What do you honestly think about Dora?

[laohaire]

I was all set up to HATE Dora, having heard of the show (unless you live in a cave, you can't avoid at least seeing the products even in the grocery stores) but never seen it. Now I don't know what to think.

I hate commercialism, so I HATE that part of Dora. My GOODNESS how many products there are.

But just watching the show, I can't find too much to hate other than it just being television (i.e. no worse than any other television). It's ordered. It's calm. It's rational. It's repetitive (repetition - not television, of course, but just repetition - is good for kids). It's nonviolent. The characters have good attitudes and a cheerful disposition. It doesn't demand kid's attention by constantly shifting the story line or using loud noises or sudden zooms, like Sesame Street and others.

I realize all the arguments against television, but aside from the general arguments, what's good or bad about Dora in particular? I've noticed a lot of mamas here call Dora "crap" television and say they prefer other shows - I haven't seen any other current kids shows other than Dora. I sure like it MUCH more than Sesame Street, which I personally consider to be very bad for kids.

Would love to hear all thoughts.

[Petersmamma]

I know people here hate map (you know, "I'm the MAP. I'm the MAP, I'm the MAP!!!" ) which makes me laugh every time I hear that (I think, "So, are you the.....map?") and my dh makes fun of the fact that her head is shaped like a football (and she's Diego's cousin, but HIS head is normal, so what is up with that?) but other than that, I don't mind her at all.

[Strong Mama]

WE love her here, and she is teaching my ds spanish he told me HOLA the other day. But I do hate that bloody map.:

[LynnS6]

I don't mind it. It's no better or worse than a lot of other stuff. And actually, it provides a decent model for the kind of narrative structure that's used in mainstream US culture.

And it can be mighty handy when I need my kids to walk somewhere and they're not very happy about it -- "we need to go past the big tree, around the corner to the white house and up the big mountain to our house." :

Actually, ds liked it better than dd did. He went through a major Dora phase at about age 4. Dd prefers to watch other stuff for her TV time. And it doesn't influence their play and they don't ask for Dora toys. So, what the heck.

[LotusBirthMama]

we love dora. and we have a lot of the merchandise. dd seems to be on the verrge of outgrowing her though.

[katheek77]

My DD hasn't actually seen Dora on Tv, but somehow has a lot of Dora stuff. She really likes it...I think because the features are so prominent. She is ALWAYS "reading" her Dora books.

I personally prefer "Maraka" (youtube it...it's a Saturday Night Live skit)

[GranoLLLy-girl]

Originally Posted by Petersmamma

I know people here hate map (you know, "I'm the MAP. I'm the MAP, I'm the MAP!!!" ) which makes me laugh every time I hear that (I think, "So, are you the.....map?") and my dh makes fun of the fact that her head is shaped like a football (and she's Diego's cousin, but HIS head is normal, so what is up with that?) but other than that, I don't mind her at all.

That reminds me of a comedian (Brian Regan--I think) that I saw on Comedy Central--he was saying that he would have loved to have been in the room when the pitch was made to the producers about the map and the song...and he made this joke about the song being somewhat of an afterthought...and he kinds of mumbled through the song as if coming up with it on the spot.
Producer saying: OK, so let's hear a little of the song you've been working on for this concept of 'the map'...
obviously, it's a lot funnier when told by the actual comedian. I laughed pretty loud.

I like Dora and I LOVE Diego--animal rescue beats Daffy Duck running from being shot by Elmer Fudd any day, hands down. Those were the cartoons when I was a kid.

[elmh23]

I hate Dora cause I find her way more annoying than other shows. It's the voice and the asking over and over and over "Can you find the (blank)?" I hate it.

I don't hate all tv and Lord knows my kid watches plenty of it : but I just can't stand Dora.

Thankfully we've avoided most of the Dora merchancrap (the dentist gave her a Dora mermaid ( toothbrush but dd doesn't know who she is.)

[angelpie545]

Dora can be a bit mainstream and repetitive, but overall I think she's pretty cute, and my daughter speaks a couple of Spanish words because of her! She's much better than some of the other shows marketed to children of that age group. I'd rather her "I'm the Map" a thousand times then have my kids watch SpongeBob all day.

[sweetcheeks]

My kids love Dora but seem to be outgrowing her and her cousin, Diego. We don't do much of the Dora merchandise (unless you count the books, of which we have a lot) but like a PP said, it's calm, nonviolent, and the characters are happy and, most importantly IMO, they don't WHINE (Calliou, anyone?!). My kids picked up quite a bit of Spanish from the show and it's so cute to hear DD count to 10 in Spanish.

[MaterPrimaePuellae]

Originally Posted by angelpie545

Dora can be a bit mainstream and repetitive, but overall I think she's pretty cute, and my daughter speaks a couple of Spanish words because of her! She's much better than some of the other shows marketed to children of that age group. I'd rather her "I'm the Map" a thousand times then have my kids watch SpongeBob all day.

I will destroy our tv with a sledgehammer before DD watches spongebob. my roommate in COLLEGE watched it-- a lot. She wore SB socks. We didn't get along very well.

[shayinme]

Originally Posted by elmh23

I hate Dora cause I find her way more annoying than other shows. It's the voice and the asking over and over and over "Can you find the (blank)?" I hate it.

I don't hate all tv and Lord knows my kid watches plenty of it : but I just can't stand Dora.

Thankfully we've avoided most of the Dora merchancrap (the dentist gave her a Dora mermaid ( toothbrush but dd doesn't know who she is.)

: Except that my dd goes gaga over anything with Dora on it, last week I ended up buying Dora cups, hat and gloves :

By the way I am not opposed to tv, just hate Dora.

Shay

[lilyka]

I really liked dora aabout 10 years ago when it first came on. it was a lot simpler then (believe it or not). And I liked it for all the reasons the original poster mentioned.

[laohaire]

I was SHOCKED by the Map song and the Backpack song when I first heard them - like, what the heck were these people THINKING??!?

But I see it's very appropriate for a 2 year old (again, skipping the question of whether TV is ever appropriate for a 2 year old). It's simple enough that she can understand it and sing it herself.

One problem with kids TV is that people assume little kids can follow a lot more than they really can. But I can see with Dora, since it's so logical (first we go here, next we go there, etc.) and repetitive, I really do see my DD follows a fair amount of the story. And then she applies what's she's learned IRL in ways that show me she really does get it.

Honestly, what she's learned from it seems to have opened her world up a bit more. She has more vocabulary than she would have without it - I really believe this. I know you can question whether that's really a good thing, but I think it is. My DD enjoys it, and seems to have developed imaginative play from it. She learned to count to 10 in English and Spanish a few months ago, and as a result of understanding that, I've been able to start teaching it to her in Chinese now. (I'm not trying to make a prodigy here, she just really enjoys learning stuff like that, and it's fun for both of us).

But Dora is all DD sees - we have no cable or anything, just a DVD player. My evil mother is the one who sent her a couple of Dora DVDs and she loved them so much (argh!!!) that we gave in and started putting them in the Netflix queue.

[nextcommercial]

I personally think Map is trying to get Dora killed. I can see lots of ways around the muddy mud swamp. Why do she and Boots need to go through it?

[raleigh_mom]

[QUOTE=laohaire;9761656]
One problem with kids TV is that people assume little kids can follow a lot more than they really can. But I can see with Dora, since it's so logical (first we go here, next we go there, etc.) and repetitive, I really do see my DD follows a fair amount of the story. And then she applies what's she's learned IRL in ways that show me she really does get it.

QUOTE]

My kids like to draw maps sometimes on road trips and we'll call off when we pass things. This is care of Dora. My 7yo is pretty tired of Dora, but I think she still secretly likes it when my 4yo watches it.

[sunnysideup]

Personally, I find this kind of children's program really really tiresome and deceptive. Under the guise of being "educational" they are just marketing to children.

My kids have not been routinely exposed to this stuff, so they think it is boring. If they are going to watch something, they'd rather it had a story with a real plot.

[bobandjess99]

Well, I will say that I used to be against all kids tv, yadda, yadda, .....
But I will fight anyone who doesn't think kids learn from these shows. Perhaps not all kids, since I know all peoiple learn differently, but I know that MY dd, has learned OODLES and OODLES from Dora(and a few other select shows). Vocab, thinking skills, counting, colors, verbs, social concepts......I am amazed daily by some of the things she comes up with to say or do that I know are traced back to these shows.

Yes, I can think of negatives, commercialism, etc, but overall, I know dd if benefitting more from getting to watch a little Dora than it is hurting her.
PLUS - let's not forget another benefit......when mommy gets 20 minutes to herself to do something while dd is watching a dora episode, mommy is able to be a better mommy, which clearly benefits dd. Now, I'm not advocating the use of that particular excuse as a reason to dump your kids in daycare 8 hours a day every day while you stay at home lounging in a tub, drinking martini's, and "taking care of yourself", I'm talking about all of us mommies who simply need 20 little minutes to ourselves a couple times a week so as to be able to do things like shower so we can go out in public without being covered in baby vomit.

anyway....i'm a pretty big Dora fan.....

[ktbug]

Originally Posted by sunnysideup

Personally, I find this kind of children's program really really tiresome and deceptive. Under the guise of being "educational" they are just marketing to children.

My kids have not been routinely exposed to this stuff, so they think it is boring. If they are going to watch something, they'd rather it had a story with a real plot.

:

he would rather type41
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He likes the 610230ke23yboard.

..210

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he does love wonder pets, though.
i'm glad not everything in target is covered with WP stuff. eeeeeeek.

[macca]

DD hates the show but loves the merchandise! She adores the Dora character