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Supporting Parent-Child Experiences with PEG+CAT Early Math Concepts
A greater number of PBS KIDS parents than business as usual parents reported that their children
watched PBS programming at home at the conclusion of the study. Pre-survey data suggest that the
majority of children across both conditions watched PBS (71%) and Disney (71%) television channels at home, with
slightly fewer children (65%) watching Nickelodeon. Following the intervention, 81% of PBS KIDS parents indicated
that their children watched PBS programming compared to 65% business as usual parents (p<.05). There was a
slight decrease among the PBS KIDS parents reporting that their child watched the Disney channel, from 72% to 65%
(p<.05), suggesting potential crowd-out effects as more families reported watching PBS.
After participating in the study, a larger number of parents in the PBS KIDS condition (64%) reported that their children
watched PEG+CAT videos and played PEG+CAT games at least once a week, significantly more frequently than
parents in the comparison condition (19%; p<.01). While it is to be expected that families in the intervention condition
would report engaging with the PEG+CAT materials with greater frequency than would business as usual families (and
as compared to the beginning of the study), the magnitude of the contrast between the groups is notable.
Generally positive reactions to PEG+CAT emerged as a consistent theme in parent focus groups and
media diaries. Parents and caregivers noted how much children enjoyed watching the videos, playing the games,
and talking about PEG+CAT with their families. Parents highlighted PEG+CAT’s music as an appealing aspect, and
remarked on how their children sang the PEG+CAT tune throughout the day, long after watching the videos and
playing the games; one parent noted that she “was at work singing Chicken Dance or Pizza Place because he [her
son] was on it all day.”
In the focus groups conducted at the end of the study, PBS KIDS parents reported that the games and
videos complemented each other. In particular, parents noted that the games offered a context where children
could apply and practice the mathematical skills introduced by the video, thereby deepening their understanding of
mathematical skills. As one parent reported, “I think when [my son] watches just the videos on his own, I don’t think
he’s paying attention to the counting or the subtracting or measuring things they are doing, but when there is a game
that goes along with it, then he’s able to do it himself and understand it better.” While children enjoyed both videos
and games, a few parents/caregivers noted that the games engaged children to a greater extent and were requested
more often by their children than were the videos. For example, one caregiver noted, “When [her son] got a new game
every week, he didn’t want to let it go and would focus on that” even though “it’s not that he didn’t like the videos.”
Finally, children did not respond to the full episodes and video clips equally; some parents reported that their children
enjoyed the full episodes more than the short clips, as the latter were sometimes too brief and did not always make
sense to children as standalone pieces.
Focus group discussions also elicited some critical opinions of the PEG+CAT resources. In addition to
the positive views expressed by many parents, some parents indicated that their children did not like the videos.
Other parents reported that the videos and games were too “babyish” for their children, and therefore not challenging
enough to hold their attention for long. According to one parent, because the children “already knew everything [in
the games], it’s not necessary for the parent to sit next to them.”
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Report to the CPB-PBS Ready To Learn Initiative
49
Adherence to the Recommended Intervention Sequence
Analyses explored the extent to which PBS KIDS families followed the recommended sequence within each week
(that is, whether families followed the order of activities specified for any given week) and across all 12 weeks of the
intervention (that is, whether families accessed the recommended PEG+CAT materials for each given week).
Families’ use of recommended videos, clips, and games for each week from the study website was
high initially and declined over the course of the study. The dashed line in Figure 11 displays the proportion
of the recommended PEG+CAT resources families accessed from the study website within a week before and a
week after when the resources were supposed to be accessed (i.e., within a three-week period). In general, families
tended to access most of the videos, games, and video clips specified for the week at the beginning of the study. For
example, during the first two weeks of the study, median family access of the content specified for each week was
100%. After the first few weeks, adherence tapered, declining over the course of the intervention, as families were
less likely to access the full specified resources for the week. By weeks 10 and 11, PBS KIDS families were accessing
a median of only about half or a little more of the recommended sequence of materials for the week.
2
Media diary
reports mirror these back-end data findings.
2
As before, study results suggest wide variability across families in terms of the extent to which they viewed/played only the
recommended videos and games for any given week.
100
80
60
40
20
0
100
80
60
40
20
Percent
Percent
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Week
Inter Quartile Range (IQR) for Cummulative Percent of Page Views
Percent On Time Page Views for Median Student [+/- 1 Week]
Figure 11. Percentage of Each Week’s Specified Sequence and Cumulative Percent of
Entire Sequence Viewed by PBS KIDS Families (n=100)
(Source: System Log Data)
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Supporting Parent-Child Experiences with PEG+CAT Early Math Concepts
Although they did not follow the sequence strictly, families generally progressed gradually through
the intervention over the course of the 12-week study, regularly accessing new sequenced resources
each week. The vertical bars in Figure 11 above indicate the proportion of cumulative sequenced content that families
viewed over the course of the study (the percentages include only the core resources, and not the supplemental
resources). There were a few exceptions to this pattern, however. A few families completed the intervention early,
watching all of the PEG+CAT resources in a span of just a few weeks. For example, by the eighth week of the study,
eight families had completed 90% or more of the sequence. In contrast, a few other families hardly progressed through
the sequence. Specifically, by the end of the study, 10% of families had completed 50% or less of the sequence.
Following the PEG+CAT intervention sequence was not a priority for many PBS KIDS families. Although
sequence—the arrangement of activities within and across weeks—was emphasized in the intervention’s design,
the results from the media diaries indicate that following the sequence was not important to many participating
families. Some families adhered to the order of activities recommended in the PEG+CAT Experience Guide, and
were appreciative of the structure it offered. For example, one parent noted that the recommended sequence
helped identify the media focus for the week, moderated the child’s media habits, and supported joint use of media.
Other parents were more flexible, permitting children to access resources from prior or subsequent weeks, after
completing the current week’s sequence (during a home visit interview, one caregiver went so far as to refer to a
week’s recommended sequence as her child’s “homework.”). Not all families reported that they saw value in adhering
to the sequence, however. During focus groups, parents said they allowed their children to choose the order with
which they selected the resources on any given week, such as by playing the week’s games before watching the
videos, returning to favored resources from previous weeks, or selecting resources from any number of weeks.
Focus group data also offer some insight into why some families’ might have diverged from the recommended
sequence. In particular, some parents/caregivers expressed the view that the weekly sequence of PEG+CAT materials
was not sufficient to occupy children for the entire week and that, upon completing the materials for a given week,
children would often access materials intended for subsequent weeks. Another possible explanation for families’
progressive divergence from the sequence is that children developed preferences for particular types of media (e.g.,
games or videos) or affinities for specific characters over the course of the study and, as a result, increasingly chose
resources according to those preferences.
Families’ Use of Support Materials
Parents/caregivers reported that the family support materials that were a part of the PBS KIDS
intervention were valuable. The media diaries for Weeks 1–3 and for Week 5 asked parents/caregivers to
comment on the perceived value of the family support materials. The results of this analysis, summarized in Table
8, indicate that the majority of families found the materials “very useful” in supporting the joint use of media and in
encouraging children’s problem-solving skills.
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Report to the CPB-PBS Ready To Learn Initiative
51
Perceived value of family support
materials
Week 1
(n=80)
Week 2
(n=80)
Week 3
(n=80)
Week 5
(n=84)
Very Useful
55
55
55
59
Somewhat Useful
24
23
25
21
Not Useful
0
1
0
0
Did not Use
1
1
0
4
(Source: Media Diaries)
Table 8. Perceived Value of Parent Materials in Promoting Media Use and
Problem-Solving Skills
PBS KIDS focus group parents reported that the tips that were incorporated into the Experience
Guide helped them frame how to use math in daily life and how to moderate media consumption,
echoing findings from the parent surveys. For example, one parent in the focus group reported that she had begun
to stay in close proximity to her child during media use because the support materials emphasized the importance of
supervising media use. Additionally, parents reported that the poster helped them know which content to emphasize
during any given week, how to moderate their children’s media habits, and how to actively engage in the media with
their children.
PBS KIDS focus group participants reported that the weekly text messages were helpful, practical,
and useful. For families that opted into receiving them, parents said they were helpful because they conveyed a
quick, simple, and specific content area on which they could focus. Parents also suggested ways for improving the
text messages. For example, some parents said they would have liked the ability to customize the content of the
messages they received. While some parents stated that they helped them moderate device and media usage and
follow the study’s intervention timeline, other parents stated that they only appreciated the messages that related to
specific themes, such as baking or bath-time activities. Additionally, some parents/caregivers said they would have
liked to schedule text messages to arrive at a more convenient time, either a few days earlier to allow the parent to
plan a suggested activity or at a particular time of day when the parent could most likely attend to it.
The use of support materials by PBS KIDS families (Experience Guide, parent videos, tip sheets, and
text messages) varied. In general, families used the Experience Guide and the weekly text messages with greater
frequency than they used the tip sheets or parent videos (Figure 12). Additionally, families reported increased use of
the Experience Guide and weekly text messages over time, and decreased use of the parent videos over the course
of the intervention, which is consistent with the design of the support materials. Specifically, parent videos were
intended to introduce parents to the intervention, highlight strategies for jointly engaging with children around the
PEG+CAT resources, and promote math talk and problem-solving skills. The parent videos were designed for more
frequent use in the first five weeks of the intervention, and did not appear as part of the recommended sequence of
materials in weeks 6–12.
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Supporting Parent-Child Experiences with PEG+CAT Early Math Concepts
Table 9. Patterns of Media Engagement Among PBS KIDS Families
3
(n=101)
3
Average percent across weeks where percent was only out of families who reported time spent on media activity.
Children’s Use of PEG+CAT Resources with and without Others
Children in the PBS KIDS condition were more likely to use media with parents/caregivers than with
other people or on their own. Table 9 shows the social arrangements for media engagement reported among
PBS KIDS families. Across all PEG+CAT resources comprising the intervention, parents/caregivers viewed videos
or played games with children about half the time. After joint use with parents, solo use (children using media on
their own) and joint use with siblings were the most commonly reported patterns of media use among the PBS
KIDS families. Solo use was slightly more common across all resources and all weeks of the intervention. In general,
children in the PBS KIDS condition tended not to use media with other children.
Figure 12. Use of Family Support Materials by PBS KIDS Families (n=101)
(Source: Media Diaries)
With Caregiver
Mean %
With Siblings
Mean %
On Own Mean %
With Other
Children Mean %
Videos
47.80%
24.21%
28.59%
4.85%
Games
50.67%
23.12%
30.99%
3.97%
Video clips
51.18%
23.32%
32.19%
6.03%
(Source: Media Diaries)
0
20
40
60
80
100
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Experience Guide
Text Messages
Tip Sheets
Parent Videos
Number of PBS KIDS families
Weeks
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Report to the CPB-PBS Ready To Learn Initiative
53
Parents/caregivers in the PBS KIDS condition were more likely to report engaging in media use with
their child than were business as usual parents and children, who more typically engaged in separate
activities. As Table 10 indicates, parents/caregivers in the business as usual condition were more likely, on average,
to report that they were completing household chores, watching television/videos, or playing digital games separately
while their child was using media and technology than were parents/caregivers in the PBS KIDS families.
These contrasts between the PBS KIDS and business as usual families support the inference that parents/caregivers
in the PBS KIDS families were oriented toward more intentional joint use of media, as compared with parents/
caregivers in the business as usual condition, who may have counted co-presence and monitoring of technology
among instances of joint use.
Data from home visits illustrate two main types of parents’ participation with children around the media. In the first
type, the parent was present when the child viewed videos or played games, but tended to perform a supervisory role.
While parents might set up the media experience (e.g., identifying the game or logging in) or troubleshoot problems
(e.g., navigating), they did not engage with the media directly or discuss the media experience with children. Instead,
they used the time for other activities, such as cooking, cleaning, or using their own devices. In the second type of
participation, the joint media use was more intentional. In these instances, parents played a more active role, engaging
directly with the media (e.g., participating in gameplay) and/or discussing the media experience with the child (e.g.,
asking children questions, answering questions the child asked, making connections between the media experience
and the real world, and listening to/acknowledging the child’s spontaneous comments). Researchers observed both
kinds of participation across participating families, regardless of study condition. However, the results summarized
in Table 10 suggest uptake among PBS KIDS families of some of the principles of deliberate joint engagement with
media emphasized in the PEG+CAT intervention.
PBS KIDS
12-week average (%)
Business as Usual
12-week average (%)
Completing household chores and tasks
32
47***
Caring for other children
10
13
Watching TV/videos or playing games/apps separately
4
15***
Child did not use technology without an adult
14
8*
*** p<.001; ** p <.01; * p <.05
(Source: Media Diaries)
Table 10. Activities Reported by Parents/Caregivers during Children’s Media Use (n=197)
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Supporting Parent-Child Experiences with PEG+CAT Early Math Concepts
Challenges Enacting the PEG+CAT Intervention
Approximately half the PBS KIDS families reported challenges with enacting the intervention during
any given week of the study. The most commonly reported challenges were using the laptops/tablets and finding
time to fit the games and videos into the family schedule. Connectivity issues and not being able to access the digital
resources emerged as a third challenge (Figure 13). Children’s lack of interest or engagement was not a notable
challenge across the 12 weeks of the intervention.
It is likely that the data in Figure 13 underrepresent the challenges encountered by families in the PBS KIDS condition,
as the parents/caregivers who indicated a challenge for any given week did not always specify the type of challenge
they faced.
PBS KIDS families encountered myriad technological challenges over the 12-week study period. In
order to ensure that PBS KIDS families had continuous and reliable access to the digital resources included in the
study, each study-related device came with 3GB of data per month. However, families still encountered challenges
with the technology tied to the intervention. In an effort to reduce the impact these issues could have on study
participation, researchers attempted to respond to technology difficulties immediately. Despite these efforts, families
encountered difficulties with Internet connectivity limitations due to slow or throttled data speeds as well as limited
broadband coverage in their neighborhoods, device malfunctions (7 of the 201 devices), difficulty signing in to devices
and the study site, and devices reset to factory settings. Researchers walked families through processes to address
Internet and sign-in problems over the phone, and met individually with families with lost, stolen and broken devices.
Families did not go more than one week with an inoperable device.
Source: Media Diaries
Figure 13. Challenges Reported by PBS KIDS Families while Enacting the PEG+CAT
Experience by Week (n =101)
0
5
10
15
20
25
Percent of Families
Study Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Using Laptop/Tablet
Fitting Videos/Games
into Family Schedule
Internet Connectivity
Children’s Lack of
Interest/Engagement
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Report to the CPB-PBS Ready To Learn Initiative
55
Up Close:
Media Use in PBS KIDS Homes
Randomized controlled trials are designed to gather evidence that speaks to broad questions of concern, in
this case, math learning among young children living in lower-income households. While a study such as this
one must necessarily concern itself with analyzing a full data set collected by the research team, it is important
to remember the very real families who made the study possible. Although it is not possible to represent the
richness of PBS KIDS families’ experiences with the PEG+CAT materials—much happened over 84 days in
each of the 197 homes—the following vignettes are modest representations of what participation looked like
in four different homes. Formally, these vignettes draw upon home visit data—systematic researcher accounts
of two visits with 10 PBS KIDS families in each study condition conducted over the 12-week period—that
complements the more comprehensive data from media diaries and system logs. Less formally, rather than
being representative, these snapshots provide glimpses of particular families’ use of study materials, concretely
depicting specific moments of dual-generational media use and learning.
The vignettes, which use pseudonyms, highlight a range of behaviors from children and adults alike. From
these stories, it is possible to see how parents supported children’s use of the PEG+CAT materials, the types
of interactions taking place between adults and children, how parents took up the guidance in the family
support materials, and how children and parents reacted to the videos and games. In addition to depicting how
families took up the mathematics skills, these vignettes also offer evidence of children’s uptake of ATL strategies
highlighted in the PEG+CAT resources.
• Carlo and Veronica is an example of the importance of mediation, and how co-play with a caring adult is
critical for helping children progress through games, even the ones with which they are familiar.
• Jessica and Adrian’s vignette emphasizes the value of transmedia. When games accompany videos, they
open up opportunities for children to practice and appropriate the math skills at the center of the videos.
Adrian’s experience also exemplifies the sing-and-dance-along allure of PEG+CAT’s music as well as the
developmental challenge of paying attention to an 11-minute video, which is common among four-year-olds.
• Ana and Sofia is an example of the rich interactions that can, and did, unfold among PBS KIDS children
and parents around the PEG+CAT videos and games. It also highlights how parent-child interactions
helped children make sense of the math, turning Peg’s “big problems” into opportunities for thinking about
mathematical questions in the context of everyday life.
• Liliana and Angela is a powerful reminder that media tend to be designed for solo use, rather than joint
engagement; that adults are differently prepared to engage with children around media; and that, in some
cases, resources such as tip sheets and experience guides might not be sufficient and that models,
especially parent videos, might be necessary.
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Supporting Parent-Child Experiences with PEG+CAT Early Math Concepts
Carlo and Veronica:
Importance of Mediation
Four-year-old Carlo lives with his family in the New York City area. When researchers visited Carlo’s home, they
talked with Carlo, his mother, and his seven-year-old sister in the living room of their apartment. In addition to
the PBS KIDS laptop and tablet provided as part of the study, other devices in sight included a large TV, a Wii
gaming system, a DVD player, and a cable box.
At the first visit, researchers had the chance to speak with Veronica, Carlo’s mother. Carlo was present in room
for this conversation, playing with the PBS KIDS laptop and, at times, drawing pictures. Veronica mentioned
that Carlo enjoys playing Pizza Place, a PEG+CAT online game in which Peg directs children to place a specific
number of toppings on a pizza. (“Let’s put some toppings on this pizza! Ramon wants seven peppers on his
pizza.”) Veronica recalled that Carlo had come to her a few weeks earlier after playing Pizza Place saying,
“Mommy come! I want you to eat one of the slices of pizza!” This had opened up a dialogue between Veronica
and Carlo about the game and how to play it.
The second visit to Carlo’s home involved opportunities for researchers to observe Carlo and Veronica using
the PEG+CAT videos and games. At first, Carlo sat on Veronica’s lap at the dining table as they played a game
together; later, she stood behind his chair, looking over his shoulder as he explored the media on his own.
Carlo’s older sister, Eva, was present too, but she sat at the far end of the room, watching videos and playing
games on a tablet. Eva approached the table from time to time but Carlo discouraged her from joining them.
Together, Veronica and Carlo decided to play two PEG+CAT online games: Chicken Blast Off, focused on
shapes, and Star Swiper, a counting game. Both were games that Carlo played often, according to Veronica,
but during the visit, he needed her help on a number of occasions to progress through the games.
Veronica explained that since Carlo began watching PEG+CAT, he had begun to use Peg’s strategies to deal with
frustration. Each show begins with a problem Peg encounters, causing her to squeal, “I’m totally freaking out!” to
which the insightful Cat responds by reminding Peg to count backwards from five to calm down. Veronica said that
Carlo had begun to declare, “Mommy, I’m angry. I’m counting,” and then count “1, 2, 3…” to relax. Veronica said Carlo
learned this from PEG+CAT videos and, with her encouragement, had been using this strategy at home and at school.
A still from the online
video game Star Swiper.
Documents you may be interested
Documents you may be interested
