Common Sense Media Review
By Ashley Moulton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Sweet show celebrates Puerto Rican culture, problem solving.
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Alma's Way
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 7 parent reviews
What's the Story?
Alma's Way is a preschool animated series created by Sesame Street's Sonia Manzano (aka "Maria"). The theme song is written and produced by Hamilton's Lin-Manuel Miranda and Bill Sherman. Like Manzano herself, six-year-old Alma (Summer Rose Castillo) is a Puerto Rican American growing up in the Bronx. She lives in a duplex, with her Mami, Papi, Abuelo, and brother Junior on one side, and her aunt, uncle, and cousin living next door. In every episode she faces a conundrum and has to figure out what to do next. Alma might be afraid to tell her Mami that her mofongo doesn't taste good, or might want to go to a baseball game instead of keeping her promise to her uncle. She says, "I've gotta think about this," and pauses to work through her problem. She carefully weighs the pros and the cons, and winds up making a good decision even when it's tough. All the while, she enjoys her family's music, food, and love along the way.
Is It Any Good?
This is a vibrant series full of bright colors and music preschoolers will love. It's excellent at presenting each episode's social-emotional lesson in a simple and repetitive way that makes it easy for kids to understand. Alma's slow and considered decision making will help kids learn perspective taking and concrete problem solving skills, as well as helping to solidify their sense of right and wrong. Alma is a great role model, but she also makes mistakes, which will be very relatable to preschoolers.
There are many well developed characters that show the diversity of Puerto Rican American people in their interests, personalities, and physical appearances. The show explicitly talks about different aspects of Puerto Rican culture like food, music, and dance, and also highlights parts of other Latino cultures as well. The English-language version includes a lot of Spanish phrases, and the show also can be watched entirely in Spanish. Puerto Rican American kids will love seeing parts of their family and heritage reflected on screen, and kids from other backgrounds will learn about cultural traditions they may not be familiar with. The show's background music is super fun, drawing from traditional Puerto Rican styles like Plena, Bomba, and salsa along with other Latino genres such as Cuban son and Colombian cumbia.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Alma's self-control. When she's trying to solve a problem, she pauses and says "I gotta think about this." Then she works through the problem slowly, step-by-step. Do you think I could help you pause and think the next time you have a problem?
Alma's family is Puerto Rican American. What kinds of things do they do to celebrate their heritage, or where they came from? What is our family's heritage? How do we celebrate it?
Can you think of a time when Alma made a good decision, even though it was really hard for her? Why was her decision the right one?
TV Details
- Premiere date: October 4, 2021
- Cast: Summer Rose Castillo , Annie Henk , Danny Bolero , Jesus E. Martinez
- Network: PBS Kids
- Genre: Educational
- Topics: Brothers and Sisters , Great Boy Role Models , Great Girl Role Models
- Character Strengths: Self-control
- TV rating: TV-Y
- Award: Common Sense Selection
- Last updated: May 17, 2023
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