My son really likes the “Sid the Science Kid” series on PBS, and these DVDs appear to be those PBS shows on DVD. So far i have 3 of the DVDs and have pre-ordered “Weather Kid Sid” due out in the summer.

I love this show, and so do my kids, who are 2 and 3 years old. It’s a great science teaching tool for kids under ~5. We have repeated some of Sid’s experiments at home. My kids love the information and the songs. The format of the show has just enough structure, with transition songs and the right amount of new information for them to learn. The transition songs are catchy, as are Teacher Susie’s clever songs, which are different each show. The “I love my mom” song that another reviewer quoted is the BEST SONG EVER.

Additionally, the characters are all respectful to each other. The kids are respectful of parents, teachers and each other. The adults are respectful of the kids, too, treating them as smart people with important ideas. It’s relatively unusual to see a kid in a kid’s show interacting with his parents at all. I love that Sid has two parents, who are both supportive, and especially that the dad is not a stereotypical dolt like so many dads on TV. He is sometimes a little goofy for comic relief, but the mom also has a few goofy moments, so it really doesn’t come off that the dad is a dolt while everyone else is brilliant. The show makes a point of stating how cool his mom and grandma are, and Sid frequently says how cool his dad is.

The only disappointment: although they include the 4 main shows (which run Monday through Thursday on our PBS station), the summary show, which appears on Fridays, is not on the DVD. I was not surprised, since I had previously purchased the Bug Club and Change Happens DVDs, but it’s one of those wouldn’t-it-be-nice features. They did include the vaccination episode as a bonus, so there are 5 Sid shows on this disc.