We finally got DVR yesterday! (I know, I know. We are like the last family in America to get it!)

We still only have basic cable, so no Noggin or Sprout. These shows were listed on PBS as being for kids. Can you suggest maybe five for me to DVR for my kids?
Looking for
1) educational value for 3 to young 4 year olds (they know letters but can't read at all yet),
2) enjoyability, and
3) no whining voices or bad examples / attitudes being promoted (like the kid always having to go behind the adult's back to get done what needs to be done because the adult is so stupid - that kind of thing).

THANKS!

-----------------------------------

Animalia
Arthur
Barney & Friends
Berenstain Bears
Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures
Between the Lions
Boohbah
Caillou
Clifford the Big Red Dog
Curious George
Cyberchase
Dinosaur Train
DragonflyTV
Dragon Tales
Electric Company
Fetch!
Franny's Feet
George Shrinks
Jay Jay the Jet Plane
It's a Big Big World
Lomax, the Hound of Music
Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies
Martha Speaks
Maya & Miguel
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Make Way for Noddy
Panwapa
Postcards from Buster
Reading Rainbow
Sagwa
Sesame Street
Sid the Science Kid
SUPER WHY!
Share a Story
Teletubbies
Toopy and Binoo
WordWorld
Zoboomafoo
ZOOM

BGG born 4/25/05 at 31w1d




New baby girl born 9/19/06

Out of that list my kids enjoy the following:

Word World: Educational and entertaining (our favorite right now)
Berenstain Bears
Caillou

I have heard that Super Why is good too but it seemed a little too old for my kids. Maybe in 6 + months.

Jana
GBG Born August 5, 2005
31 Weeks

My kids will be 4 in a couple of weeks, so not much younger than yours. From your list this is what my kids enjoy:

Super Why. They love it. It helps in letter recognition (sp?), word recognition, and teaches some kind of lesson. Usually they pull a book that the story is familiar and change is a little to solve the "problem."

Sesame Street. Who doesn't love Sesame Street?!?!?!

Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies. We just discovered this show and LOVE it. Mama Mirabelle is an elephant. It is a show about animals.

Dragon Tales. I find the show saccharine sweet and hard to watch but the kids like it. I usually be out of the house by the time it is on.

Word World. I like it because of the animation. I am not sure that my kids understand that the animals drawn using the letters of the animal they are. It does teach word and letter recognition though.

Clifford. They like it because it is a dog. They have Clifford books so they know who he is as a character.

We did watch Between the Lions the other day. I think it was a bit over their heads but they did enjoy the characters.

A lot of these shows we can get on Demand (part of our package). We do have NOGGIN but not the SPROUT channel which a lot of those shows are on.

Suzan

g/g/b August 21, 2005
my miracle 24 weekers!!!!

We don't have a DVR. So that makes me the last family. I WIN!

Michele
Sarah, Gregory, Amanda
born 1/22/04 at 35w1d

Our surprise baby Austin born 06/15/2005

www.fourtimesthefun.blogspot.com

Not only don't we have DVR, we don't even have cable!! (and NO desire to get it!)

Now my kids are much older but they STILL like Arthur.
Even our highschooler and his friends will watch it if it is on.

Other old favorites,
Reading between the Lions
Zooboomafoo
Cyberchase (but for when they are older)

Judie and Victor
lucky parents to
Frankie 3/95
Maggie 7/96
Rose 7/96
Elizabeth 7/96

We dont have cable either and because of where we live we dont even get local programing. before everything went digital if the wind blew just right and the planets and stars allinged just so we could kind of see some channels if you could see through the static. So essentialy for the past 16 years we have been TV free

Here some feedback on the shows:

Animalia - we don't have it
Arthur - some of the older kids social stuff you may not want
Barney & Friends - great!
Berenstain Bears - we don't have it
Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures - we don't have it
Between the Lions - more for K age
Boohbah - nonsense like Teletubbies
Caillou - some whining but overall good
Clifford the Big Red Dog - good but not really educational
Curious George - great!
Cyberchase - more for K age
Dinosaur Train - we don't have it
DragonflyTV - we don't have it
Dragon Tales - good
Electric Company - good but maybe more for 4/5 age
Fetch! - more for K age
Franny's Feet - we don't have it
George Shrinks - we don't have it
Jay Jay the Jet Plane - OK kind of boring
It's a Big Big World - OK but my kids never got into it
Lomax, the Hound of Music - we don't have it
Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies - we don't have it
Martha Speaks - more for 4/5 age
Maya & Miguel - more for 4/5 age
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood - my kids found it boring
Make Way for Noddy - we don't have it
Panwapa - we don't have it
Postcards from Buster - more for K age
Reading Rainbow - a bit slow but worth trying
Sagwa - we don't have it
Sesame Street - my kids never got into it but great if your kids like it
Sid the Science Kid - good but more for age 4+. The way the kids talk drives me crazy
SUPER WHY! - good maybe more for 4/5
Share a Story - we don't have it
Teletubbies - nonsense
Toopy and Binoo - we don't have it
WordWorld - great!
Zoboomafoo - great!
ZOOM - we don't have it

HTH!

Marsha
mom to Nick, Hannah and Paige born July 15, 2004

Girl,
We don't have a DVR or cable either! Nor do we have Noggin or Sprout. The only TV we watch is:

SESAME STREET (the older shows are much better, but my kids know what an octogon is!)

CALLIOU (my guys are hypnotized and Calliou, being 4, does stuff the boys actually do and they love it)

WORD WORLD/SUPERWHY (they both like these but they come on at weirder times, so we are not watching them this semester)

MARTHA SPEAKS/GEORGE (this is what is on now when we wake up, so they see them and like them.


Hope you are doing well
Melody
^bbb^ 11-03-03 at 22 weeks
BBB ^d^ 1-08-06 at 30 weeks I am an earthly mom at last!
keep up with us at www.lodyp.com

No cable here too!!!

Cheryl
Mommy to 5
Kyle (16)
Casey (13)
Tripz (BBG Jan 2006)


http://lilypie.com>

Thank you thank you thank you!!

BGG born 4/25/05 at 31w1d




New baby girl born 9/19/06

Berenstain Bears! Good values, if not for TV then get the books. Both my older and younger kids grew/growing up on them. They are great.

Cheryl
Mommy to 5
Kyle (16)
Casey (13)
Tripz (BBG Jan 2006)


http://lilypie.com>

My kids love word world. It is the only thing I encourage them to watch. They love it as do my 5 and 7 year olds. It is geared towards more 4 or 5, but the trio (3) love it just as much and I am sure are learning a ton.

G
B
G
G
GGG Aug 2006, 31.5 wks

Hey, Megan!

I had this kind of question a while back, but was looking for some older programs. Here's what I have found with my kids:

Animalia -- This is probably still a bit too old for your kids, but my children are enjoying this now. (Mine turn 6 soon.)
Arthur -- Mine are enjoying this now -- again, it may be a bit too old for your kids.
Barney & Friends -- Your kids will like this if you can stand it without gagging.
Berenstain Bears -- Wonderful and your kids will love it. Great values.
Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures -- don't know anything about it.
Between the Lions -- Probably too old.
Boohbah -- Way too young.
Caillou -- Perfect for your kids now. He's a bit whiny, but great values and he's also "4."
Clifford the Big Red Dog -- Perfect for your kids now and for a bit.
Curious George -- My kids are enjoying this now, but your kids would, too. A nice show!
Cyberchase -- Probably too old for them, and a bit too old for my kids.
Dinosaur Train -- don't know about this one.
DragonflyTV -- don't know about this one.
Dragon Tales -- Perfect for your children now and good values. You'll enjoy this one, too.
Electric Company -- Probably a bit too old for your kids now, but close. It's actually geared toward beginning readers, but give it a try.
Fetch! -- don't know.
Franny's Feet -- My kids adore this show and your kids will like it, too. It may be a tiny bit above them right now, but there's enough going on at their level to make it a good watch for them now.
George Shrinks -- don't know about this one.
Jay Jay the Jet Plane -- Your kids will like this one.
It's a Big Big World -- don't know about this one.
Lomax, the Hound of Music -- don't know about this one.
Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies -- This is a wonderful show -- probably a bit above them right now, but worth trying.
Martha Speaks -- This one is likely a bit above the kids right now. My children adore this show, so record it and give it a try. It's one of the most wonderful shows I've seen!
Maya & Miguel -- Probably above your kids. My kids haven't watched this one, but I checked it out and wasn't too excited about it.
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood -- Excellent for your kids. My kids still like this one if nothing else is available, but it's a little slow for them now. He is absolutely wonderful.
Make Way for Noddy -- Your kids will love this one!
Panwapa -- I don't know...this one turns me off for it's global approach and worldview.
Postcards from Buster -- 'Haven't seen this one but have heard good things. It may be a bit too old yet?? Let me know about this one, okay?
Reading Rainbow -- Probably a bit too old yet.
Sagwa -- Wonderful show. Your kids will adore this one.
Sesame Street -- My kids have never liked this one... oh well...
Sid the Science Kid -- This one is a bit too old for your kids. My children are getting into this one now. Give it a try, though, and see what they think.
SUPER WHY! -- I have never much cared for this one. The stories are fun, but the "reading" approach is nil. There is no real opportunity to apply phonics at all and may make reading seem more complicated than it needs to be. We didn't watch this a lot.
Share a Story -- don't know about this one.
Teletubbies -- Probably way too young for your kids.
Toopy and Binoo -- don't know about this one.
WordWorld -- Again, your kids will like this, but there is nothing instructive about the "reading," rather it seems to equate reading to the shape of the object, which can be confusing. We didn't watch this a lot.
Zoboomafoo -- Great show! It may be a bit too old, or maybe not. It will depend upon your children's interests. My son has always been drawn to this one, and it has wonderful animal information. You'll like this one a lot.
ZOOM -- don't know about this one.

'Hope this helps. Enjoy the dvr!!


Cat w/3 Kittens
Caidan, Carina and Caeleigh
Born at 31 weeks, 1/8/04.

We watch PBS every morning. They favorites for mine are Super Why, Sesame St. and Barney.

I record these everyday so they can watch them again later.


Luke- 4lb,12oz
Wade - 3lb,4oz
Zoe - 5lb,2oz
Born at 34 weeks

http://alwaysdreaminvividcolors.blogspot.com/

you already got lots of responses, so I'll keep mine short.

Sesame Street, Curious George, Super Why and Sid the Science Kid are our favorites. I find these to be the most educational and least annoying. We also watch Martha Speaks, Word World and Caillou occasionally.

Mine are turning 4 next month, so I think our kids would enjoy similar shows.

BTW, we are disconnecting our cable next month, so we are really heading into the dark ages. Anyone have an extra converter box we could use? : )

Susan