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Mackfam
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My preschool and elementary age children enjoy some great tv and DVD series which I consider to be living and worthy viewing.
Here are some of our favorites:
Liberty's Kids - American Revolutionary War setting - wonderful series!
Shakespeare: the Animated Tales (animated BBC) - fantastic series! (You can find these programs free on youtube if you search.) All my children enjoy these programs a great deal, but preview programs first for age appropriateness! Just because they are animated does NOT mean they are sanitized! These are well done animated versions of some of Shakespeare's plays, and as such, some may be too intense for little ones. Adventures from the Book of Virtues - based on William Bennett's book, The Children's Book of Virtues
The Adventures of Tin Tin (3 seasons) - follow the first three books in the series closely. Well done.
Leap Frog series - fantastic for preschoolers!
Beatrix Potter :: Peter Rabbit DVD set (so enjoyed by all my littles!)
Little Bear - also dearly enjoyed by my littles, and is now streaming free on Amazon Instant Play.
I know there are more I'm forgetting and there have to be some good ones I don't know about! Add your favorites here - any topic is fair game: the arts, history, science, natural history, character/virtue, our Catholic faith. What are your favorite living or worthy DVD or tv series for children?
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Jen Mackintosh
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CrunchyMom
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Great list!
Well, this may seem silly, but I keep meaning to do a blog post about Mister Rogers. It is on Amazon Prime Streaming (free for Prime), and my boys have really enjoyed it. It was one of my favorite shows as a child. I even hear my boys reminding each other "Remember what Mister Rogers said..." regarding how they should behave.
It is not slick at all, just complete authenticity from a man who truly loved children.
Another excellent series for music is Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts. Netflix has it, but we were able to get it easily from the library.
Also, I haven't actually seen it in years, but I've considered getting Wild America for our home. I LOVED that series as a child.
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Lindsay
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SeaStar
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National Geographic Really Wild Animals
My dc still enjoy watching these
See How They Grow
This series is for little ones... the narrator is kind of corny, but my dc loved these shows
And, come on! You can't forget Preschool Power 
I first heard of this series right here on 4real. How my kids loved this one! The dvd I linked has all of the series on one disc, which is why the price is so high. LIbraries often have this series... check there first!
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SeaStar
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Forgot Geokids which is another series for preschoolers. It was a favorite here for a long time.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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Mackfam
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| Posted: May 02 2012 at 6:57pm | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
Great list!
Well, this may seem silly, but I keep meaning to do a blog post about Mister Rogers. It is on Amazon Prime Streaming (free for Prime) |
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Not silly at all!!! I love Mr. Rogers. I grew up with him, and I have such respect and fondness for his quiet, gentle manner! I'm glad you linked his programs! It definitely belongs on this list and I didn't know it streamed on Prime! Thanks for the reminder on Mr. Rogers. 
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Jen Mackintosh
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Mackfam
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Oh! Great recommendations, Melinda!
I thought of another series I highly recommend. Walt Disney's Legacy Collection, originally made in the 1950's. There are four DVDs in the set, and unfortunately the first is expensive when you can find it. These are the old Disney programs narrated by the inimitable Winston Hibler and so delightful.
Volume 1 - Wonders of the World
Volume 2 - Lands of Exploration
Volume 3 - Creatures of the Wild
Volume 4 - Nature's Mysteries
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Jen Mackintosh
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SeaStar
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How about My Life on the Farm series for K-3?
These are short dvds... about 15 minutes each.... that show a typical day in the life of a farm kid in different countries. We first found Dermot in Australia at our library. There are 12 dvds in the series. We have not watched them all yet, but this has reminded to order more from the library.
Very interesting!
How It's Made is another series about how different things are made... crayons, footballs, snowboards, brief cases... you name it.
My dh watches these with the kids all the time. Interesting especially for science geeks  and the episodes stream for free from Amazon Prime.
Come on now, admit it: you want to learn how glass headed pins are made (and it's not as simple as you might think...)
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lapazfarm
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Mythbusters-I am a firm believer that if you watch enough Mythbusters it qualifies as a science credit.
Horrible Histories-my daughter just started watching these from YouTube and is hooked! Great stuff!
Bill Nye--if you can find them, they are wonderful.
Wishbone--My older kids loved this series when they were little. Now it's time to introduce the loveable, literary mutt to my younger set.
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guitarnan
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Magic School Bus cartoons!!!
I'm not kidding. They are kind of goofy when you first watch them, but the science is rock-solid. Both of my children (now 20 and 14) have very little trouble with science because of this excellent series.
We have two of the original Bill Nye the Science Guy VHS tapes (and we still watch them). He later did a DVD series with Disney, which is also excellent but 1) expensive and 2) hard to find - try inter-library loan. We watched many of the DVDs in Indiana because the library systems there bought the series. (And oh, was my daughter happy to meet Bill Nye in person on Sunday! We went to the USA Science and Engineering Festival in DC...no autograph line was too long for my Bill Nye fan! He was very kind and nice, too, in spite of the huge line he was still facing...and he laughed when I mentioned the Magma Oven of Science!)
And I'm with Theresa. One thing the Mythbusters do that many other TV hosts do not is use the scientific method to test the myths they are trying to bust. If you carefully watch the episodes and then talk through their testing of each myth, you can have excellent discussions about the scientific method, testing techniques/methodologies, leaping to conclusions and much more. (Plus, they blow things up. How cool is that? )
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lapazfarm
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guitarnan wrote:
And I'm with Theresa. One thing the Mythbusters do that many other TV hosts do not is use the scientific method to test the myths they are trying to bust. If you carefully watch the episodes and then talk through their testing of each myth, you can have excellent discussions about the scientific method, testing techniques/methodologies, leaping to conclusions and much more. (Plus, they blow things up. How cool is that? ) |
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Yes! That is it exactly! No better way to demonstrate how the scientific method is actually used than to see how the Mythbusters test myths! 
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Mackfam
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SeaStar wrote:
| How It's Made is another series about how different things are made... crayons, footballs, snowboards, brief cases... you name it. |
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This looks fabulous, and I didn't know about it! Free streaming is perfect, too!
SeaStar wrote:
| Interesting especially for science geeks |
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Hey.... ....we may resemble that remark!
SeaStar wrote:
| Come on now, admit it: you want to learn how glass headed pins are made (and it's not as simple as you might think...) |
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Oh - we really DO want to know how glass headed pins are made! Going back to Mr. Rogers - those were one of my favorite parts of his show...when he'd take a tour to see how something was made. This will be a great series to include with my littles! Thanks for mentioning it, Melinda!
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Jen Mackintosh
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Mackfam
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lapazfarm wrote:
guitarnan wrote:
And I'm with Theresa. One thing the Mythbusters do that many other TV hosts do not is use the scientific method to test the myths they are trying to bust. If you carefully watch the episodes and then talk through their testing of each myth, you can have excellent discussions about the scientific method, testing techniques/methodologies, leaping to conclusions and much more. (Plus, they blow things up. How cool is that? ) |
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Yes! That is it exactly! No better way to demonstrate how the scientific method is actually used than to see how the Mythbusters test myths! |
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Completely agree! We have LONG been fans of Mythbusters here! And great idea to encourage youngers to start identifying the use of the scientific method in the mythbusting!
I printed this topical index of all the Mythbusters programs to include in the science section of my home ed notebook (warning...it's 34 pages long!). I made notes all over the edges listing topics, and it's helpful to refer to when we're working with a particular science topic. Thought I'd mention it in case anyone else would like to coordinate Mythbusters with their science topics a little more.
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Jen Mackintosh
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SeaStar
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For Richard Scarry fans, there are a bunch of dvds...
Richard Scarry's Best ABC's Video Ever
Numbers, letters, learning songs... good stuff for preschoolers.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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hmbress
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In addition to many shows mentioned above, we all love Extreme Engineering here ... available free on Netflix.
I also remember when the show Little Amadeus used to be on PBS and wish I could find it for free either streaming or through ILL but no luck so far.
There are also the Classical Kids DVDs such as Beethoven Lives Upstairs which I have been able to get at the library.
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Mr. Wizard is one I remember liking as a kid. I've discovered that there is an even older B&W version called Watch Mr. Wizard. I put in a purchase request with our library system for the series.
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Mackfam
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Great additions everyone! This is going to be a wonderful compilation!
I thought of another series I wanted to add - the old Reading Rainbow series with Levar Burton. These are fantastic and can be viewed online for free. This is a list of Reading Rainbow episodes in case you want to cross-reference with a topic you may be studying.
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Jen Mackintosh
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JennGM
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Great list!
Bill Nye is super terrific, but I do dislike the intensity and frequent changes in the screen. Gives me a headache, so he's not the one to watch when you want to calm down the kids. Mr. Wizard is more my pace, but my boys really learn from Bill Nye. I thought Eyes of Nye was for older children, and some topics needed to be monitored. There was more push for environmentalism in this series than the earlier Bill Nye the Science Guy. This series has been on my local public station, so we have them recorded and use them often.
Signing Time -- again, we recorded these. Even if my sons aren't learning signs, these videos are calm and wholesome, and really teach your child kind of in a MOntessori fashion. My 4year old will talk about getting dressed by himself and helping around the house after he watches these.
Mister Rogers comes on once a week here, and I tape it religiously. That show also takes a Montessori approach. It's not dumbed down. It was my favorite show growing up, and my boys still love it. And I agree, How It's Made is just a modern version of his tours of factories. Now that I married a man who lived and loves all things Pittsburgh, it's neat to watch the show to get the flavor of the city.
Planet Earth
How the States Got Their Shapes(we record and remove commercials, those pesky little things.)
And I still love the early Thomas the Tank Engine series. I don't like the new ones that are computer generated with new characters, but the older ones that more closely followed the stories and used real sets are amazing. When you're on bedrest, this, Mister Rogers, and Signing Time all are all calm and quiet videos to play. 
I don't think they make them anymore, but we have First French and First Spanish DVDs from Usborne that we enjoy.
One of the earliest series we enjoyed and still enjoy are the Scholastic Book DVDs, like Harold and the Purple Crayon, etc. Delightful.
I have never downloaded video before, so all this information is so new to me, but very, very helpful.
Now, what about traveling? Is there a way to put these on your computer or do they have to only be streaming?
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This series upset my oldest when he was younger. The book stories didn't bother him, but the video did. We waited until he was a bit older.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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And I am a big fan of Schoolhouse Rock
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Mackfam
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 Stealth-linkie-maker here 
Just letting you know that I edited posts, and added links to resources for future ease of use for this thread. Back to being stealthy...
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Jen Mackintosh
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Living or Worthy tv/DVD Programs & Series
