Could todays S.S. be overloading itself?

[Rosewood]

I just went on line to the Sesame Workshop web site to see if I could find a copy of their "mission statement". I was trying to find a copy of a solid statement listing not only their goals, but the basic reasoning behind the fact that it was originally created. Surprisingly, I found 2 versions of it - one was pretty strait and to the point from back in 1968 and it read as follows:

"Sesame workshop was founded in 1968 as the "Childrens Television Workshop". [Identifying a specific need to help children from low-income familys be prepared for school, The workshops founders shared a common goal - to use T.V. as a tool to help children learn. From this colaboration came Sesame Street.] This program is now one of the greatest educators for young children in the world!"

A more "elaborate" version of it, catered to the generation of today, read as follows:
"Year after year for over three decades, Sesame Street has maintained a mission to reach young children in powerful and responsible ways with a view that learning and fun are equally crucial elements of any young child’s education. Within a community of playful and curious Muppets and monsters as well as nurturing adults, Sesame Street fosters a love of learning. We know children are always ready to learn. The question is what are they learning?"

("Thats funny" I thought. "My question is "What is S.S. teaching, and how?")

They then continued to explain:
"Each episode of Sesame Street is backed by a curriculum, which is founded in years of research and continuous work with educational experts. Through this work with teachers, researchers, parents like you, and information gained from preschoolers themselves Sesame Street continues to evolve, growing with the needs of today’s children and their caregivers.
Many new and innovative segments highlight crucial areas of a whole child curriculum and bring, for example, literacy, math, and Spanish as well as social-emotional topics to life for young viewers."

I continued to search for the proof they have to back up these claims they are making (in regards to all this work and research they say they are doing, but, strangely, could find none they had to offer. When I started school, back in 1971, I not only knew my numbers and letters, but was able to read as well.
And I give most of the credit to my hour a day of watching Sesame Street from the time I was 3. (And, back then, Kindergarden was basically a ''getting to know you" type of class. Knowing your ABC's and 123's didn't officially start untill first grade.) The requirements of todays kids, however, are much more extensive than they have ever been, and knowing "the basics" from the start is now an absolute necessity. I, for one, would like to know how the people responsible for the contents of todays S.S. episodes plan to help todays kids acomplish these goals if they are showing only one short clip each episode for the letter of the day and one for the number of the day, and then using the entire remainder of the show to talk about other things, some of which are relevent in helping kids adjust to the world around them, but many of which are not listed in the curriculum regarding the basics of what a child is required to know in order to start school. I see them "talking the talk", but I still have yet to see them "walk the walk" with these "new and improved shows" they are airing.

What are your opinions regarding this subject?

 

[mikebennidict]

i wouldn't know. though I've heard for the last 3 years the show has been dumbed down a bit for some reason.

 

[Rosewood]

I agree

those are my feelings also. It just doesnt seem logical to try to help todays generation learn more by showing them less.

 

[BEAR]

I can understand in some cases where you would say that they have "dumbed down" a bit. This is strange because that is what originally separated Sesame from other shows and that is that they never talked down to their young audience.