The Star Tribune has an article this morning on television shows geared towards preschoolers. It's a fluff piece designed to let us know what's new this year (the companion toys are probably already on sale at Target and Walmart). Along the main article, which tries to both encourage parents to limit TV and assuage their guilt for not doing it, is a list of Picks for Kids chosen by Liz Perle of Common Sense Media. I'm not entirely proud of it, but I'm pretty familiar with the latest kids' shows, and none of the shows on her list would have made my short list. I wish she had used a clear set of criteria (one of the shows isn't even broadcast anymore), and quite frankly, I wish she had better reasons for choosing them among the 100s of kids' shows on the air.
Here is her list with her comments and mine. I'll list the favorite shows in our house in a separate post.
"Franklin": A turtle who is constantly trying to emerge from his shell. "The characters are engaging and lovely and sympathetic, dealing with dilemmas that are appropriate for kids that age."As a homeschooler, this show is a little too heavy on pro-school propaganda for me. Also, I find the way they have anthropomorphized the animals to be weird and inconsistent. Franklin and his family eat bugs, but when Mrs. Turtle was expecting, she was pregnant, instead of tending a nest. My kids do like this show, and it doesn't have an overwhelming number of licensed products associated with it, which both count in it's favor, but there are better shows out there.
"Little Einsteins": Animated kids who love the classics, and we're not talking Yogi Bear. "The title says it all. It's geared toward parents who want their children to be fabulous."Hmm... do I want my kids to be "fabulous"? I want them to be happy, secure, well educated, and a bunch of other things, but I don't really care if they're fabulous. As for the show, my kids got bored with it after seeing it about 3 times. I can't help but wonder where the Little Einsteins' parents are.
"Reading Rainbow": Former "Trekkie" LeVar Burton reads a book from cover to cover. "This is TV at its best. Not every family has parents that read to them. This is as close as they'll get."Unfortunately, this show has been cancelled. I guess my kids get enough books at home, because the handful of times my kids saw this show they found it dull. I always assumed it was aimed at early readers rather than preschoolers.
"Clifford the Big Red Dog" and "Clifford's Puppy Days": Canine who constantly learns new tricks. "Clifford rocks. He's smart, loving and adorable and is a great companion to kids who are starting to have an active fantasy life."This was a show we watched fairly regularly for a while, but we've moved on. It's not an awful show, but since I like to nitpick, I wish the relationship between Emily Elizabeth and her "friend" Jenna wasn't stuck in the rut of E stoically putting up with J's poor treatment, until J realizes she is wrong, and apologizes. As the mother of two girls, I don't like seeing the heroine act like a doormat.
"Sagwa the Chinese Siamese Cat": Curious cat born from the mind of author Amy Tan. "Fabulous. It broadens our sympathy for people who don't look like the girl next door."Ms. Perle's comment is interesting to me because the only Chinese people I've seen on this show are the adults, and they aren't very sympathetic-- kids are going to relate to the animals. Having said that, Sagwa is a pretty good show. The characters aren't one dimensional, the stories are interesting, and it is visually appealing. The historical Chinese setting, language, and cultural references are a great bonus. I would be happy to have my kids watch it regularly, but while they enjoy it occasionally, they usually prefer to spend their TV time on other shows.
1 comment:
Thanks Suzy!
How cool that your daughter is painting Chinese characters! Both my girls like the Sagwa counting game where they count in English and Chinese.
My kids enjoy playing at pbskids.org, and I think they've learned some good things there. We don't own much educational software, mostly because there is such a wide variety of free educational games available online. Our old library had a Clifford game I thought was kind of disappointing. But I am usually disappointed in the Clifford brand. We have a couple cute Clifford books, but based on what I've seen in the stores, it feels like they're just milking the Clifford name for profits. I wish PBS exerted some kind of control over the merchandising of their shows (especially Sesame Street).
My older daughter is at the point with reading that familiarity is really helpful. We actually have a Little Bear book from the 50s that is one of her favorites. It interesting to see how they've modernized the Bear family for the show. Father Bear is much friendlier on TV than in our old book. I should take a more recent edition of the book out of the library to see if it is different too.
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