Clif’s Notes

Educational TV Programs

I’ve been pleased to see a resurgence in quality educational television programs recently. Even better is that our kids are choosing to watch these programs over the just-for-entertainment children’s programs. Both the teacher and parent in me would like to take the creators of these shows out for pizza to say thank you. I hope this is a trend that we see continue to grow.

Here are some of the shows that I’m talking about. Be forewarned that the educational value in a couple of these won’t be immediately obvious, so watch the program in it’s entirety.

• FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman - Problem solving, math, science, engineering, team work, research/ scientific method
• WordGirl - Language arts, vocabulary, literacy, problem solving
• Super Why! - Reading, phonics, vocabulary
• Cyberchase - Math, science, technology, problem solving, data collection and analysis, trail and error, real life application
• Gerald McBoing Boing - Music, history, creativity, audio learners
• Pinky Dinky Doo - Vocabulary, story telling, imagination, creativity

I know there are probably others, but the kids are all asleep and I can’t ask them for help right now. Please share your comments and suggestions as I’d enjoy the feedback and ideas.

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