My dd is getting so beyond her baby dvds and keeps asking to watch broadcast television. I caved the other day and let her b/c I had spent the night in the ER with my husband and was too tired to be too worried about what she was watching. Well what a massive change in her behaviour after I let her watch broadcast cartoons even though it was ABC 4 Kids she was really ratty, uncontrollable crying. I had never seen that behaviour in her before So i have Decided NEVER AGAIN but I need some excellent dvds to keep her engaged.
So this is what I am after
Maths
Science Human body/Physical science/ physics/chem/biology
French Interactive dvds if possible
Chinese
Also app recommendations to would be much appreciated.
Oh oh oh MAGIC SCHOOL BUS!!! Get the whole lot! It is just beautiful learning encased in surprisingly well modeled behaviour. In all 52 episodes I have only once winced at a comment. I wince every couple of seconds if my kids get a chance to watch regular TV. I just don’t allow it much any more. Not worth it as you have seen for yourself.
Do you have mathtacular? My son loves it and my girls will watch it without complaints. The preschool class enjoyed it for about 15 minutes before they got restless, but they were engaged while I was watching It with them and discussing topics.
On top of that I would suggest getting some national geographic documentaries. Life in the undergrowth, the blue planet, the human planet… There are many to choose from.
Dorethy Kindersley makes some documentories for kids that are supposed to be awesome but I can’t seem to get my hands on any in Australia. (DK for short" available on amazon, but in the wrong region)
Also try some of the favourite books on DVD, we had the most wonderful Hairy McCleary books on DVD until it got scratched it was very popular with all my kids at that age.
I also approved of the Barbie DVDs, they had good morals overall. So maybe you could google for some parent approved DVDs.
I have them already S loves them but she is a bit over them we have watched them a lot! I always thought NZders had a similar accent to ours but they do sound very different don’t they.
I have always found accents so interesting. How is it that all of these countries settled by England have all come to sound so different from each other. Aus/USA/Canada/ NZ . I find that fascinating?? Oops I am digressing
For science, what about Bill Nye Sciene Guy? And my Mom just got the kids a Beakman’s World DVD but we have not put it in yet. I vaguely remember it from when I was a kid. We used to watch another show on the educational channel called Zoom I think? I forgot about it until now. There are some national geographic boxed sets I put on my wish list on amazon a long time ago but have not bought yet.
And I love magic school bus too! They are GREAT! They carry Liberty Kids at my library but they are based mostly on US history I think, just puttings that out there for anyone else reading this thread who can benefit from that. I don’t know if you happen to be religious, but you can also look into some age appropriate DVDs to reinforce your faith. Oh. And I forgot to mention Little Einsteins. That is a Disney Junior show but they do a nice job teaching music terms like Crescendo and introducing a new composer and artist every episode. It kind of makes our music study a bit more lively, but it is “edutainment” without it bein purely educational. Watch an episode on YouTube and decide for yourself.
Hi Kimba, my daughter reacted to the TV exactly the same way so I stopped it immediately .
We have only recently started to watch TV again and she is only allowed to watch Little Bear or Timothy goes to school :yes:
From educational dvds we like YBCD and Word World now.
My 5 year old son enjoys Bindi though I would only recommend the first few up to about episode 12. I’ve only seen a few of the later ones and wasn’t that impressed.
Other than that he enjoys watching (British) Top Gear :ohmy: Probably not the most appropriate show for a child but it is hard to find something educational that is also entertaining and he’s a boy :wub:
Every so often he does go through a word world phase but it wears off as he really is beyond that level. I think he just likes that as I don’t allow him to watch cartoons normally.
He will also watch Maisy DVDs which my 2.5 year old loves. We play them mostly in French. They are a bit young for him really though. He does watch Little Pim (French and Chinese) at times.
At the moment he is enjoying a youtube playlist that I put together with lots of various songs (Peter Weatherall, countries of the world, flags, multiplication etc… and a few Bible verses thrown in for good measure :biggrin: )
He used to LOVE Letters and Numbers (Australian version) on SBS and we were really sad that finished.
Interested to hear what others are watching as some new material would be good.
Jenene, where did you get the Bindi DVDs from? We can rent a couple at the local video store but they are hard to get otherwise. I am due a trip the Australia Zoo soon but they were very pricey from their gift shop last time. Would love a cheaper, more convenient option. My girls love them as does my son and both of our neighbors boys ( ages 5,6).
Oh and I love Top Gear! Your boy has good taste
Any chance you can share your utube play list? I started one but it was time consuming and never got finished. The countries of the world songs are popular in this house my girls know the words to 2 of them now and sing along.
Since there are Aussies reading this, we used to watch a show about a boy ( and I think a dog and a fish?) who had adventures learning about animals in a “big, big book” does anyone know what it’s called? Or if I can get my hands on it. It was really entertaining and yet educational too.
Edit: I FOUND IT! It’s called Stanley and the great big book of everything here is an amazon link http://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Spring-Fever-Charles-Shaughnessy/dp/B00007AJGL/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_0_1
There are 65 episodes made but only 3 to buy? Hmmm more searching needed…
Reading this thread again has made me want to go shopping for more books on DVD. :biggrin:
Manda You should look at the brain food company. They have 3 dvds all called 'The Fascinating world of" Mammals/Birds/Insects/ I just got them for $10ea off Zuliliy and I have watched the YouTube clips and they look really good. Have a google and see for yourself.
@Keri I have iq fun park it is quite a good game, my eldest daughter loves it it takes a bit of time to play and watch for the smell of the space babies they have a real plastic smell about them but it does fade over time.
Mandadplus3 We would have just picked up Bindi at Big W (or maybe K-mart). I think they were about $10 or $13 from memory. I had a look on line and they are around $20. Maybe ebay??
Where are you if you are due a visit to Australia zoo? We are in Brisbane. But we haven’t made it to Australia Zoo yet
At this stage I only have the 1 youtube playlist though have started a few more. But it is SO time consuming trying to watch them all and find decent ones. I can share the playlist (though I would have to find out how??). I mainly just stuck to ones that I knew were favourites. I need to do another one on more Science topics for him. Also does anyone know if you can get rid of the ads at the start of the clips when they are in your playlist?
Jenene- Drats! Kmart and Big W only stock them at Christmas time apparently. I am in Brisbane too. Greenbank. We have been to Australia zoo a few times. At the gift shop they were $39 each. I was actually there the day Steve dangled his baby in front of a croc, wasn’t nearly as bad as the media circus made it out to be. It’s worth the drive ( takes us a full hour and some) great day out. Join their birthday club for free entry during birthday week :yes:
I am no utube expert but I don’t think you can loose the adds, and I think you can share your playlist by ensuring it is public and just copy paste the link. Someone smarter may know more lol
Brain food company did catch my interest. Zulilly is no good for us Aussies though. I shall look for a preview definately.
Also consider the wink to learn encyclopedic knowledge set ( which include Australian animals episode!) I am waiting for it to come back in stock here in Australia as it’s cheaper here than company direct! My kids enjoy their wink to learn DVDs for language so I can substitute those at times.
I’m in Adelaide and Zulily does ship to Australia and it really isn’t that expensive either the problem is you just have to wait a longer length of time to get it.
Really? I tried once before and had no luck getting stuff shipped! Great to know I can! I found them on amazon as a download about $10 each, plus I found another documentary suitable for kids while I was there! Got a few more Christmas gifts sorted I think…except I will want to watch them before then! lol
Greenbank is the opposite side of town to us. We hope to get to Australia Zoo one day. I remember the child/croc fiasco and we were living in Kenya at the time. News travels.
*It introduces more advance vocabulary. Very popular with the kids.
Super Why http://www.sproutonline.com/shows/super-why
*This is on netflix as well. Reading, comprehension, Spelling, defining, rhyming and the alphabet are key concepts of the show.
Team Umizoomi http://www.nickjr.com/kids-videos/team-umizoomi-kids-videos.html
*We watch this on nick jr so we don’t have to deal with advertisements. Its the only math show out there for little kids but the concepts taught are probably too simple for most kids on this forum. They work on shapes, counting, problem solving, addition, some subtraction, etc.
Bubble Guppies http://www.nickjr.com/kids-videos/bubble-guppies-videos.html
At first, I checked it out and decided not to keep it on my go to list. Some of the topics are just too simple and easy like colors, etc. I also think the concept of mermaids in what seems to be a mixture of life under the sea and life on land to be weird, but somehow they make it work. I actually like their solar system episode. It really helped reinforce our outer space learning phase we were going through a few months ago. Its by far their best episode and it alone is worth watching if you have a little one curious about the solar system. There are lots of catchy songs.
The Adventures in the Book of Virtue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFyBoAre9NI
This show focus on classical literature and fables that present the importance of morals and virtue. My kids love it!
Wishbone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIac28Ro2tU
I think this an excellent series to get kids excited about reading classical literature. This used to be on public broadcasting channel when I was a kid. Now its only on DVD and youtube.
That is all that shows up on my DVR list. I screen everything even the shows I record.
Great list Corkers!
we have watched Word Girl, my girls like it, I found it strange but completely acceptable.
Wild Krats is available in Utube free! :yes: Probably not every episode but enough for a good load of learning. We slip it in between magic school bus on the Ipad sometimes. 2 of my 3 kids like it. I like it!
Sid the Science kid I would pop in the 3,4,5 year old group. but it is much better than most TV shows content wise.
The adventures of the Book of Virtue is something my kids sometimes watch before I get out of bed on Sunday morning. I let is slide as I am not keen to get up at 5;30 if I dont have too every Sunday. I am SOOOO pleased to see it on your list! I can now stay in bed 20 mins longer guilt free :laugh:
Off to check out Wishbone thanks! that one sounds perfect for us right now!
Jenene, It works! I see your wonderful playlist! thankyou
Anyone else want to share one too?
Glad the link works. I meant to mention that the one thing I don’t like about it is all the songs on the one topic are grouped together as that is how I searched for them. Example, all Peter Weatherall songs are together, all countries of the world songs, all counting to 10 in different languages etc… I would prefer them to be random as I think otherwise it could get rather boring. At this stage I just put it on random play when I play it and that seems to work. Otherwise I think I have to move everything one by one…
Would love to see anyone else’s playlists if they have them! Maybe I should start a new thread… I’m sure a year (or two) ago there was a similar discussion on sharing playlists so I may see if I can find that. At this stage I have great plans of trying to do one on basic French, a younger educational one (for my daughter with autism), some more indepth ones on Math/Science/History etc for my son… and a fun one of children dancing/gymnastics for my youngest who loves dancing BUT my plans don’t always happen so would love if others have already done something similar.
Corkers Am also going to look at the videos you suggested. My son really needs more as he has watched what we have so many times and is desparate for new information but in a format that doesn’t require hours of prep or teaching from a very tired mummy.
it was very popular with all my kids at that age.
BUT my plans don’t always happen so would love if others have already done something similar.