September Coalition Meeting – Success Starts Early!
Our September coalition meeting was filled with surprising informational tools for parents! Parents learned that PBS not only has fun educational shows, but that they provide educational resources, skill building and tools to train the whole child!
We enjoyed a healthy delicious dinner from Subway that included a variety of subs and chips with cookies for dessert. After the children headed off to childcare the parents practiced active listening with partners. Parents were placed in a circle with a partner and were given one minute each to answer the following questions: What is your favorite movie and why? If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go? What was one of your favorite experiences this summer? As they practiced active listening, they were not able to interrupt the person who was speaking. This activity allowed them to learn more about the other parents who attend the coalition!
Our presenter was Kristyn Bomberg, from WGVU, and she did an excellent job of informing our parents of the many resources PBS has for parents. She started her presentation off by asking parents what they thought of when they see the PBS or WGVU logos. Parents responded that they think of Wild Kratts, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood and Sesame Street. As Kristyn continued her presentation parents learned that there was so much more to PBS than shows. PBS is ranked by parents as a best brand for kids and 89% of adults agree that PBS is a trusted safe place for children to watch television.
Kristyn also shared how WGVU has intertwined the Kent County Success Basics throughout their entire website. They have taken the Basics and matched them with PBS crafts & activities, PBS kid’s games & apps, resources and tips for parents and PBS learning media resources. The cool part about the PBS learning media resources is they link the Success Basics to the PBS show that strongly demonstrates that Basic. For example, Daniel Tiger and Sesame Street are listed as a PBS learning media resource for the LOVE Basic. There are also links to the corresponding Basics videos.
Parents were blown away by the wealth of resources available through WGVU and one parent commented, “If our kids watched more PBS, they could solve some of their own problems!” Another parent commented that they appreciate that the shows have a representation of all people and that different cultures are represented.
WGVU also has learning media and lesson plans for teachers as well. These resources can be used by parents as well. This is especially important to note given parents are their child’s first teacher. PBS offers a children’s tablet that can be purchased online and allows the user to watch PBS content anytime and is preloaded with a wealth of PBS information. Overall our meeting was filled with so much information and our parents loved the incorporation of the Success Basics throughout the website!