PEEP and the Big Wide World, produced by WGBH, is an award-winning daily half-hour math and science television series for 3-5 year old children, complemented by an outreach campaign designed to encourage greater family involvement in children's math and science exploration. PEEP's three intended impacts are to: (1) empower families to feel more equipped, more confident, and more inclined to facilitate science and math exploration with their preschoolers; (2) engage preschoolers in science explorations that promote positive attitudes and inquiry skills; and (3) provide project partners with appropriate educational resources for both the English- and Spanish-speaking families they serve.
The project's deliverables include: - Ten new animated PEEP stories in Spanish and English, which will introduce a new bilingual character to bring to life PEEP's science and math-based curriculum for Spanish speakers; - Ten new live-action segments in Spanish and English, which will show children, their siblings, parents, and grandparents actively engaging in "Anywhere Math and Science"; - Collaborations with the project's long-standing partners (National Head Start Association, National Education Association, and National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies) and with new groups that specialize in delivering science content and messaging directly to Latino families (Self-Reliance Foundation, National Latino Children's Institute, and Hispanic Communications Network); - Five model projects developed jointly by public television stations and their community partners, to pilot new approaches to reaching Latino families; - Summative evaluation that will assess the impact of PEEP's materials on Latino families and their young children and the success of our collaborations with our outreach partners. It will be conducted by the Concord Evaluation Group.
The PEEP and the Big Wide World will be broadcast on PBS stations around the country and carried on V-me Ninos, the most widely distributed block of children's programming on U.S. Spanish television. The PEEP website gets approximately 10,200 visits per day. Nearly three million children and adults over the course of a year visit the site to watch animated stories, play games, and access educational resources. The project's curriculum and resources presented via multimedia platforms make a significant contribution to the burgeoning field of preschool science and math education. This series and the outreach efforts are particularly valuable given the paucity of preschool educators and caregivers who identify themselves as being science and math educators. The new emphasis on the Spanish-speaking audience is a unique contribution within the ISE children's media portfolio.
PEEP and the Big Wide World is a daily, half-hour math and science series for 3- to 5-year-olds. The project consists of an Emmy Award-winning television show, an extensive website, and a robust outreach campaign designed to encourage children’s hands-on math and science exploration. During PEEP Season V, WGBH implemented a new initiative designed to encourage greater family involvement, particularly among Latinos, in children’s math and science explorations. This included the introduction of a new Spanish-speaking character, production of five episodes of PEEP, an updated website, new apps, and the establishment of five "model communities"—demonstration sites for engaging Latino families in preschool science and math. Major project outcomes were: 1. Creation of five new episodes that broaden PEEP’s appeal among Latino families. Each half-hour episode contains two animated stories and two live-action segments that bring to life PEEP’s math- and science-based curriculum. In the animated stories, WGBH created a new character: Splendid Bird from Paradise, a tropical bird from the jungle of Central America. Designed as a touchstone for Latino preschoolers watching the show, the bilingual Splendid Bird introduces Spanish vocabulary to English-speaking viewers and serves as a role model for Spanish-speaking children. WGBH also made efforts to appeal to Latino audiences with Season V’s live-action segments: several bilingual families were cast, and their segments include many instances of natural Spanish language. 2. Expanded distribution of PEEP episodes online and on air. Once the new programs were completed, WGBH translated the five new Season V episodes, bringing the total number of Spanish-language PEEP episodes to 60. WGBH then created a new YouTube channel, called PEEP en Espanol, to distribute these programs free of charge over the Internet. (As of fall 2013, videos on the English and Spanish channels have logged a combined 969,000 views.) In addition, PEEP continued airing on PBS stations across the country in English, and in Spanish via V-me, a Spanish-language broadcasting service for public television stations. (As of June 2013, 81% of the Top 50 markets aired PEEP in English and/or Spanish.) 3. Establishment of demonstration sites for engaging Latino families in preschool science and math. WGBH collaborated with PBS stations to create five model communities, joint projects between PBS stations and their community partners, where we piloted approaches to reaching and impacting Spanish-speaking families. These sites were: KLRN in San Antonio, TX; KAET in Phoenix, AZ; UNC-TV in Raleigh-Durham, NC; KCTS in Yakima Valley, WA; and KUED in Salt Lake City, UT. Stations hosted PEEP family events, conducted trainings for preschool educators, disseminated translated materials, and aired PSAs. Overall, stations estimate they reached 27,770 families and 798 educators. Building on this success, WGBH worked with 25 PBS stations to facilitate PEEP-themed events for El Día de los Niños (Day of the Child) 2012, reaching an additional 100,000. WGBH also continued to work with longstanding partners (National Head Start Association, National Education Association, and National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies) to raise awareness of PEEP resources. 4. Use of new technologies to further PEEP’s reach among kids, families, and educators. To foster family exploration of science, WGBH piloted a new tablet app, Snap That!, which invites children to take pictures and share them with parents and caregivers in order to earn rewards. WGBH also used non-NSF funds to convert six existing web games to iPhone apps in order to increase their use. To reach educators, WGBH contracted with Head Start teacher Denise Nelson to create a blog about her experience using the PEEP Explorer’s Guide in her preschool classroom. As Season V launched, WGBH used a combination of traditional and social media practices to reach audiences, creating Facebook and Twitter posts; placing PEEP-related articles in newspapers and online publications (including Spanish-language Family Science Pages); running television and radio PSAs; and working with "Mommy Bloggers." 5. Evaluation of our efforts. In 2012, Concord Evaluation Group (CEG) evaluated the impact of PEEP’s Spanish-language resources with Latino families. CEG found that parents who used PEEP resources were more confident in their abilities and felt more inclined to do math and science activities with their preschoolers than parents who did not use PEEP resources. Further evidence showed that children were fully engaged while using the PEEP resources and applied science process skills in their hands-on exploration. CEG also evaluated the impact of the five model communities. Through interviews with community representatives, CEG distilled a list of best practices for reaching Spanish-speaking families. This list includes building trust by developing ongoing relationships, researching and addressing barriers to program participation, and providing bilingual resources and facilitators. Finally, Literacy Consultants of Cambridge, LLC performed a formative evaluation of the Snap That! app, which found that that the app facilitated supportive interactions, communication, and cooperation among family members.
