Free Event Offering Family Activities, Music and Fun When PBS SoCal’s SUMMER LEARNING DAY Returns June 17 at the Children’s Museum at La Habra
Press Contact
Chelsea Grosbeck
cgrosbeck@pmgsocal.org
747.201.5202
Los Angeles, Calif. – June 1, 2023 – PBS SoCal, Southern California’s flagship PBS station and a crucial educational resource for the community, announced the return of Summer Learning Day Sat., June 17 from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. at The Children’s Museum at La Habra (301 S Euclid St, La Habra, CA 9063). The free event returns to an in-person format this year with family activities, entertainment, music and learning resources during a fun-filled day in the community.
This year’s Summer Learning Day theme, “Discover Learning Everywhere” provides hands-on exploration activities for families at interactive booths outside the Museum. Throughout the day, families have free entrance to the Museum, meet-and-greets with favorite PBS KIDS characters Curious George, Nature Cat, Elinor from ELINOR WONDERS WHY and front row access to stage shows. Entrance to the Museum’s seven galleries and exhibits include a Nature Walk, STEAM Lab, Carousel Room, Science Station, Family Art Center as well as an outdoor dinosaur topiary garden and historic 1942 train.
Appearances include a read aloud from the Mayor of La Habra, James Gomez. Performances include YouTube's most watched reading channel, KidTime Storytime, as well as local children’s music performers, Baila Baila and Jelly of the Month who specialize in music education. Local youth dance groups Dance Image and Ballet Folklórico Cielito Lindo will also be performing on stage.
Earlier this month, PBS SoCal launched an interactive FAMILY MATH Toolkit with over 360 assets and learning tools designed for early learners. The free resource is now available to PBS stations across the country and community-based organizations nationwide. These research-based, multi-platform, bilingual resources were designed to help stations and organizations facilitate young children's and families' development of math knowledge, interest and leadership skills by supporting family engagement around math in both at-home and out-of-home settings. The toolkit launch also gave PBS SoCal the opportunity to award 10 PBS stations with grants to implement individualized practices in their communities over the next 6 months.
Over the course of the past spring, a variety of PBS SoCal’s educational initiatives were presented to communities around Southern California, emphasizing the importance of family learning to unlock early learners’ true potential. Advocacy expanded beyond the region to share educational materials at national conferences for educators in order to reach underserved communities. Additional support for families to access these resources included online workshops that showed step-by-step practices to encourage early learners ages 2-8 to recognize math in their daily lives through utilizing everyday objects and activities that turned math into fun, interactive learning experiences. Events, workshops and more aimed to increase school readiness and bridge opportunity gaps for early learners by equipping families with the resources to facilitate meaningful math learning.
Spring educational community outreach efforts included:
Tues., March 7 - Family Math Outreach at OC Libraries’ Kinderpalooza Event
The Family Math outreach day connected families to early learning resources in preparation for kindergarten. At this event, PBS SoCal reached over 250 children and distributed 260 books and 100 Family Math activity books.
Sat., April 1 – Wed., April 26 - City of STEM and Virtual STEM Workshops
City of STEM is a month-long, community focused celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, engaging diverse audiences across Los Angeles. The event on April 1 reached 800 parents and children. PBS SoCal then hosted a weekly series of virtual, open-to-the-public STEM workshops that explored concepts like bioluminescence and coding reaching over 100 families.
Sat., April 22 - Los Angeles Times’ Festival of Books
PBS SoCal presented a Main Stage Performance and distributed FAMILY MATH Activity Books at the 2023 Los Angeles Times’ Festival of Books, the nation’s largest literary event and free, public festival at the University of Southern California. The event welcomed over 300 exhibitors and more than 500 authors. The Main Stage performance created a story with integrated math curriculum featuring KidTime StoryTime and was seen by an audience of over 400.
Sat., April 29 - EdCamp at East Los Angeles College
The PBS KIDS EdCamp program welcomed local educators who connected through shared experiences and peer-led conversations. In partnership with East Los Angeles College, PBS SoCal planned an EdCamp with the theme “Learn Together Anywhere, Anytime” for 150 early childhood education professionals - teachers, librarians, ELAC faculty and practicum students. The East Los Angeles College Child, Family and Education Studies Department is part of PBS SoCal’s Ready To Learn network of Learning Neighborhood partnerships. The Ready To Learn Initiative is a cooperative agreement funded and managed by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Sun., April 30 – Wed., May 3 - NASDME Conference (National Association of State Directors of Migrant Education)
PBS SoCal presented the FAMILY MATH Toolkit during the session “Family Math: Using Songs, Games, and Hand-on Activities to Promote Math Positivity” to 80 attendees in both English and Spanish at this year’s Migrant Education Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Wed., May 24 - Virtual Early Learning Convening
The Partner Convening event with this year’s keynote speaker Dr. Shaun Nelms welcomed early childhood leaders to discuss collective efforts around family engagement and shared tools, practices and resources to support all families and children.
Funding was generously provided by the Caregivers 365 including FIRST 5 CALIFORNIA, CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF LOS ANGELES, COMPASS CHARTER SCHOOLS and CALOPTIMA HEALTH PLAN with snacks and water generously donated by TRADER JOE’S.
Join the conversation on social media using #FamilyMathPBS and #PBSSoCal
About PBS SoCal
PBS SoCal is a donor-supported community institution that is a part of Public Media Group of Southern California, the flagship PBS station formed by the merger of PBS SoCal and KCETLink Media Group. PBS SoCal delivers content and experiences that inspire, inform and entertain – over the air, online, in the community and in the classroom. We offer the full slate of beloved PBS programs including MASTERPIECE, NOVA, PBS NewsHour, FRONTLINE, Independent Lens, a broad library of documentary films including works from Ken Burns; and educational PBS KIDS programs including Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Curious George. PBS programming is available to stream on the FREE PBS App on iOS and Android devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, and Chromecast.
About The Children’s Museum at La Habra
The Children's Museum at La Habra opened in December 1977 and is located in a historic 1923 Train Depot. The Children’s Museum at La Habra is an award winning, non-profit public museum that provides unique, hands-on educational and cultural experiences to young children ages 2 to 8. The Museum’s mission is to encourage enthusiasm about learning in a hands-on environment that opens the world to even the youngest child. The Museum features 7 hands-on galleries, many of which remain unique to the field today. In addition to these exhibits, an outdoor dinosaur garden and historic 1942 caboose, the Museum features an exhibit which changes two times a year. The Children's Museum welcomes local, national and international visitors. Through the power of play, children are able to increase their sensory/motor interaction, art, science, math, English literacy, creativity, and analytical skills. The Museum also provides outreach activities to disadvantaged children that include free school tours and classroom visits, community festivals, family workshops and educational programs - all designed to enable children to learn through exploration, interaction and play! The efforts of the Museum’s 16 employees along with the support from the City of La Habra, Friends of the Children's Museum, Museum Guild, Volunteers and Donors who work hard to help ensure the long-term continuity of the Children's Museum at La Habra and are dedicated to ensure the Children’s Museum continues to meet their mission in their exhibits, programs, and events.