As summer winds down, PBS KIDS will offer a variety of resources to help kids kick off the new school year. Studies continually show that children who enter preschool and early grades prepared have higher rates of later academic success, and that engagement with their parents and teachers plays a critical role in giving kids a strong start.* PBS KIDS aims to support the entire ecosystem in which children learn, offering educational and engaging content for kids and supporting tools for their parents and teachers.

“School readiness is crucial, and social emotional learning lies at its core,” said Lesli Rotenberg, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Children’s Media and Education, PBS. “PBS KIDS’ goal is to use the power of media to prepare every child for success in school and life. DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD is a prime example of this approach. Research shows that the fan-favorite series nurtures empathy and enhances emotional recognition, important skills for preschoolers as they start school.”

PBS KIDS offers parent resources to help with the transition to school, including the Daniel Tiger for Parents app. The free app, available in English and Spanish, gives parents more than three dozen DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD strategy songs on the go, as well as other helpful hints about the important skills children need to be ready for school. Additional back-to-school resources for parents are available on PBS Parents. A new game from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Neighbor Day, will launch on pbskids.org and in the PBS KIDS Games app in September. In this game, kids help Daniel and his friends prepare for a Neighbor Day celebration.

To help educators prepare for another school year to begin, PBS LearningMedia offers thousands of free classroom-ready content, aligned to state and national standards. A new back-to-school collection of resources from DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD, KET’s Everyday Learning, and more are now available. Teachers can also take advantage of the free PBS Media Literacy Educator Certification by KQED at www.kqed.org/certification. This new certification recognizes educators who excel in creating and implementing instruction with media, and provides support to help all teachers accelerate these skills.

* Child Trends Data Bank, Early School Readiness