Teaching Children to Read with Educational Television

With a bachelor of science in finance, Janina Casey has almost 20 years of executive experience in equity research and sales. Before her professional career in finance, Janina Casey was a child actress and was nominated for her role in the children's educational television show The Electric Company. 

While many experts agree that today's children spend too much time with electronic media, a number of them including Milton Chen, who helped launch an educational programming partnership between the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the U.S. Department of Education, believe that educational programming for children has positive effects. In a statement made in 2009, Chen concluded, "I come out on the side that specific television programs and experiences can very much support literacy."

Chen believes that well-designed television and media programs can contribute greatly to learning to read by enhancing a child's recognition of letters and sounds. These programs can also help children develop a love for reading. When working on shows like Sesame Street and The Electric Company, Chen helped to design and test teaching methods that promoted literacy. Still, expert research shows that excessive television viewing may be detrimental to children under two years of age, and that there needs to be a balance between watching literacy programming on television and practicing reading for children to become fluent readers.