Children at Head Start travel to the stars
Children at Coshocton County Head Start took a trip to the moon with their friends from Sesame Street, Big Bird, Elmo, and a new friend from China, Hu Hu Zhu. The program, ‘One World, One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure’ is a 27-minute video part of a traveling planetarium, Growing Up Great Together Under One Big Sky, geared toward teaching children ages four to six all about the wonders of the night sky in language they would understand. The program was specially created by the Sesame Workshop and its partners with major support from the PNC Foundation.
COSHOCTON – Children at the Coshocton County Head Start got to go on a space adventure today with an imaginary trip to the moon and back with their favorite friends from Sesame Street, Big Bird, Elmo, and a new friend from China, Hu Hu Zhu.
The program, entitled ‘One World, One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure’, is a 27-minute video, which is part of a traveling planetarium, Growing Up Great Together Under One Big Sky, geared toward teaching children ages four to six all about the wonders of the night sky in language they would understand. The program was specially created by the Sesame Workshop and its partners with major support from the PNC Foundation.
For a lot of the children, this was their first introduction to astronomy and possibly their first time learning about a different culture, from Hu Hu Zhu, a Muppet from the Chinese co-production of Sesame Street. Through this educational and interactive video, the children learn that although we may come from different cultures and backgrounds, we still look at the same sky.
The traveling planetarium is a $350 million, bilingual initiative and began in 2004 with a goal of helping to prepare young children for their future educational endeavors.
“Part of what the Ohio Department of Education requires is that we do early learning standards they need to meet before they go to kindergarten,” said Carla Aaronhalt, Education Manager. “This program meets so many of the requirements. It’s bringing the stars inside for them and it’s a great way to bring them that experience.”
The children also learned about the Big Dipper, the North Star, and how the atmosphere is different on the moon than here on earth.
The children received a sticker on the way back to their classroom. The traveling mobile will finish their tour through Ohio and then move on to Pennsylvania and parts of New Jersey.
Category: Education
