TPP 010: Angela Santomero on How Children Can Grow SEL Skills Through Preschool TV
episode
Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
30 min
2 speakers
5 chapters
transcribed 4 hours ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Why does Angela Santomero believe preschool TV can be a powerful educational tool?
At the end of a 22-minute piece, we know that it's really hitting kids. And then we started realizing that it was also hitting children on the spectrum that are now able to articulate their feelings or able to do things that they might not have been able to do before.
Welcome to the Tilt Parenting Podcast, a podcast featuring interviews and conversations aimed at inspiring, informing, and supporting parents raising differently wired kids. I'm your host, Debbie Reber, and today's episode features a conversation with children's TV show creator and writer, Angela Santomero. I first met Angela back in 1998 when I got a job working with the hit preschool show Blues Clues, where Angela was one of the show's co-creators. Since then, Angela has gone on to create many more successful educational programs for children, helping preschoolers learn not only school readiness and problem solving, but social and emotional skills, skills that children who are differently wired often need more support in developing.
In today's episode, Angela talks about the potential for educational media in kids' lives and shares her passion for the power of kids' TV as a tool to support the social and emotional development of both typical and atypical kids. There is so much ongoing debate over TV and other screen time for our children. I hope you find this conversation insightful and that it gives you food for thought as you go about making screen time choices for your own kids. To learn more about Tilt, the revolution for parents raising atypical kids, visit www.tiltparenting.com. Hey everybody, Debbie Reber here on the Tilt Parenting Podcast, and I'm here today with the Emmy-nominated children's TV creator and writer, Angela Santomero.
Angela created the preschool phenomenon, Blue's Clues for Nickelodeon, as well as Superwag and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood for PBS, and Creative Galaxy and Wish and Poof for Amazon. Angela is also a bestselling author and the host of The Parent Show with Angela Santomero on PBS. Welcome to the show, Angela. Thanks so much for coming on. Thank you so much for having me. I wanted to share a little background for listeners. So just to keep it real, you and I have been friends for a long time now, as I worked on Blue's Clues back in the day, which was a long time ago, I'm starting to realize now. Since then, you and I have gotten to collaborate together on some really cool projects. And I just want to say, personally, it's been really fantastic to watch your, you know, your journey as a kids show creator over the years and just see you continually bring your passion for empowering kids to TV in a way that I think has truly transformed the landscape for educational TV.
Thank you so much. I mean, I think that you and I have always said this, like when we met, there was just this chemistry in terms of what we wanted to do out in the world and better ourselves and what we're doing for kids. And so obviously, I'm also a huge supporter of yours since the beginning, and also on this new endeavor, which I think is so needed. And I'm so happy to support it.
Thank you. That means a lot. I appreciate that. So I wanted to just talk before we kind of get into the meat of our conversation. I'm really just kind of curious if you could share with us where this passion that you have around the work you're doing, where that stems from. So I obviously know you're the mom of two very cool daughters who are now well past the preschool years. But you were doing this work before you had children. So could you just tell us a little bit about what it was about the blend of media and kids that really inspired you to go down this path?
You know, I always thought that I might be a teacher. I was a preschool teacher when I was in the classroom in college. And I was always around kids. I was that babysitter who had to keep a grid of all of the clients that I had because I was constantly babysitting. And then my little brother was born when I was 14. And so I really got to watch him grow. And so I talk a lot about how he sparked my interest in kids and child development and then how
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Why does Angela Santomero believe preschool TV can be a powerful educational tool?
0:00–6:26
2
How did Angela’s early love of Mr. Rogers shape her career in children’s media?
6:26–12:49
3
What does the research say about the benefits and risks of screen time for young kids?
12:49–18:49
4
How does the formative research process ensure shows like Blue’s Clues teach SEL effectively?
18:49–25:41
5
What strategies does Daniel Tiger use to teach social‑emotional skills to differently‑wired children?
25:41–30:32
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
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TPP 522: A Whole Child Approach to ADHD with Phil Boucher, M.D.
TPP 091a: A Conversation With Steve Silberman About His Book “Neurotribes”
TPP 521: A Conversation with Dr. Peter Gray About Restoring Childhood
TPP 253a: Advocate and Author Jonathan Mooney on Why Normal Sucks
TPP 520: Dr. Özgür Bolat on Why Rewards Backfire and the Real Science of Motivating Kids