated with higher academic performance. And that involvement
is particularly important during non-school hours—especially summer, when youngsters are most at risk for losing academic ground. WGBH is partnering with parents and community organizations to deliver programs and resources that help children make the most of their non-school hours: large-scale book distributions, innovative children’s health education campaigns, family-engagement initiatives around hands-on science, and more.
take control of their children’s healthy future.” boston public health commission WGBH joined with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to distribute 5,000 books and conduct summer enrichment programs for at-risk kids. V
“WGBH’s Arthur Asthma campaign empowered thousands of Boston families to
(Mayor Menino and WGBH President Jon Abbott, near left)
Thousands of Latino families are participating in hands-on science activities in Spanish as part of WGBH’s PEEP AND THE BIG WIDE WORLD national outreach campaign.
100% of surveyed parents who participated in our ARTHUR/Kids with Asthma Can! campaign report talking about asthma with their children more often or in new ways.
WGBH Children’s Media: Past, Present, Future :*%+ LV D FKLOGUHQ·V PHGLD SLRQHHU :H LQWURGXFHG WHOHYLVLRQ·V ÀUVW LQWHUDFWLYH series for and by kids, Zoom, in 1972. We’ve been breaking ground ever since, with productions that open new worlds, and new possibilities for millions of children every year. Today, WGBH is a digital educational media powerhouse, creating content that kids love and parents, students, and teachers count on: television series, websites, mobile apps, interactive games, digital classroom resources…an ever-expanding array. WGBH productions draw nearly half of all visits to pbskids.org, with an average of almost 11 million visits per month. And we’re amplifying our impact, and our reach, through innovative outreach efforts and partnerships with organizations that share WGBH’s children’s media mission—from the National Education Association to the American Library Association to the National Academy of Engineering.
Learn more at wgbh.org/childrensmedia PHOTO CREDITS • COVER: ISTOCKPHOTO. PAGE 1: JOHN E. BARRETT/© WGBH/SIRIUS THINKING. PAGE 2: © WGBH/LISA ABITBOL. PAGE 3: ALL CHARACTERS AND UNDERLYING MATERIALS FROM THE “MARTHA” BOOKS TM AND © SUSAN MEDDAUGH. ALL OTHER CHARACTERS AND UNDERLYING MATERIALS TM AND © WGBH. PAGE 4: ® & © 2011 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS AND/OR HMH. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PAGE 5: © WGBH/NICOLAUS CZARNECKI. PAGE 6: © WGBH/LISA ABITBOL. PAGE 7: © WGBH/COOKIE JAR ENTERTAINMENT INC. PAGE 8: NASA. PAGE 9: © WILL & DENI MCINTYRE/CORBIS. PAGE 10: © WGBH/LISA ABITBOL. PAGE 11: © WGBH/COOKIE JAR ENTERTAINMENT INC. PAGE 12: © WGBH/LISA ABITBOL; ISTOCKPHOTO; © WGBH/ANTHONY TIEULI. PAGE 13: © WGBH/TRACY POWELL. BACKCOVER: © WILL & DENI MCINTYRE/CORBIS. • ©2011 WGBH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION 110577
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Can WGBH change a child’s life? Three individuals share their stories…
WGBH ONE GUEST STREET B O S TO N , M A 0 2 1 3 5
wgbh.org/childrensmedia