This post is sponsored by Hero Elementary on PBS KIDS.
Last month, I introduced you all to a television program on PBS KIDS called Hero Elementary. Both encouraging the desire to investigate and cultivating a love for science; tuning into the show really is a no brainer. The show is literally designed to give our children the blueprint to think like a scientist. It also encourages us to use our new-found knowledge to make a difference in our communities. These are all lessons that this mama wants her baby to be learning when she’s watching TV.
If you didn’t read my last post about this, you should check it out now. If you already have, then you know that a previous episode inspired a very informational investigation. What I did not expound upon were the difficulties I faced trying to facilitate this learning. It’s funny to me how easily I can get thrown off when I’m explaining a new concept to my daughter. Believe it or not, Hero Elementary helped me with this too!
The Many Lessons that Hero Elementary has for Us All.
In addition to a huge focus on science, this show is full of positive behavioral modeling. My daughter is an empath by nature; so, she gets super excited when she recognizes characters in the show being kind. This is the kind of behavior that she strives to emulate. For example, we were walking around our neighborhood jotting down ideas of ways to use our Superpowers of Science. While writing down ideas, she jumped up to scream hi to this random teenager walking down the street. The girl smiled SO big as she waved back to my daughter. Something as simple as speaking can be an act of kindness. Muffin was so pleased with herself, and I was too!
Hero Elementary helps spark a love of science that helps kids realize they all have Superpowers of Science that will enable them to solve problems when they think and act like scientists.
As an only child, she sometimes can get hyper-focused on doing something by herself. This sometimes leads to her getting upset if she can’t do it on her timing. Something that she has previously gotten worked up over is bubble blowing. She loves popping bubbles, but her bubble-blowing technique never yields as many bubbles as she wants. As she was starting to get upset about not getting the bubbles she wanted, she asked her daddy if HE could blow the bubbles for her. Not only did he blow some, but then he showed her a new technique to get a higher yield of bubbles that worked for her! Again, she was so pleased and proud of herself because she decided to work together to solve her problem instead of doing it alone.
Applying our Superpowers of Science
It is so easy to get fixated on the more common types of superpowers. While Hero Elementary does feature them, I think the most value comes out of the focus on cultivating your own super power—whatever that may be. This is very different from your typical flying or super strength; ours is flexibility. The ability to be flexible has been a pillar of Muffin’s childhood because things are always changing in our lives. The first four years of Muffin’s life, I was a medical student, which meant changes for us every semester and even more changes after I graduated! We spent lots of time focusing on how to adapt to new things and Hero Elementary does a great job of reinforcing that.
Kazoo WHO?
In Muffin’s Hero Elementary gift pack, there was a blue Kazoo. She has several harmonicas, but I am not sure if she’s ever had a kazoo. Instinctively, she picked up her kazoo and started blowing into it like she does with her harmonicas: no sound came out. Confused, she did this a few more times before telling me that it was broken. I reassured her that it was not broken and told her that she needed to sing into it if she wanted it to work.
She was puzzled; that wasn’t something she had ever done. She tried a couple of times unsuccessfully and then took a break. During this break, you could tell that she was frustrated, but not verbalizing it. I took this opportunity to remind her that we could figure it out together and I started to sing a note and then put the Kazoo to my mouth and it worked. She then did the same and it worked for her too! I’m sure all of our neighbors wish that she had not figured it out, but she did! So the whole neighborhood got to enjoy her gleeful tunes!
The Lesson in All of These Lessons
What Muffin learned and is continuing to learn is that she can be flexible, she can solve difficult problems, and there is more to everything than meets the eye. All of these are lessons that she learned while walking around the block after watching an episode of Hero Elementary. If nothing else, I have to say that I love how open she is to new concepts after watching the show. Because their teacher, Mr. Sparks, encourages his super students to figure it out for themselves, Muffin seems more eager to test things out. Thus adding to the long list of reasons why we love Hero Elementary and enjoy applying the lessons and skills in our everyday lives.
You can watch Hero Elementary too on PBS KIDS by checking your local listings for times or watch anytime on PBSKIDS.org or on the PBS KIDS video app.
Thank you Hero Elementary on PBS KIDS for sponsoring this post!
Say hi to Squally Muffin