So I'm reading this book called The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell. What I find highly interesting about this book was the chapter on what it called "stickiness" and how much information it shared about education programming for pre-K kids.
Probably this is because my son, Paul, is 2 1/2 years old and experiencing so many of things he talks about. I found myself laughing out loud and nearly crying just relating to the stories. He describes the theories behind the programming of Sesame Street in the late sixties and early seventies as an experience with Childrens' Television Workshop to develop television as a learning medium for pre-K kids.
There was so much good information on the studies that drove the development of the show. It talked about the theories and how they were tested with kids to determine "stickiness" (defined as how much kids paid attention and retained what was learned). I'm not sure I see how it helps the focus on the book of adult stickiness, but it was highly interesting to me. It makes me wonder if I shouldn't consider reading more on the topic of child learning development.
I was surprised to learn that the more recently developed show Blues Clues on Nickelodeon is made by alumnu of Sesame Street with a goal of making it even better. Some of the keys were creating a show that actually was 30 minutes of a single story, not lots of small three minute stories like Sesame Street. It also developed the style of child involvement to ask for (and get) answers and reactions from kids watching. One startling fact was about how often the episodes get tested by kids for attention and retention. Where Sesame Street tests about one-third of the episodes, Blues Clues is testing all of their episodes three times.
Makes me want to make Paul watch more Blues Clues.