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PBS SoCal’s Early Learning Programs

From left: A woman, toddler boy, young girl and a man engage with a tabletop building block activity at an outdoor education event.
A family engages with a tabletop activity at an outdoor PBS SoCal event in the community. | Mae Koo
December 12, 2023

PBS SoCal’s Early Learning Initiative uses the power of media for the public good to open worlds of possibilities for all children, so that every child can reach their full potential in school — and in life. We partner with schools, community organizations, and nonprofits to improve access to early education opportunities in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, and more broadly through statewide and national partnerships. We make technology, curriculum, bilingual parent workshops, family learning events, and educator training available to our partners for free both virtually and in-person, strengthening services in the neighborhoods of Southern California with the highest need. Using age-appropriate, hands-on activities, we empower parents and caregivers with tools and skills to be their children’s first teachers.

Strategies include:

  • Creating co-designed digital content and curricular resources for parents and caregivers
  • Providing access to virtual and in-person family workshops that equip adults with skills and strategies to enhance their child’s learning
  • Expanding our collaboration with the early childhood community, having a presence within the systems and organizations young children and their families interact with most
  • Utilizing the power of media for the public good by airing high-quality educational content on broadcast and via streaming with the free PBS KIDS App

Below you'll find a summary of our primary initiatives and their impact.

Family Math

PBS SoCal’s Family Math initiative is a research-based, multiplatform, bilingual program (in English and Spanish) that focuses on building math positivity, confidence, and knowledge of foundational math skills for families with children ages 2 to 5. Family Math equips parents and caregivers with strategies and resources to facilitate meaningful math experiences at home through playful learning and hands-on activities.

In addition to providing opportunities for the entire family to engage in workshops and events across Southern California, PBS SoCal created the Family Math Toolkit, which gives organizations anywhere access to over 350 bilingual, research-based, math-focused assets. Public media stations and community organizations have free access to the Toolkit’s workshop materials, facilitator guides, printables, activities, games, and videos to bring Family Math to the communities they serve. There are over 20 PBS stations and 30 community-based organizations across the country that are running Family Math programming.

2025-2026 Impact

  • Since the initiative’s launch in 2019, Family Math has reached over 88,000 parents, caregivers, children, and educators through workshops and events.
  • Data shows Family Math successfully grew caregivers' knowledge of foundational math skills by 12%, increased caregivers' confidence by 12%, and increased caregivers' math positivity by 9%.
  • PBS SoCal and organizations implementing Family Math have distributed over 228,000 Family Math educational resources, including activity kits and books, to families and communities across the country to date.
  • The Family Math YouTube channel content captured more than 357,000 video views. We reached new audiences within the YouTube ecosystem, garnering more than 56,600 views on YouTube KIDS and more than 1,700 on YouTube Music. Our videos were watched for more than 7,000 hours.
  • PBS SoCal partnered with the Stanford Center on Early Education to study the implementation and impact of our new Family Math + Feelings programming. Full report of findings coming soon.
  • Our Family Math Toolkit for partners and educators across the U.S. had nearly 700 registrants accessing our hundreds of resources in a variety of formats, in both English and Spanish, and in a limited number of pieces in traditional Chinese.
  • Learn more about our impact this year: Early Learning Impact Report FY26
Now my daughter says, 'Mom, let's play,' and then she grabs whatever she can find, like colored pencils, and starts counting. She's been learning a lot about sorting and putting things together that go together. She wants to start activities on her own now. She tries to include math in almost everything. When she's walking, she's counting the lines. I think the workshops are making her think more about numbers and more about math. Now she sees everything as a math activity.
Family Math Mom

Supporting Family, Friend, and Neighbor Caregivers

As part of a new body of work in 2024, PBS SoCal conducted a needs assessment and focus group, funded by a grant from the California Community Foundation, to better understand the unique concerns and desires of Family, Friend, and Neighbor caregivers (FFNs). PBS SoCal invited sixteen FFNs to participate in co-design sessions and eight one-on-one interviews. We learned that FFNs value tangible learning materials and hands-on activities, especially SEL-focused ones, for both children and themselves. To meet this need, we plan to deliver quarterly boxes that enable intentional exploration of items related to varied topics. Because many FFNs lack a designated group in their community, we plan to build a bilingual digital space on WhatsApp just for FFNs. Learn more: FFN Initiative Report

Ready to Learn

The PBS SoCal Ready To Learn (RTL) Learning Neighborhood is an innovative model of community engagement. Through the 2020–2025 Ready To Learn grant, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS SoCal provide resources that support intergenerational learning and skill development for children in literacy, critical thinking, and collaborative problem solving, while providing opportunities to explore “world of work” knowledge and skills in age-appropriate ways.

Grounded in listening and honoring history and culture in the East Los Angeles community, PBS SoCal and local partners engage parents and caregivers in co-designing family engagement experiences. The Learning Neighborhood provides access to a comprehensive set of touchpoints, content, and learning resources to encourage the sustained use and impact of the Ready to Learn Initiative.

2024-2025 Impact

  • PBS SoCal hosted 21 Ready To Learn workshops and events, including introductory workshops, Molly of Denali FCLs, Play & Learn Science FCLs, Learn & Grow Workshops, Work It Out Wombats FCL workshops, Ruff Ruffman Camp and FCL workshops, and educator professional development opportunities. 
  • Ready To Learn workshops and outreach events reached 381 caregivers, 2,940 children, and 240 educators.
  • 4,600 educational resources, including activity kits, books, and iPads were distributed.
  • Through our partnership with the Child Care Resource Center (CCRC), PBS SoCal was able to create and distribute 500 Play Kits.
  • To support the California State Library’s Lunch at the Library program, 85 boxes containing Work It Out @ Your Library curriculum, books, educational activities, and more, were sent to 60 libraries.
We learned about shadows, how to bring the book more alive to my child, how to help my child be more engaged, and how to be more creative and think outside of the box. We learned how to make a puzzle using tape and how to use water to have so much fun. I practiced different puzzles. It was so much fun! Thank you so much for all your support.
RTL Mom

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