TV

Ok, so we all know that TV isn't good for our children, and that the less -the better. We know TV affects body weight, physical health, and mental performance. Studies link the number of hours of TV viewing per week with school grades, negatively. So TV = BAD, right?

I try to limit TV usage during the day. We usually only use our TV during the day to listen to music (Sirius radio, which has all music, no commercials, and no visuals). Often, I mix up the music selection, giving us all a sampler of different music styles. One day, we even listened to Hawaiian music to broaden our horizons. The kids found it great to dance to!

This week has been quite a week! We run a home business and it is always the week before Christmas that I get lots of work. So this is the week that I am using the TV. I've found that children's programming is really trying to change the TV from completely without purpose, to an instructional tool. Here are insights that I have found in our one-week TV splurge:

TV shows for children are trying to incorporate facts. Dora the Explorer teaches Spanish, and early computer-mouse skills. Go Diego Go (Dora's cousin) continues with Spanish instruction and focuses on animal science. Blue's Clues deals with a multitude of preschool topics (numbers, colors, shapes, early reading skills, and social skills - things like waiting patiently, or what to do when you loose something). Little Einsteins (Disney) introduces a famous music piece/composer, famous artwork, geography, and musical vocabulary (staccato, forte, etc.). I've been surprised to hear my 3 year old call out what color of something she wanted to play with - but using the Spanish words for the colors. Or hearing DD5 talk about all the neat things a certain animal does.

TV shows are attempting to get children to stand up and move along. Ok, they are trying really hard, but so far I haven't seen any success in my home. Dora the Explorer tells children to shout the word in Spanish, or to jump over obstacles with her. A new show, Lazy Town, is all about the Evils of repeated TV viewing or just plain sitting around, and how you're supposed to get up and move. Nice message, but the children aren't really catching on. Instead of doing jumping jacks with Stephanie on Lazy Town, my kids are giving her the blank eyed stare as they continue to vegetate on the couch, LOL.

In summary, TV will probably never give us the same mental workout that sleeping does. TV really shouldn't be Preschool, like Noggin claims (their slogan is something like "Preschool on TV"). But limited viewing is probably OK and probably isn't going to significantly damage our children. And, given the right show, it may serve to spark our children's interest in a subject. With our influence, they can transfer that interest from the TV to books and exploration.