The whole article’s worth a read, but these things got me thinking about our own TV/radio time:
Background noise: Guernsey talks about the ill-effects of background television, which some research shows affects the way children play (they're less focused in their play, going from one toy to another rather than spending more time exploring each toy); the way parents interact with their children (this is a no-brainer; it’s easy to forget to engage with your kids when you get sucked into some show you love); and children’s language development (since studies of infants and toddlers show that they have a hard time hearing the words in speech when they have background noise to compete with).
We don’t do much TV in the house (except when Rob’s watching a small dose of sports on the weekends or some nighttime TV after Will’s in bed), but we do listen to some NPR. And it’s interesting to me to wonder about radio and children’s language development. Sometimes I”ll have NPR on while Will’s eating breakfast and he’ll shout out “California! They said California. That’s where Uncle Graham lives.” Or “ocean! They said ocean!” etc. Maybe this as a good exercise in word recognition? Or maybe it’s just a bunch of adult-level interference in Will’s natural thought processes? For Owen’s sake, anyway, I think I’ll start turning the radio off during those times when I’m really not attending to it anyway and it has just become background noise for me as well as for the boys.
The need for completion: Guernsey talks about how toddlers “want to see how a show ends, and they'll become very upset if you try to turn off 'Dora the Explorer' in the middle of the show. They can get that Dora is on a journey to a place, or she's trying to solve a puzzle, and they need to see what happens next.”
Of course this isn’t just a toddler thing; no adult wants to watch only the first half of a sitcom or TV drama. But I was foolish enough to try to do it with Will as a way to give him a tad bit of television. It’s been a month or so since we caved and instituted 15 minutes a day TV viewing for Will. It worked okay for a couple weeks, but I’ve been recognizing more and more the idiocy of that plan. Since no video or children’s program on the planet is only 15 minutes in length, of course we wind up having to cut Will off mid-story. And he’s at an age where he hates that. Since we succumbed to TV in the first place, we need to go ahead and respect the integrity of a story and his desperate toddler need to see something through to the finish. (He got to where he never chose 15 minutes of Muzzy, continuing with the next segment the next morning – and instead always opted for a short 20-minute Winnie the Pooh video, probably because we tend to let him watch the whole thing.) So now I’m planning to go looking for the shortest videos out there, because I still don’t feel like letting him get sucked in for more than 30 minutes a day. I predicted we’d be doubling the limit soon, and here we are…
When to watch: Guernsey recommends having an encapsulated time for television viewing (assuming you’re doing some TV with your kids). Will always likes to get his fix immediately after breakfast and we’ve found that works well. Since that’s the only time he ever watches a show or video we don’t have many battles at other times of the day about wanting to watch more.
Well-made shows?
Guernsey mentions “Blues Clues” as a “really well made” show that helps children “have more flexible thinking.” Since I’ll be prowling at the library for shortest-ever videos, let me know if you have other recommendations of shows that seem well designed for children. And what do you think of repeat viewing of videos vs. watching shows on TV?
Guernsey mentions “Blues Clues” as a “really well made” show that helps children “have more flexible thinking.” Since I’ll be prowling at the library for shortest-ever videos, let me know if you have other recommendations of shows that seem well designed for children. And what do you think of repeat viewing of videos vs. watching shows on TV?
3 comments:
Our children watch practically no TV for a variety of reasons. Mostly I found early on if Lucy watched much TV, the stories of the shows would start to dominate her conversation and imagination, and she was continually asking to watch more. So I cut out watching it almost entirely and I love to watch her creatively fill her time and the household's airways with activities and stories and movements and songs of her own invention. However, when I do let Lucy watch TV, I've found it helpful to limit it to a few taped movies rather than tv shows. Mary Poppins and the old Charlotte's Web happen to be our choices. That way her brain isn't being flooded with new stories but she (and I) can get the relaxation/check-out benefits of a little bit of television. Lucy is also in a private Waldorf school and they discourage TV watching for children under 12. I attached their basic arguments below. Here is a website with some TV suggestions if you really want to do TV with your children. http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/TVsafe.htm
I've also known families who just let their children watch their own home movies of themselves growing up. My kids certainly love that.
And here is the basic Waldorf why no TV:
A central aim of Waldorf Education is to stimulate the healthy development of the child's own imagination. Waldorf teachers are concerned that electronic media hampers the development of the child's imagination. They are concerned about the physical effects of the medium on the developing child as well as the content of much of the programming.
There is more and more research to substantiate these concerns. See:
Endangered Minds: Why Our Children Don't Think by Jane Healy
Failure To Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds For Better and Worse by Jane Healy
Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television by Jerry Mander
The Plug-In Drug by Marie Winn
Evolution's End: Claiming The Potential of Our Intelligence by Joseph Chilton Pearce
I do let my little ones watch a limited amount of tv. For longer movies we are currently stuck on Mary Poppins and Peter Pan. We have yet to watch all of Peter Pan in one sitting. It usually spans over 3 days. Silly, I know. I think my children like the singing portion of Mary Poppins to be honest. Now, could that be due to the tone defness of their mother? Oh, if only I could sing and act like Julie Andrews......
Anyway, moving on. My personal recomendation for the shortest tv cartoon/show for little ones is: "Peep and the Big Wide World". The show can be previwed on the web stie: http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com
The show is about a yellow chick, Peep, and his two freinds (a red baby bird, Chirp, and a self-obssesd blue duck, Quack)discovering the world around them. They learn how to solve problems while discovering how their world works. The cartton is about 13 min. long. There is a roughly 2 min. segment involving real children doing basic science experiments at the end. Total of only 15 min. per episode. You can find Peep DVD's at the library or on TLC at 8:30 in the morning. There are 2 cartoons in the 30 min. TLC show. Like I said there is a full length preview on line so you can veiw the show before you check the DVD's out or watch TLC. The web site also has fun games my 3 year old can do by herslef with little guidance ( I limit this too), coloring pages, basic science experiments, ect. We have incorporated things we have learned on Peep into our play time. I think the shows are brilliantly written.
Hope you stick with your tv limits. There are too many tv junkies out there!
Thanks for the ideas, both of you. April, I noticed the story of Muzzy dominating Will's conversation -- and with Winnie the Pooh, he sometimes gets into bouncing around like a tigger. But when Will watches a bit of Sesame Street the characters/ideas don't seem to seep into his creative play. Maybe because there's not a long story line? That's one problem with the "just watching videos" concept for us -- Will's so desperate to watch something to the finish that a short show seems easier, and he's so into ritual that it's hard for us to do TV/vidoes say every other day but in longer doses. I'm going to try recording the last half of Sesame Street for his TV fix and see how that goes. I'd love to elminate it altogether, but it is a nice break in the morning as I juggle Owen and preparations for the day -- and I'm hoping if I can keep it to a half hour a day, it won't become too much of a creative/brain drain... Maybe I'll get one of those books on your list and get inspired to totally quit the habit once and for all.
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