I have read many times that it’s bad to let your children, especially under the age of two watch TV.
My daughter loves TW and Little Pim, but lately I have stopped her watching Little Pim. She can watch for an hour at a time, and when I want to switch it off, she starts to perform. She did the same with Barney and I cut that one early on.
I wondered whether she is actually learning or just enjoying the concept of vegging in front of the TV - albeit that it’s supposed to be educational. I thought that we should take her off TV for a while and let her learn her languages thorugh other means such as CD’s in the background whilst she is playing, flashcards, talking to her when I can etc
i think educational video like little pim is okay. the pace is slower unlike those in cartoon network or the television programs that adults watch are too fast paced. I think that’s in the book, i hope I get the name right, Detoxing Children by Sue Palmer , mentioned something like tv programs too fast paced, actually tune the kids mind too fast pace, and then when the look around in reality, the pace is slow and they get out of tune… something like that.
anyway, my daughter doesnt really watch all the 30 minutes of little pim when she was younger, she will walk around and watch and stop, so it is not really a full 30 minutes.
i follow the Tweedlewink guideline in their overview chart on the length of video time at certain characteristic.
My daughter learned all of her Little Pim flashcards by watching LP and through minor reinforcing from me, I think somewhere between 16-22 months, but definitely under two because she will turn two this weekend. So I “proved” to she could (easily and enjoyably) learn something from educational programming. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that just because your child is enjoying it, they must not be learning anything.
On the flip side, once my daughter has mastered a DVD I would prefer to retire it and only bring it out occasionally for reinforcement/memory because at that point it does become more entertainment than educational if they know the material by heart. The preschool prep series is the one that immediately comes to mind with the alphabet, once you know them by heart the video can’t really teach anything new. However, now with my son immediately following in her footsteps, she does get more repeated exposure than I would like for his benefit because it is new material to him.
And let’s be real regarding culture in America, people don’t listen to doctor’s and specialists. The AAP knows that if they says “No TV” parents will hopefully limit it to a reasonable amount and not a free-for-all if they had given it a green light. Do you have any idea how much TV kids in America are watching these days? Even kids under two. Most kids rotting their little brains to Barney and Sponge Bob should have grown a third eye if TV was really that bad.
My cousin was letting my poor niece (a few months younger than my DD) watch Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network “because that is all that’s on” that time of day" until my sister sent her some extra barney and sesame street videos. (number one, why isn’t she is bed?!) Horrifying. Those are only the stories we HEAR about…imagine all that we don’t.
I used to be in the “no TV under two” camp, but I’m glad as a parent I give myself the freedom to grow and change my parenting approaches to better fit my family’s needs as we go on through life.
Again, content, content, content & moderation & balance. I can rattle off a handful of names of toddlers on this board who’s parents use use screen time/DVD’s to the parents/child’s advantage and I can see the children are obviously bright and well balanced, just by reading these boards and blogs (my DD is one of them, if I do say so myself!). And there are others, like Tatianna, who avoid any screen time altogether and their kids appear to be turning out fabulously as well!
We use it as a learning tool, a medium, just like a book or a flashcard. Comes in handy when I need to get things done around the house. When I was in the “no TV camp” I held myself to super-mom standards and life was a lot harder…I’m glad I don’t have to live up to that anymore. TV makes my life easier when I make dinner.
Programming now is geared more toward kids than in past years. When the “no TV under two” suggestion came into existence, researchers didn’t have these toddler shows or right-brain stimulating DVDs to go off of. Rather, they made their assessments based off of normal adult or older child programming, which proved to be too much for children so young. Research shows that interaction is the most important thing that you can give a child under two, and if I could have done it all over again, I would not have wasted my time with some of this “educational” shows geared towards tots, because some are a waste of time and brain space (IMO). As long as you don’t throw kids in front of TV and expect them to learn more than they would through daily interaction, and you moderate what they watch, then I think it’s fine. The quality of material and learning from Little Pim or Tweedle Wink is a far cry from “Max & Ruby” (seriously, what are they learning watching that show?) and the like. I agree, content and the amount of viewing is everything.