# is there published proof that abc mouse educates kids more than say sesame street or anything else **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-published-proof-that-abc-mouse-educates-kids-more-than-say-sesame-street-or-anything-else/762529 "2016-08-12T04:18:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-published-proof-that-abc-mouse-educates-kids-more-than-say-sesame-street-or-anything-else/762529/1 "2016-08-12T04:18:03Z")
For about 2 years or more any kids preschool channel or show has been spammed by abc [mouse.com](http://mouse.com) commercials all claiming miracles on how it helped dick and jane start reading and such at age 3 or 4 and put them all in the second grade before they even started school And yes Ive have relatives kids go through the numbered course once or twice and to me I didn’t see anything that say 80s sesame street didn’t have other than pictures you can color with a mouse and funny songs and stories (and I was told they weren’t much fun crayons and markers were more fun ) So what I wondered is Is this just a redo of the whole hooked on phonics thing or is there a study saying yes this works or people saying well maybe it works … ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-published-proof-that-abc-mouse-educates-kids-more-than-say-sesame-street-or-anything-else/762529/2 "2016-08-12T14:05:10Z")
I don’t know about any studies, you could contact them directly and ask for proof, but anything that actively engages children, as opposed to something passive, will probably yield better results. For example, some kids just sit and watch Sesame Street and don’t sing the songs or engage in any way. If abc [mouse.com](http://mouse.com) requires that children actively engage that could improve their ability to learn. How much better I can’t say, and it would probably vary for different kids. Children don’t all learn the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-published-proof-that-abc-mouse-educates-kids-more-than-say-sesame-street-or-anything-else/762529/3 "2016-08-12T14:33:42Z")
Whether it works is questionable-whether you’ll ever get their sticky fingers out of your bank account [is even more questionable.](https://www.babygizmo.com/abc-mouse-early-learning-academy-review/) Read all the comments below the blurb I linked to where people have a hell of a time cancelling after the supposed “free” trial period, and sometimes for years after that. There were many more links available talking about this problem, but I just picked this one at random. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-published-proof-that-abc-mouse-educates-kids-more-than-say-sesame-street-or-anything-else/762529/4 "2016-08-12T17:08:39Z")
That I didn’t have a problem with it was when it messed up after I upgraded to win 10 and they thought it was an android problem and refused to think it was a programming bug…