This isn't your mother's PBS

We grew up watching Sesame Street and Zoom and Mr. Rogers. It was good. Big Bird was my best friend (and a GIRL, I swore) up until at least 2nd grade. Alphabet, counting, playing nice, even some Spanish. And Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers are still out there today.

But at our house we get two PBS stations - I am not exactly sure why.

Channel 8 during the 6-8 AM hours features Thomas, Sesame Street, etc.

Channel 12, however, has Curious George, Sid the Science Kid and Super Why.

And I LOVE THEM.

I was one of those different moms who had a ban on baby characters - Winnie the Pooh, Elmo, Baby Disney - yes, I know, and no offense intended if it is you - it is cute, just not me. I think my attitude has carried over to Jax.

He does not really like to watch Thomas (maybe the only boy on earth), and the only part of S.Street he could tolerate was Elmo, and he is done with that now.

But the Channel 12 shows - that is a different story. (Who does not like Curious George?)

We got to know SuperWhy about a year ago, and it combines all types of learning into a 20 minute or so show - traditional nursery stories with numbers, letters, phonics, spelling the alphabet, problem solving, etc. When Jackson sings the alphabet song now, it is not to the Row, Row Row Your Boat Tune, it is the way the Pig (the smart pig from the 3 little pigs) from SuperWhy sings it.

He is also learning English/reading comprehension skills, even if he does not know it. He can summarize a plot in a single sentence and be right on.

Sid the Science Kid debuted right after Labor Day. It fits the more "hip" preschooler, and introduces science concepts and problem solving as well. Again, Jackson is able to summarize plot with this as well, something that Zoom SS, and Mr. Rogers really did not ever do. And it addresses less traditional families - Sid has bi-racial parents and a very hip, cool grandma. Miss Suzie the teacher appears to be black, and the rest of the kids are a variety of races.

They encounter issues/questions at home, and explore them at school and in their "science lab". Introducing these concepts early has Jax interested in making observations, measuring, and other concepts. One day we did our own little "experiment" about the difference between sugar and salt. He now guesses size, distance and does comparisons.

And I asked him the other morning, "What was Sid the Science Kid about today?"

"Sid wanted to measure a whale, but all he had was a ruler, so they talked about ways to measure it."

And there you have it. And I may have to become a PBS member after this.....