s/o: educational videos you dislike

[LaughingCat]

I've been collecting various educational dvd's because DD9 is struggling with reading but loves TV. As an adult, I find some are enjoyable (at least the first time they are watched :tongue_smilie:), some are just bearable, and some are unwatchable. The Cat in the Hat listed on the recent educational video thread - DD9 used to watch that in the mornings and I really disliked it. There was no content that I can point to, it just rubbed me the wrong way. Then again I never liked the original Cat in the Hat books either :lol:

 

Also DD9 loves the new Electric Company videos (she got the "best of" the old ones out of the library and didn't care for it at all), but I don't care for either the old ones or the new ones! (once again nothing I can point to showing why)

 

Are there any educational videos you can't stand?

[Momof3littles]

Magic Schoolbus videos.

 

We like the books, but every time I've seen a DVD of The Magic Schoolbus, IMO, it is just soooo overstimulating that the message is lost. My family doesn't watch much tv, so maybe that's part of it. My kids have great retention if I read them the book, but if they watch a DVD of MSB and I ask them what they learned, they really can't say all that much.

 

Granted, it has been 2 years or so since we've attempted one, but they have just grated on me in the past. I love the books though.

[sagira]

I cannot watch Sid The Science Kid. The animation looks ugly to me. I know it's supposed to be very educational according to a retired teacher, but.. There are enough shows to endorse one at my house I don't care for.

 

At first I thought Beakman was a bit over the top, but it has grown on me, and the best part is, ds9 loves it and remembers an amazing amount of stuff. I love Bill Nye The Science Guy, BTW. If I could only find them cheaper..

Edited October 9, 2012 by sagira

[stripe]

I love Bill Nye The Science Guy, BTW. If I could only find them cheaper..

I am not a huge fan of the style of the Bill Nye shows. The music and the style of constantly cutting in and out gets on my nerves. I wish it could just be "cleaned up."

[Hunter]

I have found that some of the cartoons that are lean on content, can provide a lattice that I can then fill in with a few comments that otherwise would be meaningless to the student. Sometimes they are starting at such an empty place we don't immediately realize how much they ARE learning.

 

Some of the Bill Nye videos are worse than others. I think they work best when a picture book on the topic was read first. The picture book is the lattice that the choppy Bill Nye blips fill in.

[pitterpatter]

Walking with Cavemen - There is male and female nudity throughout. Also, didn't care for the stereotypical neanderthal type behaviors (i.e. burping, drooling while eating).

 

Magic School Bus videos do drive ME nuts, but DD likes them.

 

Spanish for Kids DVDs!! What's up with the talking tree? Poor animation and acting.

[ELITEANDLOVINGIT]

I don't know about dislike...but I LOVE Bear in the Big Blue House.

[phathui5]

Sid the Science Kid- ugh.

[sewingmama]

cannot watch Sid The Science Kid.

 

LOL - my kids call him the playdough boy as in "Mum can we watch that playdough boy show" :lol:

[kiwik]

I quite like did the science kid but sesame street irritates me.

[stripe]

I would like to register my complaints with the creators of

* Ghostwriter

and

* Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego

 

for including soap opera like plots and multiple incidents of boys and girls kissing amorously. I just don't understand why this belongs there.

[sagira]

I would like to register my complaints with the creators of

* Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego

 

for including soap opera like plots and multiple incidents of boys and girls kissing amorously. I just don't understand why this belongs there.

 

Uh oh. Just ordered this from Amazon. Is it Disney kissing, or more involved?

[stripe]

Uh oh. Just ordered this from Amazon. Is it Disney kissing, or more involved?

I wasn't aware there was any in either, it never occurred to me, I am sorry to say, until my kids reported about Ghostwriter. I was having them watch an educational video while putting my baby for a nap. :glare: I told them to forget Ghostwriter (a mystery-themed writing show) after two characters kissed, but then I saw the end of one part of Carmen, and it involved a boy telling a girl he liked her and then some formal dance, and it may have been more than one episode. And my kids asked me a casual question about kissing last night. :glare: Why can't the show just be about solving mysteries without being mini-James Bonds?! Anyway I am not sure of the extent of it nor of any way to find out besides watching them all myself. Bleh.

[BatmansWife]

One of the voices on The Magic School Bus, I think it was Ralphie, really annoyed me. But, I decided to just let it go and get my dd the entire set anyway. For some reason, the voice doesn't grate on my nerves like it used to. I haven't paid enough attention to know if it's a different voice.

An old one my kids used to watch was Kratt's Creatures. Those brothers were so over-the-top in their acting.....and the little lemur jumping around.... Ugh....I again tolerated it because the kids could learn something about animals. I was also thinking of Zaboomafoo that annoyed me. But, when I googled both, it looks like they are the very same thing. :001_huh:

Now as far as preschool tv shows go.......don't even get me started on how much I detest The Fresh Beat Band. Is there a gag-me smilie??

[Farrar]

Weren't the kids on Ghostwriter like in middle school? I guess that wouldn't bother me much. I haven't seen it in sooooo long. I just realized they do have the discs on Netflix though...

 

I find a number of the younger kid learning shows grating. Dora, Diego, etc. all make me nuts. And Dinosaur Train, The Cat in the Hat, and some of the others on PBS too. Luckily my kids have outgrown all those. Unfortunately, the bulk of children's television is all geared toward 4 year olds so we also have less to choose from.

[dbmamaz]

You know, i read all those warnings about inappropriate stuff on the walking with cavemen video, but I decided to watch it and just be alert to things I thought went too far . . . but nothing did imo. I watched it with my boys 2 years ago. I am a bit liberal, of course.

 

i hated one . . my mom got a 'best of' set from discovery channel, and it included one about how dragons might have been real. it was . . . fake . .and my kids watched it wthout me and totally believed it! i was furious!

[woolybear]

Zoboomafoo

[BigMamaBird]

I had high hopes for "Ni Hao, Kia-Lan!" but the character's behavior was atrocious and my kids started copying the whining and general brattyness so we nixed it in our house.

 

The animation for Sid the Science Kid is freaky. Gerald is a twerp and the idolizing of Teacher Suzy weirds me out.

 

I liked the old Sesame Street, but now it's basically all Elmo all the time, just not worth it.

[stripe]

Weren't the kids on Ghostwriter like in middle school? I guess that wouldn't bother me much. I haven't seen it in sooooo long. I just realized they do have the discs on Netflix though...

 

I find a number of the younger kid learning shows grating. Dora, Diego, etc. all make me nuts. And Dinosaur Train, The Cat in the Hat, and some of the others on PBS too. Luckily my kids have outgrown all those. Unfortunately, the bulk of children's television is all geared toward 4 year olds so we also have less to choose from.

It's one of the rare writing-themed shows, though. There are a fair number of science shows and the learning to read shows. And good old "Reading Rainbow," which I love, is about the joys of books. However, the characters in Ghostwriter do not look very old and its market seems to include upper elementary. It just seems gratuitous to me. Otherwise it's a nice show, with the early 90s CTW look, including the carefully racially balanced cast. ;)

 

I watched an episode of Sesame Street on TV maybe 4 years ago. The constant cutting away and the imitations of adult tv shows puzzled me.