Cat in the Hat workshops study

A new study released by The Education Development Center (EDC) and SRI International (SRI) has found strong evidence that access to the latest media resources from The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!™ PBS TV series increases children’s learning in science and engineering.

The study was commissioned as part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Ready To Learn Initiative, a federal program that supports the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS. The study involved a diverse sample of 454 children, ages four and five, all living in at-risk households. Children and their parents were provided access to The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! videos, games and hands-on activities through a tablet computer and printed materials.

Locally, the Vegas PBS Ready To Learn program developed innovative ways to build upon these strong tools by designing The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! Family and Community Learning workshops. Over the course of four sessions, families engage in science inquiry and engineering design by combining The Cat in the Hat media with hands-on activities. Through center-based play, families explore different topics, like sorting, bounciness, pitch and sounds, and bridges/structures to practice and develop inquiry and engineering design skills. These resources are available for national use on the PBS LearningMedia website.

“Vegas PBS is uniquely committed to using children’s programming and digital media – such as apps and digital games— to support children’s learning in state required curriculum,” said Tom Axtell, Vegas PBS General Manager. “Our Ready To Learn program constantly innovates to create and deploy the latest, research-validated technology tools to improve math and science educational outcomes for young children.”

Ready To Learn staff will host The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! Family and Community Learning workshops in multiple locations throughout the rest of the school year in partnership with the Clark County School District’s Family and Community Engagement Services (FACES) Department. Entire families are invited to attend these free workshops with their 3-to-5-year-olds.

Those interested in attending The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! workshops can find dates, times and locations on the Vegas PBS’ Ready To Learn website, vegaspbs.org/rtl.

About Vegas PBS Ready To Learn
For the past 20 years, Vegas PBS Ready To Learn program has used the power of award-winning PBS KIDS media to help more than 100,000 young children and 70,000 parents and caregivers, primarily in high-need communities, learn the basic school readiness skills children need to succeed.

Vegas PBS Ready To Learn program delivers over 1,000 workshops, afterschool programs, and community events across Southern Nevada each year, demonstrating how parents, caregivers and teachers can use PBS KIDS to provide fun learning activities that extend the educational experience beyond the broadcast. Ready To Learn distributed more than 80,000 new books annually to support the initiative and build at-home libraries.

About Vegas PBS
Dedicated to enriching lives in Southern Nevada, Vegas PBS uses television and other technologies to educate and empower individuals and to amplify the effectiveness of community organizations. Vegas PBS Channel 10 is one of America’s most-watched PBS stations and offers five unique secondary channels: Create, VEGAS PBS KIDS, Worldview, Rewind and Jackpot! Vegas PBS also collaborates with strategic partners to create content that examines current and historic regional issues.

Vegas PBS provides outreach programs to assist students of any age, from childhood through adulthood; professional development services for teachers; literacy and health workshops for families; educational materials for the deaf, hard of hearing, blind or vision impaired; and 24/7 online access to content via an array of devices and media.

For more information, visit vegaspbs.organd find us Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

###

MEDIA CONTACTS: