My favorite children’s television show to watch with my kids is the new version of the Electric Company that we watch on the PBS channel on our Best Choice TV. If you remember the Electric Company from when you were a kid (in the ‘70s) then you will be familiar with the concept, although the show has been updated for a modern-day feel.

The show has two main aspects to it during each episode. First, there is a story running through the episode as the “good guy” teens, called the Electric Company, try to solve a problem that includes a handful of vocabulary words for each episode. In between segments of the main story, the show includes small, short segments that are designed to teach various aspects of reading. One short, for example, may contrast the hard “c” with soft “c” in English words. Another short may remind children of the rule surrounding the letters “I” and “e” in spelling.

If you watched the show as a child, you will remember one of the regular short segments where we see two of the characters with their faces in silhouette facing each other. One person will say the first syllable of the word, the other person will say the second syllable of the word, and then they say the word together.

This is a guest blog by Barb Mannerchoir