When we got our digital TV converter box, my older son discovered a new favorite TV station, which broke him of the Weather Channel habit he's had for more than a year. That's right, my 5 year old was obsessed with the round-the-clock hurricane watches over the Caribbean, Oklahoma tornadoes, and blizzards in Wyoming.
When we set up the channels on the converter box, we discovered qubo (small q), a kids channel not offered by our satellite service. Personally, I've opposed the idea of him watching the trashy, immature humor offered on stations like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network or the mass-marketed Saturday morning junk. Sorry SpongeBob, you're part of the problem.
Qubo is a subchannel of ION Media Network, partnering with NBC, Scholastic and other seemingly reputable groups, putting forth programming that if not entirely educational, it's mostly well-crafted and I don't mind him watching. It can compete with PBS Kids, as I think it is a step up from Noggin, which mainly targets a preschool audience.
Qubo doesn't flood the shows with cereal and toy marketing. While it runs ads every 15 minutes, the ads are targeted mainly towards adults: weight loss plans, greatest hits of the 90s on CD, closet organizers and "amazing" as-seen-on-TV appliances ("but there's more!") My son tunes out for most of those.
Some of the shows are imported from other countries: Postman Pat (UK), Gofrette (French Canadian), Pecola (Japanese), Jane and the Dragon (Canada/New Zealand's WETA - The people who did Lord of the Rings graphics). There's even a classic old staple like Lamb Chop's Play-along.
While not completely educational, I can vouch for all these programs being reputable, showing good "growing up" stories that demonstrate values and doing the right thing. The animation varies from still-frame claymation (Dragon) to computer generated like Pecola, or the storybook natural highlight color tones of "Jane and the Dragon". And my wife and I do sing along to the "Jane and the Dragon" opening theme song too.
Another favorite show is "The Adventures From The Book of Virtues" which features Native American themes and a talking buffalo telling stories, cleverly introducing kids to important historical figures like Abraham Lincoln, Helen Keller, or others with noteworthy accomplishments or renowned for their good deeds.
Only downside to qubo is that it's a 24-hour network, which means our bedtime routine has to be sync-ed up with the ending of a specific show each day, before the next one begins. read more