WKAR Education Services

Kids' Club Member Event! April 19, Fenner Nature Center

This is the fourth in a series of articles on family and education-related issues written by MSU Extension. Today we hear from Carrie Shrier.

You may have noticed the new "Family" tab on our web page. We are looking to increase the content we have here on WKAR that is related to families and education.

“It All Adds Up,” is an effort to help WKAR-area families build kids’ math skills. Through this effort, WKAR aims to boost math learning at home – and everywhere – by providing PBS KIDS resources for parents.

“It All Adds Up” is an awareness effort designed to expand the impact of Ready To Learn, a cooperative initiative between CPB and PBS, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement, to support the development of early math and literacy skills in children ages 2-8 from low-income families.

Survey Results

This is the third in a series of articles from MSU Extension.

Did you know that there are more than 20,000 military children and youth in the state of Michigan? All branches of the military both active, guard and reserves are represented among Michigan’s military families. Chances are there is a military child or youth in the community or school where you live.

Early childhood specialists suggest that a building a healthy relationship with your child can help your child grow in all areas of development. This is part of a series of article from MSU Extension staff Kittie Butcher and Janet Pletcher.

This is the first in a series of articles for WKAR parents on early childhood development, by Kittie Butcher and Janet Pletcher, MSU Extension.

We can’t tell you how many times we were told, as children “What a mess you’re making! Stop fooling around with that and clean up this mess.”  Our parents must have been neat-niks or something, because they were always putting a stop to our investigations. 

In its annual holiday survey of parents of 2 to 10-year-olds, PBS KIDS found that the leading trend in gifts for kids this year will be downloadable such as apps, games, e-books and digital music. Fifty-eight percent  of parents reported that they will “most likely” or “definitely” be purchasing downloadable gifts this season. Of these parents, more than half (55 percent) plan to spend more or the same as last year on downloads.

WKAR and Willow Elementary School in Lansing will host a Raising Readers Family Fun Workshop on Tuesday, November 27. Registration and light supper will be from 6-6:20 p.m. The program will follow at 6:20 p.m. and conclude at 7:30 p.m.

Raising Readers workshops offer parents the opportunity to have fun with their children while learning new ways to build reading skills. Workshops are targeted to families and children 4-6 years, but siblings are welcome to attend also.

WKAR’s Ready To Learn Service was presented with a $5,000 grant from the General Motors Foundation with the help of GM Lansing Plants.

The gift was accepted by Deb Dunham of WKAR from Greg Pratt, assistant plant manager and Bill Reed, UAW Local 602 president at General Motors’ Delta Township Assembly Plant.

WKAR heads to Lansing JazzFest on August 3-4 in Lansing's Old Town.  "Peep," the enchanting title character of the children's series Peep and the Big Wide World, will be on hand to greet the kids near the Kidz Beat tent and the MICA stage.

"Peep" will appear on Friday, August 3 between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, August 4, "Peep" will appear from 2-5 p.m.

Look for our Street Team and have them take your child's photo with Peep! We'll be posting them on our WKAR Facebook page!

WKAR-TV will begin airing episodes of "LRN 101," Saturdays at 11 a.m. on WKAR-TV, beginning May 12. The new series highlights the varied educational resources available throughout the Greater Lansing region. "LRN 101" is produced in Lansing as part of the Keep Learning initiative, a non-profit organization committed to promoting education in mid-Michigan.

The Lansing School District and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) are pleased to invite area teachers to apply for participation in a NEH Picturing America Conference entitled “Mid-Michigan’s Legacy as the Arsenal of Democracy” in May, 2012.    

Facilitated by the Lansing School District, this second conference (the first identical conference in March was fully enrolled) will be hosted by WKAR at the College of Communication Arts & Sciences at Michigan State University, May 10 through May 12, 2012.