KIDS FIRST! News

On May 9, 2008, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center held its first annual Symposium called “Logging Into The Playground: How Digital Media Are Shaping Children’s Learning.” Leaders from across research, communications, education and policy convened to set a new benchmark for the way in which digital media is used to improve children’s literacy, learning and development.Michael Levine, Executive Director for The Joan Ganz Cooney Center, said: “Digital media is driving what is now a multi-billion-dollar business that shapes the learning and entertainment experiences of most school-age children.” He added: “It is our mission to counsel the industry’s movers, shakers and policymakers and provide a needed bridge to what has become traditional education’s fourth and fifth “Rs”, reform and research. Wise and informed investments will harness the growing power and full potential of digital media’s use in educating young children.”Gee’s recommendations include: funding digital research and development to invest in what works; establishing a digital teacher corps for the nation’s lowest performing schools; designing alternative assessments and new standards; creating community-based literacy tech centers across the country; establishing Governor’s digital partnership schools; and finally, modernizing public broadcasting investments in digital platforms for the next generation.The agenda for the day-long symposium also featured child-led demonstrations of new technologies and a hands-on forum promoting two dozen of the best digital media initiatives in the world. Attendees were shown one of the first demonstrations of BOOM BLOX, a new game for Nintendo Wii developed by EA in association with director Steven Spielberg along with promising emerging technologies from exhibitors including: Community Building with Google Earth by Google Earth creator and Google Chief Technology Advocate, Michael T. Jones; Web-based books in English and Spanish by the Center for Applied Special Technology, to help individuals, especially those most at risk, to gain knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm for reading; IBM’s Traducelo AHORA! (“Translate Now!”) that uses IBM WebSphere software to translate web sites from English to Spanish for schools, community organizations, as well as parents so they can correspond directly with teachers no matter what language is spoken at home; and an Apple in the Classroom demo by Kathy Shirley, an Apple Distinguished Educator, on using iPods to strengthen reading fluency and comprehension.More details on the reports and Symposium are found on the Joan Ganz Cooney website.

qubo®, the TV and online entertainment service for children, announced that it has created nutritional guidelines that will dictate advertising decisions on the qubo Channel, as well as on the qubo broadcast programming blocks that air on NBC, ION Television and Telemundo. The effort highlights qubo’s mission of promoting pro-social values including literacy and healthy living. The announcement was made by Kerry Hughes, senior vice president, advertising sales and partnerships for qubo.qubo’s effort marks the latest step in ION Media Networks’ innovative advertising and media initiative to combat childhood obesity announced last summer. Both qubo and ION Life networks are undertaking a series of programs aimed at improving children’s health and reducing the rates of childhood obesity in the U.S. qubo is a member of the Ad Council’s Coalition on Healthy Children while Brandon Burgess, Chairman and CEO of ION Media Networks, which is qubo’s majority shareholder, is actively involved in the FCC’s Task Force on Media & Childhood Obesity.To create these nutritional guidelines, qubo enlisted the help of nationally renowned author and expert on childhood obesity, Goutham Rao, MD, clinical director of the Weight Management and Wellness Center at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC ( see bio on Dr. Rao below). The guidelines list acceptable nutritional intake limits for meals and snacks broken down by calories, grams of fat, as well as saturated and trans fat, sugar, protein, fiber and sodium.Concerned with the growing trend towards childhood obesity, qubo called for these guidelines to guide on-air and online advertising decisions and to ensure parents that qubo provides a safe environment for children with positive messages about healthy living.“By only accepting advertising from companies that meet this nutritional criteria, we believe that we have set the gold standard for the kids entertainment industry and are helping kids make healthy decisions about what they eat,” said Hughes.”We are committed to combating childhood obesity through all of our networks-analog, digital, on-line and soon, mobile,” said John Lawson, ION Media Networks executive vice president for policy and strategic initiatives. “We hope that qubo’s nutritional guidelines send a strong message to parents, policymakers and our business partners about our dedication to the wellness of America’s kids.”“Reversing the epidemic of childhood obesity will require a major, long-term commitment by parents, teachers, physicians and other health care professionals, political leaders and public policy experts,” said Dr. Rao. “qubo’s guidelines are a great first step in the right direction. Children are bombarded with ads for unhealthy foods. One of the easiest ways to reach the largest number of children and families is to make sure the foods and beverages advertised to children meet basic requirements for good nutrition. It was a privilege to work with qubo in creating these guidelines.”In addition to announcing its new nutritional guidelines, qubo also unveiled this month a series of Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) created in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), the Ad Council and the U.S. Olympic Committee designed to promote exercise and healthy eating to children. Featuring several U.S. Olympic hopefuls, as well as qubo’s popular animated characters from VeggieTales, Jane and the Dragon and 3-2-1 Penguins!, the TV spots began airing this month through donated time on the qubo Channel, ION Television and NBC and will be distributed to television stations nationwide by the Ad Council.About qubo:qubo® is a bilingual, multi-platform entertainment destination for children that focuses on literacy, values and healthy lifestyles while celebrating the unlimited possibilities of a child’s imagination. Formed in 2006 by an unprecedented alliance of leading distribution partners and content players in children’s television, including Scholastic, ION Media Networks, NBC Universal, Corus Entertainment and Classic Media, qubo offers dynamic content in multiple environments. Currently broadcast on NBC Saturday mornings, ION TV network Fridays afternoons and Telemundo weekend mornings (check local listings) qubo also includes a 24/7 qubo Channel and website, www.qubo.com.

Learn how to turn any backyard into a wildlife haven when “The Best of Backyard Habitat: Volume 1” flocks to DVD on Earth Day, April 22 from Genius Products and Animal Planet. Arriving for the first time on DVD, the collection highlights episodes of the do-it-yourself backyard makeover series covering techniques on attracting a variety of wildlife including birds, butterflies and other delightful creatures. The one-of-a-kind show features invaluable information regarding food and water sources, places to raise young and sustainable gardening tips to create a healthy and eco-friendly habitat for wildlife.  Upon completing the step-by-step how-to build projects to entice creatures to their outdoor space, each home is officially recognized as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat™ by the National Wildlife FederationDavid Mizejewski, co-host of this amazing series and self-proclaimed Nature geek from birth, loves the concept of this show since it restores wildlife to neighborhoods. “We as gardeners have a huge power to environmental good.” Never intending to become an author, Mizejewski surprised himself by writing a book entitled National Wildlife Federation Attracting Birds, Butterflies & Backyard Wildlife. Producers at Animal Planet realized he tapped into something the public was looking for. Many people of various ages, incomes and backgrounds have a common interest–nature. With the popularity of reality TV, Animal Planet collaborated with Mizejewski and his co-host Molly Pesce to help families, from novices to experts, create a habitat in their backyard that would attract nature. A big challenge for the crew was time. It’s difficult to develop an inspirational setting when one is filming, and animals don’t have time to discover the new environments. Often producers resort to using stock photos and suggestions of what will happen, however, sometimes the results are nearly immediate. While filming “Chickadees and Toads” in Knoxville, Tenesee, for this series, the family cut tree in yard prior to the television crew’s arrival. The team members drilled a hole in the log similar to what a chickadee would look for in a home and buried log in ground. As they finished filming the episode, a chickadee flew in and checked out hole looking for a place to nest.  Just as in “The Field of Dreams,” the Natural Wildlife Federation believes “If you build it, they will come.”Mizejewski finds that the nature projects give people an additional bonus. In this society of instant gratification, it brings people back to calmness. He firmly believes that patience – moving at the pace of nature – will be rewarded. He also finds that nature projects are great for kids. Recent research shows that children spend almost 6 hrs a day inside, in front of screens. One of the reasons for this is that parents afraid to let kids out unsupervised. When you create a backyard habitat, it not only provides a place for animals, but kids have a haven in their own backyard where they can enjoy unstructured play and experience nature. The best part is that you don’t even have to live in the country to enjoy this. One can create an inviting environment on a high-rise balcony with a container garden.In his experience Mizejewski finds that millions of Americans are interested in gardening activities, but many are intimidated and don’t know where to begin. His suggestion is to start small. Stop mowing a part of the lawn in the back that can’t be seen from the road so animals can move back in, or plant a few shrubs to flowers with nectar to draw birds. According to Mizejewski, there can be massive change in our eco system if everyone did a little bit to help.For more information on starting your own natural habitat, to learn more about the National Wildlife Foundation, or to learn more about Animal Planet’s “The Backyard Habitat,” go to check out the series website. And don’t forget to treat your family by going to the store to catch all of “The Best of Backyard Habitat: Volume 1” on DVD!

PBS KIDS is celebrating the Earth with “PBS KIDS Share the Earth Day,” a special programming and online event on Tuesday, April 22 (check local listings). Curious George, Clifford, Arthur and other favorite PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! characters will explore fun and engaging ways to keep the planet beautiful. PBS Parents will offer an Earth Day expert Q&A with Jamie Durie, host of The Victory Garden, discussing how to introduce gardening concepts to kids and what they can learn by digging in the dirt.On the PBS KIDS preschool block, Miss Lori and Hooper teach kids how to recycle their trash, while new stories from Dot’s Story Factory show how kids at home celebrate the planet. Earth Day-themed episodes from CURIOUS GEORGE, CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG, and IT’S A BIG BIG WORLD will air alongside themed music videos from the award-winning kids’ rock band, Milkshake.PBS KIDS GO!, for elementary school kids, celebrates Earth Day with themed programming from ARTHUR, MAYA & MIGUEL, and CYBERCHASE.  Throughout the late afternoon programming block, PBS KIDS GO! presents creative ideas of how kids can take care of the environment by recycling, cleaning up their neighborhoods and more.To help parents connect these lessons back to kids’ daily lives, PBS Parents will recommend ideas, resources and activities for parents to share with their children and encourage them to spend more time exploring nature and take an active role in protecting the planet. New web content on pbskids.org and pbskidsgo.org includes a reduce, reuse and recycling theme for Dot’s Story Factory so kids can tell their own stories about saving the planet; a newly redesigned EekoWorld web site, where kids can build their own creatures and learn the basics of how life survives in different ecosystems; and a sustainability and green living site titled “Meet the Greens.”  The Greens are an environmentally conscious family who explore different methods of saving power and reducing waste in a series of short animated episodes.

The Cyberchase gang takes young viewers out to play with their new math and sports initiative, premiering this month on PBS KIDS GO!Multi-Faceted Project Features New Episodes, A New Web Game And Outreach Events.“For Real” Segments Include Appearance By New York Mets Pitcher John MaineWhen’s the last time you looked at a baseball diamond…and saw a geometric pattern? Watched a replay…and realized how that play was diagrammed? Or checked out the score…and considered the math inherent to a game? Sports are rich with opportunities to use numbers, spot patterns, and develop strategies, and kids love sports. With this exciting connection in mind, CYBERCHASE’s new initiative challenges kids to get active with math!CYBERCHASE’s Math & Sports, a multi-faceted project that will engage children on air, online and on the playing field in communities nationwide, kicks off April 7 on PBS KIDS GO!sm (check local listings). The Math & Sports initiative features five shows, including four new episodes, as well as an interactive Web game that gives kids the chance to challenge Hacker in the “CyberOlympics” at pbskidsgo.org/cyberchase.“Sports are a perfect way to show kids that math is a useful tool to develop winning strategies,” says Sandra Sheppard, Thirteen/WNET New York’s director of Children’s and Educational Programming. “This new initiative aims to show kids how athletics incorporate math in ways they might not realize, while also reinforcing the power of teamwork in problem-solving. These concepts are as applicable on the field as they are in the classroom.”CYBERCHASE For Real, a live-action segment found at the end of each animated episode, will include Harry learning from the New York Mets’ pitcher John Maine how he uses math in every game. Harry will also try to figure out the best order for him and his teammates to swim in a relay race to increase their chances of winning.“Sports are very popular with kids and rich in opportunities to engage them in math concepts such as problem solving, geometry and data-analysis,” says executive producer Frances Nankin. “One of our goals with Math & Sports is to empower kids who might otherwise want to sit on the sidelines, and encourage them to get out there and participate, just to try out the concepts. They’re fun and easy to grasp, and guaranteed to make everyone want to play!”To engage children while reinforcing and extending the messages of the broadcasts, CYBERCHASE Math & Sports is supported with free educational materials, including a digital activity toolkit that combines a DVD containing the five episodes and short segments and a CD-Rom containing hands-on activities. A CYBERCHASE comic book and poster are also available. These resources will be available to educational and community partners through the series’ companion Web site and Outreach Portal.Parents and teachers can find tips for ways to combine math with sports, plus activities at pbskidsgo.org/cyberchase. For Math & Sports, an all-new interactive game will encourage players to try out math skills from the episodes and experience the results on a virtual playing field.