Car commute with kids

What do you listen to when you commute with kids? I have an hour and

Irrational Number...

Country music, Chinese radio station,
or musical theatre CDs.

half total commute everyday with the kids in the car. I listen to the
typical lite rock radio stations that are reasonably ok with what they
say and what songs they play. Sometimes they casually say things I
don't want the kids hear. They are still toddlers but they pick up
things fast. I could listen to NPR but I get tired of too much talk and
repeat news.

What do you typically listen to while you commute?

Irene...

We listen to all sorts of stuff, depending. My favorite radio station
is WXRT - hard to describe, but adult progressive eclectic? I do
sometimes change it if the song is objectionable, or if it's a
disturbing news story. (I worry more about content than swear words,
tbh.) And sometimes the kids will complain about a particular song, as
well. The kids have eclectic tastes - sometimes they like my stuff, or
they'll request kids' music. Sesame Street Platinum Hits is a
favorite, tho it has (thankfully) gotten a rest recently. For a while,
we were listening to a lot of Justin Roberts and Astrocapella (acapella
songs about astronomy!), but I think we od'd on them. Some of the
grownup stuff that the kids have requested are Boiled in Lead and
Melissa Etheridge. ;)

We've recently done some books on tape/cd, too, but mainly for ds (5
yo) on his morning commute to the bus stop from the old house. We
finally just moved, so that commute is gone, at least!

Tracey...

You can totally control what is said by using a CD or a Cassette.

When we do our weekly 'commute' (2 hours each way, one round trip per week)
we either listen to a kidsongs or weesing cassette or CD, some tunes from my
Ipod, or (gasp) the kids watch a movie or tv show on DVD.

enigma...

i'd go screaming bonkers if i had to listen to kid's music. i
don't understand why they use such cheap production standards
& cruddy instrumentals on those, but... gah!
Boo has a DVD player for the not infrequent 8-9 hour trips to
NY, but as he gets older & able to read, he uses it less &
less. yay!

Stephanie...

Elmo sing along.
Raffi
and more along those lines. I figured that happy kids was going to be better
for my sanity than mmusic that I liked.

annie...

Funny - I am the opposite. Listening to music I like is much better
for my sanity than having to listen to strictly children's music. I
can only take a few Raffi songs at a time before I go bonkers.

toypup...

I like children's music. Kinda silly when I'm at work and humming the
Barney song.

We listen to our regular radio stations and our iPod. We sometimes
skip songs that come up if they have "adult" content in them or at
least adjust the volume for certain words and phrases, but in general,
we just let them listen to it. If they ask questions, it makes good
teaching opportunities. The benefit, IMHO, is that our boys are
growing up with a great appreciation for what we consider to be good
music. My 3 year loves Johnny Cash, The Beatles, and Queen, and will
ask for their songs by name. He would rather I sing "Ring of Fire"
when I tuck him in at night than "Twinkle Twinkle". My 10 yo recently
had to do a report on some aspect of the 60s and he chose the British
Invasion. He made us and my hippie brother very proud. :-)

Welches...

When #1 was about 3 she bought herslef a tape recorder and lists to books
(mostly famous five) during all journeys.
Debbie

-L....

I don't commute but DS likes to listen to a 70's funk CD mix while in
the car. It's hilarious when he sings "Brickhouse" with the
Commodores.

Chookie...

A classical music station. The suggestive lyrics are invariably in languages
we don't speak! Apart from that, it helps me feel less bored/stressed when in
heavy traffic, and then there is Plato's statement that "The most effective
kind of education is that the child should play amongst beautiful things."
Classical music usually fits the "beautiful things" category.

Jeff...

Several options:

1) You can get one of those satalite radio services like XM Radio and pay
around $12.00 per month for the service.

2) You can burn CDs of the kids' favorate music. You can then play them in
the car.

3) You can put all your music on an Apple iPod. You can play the iPod over
an FM transmitter, which your FM radio can pick up. You can pick any music
you want, as long as you have it on your iPod.

If you have another portable music player, like an old Dell DJ or a MP3
player, you can do the same thing.

4) Get a portable DVD player. Target has them for around $110.

5) Teach them car games, like counting the number of red cars, then blue
cars, then yellow cars, or have them look for cars with a 2 in their license
plates.

6) Get them books on CD. My cousin loved Harry Potter. You can get the Lord
of the Rings, the Shadow (old radio show), all types of things. Or you can
read to them as you drive. But this tends not to work out well.

mbilling...

I know one family that plays read-along books in the car. Their
four-year-old is a fluent reader because of that. (Makes me wish we
had a commute:-)

tedneeley...

OP here. This is lovely :)
However my 3 yo is already so fond of books her teachers tell me that
she doesn't want to do anything else other than read a book in her
montessori school. They think I'm deliberately pushing reading. They
don't know it's other way 'round.

In the last Parent Teacher meeting they told me in not many words that
I need to play with her and not read. That's another thread :)

When I was a little kid I hated games/PT period. I was never good at
any sports. I do run though.

Sorry I digress.

There are lots of read-along books available at Amazon; search for
"Young Reading CD Packs". Also "DK Read & Listen".

My sister plays story tapes to her family; the kids are in an 8-year age
span and all enjoy them. Jim Weiss is a wonderful story-teller; you

Or take audio books out of the library. You won't want the commute to
be over!

Hope this helps.