 By the time they begin kindergarten, children in the United States
have watched an average of 4,000 hours of TV. Most child development
experts agree that this is too much. But banning TV from children's
lives isn't the answer. Good TV programs can spark children's curiosity
and open up new worlds to them. A better idea is for families and
caregivers is to monitor how much time their children spend watching TV
and what programs they watch.
Here are some tips that will help you monitor and guide your child's TV
viewing:
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- Think about your child's age and choose the
types of things that you want him to see, learn and imitate.
- Look for TV shows that,
- teach your child something,
- hold his interest,
- encourage him to listen and question,
- help him learn more words,
- make him feel good about himself and
- introduce him to new ideas and things.
- Keep a record of how many hours of TV your child
watches each week and what she watches. Some experts recommend that
children limit their TV watching to no more than 2 hours a day.
However, it's up to you to decide how much TV and what kinds of
programs your child should watch.
- Learn about current TV programs, videos and DVDs
and help your child to select good ones. "Sesame Street," "Mister
Rogers' Neighborhood," "Blue's Clues," "Between the Lions," "Reading
Rainbow," "Barney & Friends," "Zoom," and "Zoboomafoo," are some shows that you may want to
consider. Many other good children's programs are available on public
television stations and on cable channels such as the Disney Channel and
Nickelodeon.
- If you have a VCR or DVD player, you may wish to
seek out video versions of classic children's stories and books,
such as the Babar stories and the Children's Circle series, "Stories
for the Very Young" and "More Stories for the Very Young." For your
very young child, try the "Baby Einstein" series.
- Parents' Choice, a quarterly review of
children's media, including TV programs and home video materials,
can help you to choose titles that are suitable for your child. (For
more information, see the Parents' Choice Web site:
http://www.parents-choice.org/; or write to: Parents' Choice
Foundation, Suite 303, 201 West Padonia Road, Timonium, MD
21093.) You can also read about programs in TV columns in newspapers and
magazines. Cable subscribers and public broadcasting contributors can
check monthly program guides for information.
- After selecting programs that are appropriate
for your child, help him decide which ones he wants to watch. Turn
on the TV when one of these programs starts and turn it off when the
program ends.
- Watch TV with your child, so that you can answer
questions and talk about what she sees. Pay special attention to how
she responds, so that you can help her to understand what she's
seeing.
- Follow-up TV viewing with activities or games.
Have your child tell you a new word that he learned from a TV
program. Together, look up the word in a dictionary and talk about
its meaning. Or have him make up his own story about one of his
favorite characters from a TV program.
- Include the whole family in discussion and
activities or games that relate to TV programs.
- Go to the library and find books that explore
the themes of the TV shows that your child watches. Or help your
child to use her drawings or pictures cut from magazines to make a
book based on a TV show.
- Make certain that TV isn't used as a babysitter.
Instead, balance good television with other enjoyable activities for
your child.
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Information source: U.S. Department of Education - Helping Your Preschool Child |
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