New PBS KIDS Measure Up! App Encourages Kids and Parents to Play and Learn Togeer

Free App Builds Measurement Skills and Includes a Companion App for Parents and Caregivers to Support Learning

Arlington, VA, June 16, 2016 - Today, PBS KIDS debuted a new, free app designed to help kids build math skills and empower parents to support their learning. Designed for 3- to 5-year-olds, PBS KIDS Measure Up! focuses on building kids' measurement skills through a combination of games, videos and activities from popular PBS KIDS' series. The app also connects to a companion app with tools for parents and caregivers to track progress and find ideas for activities away from the screen.

Given the overwhelming number of apps available, it's often difficult for parents to find great educational content for their kids, said Sara DeWitt, Vice President, PBS KIDS Digital. PBS KIDS Measure Up! not only helps build math skills in a fun learning environment, it also lets parents track the skills in which their kids excel, and the skills where they may need more practice.

In PBS KIDSMeasure Up!, children can visit a world with characters from PBS KIDS' series DINOSAUR TRAIN, PEG + CAT and SID THE SCIENCE KID. There, they explore concepts of length, width, capacity and weight while collecting rewards through a combination of games, videos and activities. Grounded in research that demonstrates that engaging with a variety of types of PBS KIDS content accelerates learning, PBS KIDS Measure Up! thoughtfully sequences different types of media to build key math skills. The games and video content within the app experience have been rigorously tested, ensuring that they offer a positive learning experience for kids.

PBS KIDS Measure Up! was developed as part of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and PBS Ready To Learn Initiative with funding from the U.S. Department of Education. Ready To Learn is a federal program that supports the development of innovative educational television and digital media targeted at preschool and early elementary school children and their families.

This innovative new app demonstrates public media's ability to engage children through free, high-quality educational programming across all platforms, said Debra Sanchez, CPB's senior vice president for education and children's content.

Bringing parents into the learning adventure, PBS KIDS Measure Up! connects with a free companion app for adults: the PBS KIDS Super Vision App for parents. PBS KIDS Super Vision provides parents and caregivers with updates on their kids' progress throughout the Measure Up! app and shares information and recommendations, suggesting related activities that they can do with their children to build on the skills they are developing. Through these features, parents and caregivers can engage in, better understand and guide their children's learning.

Tools for educators are available as well. As a companion to the Measure Up! and PBS KIDS Super Vision apps, PBS LearningMedia has developed a free measurement-themed iBook for teachers, which will be available next month. More information will be available at pbslearningmedia.org.

PBS KIDS Measure Up! and Parent Companion (PBS KIDS Super Vision) Features:

19 games

Videos

Sticker books

Rewards and surprises

Reports to parents about their child's progress

Tips and recommended activities to continue learning

PBS KIDS Measure Up! is now available for free on iPad, as well as Android tablets in the Amazon Appstore, and is coming soon to Google Play. PBS KIDS Super Vision is now available for free on iPhone and iPod touch, and Android mobile devices on Google Play.

About PBS KIDS

PBS KIDS, the number one educational media brand for kids, offers all children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, digital platforms and community-based programs. Kidscreen- and Webby Award-winning pbskids.org provides engaging interactive content, including digital games and streaming video. PBS KIDS also offers mobile apps to help support young children's learning. The PBS KIDS Video app is available on a variety of mobile devices and on platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Xbox One and Chromecast. For more information on specific PBS KIDS content supporting literacy, science, math and more, visit pbs.org/pressroom, or follow PBS KIDS on Twitter and Facebook.

About the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of nearly 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology and program development for public radio, television and related online services. For more information, visit www.cpb.org and follow us on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook and LinkedIn.

About The Ready To Learn Initiative

The Ready To Learn Initiative is a cooperative agreement funded and managed by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement. It supports the development of innovative educational television and digital media targeted to preschool and early elementary school children and their families. Its general goal is to promote early learning and school readiness, with a particular interest in reaching low-income children. In addition to creating television and other media products, the program supports activities intended to promote national distribution of the programming, effective educational uses of the programming, community-based outreach and research on educational effectiveness.

Contacts

Lubna Abuulbah, PBS; 703.739.8463; labuulbah@pbs.org

Caitlin Melnick, 360 Public Relations; 617-585-5775; cmelnick@360pr.com

LINK:	http://www.pbs.org/about/blogs/news/new-pbs-kids-measure-up-app-encour...
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