Learning with Sesame Street

As a kid, one of my favorite days was Sunday.  On Sundays my brother and I would wake up at 6 am for a 3 hour Sesame Street marathon on KQED, our local PBS affiliate. We didn’t watch a lot of TV in our house but my parents never objected to Sesame Street.  Perhaps they realized what I now know as a parent- that Sesame Street was children’s television at its best.

As Sesame Street celebrates the start of its 40^th season this week, it reminds us that it is the show that changed children’s television forever.  From the crazy cookie eating antics of Cookie Monster, the loveable Mr. Hooper heart to hearts talks with characters that frequented his General Store, the sibling-like bickering between Bert and Ernie, to the letter and number of the day…Sesame Street’s goal has always been to teach in a fun way.

Sing along as you count with the ladybugs in Ladybug Picnic who not only educate about numbers and one to one correspondence, but also teach rhyming through their song.  Laugh with the always ravenous Cookie Monster as he tries to hold back from devouring a chocolate chip cookie but know that cookie is shaped like a letter.  And The Count…Well, he’s the master at teaching numbers even if he isn't the best elevator operator.  Those tiny little Twiddlebugs that inhabited Ernie’s flowerbox were master recyclers and environmentalists before eco-chic became part of our lexicon as they populated their dwelling with furnishings made from tiny found objects.

If it hadn’t been for the multicultural cast and the zany Technicolor monsters that inhabited the brownstone with the address 123, would television programming be what it is today?  Would there be shows with bilingual Dora the Explorer or the Super Why foursome whose show has been proven to teach kids beginning reading skills?  If Jim Henson hadn’t been asked to work on Sesame Street and characters like Ernie, Kermit, and Guy Smiley never existed, would kids be inspired to learn about investigations and make hypotheses thanks to shows like Sid the Science Kid and Dinosaur Train that are part of the Henson legacy?

Maybe.  But it is hard to imagine a world without Sesame Street.

Happy birthday Sesame Street.  Here’s to many more wonderful years!

Original post to DC Metro Moms.

When Leticia isn't watching Sesame Street, she blogs at Tech Savvy Mama where she uses her background in early childhood education and classroom technology integration to guide parents in selecting quality technology products for their children.