for TV-free families who make some exceptions for DVDs, what DVDs do you allow? - Page 2

[SubliminalDarkness]

We like the Disney/Pixar movies, Thomas the Train, and a handful of other things. We also borrow DVDs from the library, and those are all over the map.... a lot of older Disney stuff, some newer 'older kid' movies for DS1(like Hoot).

I truly don't see much inherently wrong with watching movies. I see a problem when there's too much of it.

[peainthepod]

DH and I watch movies after DS is asleep. The only screen time he's ever had is with episodes of "Signing Time!", and only then because I was so fatigued during this pregnancy and DH has been out of town for months at a time. It actually helped him learn several new signs, so I don't feel too awful about it, but it certainly wasn't my ideal.

[mum4vr]

I could tell you what we watch, but it would never look exactly like what you want to watch, so instead, I'll tell you how I translated my friend-and-mentor-mama's advice on this into OUR unique list:

I look up suggestions, or new movies that spark our interest on either

pluggedin dot com or

sceneit dot com.

Both sites tell you scene by scene EXACTLY what is in the film/game that may concern some parents. Like how many cleavage shots or uses of "borderline" curse words, like "sucks" or "dang." (for parents that value modesty and clean language-- but there are obviously other categories of things that you may not want to show your DC). Both these review sites cover a LOT of categories including political slants and hidden msgs.

It helped me make informed decisions, so I didn't feel I had to take someone else's word for it-- I could know ahead whether to even preview the movie.

I also preview anything my DC will watch before they may see it.

HTH

[PatienceAndLove]

My DP doesn't have cable, and I kind of enjoy that when I go visit.
Now that most of the shows I enjoy are out on DVD, I can see going TV-free much easier.

For those of you with computers, do you actually watch the shows/movies on the computer, or do you use the AV cable from your computer into the TV?

[rubygirl36]

Originally Posted by honey-lilac

I also love this website I found for bootleg cartoons from the 90's, they have Maya the Bee, the Little Bits, David the Gnome, and Grimm's Fairy Tales.

omg! what is this site? i loved maya the david the gnome!

[PatienceAndLove]

The mama who said they had dvds of sesame street from "back in the day".
Where di you get those dvds?

[indigosky]

Originally Posted by PatienceAndLove

The mama who said they had dvds of sesame street from "back in the day".
Where di you get those dvds?

I haven't bought/borrowed these yet, but there seem to be at least two Sesame Street "Old School" DVDs (http://www.amazon.com/Sesame-Street-...dp/B000H6SY8C/). Why not more, Sesame Street?

I also came across some old/vintage Sesame Street on YouTube -- I haven't spent time exploring how much is there. I know some parents who who posted said they burn their own DVDs with compilations of YouTube clips.

[ChetMC]

Similar to Others

It's interesting that we're clearly watching the same stuff :

Scholastic / Weston Woods - Classic Children's Books told on DVD

Older movies like Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music,The Secret Garden, Milo & Ottis, The King and I.

We also have the Classic Sesame Street. We either got them from the library and made copies, or downloaded them, I can't remember.

Thomas the Tank Engine

Shaun the Sheep

World World, Angelina Ballerina, Miffy and Toupee & Binou, in small doses.

Older DS is 2.5 and likes Pocoyo.

We mostly have videos when I'm sick, a child is sick, we have a trades person at the house and we're paying them by the hour so we'd rather our kids not bug the crap out of them, DH has a phone interview, etc. The kids watched a lot of videos when we moved.

[PatienceAndLove]

Shaun the Sheep!!!

I need to add Wallace and Gromit, old musicals, Veggie Tales, Word World, and Timmy Time (courtesy of PlayhouseDisney.com)

[PatienceAndLove]

Sesame Street: Old School Vol.1

[katroshka]

This is more for older children, but we love all the Studio Ghibli movies. For younger kids a few of them would work: Ponyo (though DH and I can't stand it: the animation is great but the story just doesn't make a lot of sense), Kiki's Delivery Service, and My Neighbor Totoro. They have great messages about taking care of the environment, love, family, respect... We just love them!

[blizzard_babe]

Originally Posted by PatienceAndLove

Sesame Street: Old School Vol.1

And I believe you can purchase and download entire seasons on iTunes.

[snanna]

No one has yet mentioned The Little Travelers series-- travel documentaries made by a Waldorfy family with two little girls, who narrate the adventures. The movies are sweet, slow-paced, interesting for adults (well, the first few times through) and culturally sensitive. There are episodes in Japan, Iran, the British Isles, Bali, and somewhere else.... My five and three-year-old love them, and I feel like they are a good exception to our general lack of screentime. Three of the episodes are available on DVD from netflix.

Kristen's Fairy House is another lovely one-- slow, sweet, not overdone story about a girl who visits an island with her aunt, an artist, and they see many beautiful fairy houses and have very mild adventures.

There's a series called "Little Hardhats" that we have found to be fun for both of the kids, with episodes on firefighters, construction workers, etc. Again, slower paced and not frantic. Though the music is annoying.

PBS has 25 or so episodes of Mr. Rogers available streaming on the website, and I have been surprised at how appropriate and enjoyable most of them still are (though my daughter, at 5, still considers a couple of the "make believe" situations too scary-- so you see the "slow" requirement I keep mentioning) http://pbskids.org/rogers/vote/

We also sometimes watch Life of Mammals or Life of Birds episodes streaming on netflix. They are the only wildlife documentaries I've ever seen that don't totally emphasize the killing/eating aspect of animal life. Though it's there, of course, it doesn't seem to bother dd or ds in context, without too much scary music.

I totally own the fact that our movie watching (twice a week in deep winter? Almost never in summer) is a tool I use to meet my own needs as a parent at home with young children. Sometimes that half hour or hour is just so valuable. But it's also important to me that the kids are able to develop their own sensibility around media, and to that end I think some exposure to "the good stuff" is helpful. Can't wait till they are older and we can watch all those good old b&w movies together! 

[JudiAU]

We have a 3.5 and 1.5 and we don't have any media yet. DS is wonderfully creative with play and we don't want to ruin it. In addition to being tvfree, we don't do any licensed characters/battery toys . I think we'll probably wait closer to 5.

Heh, I understand crazy life with kids and the need for a break, but I don't think tv is healthy for young kids so we choose different ones. And although DS loves to play with us, he plays really well on his own because his attention span is so long. To quote DH: if the APA recommends we wait until 3 doesn't that meet we should wait until 8?

When we do do media, it will probably be old school Sesame Street or maybe Little Bear.

[greenmansions]

We have DVDs of some our favorite shows from before we went TV-free.   Kipper, Little Bear, Caillou, Pingu.   We have a collection of Scholastic videos and Totoro.   Totoro is by far my kids' (age 6 and 4) favorite.  

We also rent DVDs - various other Miyazaki (sp?) films, classics/oldies (they are so much tamer), others like Charlotte's Web, Pippi, etc.   I have been a little surprised by some of the content, but ti doesn't phase the kids and we talk about the problems presented.   Like in Dumbo or Rudolph where someone is ostracized, or in Pippi where she's doing a lot on her own.   They LOVE Shawn the Sheep and laugh and laugh when they watch any of those.    

[gagin37]

we've added shaun the sheep, wallace and gromit, and old Dr. Seuss cartoons to our list now that ds is a bit older.  We've been doing a lot of work on our house lately, and I feel bad about his increased screen time.  He's been getting 30-45 minutes, 3 or 4x a week lately, which is a huge increase considering before his birthday he got virtually none.   

[Trinitty]

Hello,

I was one of those pushing very hard to get this subforum set up... and I have been away for a long time, ironically after finally having a child. :) Busy busy busy.

Very nice to see this here.

I started wondering if I had officially fallen off of the TV-Free wagon, alas, I will give up on monikers. :)

So: we don't have cable. I do watch over-the-air news (for my work) on rabbit ears at night after DD has gone to bed.

However: we have a TV and video players.

She doesn't watch traditional TV, but she does watch "a show" about once every other day.  She did not watch anything at all until she was 19 months.

I have decided to use it as a tool for the most part.

This is what we have for HER to watch, often on her own while we make dinner - we also have lots of grown-up films:

On DVD:

- Story Book International set (highly recommend this!!)

- Faerie Tale Theatre set

- The Story Teller set (Jim Henson)

- Sesame Street Old School Volume 2

- Sesame Street Anniversary special (with Bill Cosby)

- Peter Pan - Live action

- Star Trek sets (OS, STNG, DS9 & ENT  - with some episode exceptions)

- Care Bears set - 1980s

- Planet Earth set (Nature, Amazing, stunning)

- Little House on the Prairie (2 seasons)

- Various DVDs from the Library: Ballets, plays, operas, etc.

- I would like to eventually get: The Black Stallion, Mr. Dress-up, and Mr. Rogers.

On VHS:

- Amost every classic Disney animation:

- Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, Winnie the Pooh, etc.

(DH always sits with her through these ones, always explaining, and, actually she gets a LOT out of them: "why did he do that, where is that going, etc" plus, I find the art in most of these to be really impressive.)

- She does have a couple of the computer animated Disney shows: Monsters Inc and Toy Story.... but we try limit those because I find the scene changes too fast and the animation to be really... unnatural? Hard to describe it.  I have also hidden the more modern ones like Disney's Hercules and Tarzan because I find the changes really jarring and the dialogue really....smarmy.

I am pretty okay with this, since she is limited to about an hour a day, or every other day, and the ones that I have bolded are just excellent.

For those who are looking for really great stories told at a nice pace, I cannot recommend "Story Book International" enough. All live action, all narration, and wonderful.

Trin.

[goldenwillow]

DS (21 months) does watch a few DVD's a few times a week.  We have found a few like Linnea in Monet's Garden and Alone in the Wilderness also Signing Time.  I tend to stay away from the busy stuff and I am not a fan of any Disney at all.  He has also dug watchin Napoleon Dynamite as well ... half hour at a time. 

We also focus on watching concerts on DVD.  Loves watching musicians play while playing his own instruments. 

[accountclosed3]

we were gifted wallace and grommit and how to train your dragon (which i feel is a bit mature for the 2.5 yr old but didn't know it until after he saw it), and Finding Nemo. he watches it with us (on the computer) so he can ask questions and feel safe. And it's really funny because when he gets excited, he goes "Thor Almighty!" with no real connection to the meaning, but we are ok with that.

he watches one of these three movies about once a month -- usually when his father and I need him to sit still for our sanity OR when he's sick and won't rest (colds) so I can ply him with tea. Usually W/G or HtTYD. 

he mostly runs around and plays, though. 

[loraxc]

I let DS watch Kipper on streaming Netflix. It is verrrry gentle and calm and the dogs' British accents make me happy. I used to occasionally let him watch Sesame Street, but it's so freaking frenetic and hyper these days.

My older daughter watches Life of Birds and Wallace and Gromit.