Saturday, December 11

Children's Television Programming...




Though we do allow our children to watch television, we are pretty picky about what we allow them to view. If possible, we try to avoid shows with commercials (partly because we never know what will come on and partly to avoid the "gimmies"). In addition, our little ones are very sensitive and have a low tolerance for frightening things (something for which I am very thankful) so we aim for peaceful and gentle children's programming. Some of the shows we really like are Little Bear (which can be found on Amazon -On-Demand!), The Busy World of Richard Scarry (and Busytown Mysteries), and Babar (which can also be found on Amazon-On-Demand!). We also like some of the television shows on PBS (mainly Clifford, Caillou, and The Cat and the Hat) and the Scholastic DVD Collection (you can find these at many libraries!). I'd love to try The Beatrix Potter Collection sometime (hint, hint to our library!!).

How do you handle television/videos in your home? What are your favorite children's?

13 comments:

Kate said...

We like shows from Britain and Canada. I highly recommend Kipper the Dog (there is an episode about a ghost that's scared of people in Kipper Helps Out DVD). I like Boo, Charlie and Lola, and Maisy. We also watch Sesame Street Old School and Berenstein Bears. My kiddos like Caillo, too. Some people complain that he whines, but I think it's just the actor(actress?) doing his voice trying to sound like a little kid.

A series I recommend on DVD is On The Farm. We meet the lady who makes these DVD's every year at the NYS farm show. She's great and the DVD's are really REALLY good! www.fesko.com

annie said...

My little ones are sensitive, too.

My daughter picked out a Strawberry Shortcake video at the library one day, but got frightened and began to cry during a scene when the baby sister is mistakenly separated from the group and is headed for danger down a rushing stream. It was about 20 seconds, only 10 of which barely even hinted at something terrifying, but she didn't like it. We also tried Horton Hears a Who and she didn't like the birds in it...They're sarcastic and it bothered her.

It's actually taken quite a long time for either of them (daughter is 3, son is 1) to even be interested in watching things (which I'm thankful for, too), so we've only just entered the world of television and movies.

We like the ones you mentioned, as well as some Sesame Street, Sid the Science Kid, and Arthur. My children realy enjoy Raffi concerts and request to watch that on mop days, when I need them occupied and away from the slippery wet floors. We have a DVD of a collection of Robert McClosky stories and they enjoy that, too. We also look up on You Tube or skip through the DVDs to find the song-and-dance portions of Mary Poppins and Sound of Music and things like that.

I would love to try the Beatrix Potter Collection, too!

Elizabeth J. said...

Our oldest son (4) is not easily frightened--he loves movies like Disney's "Robin Hood" and Pixar's "UP"--but we still try to be careful. We don't have a t.v. so anything he watches is on dvd or Netflix instant watch: Little Bear, Kipper the Dog, Charlie and Lola, Curious George and Thomas Train are his favorites. He recently saw an episode of Cat in the Hat and really liked it. :)

Me said...

Youtube has some really cute Beatric Potter shows, ones that mix real life persons and animals with cartoon segments.

Maria said...

Little Bear, Babar, Richard Scarry, Beatrix Potter and Scholastic are all in our home video library. We also have quite a few Franklin and Blues Clues, Sesame Street specials, Barney (my kids love him) and the older Dr. Seuss (animated, or animated musical, NOT the new versions).

Many of our videos were hand-me-downs or library discards I bought for $1. I picked up a number of Scholastic DVDs on sale at TJMaxx for $2 - $4 apiece.

Our library is actually selling all its children's VHS cassettes now, because people are only checking out DVDs. Everything $1.

About Beatrix Potter -- I held off on these because I was afraid watching them would spoil the stories for us, but they are actually very faithful to the originals. We have about seven now, all picked up from library sales for $1 apiece or less. The Tailor of Gloucester is a good Christmas story.

Christine said...

I'm actually quite thrilled to see how many of you have children that are "sensitive". My little girl is 4 and is very sensitive (which I did appreciate, but wondered if it was somewhat normal)!
We started out with no tv...although we do allow some nowadays. Some of the PBS shows you mention are some of the ones that my little one likes as well. We have a few videos handed down from friends too, but mostly for when she is a little older. Like Annie, we also love to watch the song/dance portions of movies on YouTube.
While content is a main issue, I also find that if she is allowed to watch tv/movie, she gets what I call "brain mush".

I do have to admit that this week PBS saved my mornings because both of my little ones were very sick and miserable....and a little Curious George can always divert their attention. I think they will be going through withdrawal next week because they watched more shows in one week than they have watched in their lives !! :)

mari k. said...

The Beatrix Potter collection is really wonderful and worth purchasing, if possible. Our family has watched many of the films in the set a few hundred times. :)

Lucy Honeychurch said...

I'm careful even about Beatrix Potter because some of her stories can be a bit sinister ie Samuel Whiskers and Anna Maria rolling up the Tom Kitten in dough to eat.
M is allowed to watch the original BBC Postman Pat(the Americanised ones are horrid) occasionally. My seven year old gets to watch David Attenborough wildlife documentaries (she knows a lot about the Galapagos Islands :) and an old BBC movie of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons. It's great.

Shana said...

Max and Ruby is a favorite of my littlest, but it does have commercials which I wish it didn't. It has a very retro feel, but as with many cartoons now a days, there are no parents which does bother me a bit.

My oldest daughter who is seven loves Martha Speaks on PBS and it has a lot of critical thinking and vocabulary building in it.

Amie said...

Hello, I enjoy your site, very inspiring.
Video series "Cherub Wings" is really good. So is "Miss Pattycake". My children watch a lot of things played on the "Smile of a child network".

Lindsay said...

I have to tell you about a little show called "Hi-5". It's so great! There is a lot of music as well as inspiring imagination. Both of my kids have watched it for a few years and it's just about the only show my 3 y/o watches.
Here's a link to the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyRbw4SoE4Y
My son is getting the show on DVD for Christmas.

Kelly said...

imagine my surprise when some of the various shows you mentioned I found available in the "on demand" section of our cable provider.

My children are really only allowed to watch PBS shows. I only allow a few Disney shows and NO nickleodeon shows are allowed.

Many of the PBS shows are education based which I love. Plus I used to watch a lot of them growing up.

In the spring/summer we don't watch as much T.V. so even those days when we hunker down and vege out in front of the T.V I consider it a wash.

This will obviously change when we start homeschooling next fall.

Sarah in Indiana said...

Speaking as a librarian, if you request the Beatrix Potter collection at your library, they will probably be glad to purchase it, unless your library's budget is hurting so badly that they aren't buying DVDs. At our library we are always glad to get requests like that which have general appeal, and librarians tend to have a soft spot for movies and shows based on beloved books.

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