Mister Rogers Goes To School

Date:
Format: CED
Company/Organization: RCA / Mister Rogers Home Video

 
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Description

MISTER ROGERS GOES TO SCHOOL explores the questions children have about school...what their teacher and new classmates will be like, how much they will have to know before they get to school, and who will take care of them there. Fred Rogers carefully helps children prepare for that first big experience outside the home.

Certain MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD programs are timeless classics that will be as helpful to children in five, then or twenty years as they are today. MISTER ROGERS GOES TO SCHOOL definitely fits that description. When it was first broadcast, grateful letters from parents poured in thanking Fred Rogers for helping children cope with those important first days of school -- days which can sometimes be ____ and frightening.

Mister Rogers takes his viewers to a real school where they visit a kindergarten and first-grade classroom. He and the teachers tour the schoolrooms, bathrooms, and kitchen to help children understand that some of what they find in school will be similar to things they already have at home. Later he visits a school bus driver and joins her as she picks up the children at school.

The fantasy "Neighborhood of Make-Believe" segments find puppets Prince Tuesday , Anna Platypus, and Daniel Striped Tiger getting ready for their first day of school. "Auntie" Lady Elaine Fairchilde thinks she is helping her young friends by cramming letters and numbers into their heads. The harder she tries to prepare them, the more unprepared they are! Lady Aberlin discoveres what's happening and reminds Lady Elaine what her own first day of school was like. It was wonderful! In a touching talk with Daniel, Lady Aberlin gently tells him he doesn't have to know everything, but that wanting to learn is the most important part of starting school.

In his 25 years of working with children, Fred Rogers has always believed that one way he can help children best is by unlocking the mysteries of life experiences they face, whether it be getting a haircut, visiting the dentist, or going to school for the first time. "When you know what to expect," he says, "you don't have to be so afraid. Fear of the unknown can happen to us all, no matter how grown-up we may be."

MISTER ROGERS GOES TO SCHOOL helps children understand that learning can be fun, even when you have to work hard at it. And, after all, learning is not just for children who are going to school. People learn all through their lives.

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Notes

This video disc includes all five episodes from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood's Goes To School week (Episodes 1461-1465) which originally aired in August of 1979. Some episodes are slightly abbreviated.

Credits

Credits vary with each episode on this disc. Please visit the individual episode pages for detailed credits.