You Pinspire Me
I grew up reading the Magic School Bus books whenever I could get my hands on them – which wasn’t very often, since they were some of the more popular books in the school library. I’ve always been fascinated by the possibility of the extra-ordinary fantasy world creeping into our ‘plain old boring’ world.
I desperately wanted Miss Frizzle for a teacher. Field trips were always cool, but how awesome would it be to be able to shrink small enough to explore the human body or travel in a rain drop? Plus, this philosophy is always one that I can get behind. DOING is the best way to LEARN!
Anyhow. I didn’t have cable while growing up, but by the time I reached Grade 7 and got to come home for lunch, The Magic School Bus was airing on TVO and I was not too cool to watch it. I was kinda bummed out when I graduated from Grade 8 because my High School wasn’t going to be in our neighbourhood, meaning that I wouldn’t get to watch anymore.
The day that The Magic School Bus appeared on Netflix (some time in 2013?) was the day that I sat down to watch it with my 2 year old son for the first (and definitely not last!) time.
I love TV. I always have. I’m not such a fan of watching TV just for the sake of watching TV – especially when it’s my children watching TV. From personal experience, I know that the kiddos absorb absolutely everything they come into contact with – so why not expose them to some super cool science stuff since they’re going to watch anyways?
Whenever my son is sick enough that he needs to spend the day on the couch watching TV, I always make him watch the “Inside Ralphie” episode first. Then we talk about why his body is feeling so terrible. I’m a mean mom. Making him learn when he’s sick?
I also love that I’ve already watched all these shows. I don’t really want to vet everything my kids watch before they watch it – I’ve got better things to do (like trying to learn ASL from the talented cast of Switched at Birth!) – but some of these so-called-children’s shows use words and phrases that I’m not so keen on hearing from my childrens’ mouths. The Magic School Bus is tried, tested, & true!
My next goal is to keep petitioning Netflix to get The Elephant Show and The (original) Polka Dot Door into their collection. I’d be one happy momma. (Maybe throw in some Mr Dressup, as well, and we’d have a deal.)
What’s your favourite thing about watching your old favourites with your kids?
Hey – Have you heard that Netflix is bringing The Magic School Bus back to life with a reboot? In 2016, The Magic School Bus 360° will debut worldwide with TWENTY SIX episodes! It’ll take me a bit to get used to the new style of illustration, but I’m thrilled to see what the Frizz is going to get up to next! (And, will Liz still be around?! I think I see her there in the window!)
Disclosure: I’m a member of the Netflix Stream Team and I receive special perks in exchange for talking about Netflix things that I want to talk about from time to time. I would never tell you anything that I didn’t believe – trust me. If I start posting about how AWESOME this new zombie movie on Netflix is, you’ll know my account has been compromised. I don’t talk about things that I don’t like. I DO really enjoy sharing things that I love.
Jenn vanOosten
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