Common Sense Media Review
Cute cartoon eases home-to-school transition.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 3+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
What's the Story?
Starting school for the first time can be overwhelming for a small child, and the basic goal of BETSY'S KINDERGARTEN ADVENTURES is to help kids adapt from the home environment to the school environment. Created by kindergarten teacher/author Betsy Quinn, the show focuses not only on Betsy's academic learning -- little lessons about salamanders and arachnids help Betsy and her friends find a solution to each episode's given problem -- but also on behavioral lessons, such as being responsible and never going anywhere without telling an adult first.
Is It Any Good?
The good news that this show is reasonably true to life. The fact that Betsy (voiced by Daveigh Chase) lets out an agonized cry when she realizes it's the first day of school gives the show enough edge to balance the sweetness -- a plus for parents who want to watch it with their kids as part of easing the transition from home to school. (Parents, keep an ear out for other occasional sly bits of wit that are slipped in just for you to chuckle over.)
Betsy's classroom is racially diverse, although the main characters are all Caucasian. And you can see some different "types" playing out: There's Scott (Richard Steven Horvitz), the class brain; Molly (Vicki Lewis), the Queen Bee; and Billy (Nancy Cartwright), the hyperactive, hyper-curious boy in love with bugs and reptiles. Betsy herself is more of the Every Girl. Her adventures -- getting picked to care for Sydney, the class salamander, and not being very enthused about the job, getting lost in a museum when she's too scared to ride an escalator downstairs -- may be of the everyday type, but they're presented here in a way that's ultimately endearing. The kids do tend to be far more articulate than your average 5-year-old, but that seems to work for the show.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how they felt when they started school and compare their feelings with Betsy's. Parents: What mistakes did you make as a kid? How did you learn from them? Kids: What do you think it will be like to go to school? Are you excited or scared? Why?
TV Details
- Premiere date : January 19, 2008
- Cast : Daveigh Chase , Fred Willard , Sally Struthers
- Network : PBS Kids
- Genre : Kids' Animation
- TV rating :
- Last updated : September 20, 2019
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate