(I didn't want to lose all these great suggestions in email, so I copied *hopefully all of* them here. Please add any I missed.)
Theresa:
* Audio Books: The Boxcar Children, Magic Tree House, Mary Poppins, Fairytales, etc. Ella sits in her room and listens and plays instead of watching tv recently.
* Zooboomafoo. It teaches the kids about animals.
Kristen:
* Mr. Rogers is one of my favorites, and you can get them on Netflix.
* Elmo’s World is good, too, but Sofia is growing out of it, so I’d bet Anne Peyton would be too.
* Clifford
* Curious George
*
http://lightupyourbrain.com/audio-stories-for-children.html - all audio books, and Sofia has fun drawing while listening
* The library also has tons of books on tape, which Sofia enjoys.
Jade:
* If Rylie watches TV, she wants Dora. The reasons I like it are: Dora talks slowly and very deliberately, Dora is not a girly girl, she's a problem-solver, and there is some interaction (Rylie actually says the answers to the questions Dora asks). There is some Spanish exposure, as well. I think Anne Payton might be too old for Dora.
* Diego might be the next step up (I think Diego has some girls on his show a lot and they are usually adventuresome and not so stereotypical).
Kjirsten:
* Word World, a PBS program...I really like many/most of the PBS programs (Clifford, Curious George, Sesame Street - though Z, too, says he doesn't like it, he does watch it and comes away with ideas learned), and feel really lucky we have OnDemand so we can turn on one (or more....) of those shows if I need to occupy the kids and don't want them to watch commercials.
* I second the books on tape/CD. I wondered if Zach would go for it, and he DID! Requests them a ton, though we don't have a player in his room, I'd love for that to be the next step. Once OlivvyMonster is done beating on electronics.
* There has been some flack about the Little Einsteins, but I think it's because people were mad their kids weren't completely educated by the programs (?!). I like that they expose the kids to composers, art, and teach a lesson. They're on our Disney OnDemand, but I bet they'd be at the library or Netflix, maybe.
