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The different examples of explaining things in life to children. A great asset to any parent.Love this set! Excited to use it in my classroom!My son was able to use the information when he took his high school equivalency test. Amazingly the few times that I showed this in class to my middle school students they loved it. The concepts are a good basic introduction at that level.We've only watched 2 of the episodes so far but I grew up watching this series and loved every minute of it-it's the reason why I was so interested in science as a kid. I purchased this set on recommendation of a friend. We homeschool and science is EXTREMELY important to us-one of the reasons we homeschool is because we don't feel public schools really get kids interested in science and because my husband is a scientist he can see more of the ins and outs and how important it is to encourage kids to learn about science (if you're good at it you can really earn some good money too!). This is well put together and I'm glad it has all of them. My 4 1/2 year old (who is very smart and advanced for his age-I say this not to brag but possibly most 4 1/2 year olds wouldn't be so engrossed by this or understand it quite as well?) and 2 year old sat watching two episodes as we ate lunch today and both are just begging for more. We are using Apologia science specifically the one about Human Anatomy and Physiology right now so I'm using it to compliment what I'm teaching him with the hands-on approach Apologia uses. I believe in helping kids use as many of their senses as possible to learn their subjects so this is really helping explain information in a different way.My ONLY con of this is they don't seem to be in order of when they were released nor do they have any of that information if you wanted to watch all of them in order. As the stories don't build upon each other some may not think this is a big deal but I think it would be nice to know-it doesn't lose a star over this but something to note. Also the quality of the picture could probably be cleaned up a little but since it's a hand drawn cartoon (at least I'm pretty sure on that since it's over 25 years old) that may not be possible. The sound quality and everything was fine.I recommend this to all parents-whether you homeschool or not-to help your kids learn science and get interested in it. Watch it with them! Ask questions! Sure it may be cheesy to the parents but there's great information in there that you can also use to help you remember these science topics.When my daughter saw this, she had to get it so that friends who are growing up with just the remake can see "what the real Magic School Bus was all about". She grew up absolutely loving this series; hopefully, this set will allow younger generations to do the same. It's a boxed set of DVDs with a cool holographic cover. Strongly recommend.Remembered these in school as a kid and now that I have kids I thought I would pass down the knowledge that I learned from these when we had substitute teachersI cannot say enough good things about this series. My kids adore them, and my son invents Magic School Bus dramas all the time with his legos. (Lego, are you listening? We want a Ms. Frizzle set!) This DVD set is an awesome deal in terms of bang for the buck. In fact, we broke a DVD and I was even contemplating repurchasing because we are sad to miss some! The science is very well done (spoken from a PhD researcher) -- I have hardly found any flaws in any of the shows or books. At the end of each episode, they even have a "viewer critique" section where kids point out which parts were pretend and not accurate. And, Ms. Frizzle's basic attitude ("Take chances! Make mistakes! Get messy!") is great scientist training. (Not "Memorize facts!") My 5-yr old kid can explain the basics of photosynthesis and a bunch of other concepts. Also, there are NO ADS when you start up the DVD! You can go straight to the menu, or just let it play. Final bonus -- these are helping my kids learn Spanish! We do the episode first in English, then in the next few days in Spanish. Since it is focused on science and is very conversational, the Spanish dialogue works great. Other kid shows wouldn't translate so well, esp. if they focus on reading. And if you are worried that the DVD will spoil your kid's enjoyment of the even-more-wonderful books, I can say that the show has only increased my kids' obsession with them. Final plug -- the episodes are long enough to let you get a few things done while they're watching :)I was hesitant to purchase these since a lot of reviewers have had problems with the discs, but I have had zero issues with my 8 dvds. The entire list of episodes is listed in the booklet that comes with the case. Each disc has the option to play all the episodes or pick which epidisode you want to watch. I love that they have English or Spanish options as my kids are learning Spanish in school. Overall, I’m super happy with this Magic School Bus set with box case. I will update if I have any issues or they stop working.UPDATE: These do not work at all in my car DVD player. Please note that my car DVD player is total junk and rarely works, so that may have something to do with it. Again, same discs work perfectly in my home with my standard DVD player after removing from car DVD player where they didn't work (it couldn't read them). So, that may be something to consider when purchasing. Hope this helps.I absolutely loved the series as a child and I've watched a few episodes on Netflix. It was such a blast from the past that I wanted to order the series as a childhood memory, even if I'm way past the age group for the show. It's a fun way to learn, and what I like is that at the end of each episodes, when people call in to ask questions, the fictional characters explain to the callers what is not true but that was changed for convenience during the episode (e.g.: in the space episode, they've explained at the end of it that they've put the planets in a straight line on the map, to make it easier to follow where the people were on their trip, even if in reality the planets aren't perfectly aligned. I love how they explain what is not true, so it doesn't misinforme the viewers). I'm so happy with it! I recommend it to everyone!Other reviewer said they couldn't find some episode, but they are indeed listed there. The activity booklet also lists which episode is on which disc. They are in broadcast order so if you lose the booklet or it gets destroyed, you can use wikipedia's list for help.The quality of content is just as good as OTA, which is the only other place I remember seeing them and includes the producer segments. The case is really slippery and the DVDs slide past each other easily meaning that if you hold it in certain orientations, they will fall out quickly.I haven't been able to watch the entire thing yet (it's a lot!), but it looks good so far. There are options for English and Spanish audio, and you can either pick an episode or play through all the ones on the disc.The box has a holographic effect on the front but came dented with a little rip.Wonderful series for encouraging an interest in science. My son is 2 and while he doesn't watch t.v. we do like to watch the occasional show to tie into something we are interested in or learning about. I have a hard time finding good quality shows that are educational or focus on topics suitable for young children and have a nice relationship between the characters. When I saw this series on sale I knew I had to scoop it up. $25 for 52 episodes is a great deal, though I love the show so much I would have paid more to buy it. I remember watching it as a kid and loving it, and I love it just as much as an adult. My son has recently shown an interest in bees so we watched the bee hive episode and then took a trip to the local honeybee centre. The episodes are full of information but provided in a way that is easily understood by children. I even find myself learning new things too! There are so many interesting topics to cover and we are looking forward to watching more. Was also impressed that the DVD arrived in only 2 days!I'm glad I get to share this with my kids now. Grew up with Ms Frizzle and the gang, and, unlike many of the 'on trend' children's shows, Magic School Bus is still relevant and educational, and it brings a smile to my little guy's face each time he watches it. It's so lovely that it leaves such an impression that as soon as I pick up the little guy each day to bring him home, the first thing out of his mouth is 'school bus! school bus!'We need more tv shows like this one! It's science, you and your kids learn lots and it has a cast that's very inclusive. No white washing amongst the kids and everyone gets a voice. Even Carlos has a brother in a wheelchair and he's not lesser than the other kids.My kid will go in his room at night and "talk to the magic school bus kids" and be ready to hear all about clouds and rain and molecules from your little ones!
