Hi, I’m Miss Penny (aka Penny Bernath). I am the Education Director at South Florida PBS and the creator and host of KidVision PreK.

I have worked with young children in the preschool environment since my kids were that age. I got a job at the local University preschool to get tuition waivers for their childcare at the preschool while I worked. It turned out to be a positive move for all of us. My children, now grown, had a wonderful preschool experience, were ready for kindergarten, and had successful school experiences through their graduate levels of college. I became an early childhood expert. I started as a teacher’s aide, went back to school to get my degree in education, became a PreK Director, and now, I educate pre-service teachers aspiring to teach preschool.

These experiences in early childhood education set me on a trajectory to create KidVision PreK, a professional development program for early childhood teachers produced by South Florida PBS. South Florida PBS has expanded KidVision to include programs for preschool children that air on South Florida PBS channels and on YouTube – KidVision Virtual Field Trips, KidVision Full STEAM Ahead, KidVision Art Room, KidVision Music Time, KidVision Dance Time, KidVision Healthy Habits, and KidVision Story Times.

When I am not working on the education of young children, I dedicate my energy to the Japanese martial art of Aikido. I have been training in Aikido since 1972. I am a 7th-degree black belt, the highest-ranking woman in the United States, and the only female member of the United States Aikido Federation Technical Committee. I travel around the world teaching and training Aikido. It is both the same and different than teaching young children. The key word here is ‘teaching’: I am a teacher at heart!

I have three lives: my family, my training, and my work. I love them all. I feel lucky and proud that I have been able to follow the things that interest me and make them my world.

I hope you enjoy KidVision PreK and learn a thing or two from my work that you can use in yours.