Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school What comes after Sesame Street?

I agree about word world and super why although a reader will move that quickly. DS loved word girl and and still loves cyberchase. Wild Kratts is a huge favorite - be warned, just writing the name of the show that darn song is now playing in my head over and over!!

Personally I hated sid the science kid - something about the graphics bugs me!!

In my gifted dream world, I want a science show like Wild Kratts or Cyberchase - something set in space maybe? Which reminds me - could get from the library the dvds of the magic school bus

DeHe

My kids have aged out but, here are some great oldies.

Try to get Mr. Rogers Neighborhood Video, music and books. These are fantastic for kids to understand feelings, accept others and many life lessons.

National Geographic movies with Spin(the earth), I forget the titles but there were some on the rainforest, great barrier reef, ect.

Zoomafoom (sp?) 2 brothers teach about animals.

My votes are for Word World and Super Why. I would prefer my DS3 watch these shows. He, on the other hand, wants to watch his new Train videos (at least these are real trains and not Thomas!) and Peter Pan. Word World has a great website with fun games, as well.

It has been a while but Electric Company, we did the Kratt Brothers previous show, Cyberchase is a big one, Wordgirl. Jarrod Miller Animal show and if you can get Fetch, with Ruf Rufman, DD loved that show.

And the top at that age was Magic School Bus. Hard to find but you can get the DVDs at the library. At least here.

Ren

My ds7 also likes Cyberchase. LOVES Wild Kratts and FETCH! He was not into Fetch! until about a year or two ago.

Most of ds' screen time is also spent on PBS kids these days. Dinosaur Train and Curious George were previous faves.

Also dissapointed with Sid the Science Kid and Super Big Fan of Magic School bus (books and tv show).

Other non-pbs shows ds watched @ age 3/4/5 (and we still watch sometimes*):

*Backyardigans! (one of MY favorites)
*Land b4 time
Animalia
Wonder pets
Bill Nye
Dora/Diego
Handy Manny
Disney play house (Mickey/Minnie/Goofy/Donald)
Imagination Movers
Little Bill
Bob the Builder
Thomas the tank engine
Blues Clues
*Veggie Tales

On a different train of thought... Michael Clay Thompson sells classic children's literature as being appropriate for elementary school aged children. Peter Pan the movie is available based on the original, where the mermaids are wicked and Tink wants to kill Wendy. The 1970's ALICE IN WONDERLAND is also on MCT's early elementary reading list. From one angle I'd call that educational, because it's classic children's literature but it doesn't teach abcs or 123s. It's probably just entertainment. I can't tell the difference.

Ds 4 loved the heck out of PBS Martha Speaks last year. What's not to love about a talking dog? I just ordered and canceled Netflix because it lacked much for me, but it had a lot for the kids. It had years worth of Thomas the Train, old Sesame Street, Timmy Time.
If you have cable Timmy Time is Super cute. I think Chuggington is a great cartoon.

Depending on how advanced your kiddo is, Cyberchase could be a great choice. My DD4 doesn't really get it, but my DS6 really liked it at age 4, even though he didn't understand all of it. I also second Wild Kratts and Super Why.

You can get electric company on DVD at the library. My kids love it. There is also a new one that is supposed to be coming out in the spring or summer, not sure which, but it is supposed to be along the same lines as electric company.

Ds (just 4) loves Little Einsteins (music based), Shaun the sheep (not technically educational but at least I enjoy it too - sparks off many discussions), Voyage to the Planets DVDs. We tend to watch DVDs because I refuse to be bound to certain timeslots of tv programs. He tends to prefer books unless very tired. Looking forward to checking some of the other suggestions. Thanks

My DS (who is now 6) went from Sesame Street and clips of the Muppet Show to Word World, Super Why, Between the Lions, and Dinosaur Train before venturing to Cyberchase and Magic School Bus. He has watched some Sid the Science Kid, Arthur, Clifford the Red Dog, and Curious George though, but I'm not crazy about these shows. He occasionally watches clips of Word Girl too, which is good for vocabulary words.

There's a ton of older (original) Sesame Street clips on YouTube if you haven't seen them as well as the other shows mentioned. There's a also a ton of stuff on the PBS website (http://pbskids.org/).

Of course, you could pick up some DVDs at the library of some of these shows too, though not so much of the original Sesame Street unfortunately .

Geez, I really love Jim Henson and miss those old Muppet Show and Sesame Street shows but I do like Super Why, which is charming and educational, and the Magic School Bus and Cyberchase (Christopher Lloyd aka Jim on the old TV show Taxi is excellent as Hacker).

I actually had an epiphany one day last Feb after my DS watched a clip of Cyberchase. He (aged 5 then) said the word tessellate, defined it, and then showed us what it meant with his Melissa & Doug blocks. I nearly hit the floor and thought then that my son was possibly eg/pg. So you never know what your child/ren may pick up from these shows.