June 2-6 is WordGirl Appreciation Week, and that means five new episodes of the three-time Emmy Award-Winning series from Scholastic Media are coming to PBS KIDS (check local listings). Inspired by the May "Word of the Month" - "appreciate" - during Appreciation Week, "young viewers will join WordGirl, Captain Huggy Face and friends on exciting adventures around town as they fight crime and protect the innocent – correcting poor grammar wherever they spot it and introducing key vocabulary words all along the way." To prep for a week of new adventures, here's four helpful tips to aid in teaching kids just what "appreciation" means (something we need to work on here at Rock Father HQ).

I really can't express enough just how much I love DANIEL TIGER'S NEIGHBORHOOD. When I first got word that the legacy of MISTER ROGERS NEIGHBORHOOD would continue through this production from The Fred Rogers Company, I was excited, but since it's premiere on PBS KIDS in 2012, this show has really become such a fixture here, and it just feels special. While I was attending the PBS Annual Meeting in San Francisco earlier this month, attendees were excited to learn that not only has a new grant helped to fund a second season of DANIEL TIGER'S NEIGHBORHOOD, but Daniel is about to become a big brother...

During the course of my career, I've had the good fortune to have met, and in some cases, worked with some of my favorite artists and performers. I've been able to meet and witness live performances from my top four bands of all-time - FAITH NO MORE, HELMET, PRONG and CLUTCH. I did a music video for FEAR FACTORY... spent a Halloween with SLIPKNOT in Las Vegas... and have crossed paths with more filmmakers and actors than I can count. Over the past few years, something interesting started happening as I switched gears and became more deeply connected to family entertainment... and it all makes an important connection to my own childhood. I've started meeting monsters, particularly those known to populate a certain magical street... SESAME STREET.

As I wrap-up my time here in San Francisco, reporting back from the PBS Annual Meeting, I'm mulling over a gigantic, and impressive slate of programming for the year ahead (and beyond) from both PBS KIDS and For Grownups. While there will be much to discuss in the months ahead, the star of the show on the PBS KIDS front is ODD SQUAD, the new, live-action series for kids that I first posted about here on THE ROCK FATHER back in January. Here at the meeting, it was confirmed that ODD SQUAD will premiere on Wednesday, November 26, 2014 on PBS KIDS with a special one-hour broadcast of two back-to-back episodes that follow the adventures of two young government agents, Olive and Otto, who use math skills and collaboration to investigate weird and unusual phenomena. 

It's a really big week for PBS, and as I'm on the road this week at the PBS Annual Meeting in San Francisco as part of my gig with PBS KIDS, it's a perfect time to let you all know about the next batch of DVDs on the way. On June 10th, PBS Distribution will be releasing new volumes of WILD KRATTS, WORDGIRL and DINOSAUR TRAIN, each hitting retail with more episodes of these great educational series', ready to watch whenever your little ones are.

Check out all the details below, and look for more PBS KIDS goodness coming to THE ROCK FATHER throughout the week!

The 2014 Rock Father Tour hits the road and takes to the sky again this week, as I head back to the West Coast on another adventure. One of the best parts of my job is a side-gig that I've had with PBS as a PBS KIDS VIP (Very Involved Parent). Having written about PBS programming for quite awhile before we made any kind of formal connection, it's been a real honor to work the the folks from PBS KIDS over the past two years, helping to spread the word about quality, educational programming. Last year was the first year that I'd been invited to attend the PBS Annual Meeting (then in Miami), and this year I've been invited back, as we "get the band back together" and hit the streets of San Francisco to get the rundown and game plan for the next year of PBS programming and events.