New PBS Kids show promotes literacy — with Charlotte ties
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Photo: PBS Kids/Courtesy of UNC Charlotte
UNC Charlotte professor Kelly Cartwright is helping shape a new PBS Kids television series called "Phoebe & Jay."
Why it matters: The new series is intended to help kids develop literacy skills. Reading is key a key building block in a child's early education. Locally, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has shown recent early literacy improvements, but it's still shy of its goals, WCNC reported.
- PBS hopes programing like "Phoebe & Jay" can help bridge that gap.
What they're saying: "Literacy is for everyone, not just for adults, but for kids as well," Cartwright tells Axios.
- The show is intended for ages 3-5, and while they may not be reading yet, Cartwright says she hopes kids know that physical text is important and that they can use it to accomplish their goals.
Catch up quick: Cartwright, a Spangler distinguished professor of early child literacy at UNC Charlotte, has served as a PBS adviser since 2020. She serves as a lead curriculum adviser on "Phoebe & Jay."
- The roughly 40-episode series, which premiered earlier this month, follows 6-year-old fraternal twins Phoebe and Jay Yarber. Each episode includes literacy curriculum intended for preschoolers.
- The goal is to help children develop reading skills by showing them things may encounter every day, including signs, labels, receipts and lists.
- Each episode includes two cartoon segments, plus a segment showing real kids utilizing what the characters learned. Episodes are available online and on TV.
Zoom out: The show was funded by the Ready to Learn Initiative from the U.S. Department of Education and a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Last May, the Department of Education cut the Ready to Learn Initiative, which helped provide educational resources through media for young children.
- "Phoebe & Jay" was the last PBS Kids program funded by the Ready to Learn Initiative, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The bottom line: Reading should be a fun part of the fabric of daily life, and it can be as simple as a reading a child a bedtime story, Cartwright tells Axios.
- Stories help broaden a child's vocabulary. "When kids start school with a greater number of vocabulary words, we know they are set up in school to grow faster," Cartwright says.