PBS

You know Martha.

Martha lives in a well-appointed house with nicely manicured grounds. Martha is creative, enterprising, and has a way with words. Martha is also quite the gourmand, and knows her way around a tureen of vegetable soup. I’m referring, of course, to the loquacious canine Martha, from Martha Speaks. First introduced in the children’s books by Susan Meddaugh and later turned into an animated TV series by PBS Kids and WGBH Boston, Martha Speaks focuses on vocabulary development for 4-to-7-year olds.

As most educators and parents know, finding quality TV shows for young children can be quite a challenge. While there are a number of engaging and even educational shows for kids on cable TV, the numerous commercials are often inappropriate for young viewers. This is one of the reasons why I’m a big fan of PBS Kids. It’s a safe haven where children can watch educational television without being exhorted to buy the latest toy or being subjected to trailers for TV shows or films aimed at a much older audience.

Stress management is an important lifelong skill we need to encourage and develop in our students. Teenagers and “tweens” face all kinds of different stressors in their lives. Between raging hormones, pressure to fit in with peers, and over scheduling, students need to learn how to relax! Joann mentioned 3 of the activities catalogued on The Gateway that help teach students how to deal with stress and anxiety. These types of activities help students deal with the stress in their lives by teaching them ways to manage and deal with stress.

Whenever I talk to students about ancient cultures, they seem to divide into two camps. There are the kids who find it cool to learn about how ancient peoples lived, and then there are the kids who don’t quite see the point (“hello, they’re, like, dead!”). Generally, though, most students come around to like learning about ancient civilizations, and to see that despite the centuries that separate us, we still share many of the same concerns and problems as ancient cultures.