Family and Community Learning Workshops
WFSU PBS Kids Family & Community Learning Workshops
Family and Community Learning Workshops (FCL) are an exciting, new Ready To Learn (RTL) element that brings PBS KIDS programs and tools to families in an innovative, community-focused way. As an RTL station, we test out these new projects and then provide our local educators with tools to make them their own. If any one of these series appeals to you, please reach out to us and we’ll be so thrilled to provide what you need to make it a success.
PBS Kids ScratchJR FCL Workshops
By now you’ve surely heard about PBS KIDS very own coding app, PBS Kids ScratchJR. MIT’s big brains initially developed Scratch and now it reigns as a leading platform in engaging teens in coding processes. PBS KIDS jumped on board, partnering with MIT to create a version of Scratch that features beloved PBS KIDS television characters. The app successfully breaks coding down into a form suitable for the 5 to 8 year old range. Furthermore, its story-telling potential allows it to serve as a tool for learning narrative structures and practicing writing. WFSU Education facilitates professional development trainings and summer camps geared around the app. We also spend hours in Leon and surrounding county classrooms implementing “mini” coding camps to share the fun of coding.
Read about the outcomes of implementing this program in our communities.
Family and Community Learning Workshops
As part of PBS KIDS’ mission to get this “code-to-learn” app into the hands of kids of all backgrounds, the first ever Family and Community Learning Workshop series was born. Apalachee and Sealey Elementary schools, as well as at Lynn Haven Elementary in Panama City previously hosted these workshops. PBS Kids ScratchJR FCL Workshops invite families to meet weekly over the course of 4 weeks at their school. Families play together while learning to create and code. During each session, they share a dinner meal, plan their stories and animate their projects with each other. Every night features a “challenge” that relates to a different concept in the app. By the final workshop, families create some amazing stories to share with the group.
The PBS Kids Mission
PBS KIDS strives to create new ways to use media and technology to connect people and foster relationships that expand horizons. Using an iPad app as a family to make stories using household names from the PBS KIDS world, works to do just that.
Interested in bringing this workshop series to your school? Contact us!
FCL Workshops and Camps with Ruff Ruffman
Ruff Ruffman Sensational Science is here to stay. You’ll find this awesome engineering-focused curriculum in both a camp and a Family & Community Learning workshop series. Keeping with the model, the FCL version of the content brings the same families together for 4 consecutive weeks. They get to enjoy dinner, PBS KIDS media, and science experiments. During each week we dive into another topic in the world of science. Those topics include kitchen chemistry, material science, structural engineering, and more. The overarching idea of the Engineering Design Process relates to each discussion. Ruff Ruffman (Fetch) adds silliness to the sessions, which have families learning together with other families each evening.
- Check out photos from our Ruff Ruffman family fun with Sealey and Lynn Haven Elementary Schools.
- To learn more about the five-day camp version (best suited for 5 to 8 year olds), please click here.
- You can now access all of Ready To Learn’s content and curriculum right here on PBS Learning Media.
FCL Play & Learn Science Workshops
This brand new Ready To Learn property takes a favorite PBS KIDS app – Play & Learn Science. The workshop expands into an active, hands-on learning experience for 3 to 5 year olds and their families.
Email us about bringing this Family & Community Learning workshop series to your school or center!
The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That! FCL Workshops
In this series intended for 3 to 5 year olds, families will use science inquiry to extend the concepts discovered in The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! episodes. Children will develop their observation and investigation skills by playing with and observing a variety of human-made and natural objects, including balls, musical instruments, and bridges. Accompanied by The Cat in the Hat and his friends Nick and Sally, families will engage with different PBS KIDS content, wonderful books, and physical experiences each night.