We LOVE Signing Time, and we have come to love and trust Rachel Coleman and the rest of the Two Little Hands team. Rachel and the Treeschoolers is a completely different program than Signing Time, but the heart is the same—the same sense of humor, great music, and positive values.
When Two Little Hands launched their Kickstarter campaign for new episodes of Rachel and the Treeschoolers back in August, our family was thrilled to get involved. And so were lots of other families—Rachel and the Treeschoolers surpassed their original $50,000 goal by $169,188! Episodes 2-6 were fully funded, and we received our digital copies of episodes 2 and 3 (Plants and Flowers & Incredible Insects) in November.
Here are five things I LOVE about Rachel and the Treeschoolers:
Social skills are included in every episode!
Young children are able to relate to the treeschoolers characters. Each episode focuses on a different character’s “struggle,” and Rachel walks the characters through understanding and supporting their friend. In the first episode, Atticus has a fear of thunder, and in episode three, Hue the firefly feels like he’s not special because he’s a bug. These challenges are great discussion-starters for our family: "How would you help a friend feel better if..."
The show is packed with creative learning segments!
Rachel is a great host of the show—energetic and FUN! (She's been educating preschoolers for over ten years now, after all.) The show has a quick pace for short attention spans. My favorite segment is the game show portion—the kids don’t even realize all the learning that's happening!
My children continue to be exposed to ASL!
We LOVE American Sign Language, and I love that Rachel casually signs throughout each episode. It’s NOT the focus like Signing Time, but if you are signing with your children already, they’ll benefit from seeing ASL in a new context.
Rachel and the Treeschoolers is purposeful about educating children!
I love that the show doesn’t talk down to my daughters—they are learning advanced vocabulary like photosynthesis and thorax! In fact, Rachel and the Treeschoolers was labeled as “too educational” by TV executives. If my children are having screen time, I would love for them to be LEARNING!
The music is great!
Granted, this is my husband’s area of expertise, but I enjoy listening to Rachel sing. Adam continually comments on the great harmonies and production value. Our girls sing all day long, so I appreciate that the music isn’t annoying.
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| Our girls watching Rachel and the Treeschoolers on the iPad--no Internet required! |
Interested in learning more about Rachel and the Treeschoolers? Visit their website today to view clips of the shows and request FREE copies of the Activity Guides! And if you’re interested in purchasing the first three episodes, you can save $15 during the month of March with the code ts15.
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Important note: I am not being paid for this review. I purchased Rachel and the Treeschoolers myself because we believe in and support Two Little Hands Productions. However, this post does include affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase, I will make a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you!
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