Childcare Program

Programming That Can Help Assist Your Curriculum

Television—even the quality programming PBS GUAM offers—can never replace the important daily activities in a childcare program, however it can be used to enrich curriculum and lesson plans if used selectively.PBS Teachers offers more than 4,500 lesson plans and activities that you can use to enhance your curriculum.

We’re pleased to provide the following simple tips to help Childcare providers.

Simple suggestions to enhance your childcare program while adding the fun and excitment
that our quality programs can provide:

Use a DVR or VCR

Use a VCR or DVD recorder to record the programs that you think are appropriate to use with your children. A VCR tape or DVD can help in many ways:

Be ready with activities that can follow up any topic you watch on TV. Whether you watch a show about whales or a show about bulldozers, some activities can fit anything.
Be ready to write a group story, make up a play or go to the library and find books.

 

Use a TV Guide (or online schedule)

Using our online schedule or a TV Guide to learn more about a program from its title. Look for shows that highlight the very things you want your child to learn.

Encourage your children to ask questions, talk about what they see, imitate what they’re watching, and dance along.
Let them know they are free to come and go as they please.
Have other activities or centers available so children never feel they are confined to sit at the TV.

 

Encourage Children to Interact

When you engage children about what they see and hear on television, you break the mold—television can be so much more than “sit quietly and listen.” The Learning Triangle is a simple, yet excellent method to follow.

Remember that children need lots of repetition in order to understand and digest new ideas. Use TV, books and related activities again and again to reinforce the learning.

For additional information about the Learning Triangle, view our Ready To Learn web page.

If you watch a segment about cooperation, follow it up with a good story that also shows characters cooperating.
Do an activity about cooperating: make a list of the chores that must be done and talk about good helpers. Or, build a block tower together.
Refer back to the segment they watched. Ask questions—why is cooperating important?

 

PBS Teachers Online

Educators can explore more than 4,500 free lesson plans, activities and professional development tools for Pre-K through 12th grade educators. PreK, the early childhood area of PBS Teachers, provides resources for Pre-K through 2nd grade teachers, including a monthly thematic unit of online activities, articles about issues in early childhood education, recommended books and links, and printables in Spanish and English.

In addition, educators can search topical lists of lesson plans tied to our award-winning PBS KIDS programming and correlated to national and state standards.

We encourage you to visit the PBS Teachers to enhance your curriculum. You may also be interested in learning more about PBS Teachers, which provides online professional development through facilitated courses, a supportive learning community and exemplary resources.