Teachers, there is an educational podcast for your young students

By SchoolStatus • 2 min

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For the past few years, the world has consumed podcasts at blistering speeds. Consequently, a lot of listeners can choose from a variety of content. It’s estimated that more than 2 million podcast shows are available. However, most of those shows target adults and teens. Very few podcast creators have taken the time to make shows aimed at 6-10-year-olds.

When Jerry Kolber contemplated making educational podcasts for young kids, he didn’t see many existing options.

“It’s a very challenging age group to sell advertising against, for logistically and ethical reason,” says Kolber.

Kolber is the voice behind the new hit children’s educational podcast “Who Smarted?”

You may not recognize the name, but you might recognize some of Kolber’s other work. The company he co-founded, Atomic Entertainment, launched hit shows like Brain Games (Disney +) and Brainchild (Netflix).

When the COVID pandemic hit in 2020, there was a period where they couldn’t film shows, so he and his team at Atomic started looking into producing a podcast.

“Before we started “Who Smarted?,” we found lots of research that shows that children are able to comprehend at a grade level as much as two to three grades higher with audio than with text,” say Kolber. “Because your conversation skills develop a little faster than your reading skills at that age.”

Who Smarted is a creatively produced show that includes many sound effects and actors with fun voices. But the variety of topics are what will keep kids, families, and their teachers coming back for more.

For example,

How does your microwave oven heat up your Hot Pockets?
Why do caterpillars turn into butterflies?
Do animals cry?

The “Who Smarted?” list of shows is extensive because a team of really bright writers turns out a ton of high-level content. It’s about three shows a week, which is a lot in the world of podcasting.

To hear our full interview with Kolber and learn how it can be utilized as a tool in your classroom, listen to the latest episode of Class Dismissed. You can find episodes of the Class Dismissed Podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app.

SchoolStatus

SchoolStatus is a unified K-12 platform that enables districts and schools to engage more families and improve attendance with our easy-to-use communications hub and data-driven attendance solutions. We support an integrated and impactful educational experience, from district leadership to families at home. With more than two hundred million successful school-home interactions, and millions of users, SchoolStatus drives meaningful results for districts and schools across the US.