CURIOUS GEORGE RESEARCH RESULTS
In 2012, Concord Evaluation Group (CEG) was hired to evaluate the impact of
Curious George television episodes and TV tie-in books on their target audience. The findings of this study have highlighted the impressive influence
Curious George is having on young children.
The study found that children who read the
Curious George books and watched the
Curious George episodes demonstrated significantly better knowledge of measurement, hibernation, colors, weather, buoyancy, sound, sorting, and plant life than children who did not read or watch
Curious George.
Particularly,
kids who are reading the HMH
Curious George TV tie-in titles had much higher knowledge scores and demonstrated that they had additionally developed "significant scientific habits of mind when reading"asking questions, making predictions and showing curiosityover their peers who have not had the benefit of reading these books.
Reading the books and the episodes together reinforced the positive learning impact presented by each. Nearly all parents reported that reading the books after watching the episodes helped their children remember what they learned (92%) and helped to reinforce what their children learned in the episodes (96%).
In addition to teaching children about science and math, the
Curious George resources also helped parents to feel more confident about their ability to support their child in doing STEM-related activities. Parents reported that the episodes, books, and activities in the back of the books all gave them ideas for exploring science and math activities.
Parent feedback from the research study: "The books brought up topics I never thought to talk about. They gave excellent "at home" experiments. And they were entertaining and engaging to my child.""I like that the book has activities at the end for parents to do with the child. These activities reinforce what the book teaches. Learning by doing is an indispensable teaching tool!"
"My daughter is learning how to read, so she was discovering new words all the way through the book. I think Curious George
encouraged her to read more, sound out, etc.""Curious George
books are easy to read, and educational at the same time. The pictures are entertaining and keep the child's attention, and they don't even know they are learning!"Praise for the PBS-TV series: -2010 and 2008 Daytime Emmy Award -"The 'George' series is nearly perfect preschool literature."--
The New York Times- "An inventive take on an old favorite"--
TV Guide- "Wholeheartedly, ironically, nostalgically whatever adverb you need to feel to the love."--
Entertainment Weekly- "This colorful show can't be anything but successful when the very young target audience finally gets to see its hero show up animated and on the move."--
Hollywood Reporter- "PBS mixes math and mischief in its snappy retelling of CURIOUS GEORGE. . . sweet-natured mayhem."--
Christian Science Monitor- "A nice supportive update on a very old friend."--
The Boston Globe- "Curious George is for kids, which is not to say that it's not funny, but it's for kids."--William H. Macy (narrator),
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette- "A delightful educational series"--
Catholic News Service
George's friend Marco wants to make his famous tortillas for his abuela's birthday, and George is happy to help! But when George knocks over the bag of masa and the grocery store is all out, George and Marco are worried the birthday surprise will be ruined. Luckily, Uncle Enrique is there to take them on a new adventure to find out where masa comes from, how it's made, and how it gets from the farm to Marco's table. This story, based on the Emmy Award-winning PBS TV show, also includes two activities to help reinforce the concept of where food comes from and how it gets into our stores and onto our plates.