PBS SoCal KOCE Expands Early Childhood Education Services With Launch of New 24/7 KIDS Channel PBS SoCal KIDS

Trusted, Educational PBS KIDS Programs Are Now Available for Free
Anytime, Anywhere on Channel 50.5 (over-the-air) and at pbssocal.org

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–PBS SoCal KOCE, home for PBS to Greater Los Angeles and Southern
California, announced the launch of PBS SoCal KIDS – a new, free 24/7
channel and streaming service dedicated to award-winning educational PBS
KIDS programs all day, every day. This is an expansion of PBS SoCal’s
robust early childhood education services whose goal is to help close
the achievement gap for the more than 1 million children under the age
of five living in Southern California, one in five of which lives in
poverty.1


PBS SoCal KIDS makes it easy for Southern California children to access
educational PBS KIDS programs that have been proven time and time again
to teach children, through a tested curriculum in literacy, STEM and
social-emotional development. Now this valuable educational content is
available to all Southern California children anytime – during
dinner-prep and primetime hours, and on the weekends – when TV viewing
is the highest amongst families. And it is available anywhere kids want
to watch – over the air, online, and on their favorite mobile device.

“Well developed educational media can have immense impact on a child’s
cognitive and emotional skills. This is a great strength of PBS KIDS
content. That is why it’s our priority to expand our early learning work
in Southern California through PBS SoCal KIDS,” said Andrew Russell, PBS
SoCal President and CEO. “Our community’s success in early learning
defines our future for Southern California. Today’s preschoolers are
tomorrow’s workforce and leaders, so we are deeply committed to ensuring
they are prepared for school and life.”

The ages of 2-8 are a critical time in the brain development of
children, as these are years when they are forming cognitive capacities
necessary to succeed in school and life. Research has consistently shown
that quality early education can have life-long benefits.2
But in Southern California more than 40 percent of children ages 3-5 are
not enrolled in preschool.3 In this environment, the
PBS SoCal KIDS service is particularly valuable, reaching more Southern
California children in more ways, and at a critical time in their
development.

“We know PBS KIDS content teaches kids. We also know we can amplify its
impact with our Ready to Learn initiative, through which we bring
literacy and STEM activities, free apps, teacher training, parent
workshops and more to neighborhoods all over Southern California,” said
Jamie Myers, PBS SoCal COO and VP of Education & Community Engagement.
“Our dozens of community partnerships are critical in this effort, and
have enabled us to help thousands of children across Southern California
prepare for school.”

Broad access to this new service is especially important for young
children living in working-class households, who are more likely to rely
on television for educational content, and more likely to be
under-connected, with mobile-only access and inconsistent connectivity
to the internet. That’s why the new PBS SoCal KIDS service is available
for free over the air (channel 50.5), and via live stream at pbssocal.org
and on the PBS KIDS iOS and Android apps. Additionally, PBS SoCal will
expand its educational efforts in the community, working with community
partners like PACE and the Compton Unified School District to provide
educational tools and training to parents, caregivers and teachers.

“It has been a pleasure and a wonderful opportunity to partner with PBS
SoCal to help prepare our scholars for academic success,” said Jessicka
Mears, Principal of Stephen C. Foster Elementary School in Compton.
“Over the years they have provided teacher professional development,
parent workshops, interactive hands-on experiences, and educational
resources for our students. Their efforts have had enormous impact on
closing the academic achievement gap and setting the tone for 21st
century learning. It is clear they have a deep commitment to helping our
community succeed.”

A recent survey by WestEd found that PBS KIDS resources can help narrow
the math achievement gap for children from low-income families and
better prepare them for kindergarten.4 That is because
PBS KIDS content is educational by design – developed based upon
curriculum that teaches kids.

Additionally, new recommendations about media use by children from The
American Academy of Pediatrics, which place greater emphasis on the quality
of the media kids interact with, rather than the quantity, pointed to
PBS KIDS as a leading resource for educational programming.

PBS SoCal KIDS is located over-the-air on channel 50.5 (check channel
listings) and available to stream at pbssocal.org/kids
– reaching children on a platform at a time that works for them. This
programming will air in addition to the regularly scheduled KIDS block
on PBS SoCal 1 (ch. 50.1) and carry a different program line-up,
offering families a variety of options. The new channel will include
popular favorites such as Daniel
Tiger’s Neighborhood
, Odd
Squad
, Wild
Kratts
, and Dinosaur
Train
; in addition to PBS KIDS’ newest series Splash
and Bubbles
, Nature
Cat
and Ready
Jet Go!
. The full local schedule is available at pbssocal.org/kids.

About PBS SoCal KOCE

PBS SoCal is the home to PBS for Greater Los Angeles and Southern
California. We deliver the full schedule of PBS programs, plus content
that is for, about and by the people of Southern California. Our content
is available free through four broadcast channels, at pbssocal.org,
on PBS mobile apps, and via connected TV services. And we provide the
community with early education resources and cultural and educational
experiences through partnerships, events and grassroots outreach. PBS
SoCal has offices in Century City, Costa Mesa, and Los Angeles. Connect
with us at pbssocal.org
and on Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram
and Snapchat.

1 U.S. Census Bureau, 2015 American Community Survey
1-Year Estimates

2 Center for Public Education. (2008). The Research on
Pre-K.

3 kidsdata.org, Population Reference Bureau, analysis of
data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey microdata
files (Mar. 2016)

4 Learning with PBS KIDS: A Study of Family Engagement and
Early Mathematics Achievement, WestEd, 2015.

Contacts

PBS SoCal KOCE
Jennifer Vides, 310.237.4516
JVides@pbssocal.org
or
Stacy
Shaffer, 714.241.4166
SShaffer@pbssocal.org

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