What do you think of tv?
kristina
This is my constant turmoil. My son is 2.5. We didn't really allow
movies/tv untill just after his second birthday. I am constantly torn
on how much is too much. Should I limit how much he watches. Is it
true that tv stunts learning and creativity? I was limiting it to
only about 3 hours a week, but I think I created the forbidden fruit
by that. Now I'm trying to not limit it, but I'm so worried that I'm
letting him watch too much. Before I started venturing into
unschooling I had thought I wanted to prevent a a tv-holic at all
costs, but now I'm seeing that it may be a tool for his learning. I
guess I need someone to dialouge with and help me to see it at
different angles. My fear of screwing up my kid is preventing me from
seeing clearly.
movies/tv untill just after his second birthday. I am constantly torn
on how much is too much. Should I limit how much he watches. Is it
true that tv stunts learning and creativity? I was limiting it to
only about 3 hours a week, but I think I created the forbidden fruit
by that. Now I'm trying to not limit it, but I'm so worried that I'm
letting him watch too much. Before I started venturing into
unschooling I had thought I wanted to prevent a a tv-holic at all
costs, but now I'm seeing that it may be a tool for his learning. I
guess I need someone to dialouge with and help me to see it at
different angles. My fear of screwing up my kid is preventing me from
seeing clearly.
Vickisue Gray
Our experience is this:
We have never limited the tv. My oldest, now 16, was a major Disney fan, knew all
the songs, and played all the princesses. She has a very high IQ, speaks four languages,
and by her choice, is currently taking college courses. She is a people person and loves
exploring different cultures.
My youngest, now 9, was and still is a major fan of the history channel and animal planet.
His first favorite book was a military airplane encyclopedia (age 1-3). He could name all the
parts of a plane or helicopter before he knew his colors. That's his 'thing'. He loves strategy
games, has been playing chess since five, and likes to create his own role playing games.
He, also, has a very high IQ.
I have tried to supply my kids with the things, information and experiences that they are in to.
I couldn't tell you if they were just born 'smart' or if environment made them that way.
Both were nursed. Both had full time parents involved with them everyday.
Hope that helps.
Vicki
----- Original Message ----
From: kristina <angelhair45@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 4:19:38 PM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] What do you think of tv?
This is my constant turmoil. My son is 2.5. We didn't really allow
movies/tv untill just after his second birthday. I am constantly torn
on how much is too much. Should I limit how much he watches. Is it
true that tv stunts learning and creativity? I was limiting it to
only about 3 hours a week, but I think I created the forbidden fruit
by that. Now I'm trying to not limit it, but I'm so worried that I'm
letting him watch too much. Before I started venturing into
unschooling I had thought I wanted to prevent a a tv-holic at all
costs, but now I'm seeing that it may be a tool for his learning. I
guess I need someone to dialouge with and help me to see it at
different angles. My fear of screwing up my kid is preventing me from
seeing clearly.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
We have never limited the tv. My oldest, now 16, was a major Disney fan, knew all
the songs, and played all the princesses. She has a very high IQ, speaks four languages,
and by her choice, is currently taking college courses. She is a people person and loves
exploring different cultures.
My youngest, now 9, was and still is a major fan of the history channel and animal planet.
His first favorite book was a military airplane encyclopedia (age 1-3). He could name all the
parts of a plane or helicopter before he knew his colors. That's his 'thing'. He loves strategy
games, has been playing chess since five, and likes to create his own role playing games.
He, also, has a very high IQ.
I have tried to supply my kids with the things, information and experiences that they are in to.
I couldn't tell you if they were just born 'smart' or if environment made them that way.
Both were nursed. Both had full time parents involved with them everyday.
Hope that helps.
Vicki
----- Original Message ----
From: kristina <angelhair45@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 4:19:38 PM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] What do you think of tv?
This is my constant turmoil. My son is 2.5. We didn't really allow
movies/tv untill just after his second birthday. I am constantly torn
on how much is too much. Should I limit how much he watches. Is it
true that tv stunts learning and creativity? I was limiting it to
only about 3 hours a week, but I think I created the forbidden fruit
by that. Now I'm trying to not limit it, but I'm so worried that I'm
letting him watch too much. Before I started venturing into
unschooling I had thought I wanted to prevent a a tv-holic at all
costs, but now I'm seeing that it may be a tool for his learning. I
guess I need someone to dialouge with and help me to see it at
different angles. My fear of screwing up my kid is preventing me from
seeing clearly.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Schuyler
Constant turmoil sounds like a lot of pain. Far more than I would be willing
to suffer. Certainly over what other people think about something. So, to
put you out of your misery, I love television. I love watching different
kinds of shows from Animal Planet sort of stuff, documentaries and nature
programs, to cartoons and movies and sitcoms. I find out so many more things
make up the world than those things I usually think about.
But that probably isn't what you meant. So, let me reassure you, television
doesn't stunt learning and creativity. At 2.5 years old, the worst it can do
is... nope I can't think of a worst thing. I loved sitting with Simon and
watching Teletubbies. He loved Teletubbies. And I still smile at the unaging
baby in the face of the setting, or rising sun. When he was 2.5, gosh, 6.5
years ago, I didn't really limit his television. But I did get really upset
when my brother gave us a Sega Dreamcast for Christmas. I didn't think that
was a good influence at all. Hard to reach back to that mindset. I believed
that virtual violence made real violence more likely. But it didn't. Sam, my
brother, gave us the Dreamcast and a fishing game with the fishing rod
controller so that we could practice up for fishing that summer. And slowly
we added to the games. We got a game where you raced by sliding on your
belly or on skis down a mountainside and we got Tokyo extreme racer and we
got some questing games, 'cause I like questing games. And we got Sonic the
Hedgehog games. Simon loved and still loves Sonic the Hedgehog. But, to this
day, I've never seen him obsessing over collecting gold rings. Simon, who is
amazing at video games, is the gentlest and sweetest boy I know--I recognize
I'm biased. He does like to play physically, but so did I and I had Pong
when I was a kid. He got upset playing Mystery Dungeon, a new Pokemon game
for the DS, when it was suggested in the gameplay that his character might
have abandoned his Pokemon. He didn't play it for 2 days. Couldn't bring
himself to facing the idea that he was playing such a non-noble character.
All that is to say that I was wrong. Video games do not beget violence, and
television doesn't stunt creativity or learning. It's just lies people tell
you because they read it somewhere and they know in their heart of hearts
that learning is difficult and arduous and television and video games are
fun and sometimes relaxing so it isn't possible that they can be learning.
So don't believe them. Learning is fun! and not in the sing song voice way
that all the hooked on phonics games swear by. Learning is stimulating and
exciting and interesting and engaging. And television can be too.
Tv-holic isn't really a good way to approach your son's relationship with
television. It argues that it is addictive from the start. It argues that it
is something that he will not be able to take or leave, that it will be the
only motivating thing in his life. And it certainly makes that little box in
the living room, or whatever room, loom large. Television is really an
amazing window into the world. And if you can trust your son to be able to
get what he wants from television than it can shrink back down to a more
reasonable size and not make you suffer such constant turmoil.
I'd recommend reading through http://sandradodd.com/tv and
http://vilter.us/Television/index.html , which is linked from Sandra Dodd's
tv page, but I think should be highlighted.
http://home.earthlink.net/~fetteroll/rejoycing/ has a nice section on
television. It's on the left hand side about halfway down.
The trick of unschooling is opening the world up in front of your children
and offering it up to them for them to explore. It isn't closing the doors
and windows so that you can keep them safe from the bits that aren't given
approval by everyone. Or that you don't trust will be safe. If you are there
with him, and watching next to him, and laughing and giggling and blowing on
his belly during the ad breaks, how can television be more than a part of
that world?
Schuyler
www.waynforth.blogspot.com
to suffer. Certainly over what other people think about something. So, to
put you out of your misery, I love television. I love watching different
kinds of shows from Animal Planet sort of stuff, documentaries and nature
programs, to cartoons and movies and sitcoms. I find out so many more things
make up the world than those things I usually think about.
But that probably isn't what you meant. So, let me reassure you, television
doesn't stunt learning and creativity. At 2.5 years old, the worst it can do
is... nope I can't think of a worst thing. I loved sitting with Simon and
watching Teletubbies. He loved Teletubbies. And I still smile at the unaging
baby in the face of the setting, or rising sun. When he was 2.5, gosh, 6.5
years ago, I didn't really limit his television. But I did get really upset
when my brother gave us a Sega Dreamcast for Christmas. I didn't think that
was a good influence at all. Hard to reach back to that mindset. I believed
that virtual violence made real violence more likely. But it didn't. Sam, my
brother, gave us the Dreamcast and a fishing game with the fishing rod
controller so that we could practice up for fishing that summer. And slowly
we added to the games. We got a game where you raced by sliding on your
belly or on skis down a mountainside and we got Tokyo extreme racer and we
got some questing games, 'cause I like questing games. And we got Sonic the
Hedgehog games. Simon loved and still loves Sonic the Hedgehog. But, to this
day, I've never seen him obsessing over collecting gold rings. Simon, who is
amazing at video games, is the gentlest and sweetest boy I know--I recognize
I'm biased. He does like to play physically, but so did I and I had Pong
when I was a kid. He got upset playing Mystery Dungeon, a new Pokemon game
for the DS, when it was suggested in the gameplay that his character might
have abandoned his Pokemon. He didn't play it for 2 days. Couldn't bring
himself to facing the idea that he was playing such a non-noble character.
All that is to say that I was wrong. Video games do not beget violence, and
television doesn't stunt creativity or learning. It's just lies people tell
you because they read it somewhere and they know in their heart of hearts
that learning is difficult and arduous and television and video games are
fun and sometimes relaxing so it isn't possible that they can be learning.
So don't believe them. Learning is fun! and not in the sing song voice way
that all the hooked on phonics games swear by. Learning is stimulating and
exciting and interesting and engaging. And television can be too.
Tv-holic isn't really a good way to approach your son's relationship with
television. It argues that it is addictive from the start. It argues that it
is something that he will not be able to take or leave, that it will be the
only motivating thing in his life. And it certainly makes that little box in
the living room, or whatever room, loom large. Television is really an
amazing window into the world. And if you can trust your son to be able to
get what he wants from television than it can shrink back down to a more
reasonable size and not make you suffer such constant turmoil.
I'd recommend reading through http://sandradodd.com/tv and
http://vilter.us/Television/index.html , which is linked from Sandra Dodd's
tv page, but I think should be highlighted.
http://home.earthlink.net/~fetteroll/rejoycing/ has a nice section on
television. It's on the left hand side about halfway down.
The trick of unschooling is opening the world up in front of your children
and offering it up to them for them to explore. It isn't closing the doors
and windows so that you can keep them safe from the bits that aren't given
approval by everyone. Or that you don't trust will be safe. If you are there
with him, and watching next to him, and laughing and giggling and blowing on
his belly during the ad breaks, how can television be more than a part of
that world?
Schuyler
www.waynforth.blogspot.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "kristina" angelhair45@...
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 9:20 PM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] What do you think of tv?
> This is my constant turmoil. My son is 2.5. We didn't really allow
> movies/tv untill just after his second birthday. I am constantly torn
> on how much is too much. Should I limit how much he watches. Is it
> true that tv stunts learning and creativity? I was limiting it to
> only about 3 hours a week, but I think I created the forbidden fruit
> by that. Now I'm trying to not limit it, but I'm so worried that I'm
> letting him watch too much. Before I started venturing into
> unschooling I had thought I wanted to prevent a a tv-holic at all
> costs, but now I'm seeing that it may be a tool for his learning. I
> guess I need someone to dialouge with and help me to see it at
> different angles. My fear of screwing up my kid is preventing me from
> seeing clearly.
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
wuweimama
I fall into the "don't offer, don't refuse" department. There are many
iterations between buying cable (which we did recently) for ds (and
dh), and limiting tv viewing time. We had many videos that ds watched
at will, before his interest led us to pay for cable for NickJr. We
also purchased a lot of videos (mostly from the kid's consignment
stores), and borrowed videos from the library, and rented DVDs from
the Blockbuster store and Blockbuster on-line. I still don't watch
much of any tv, except with ds. Dh loves the sports on tv. If you
already have tv and cable, it is difficult to deny tv without it being
restrictive. We also have "TIVO"/DVR which allows us to record ds's
favorite shows, so that he has something available that he prefers to
watch.
Ds learns so much from tv. And it is important to me to be available
and aware of what he is learning. I understand more about what ds
likes and values by choosing to be engaged with the shows that he
watches. I will mention that ds is very selective and discriminating
about shows; he'll just turn a show off at the first hint of anything
scary or sad. He is highly sensitive and very aware of the emotional
energy of others. By his preference, he won't watch any dramatic
stories (there is usually a journey or conflict to overcome), or live
action shows with conflict. He has no sense of 'needing to watch this
because viewing time is limited'. I believe this empowers him to be
more particular about what he watches.
But, I don't believe there is an inherent need to introduce tv to a
child's environment. Learning happens all the time, even without tv.
There are many, many ways to enrich and add joy to a child's life. TV
is just one of them.
HTH, Pat
iterations between buying cable (which we did recently) for ds (and
dh), and limiting tv viewing time. We had many videos that ds watched
at will, before his interest led us to pay for cable for NickJr. We
also purchased a lot of videos (mostly from the kid's consignment
stores), and borrowed videos from the library, and rented DVDs from
the Blockbuster store and Blockbuster on-line. I still don't watch
much of any tv, except with ds. Dh loves the sports on tv. If you
already have tv and cable, it is difficult to deny tv without it being
restrictive. We also have "TIVO"/DVR which allows us to record ds's
favorite shows, so that he has something available that he prefers to
watch.
Ds learns so much from tv. And it is important to me to be available
and aware of what he is learning. I understand more about what ds
likes and values by choosing to be engaged with the shows that he
watches. I will mention that ds is very selective and discriminating
about shows; he'll just turn a show off at the first hint of anything
scary or sad. He is highly sensitive and very aware of the emotional
energy of others. By his preference, he won't watch any dramatic
stories (there is usually a journey or conflict to overcome), or live
action shows with conflict. He has no sense of 'needing to watch this
because viewing time is limited'. I believe this empowers him to be
more particular about what he watches.
But, I don't believe there is an inherent need to introduce tv to a
child's environment. Learning happens all the time, even without tv.
There are many, many ways to enrich and add joy to a child's life. TV
is just one of them.
HTH, Pat
Chris and Kelli Bailey
our family's experience (not very unschooly, i know):
when dh and i had cable, we watched it too much. by
too much, i mean it was easier to be passively
entertained than to "do" anything. i spent weekdays in
front of decorating shows and weekend mornings in
front of gardening shows. i dreamed and schemed and
spent way too much mental money, my head always full
of projects i couldn't take on. dh spent evenings and
weekend afternoons in front of the history channel.
we became annoyed when our cable company raised rates
twice in one year, so we just cut it off one day. we
thought it would be "good for the kids" anyway,
because frankly we didn't want them seeing all those
awful commercials :)
i didn't want an antenna on the roof (don't laugh!) so
dh decided to get an attic antenna. weeks passed and
we didn't get around to it. eventually we forgot. we
rented movies from video stores, purchased them at
yard sales and borrowed from the library. we played
card games and board games after dinner and read aloud
much more often. we eventually became comfortable with
not having cable and stopped missing it. believe it or
not, it took quite awhile (about three months) and now
both of us will tell you, if asked, that we are glad
it worked out this way. for whatever reason the tv
distracted us from one another. whether we were
"addicted" or watching what many consider a "normal"
amount of tv is up to the individual; we feel that our
family benefited from us tossing the tube.
notice there's nothing here about how much tv the kids
were watching?!! LOL
it's been almost four years since we cut the cable
service. what's really funny is that people think it's
very "strange" that we don't have access to tv at all
in our home. they are truly amazed that we "get along"
without the tv news broadcasts and reality shows. they
unashamedly gasp and say they don't think they could
do it (much the same as when people say they don't see
how i "stay home" with our three kids all day). i'm
amazed at how many conversations everywhere we go are
about these network shows and at how people become
obsessed with the details of these tv characters'
lives! LOL
in my fantasy world, the discovery channel, history
channel, animal planet and home and garden television
are available commercial-free and free of charge! LOL
my 2 cents...hope it helped!
kelli
--- kristina <angelhair45@...> wrote:
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when dh and i had cable, we watched it too much. by
too much, i mean it was easier to be passively
entertained than to "do" anything. i spent weekdays in
front of decorating shows and weekend mornings in
front of gardening shows. i dreamed and schemed and
spent way too much mental money, my head always full
of projects i couldn't take on. dh spent evenings and
weekend afternoons in front of the history channel.
we became annoyed when our cable company raised rates
twice in one year, so we just cut it off one day. we
thought it would be "good for the kids" anyway,
because frankly we didn't want them seeing all those
awful commercials :)
i didn't want an antenna on the roof (don't laugh!) so
dh decided to get an attic antenna. weeks passed and
we didn't get around to it. eventually we forgot. we
rented movies from video stores, purchased them at
yard sales and borrowed from the library. we played
card games and board games after dinner and read aloud
much more often. we eventually became comfortable with
not having cable and stopped missing it. believe it or
not, it took quite awhile (about three months) and now
both of us will tell you, if asked, that we are glad
it worked out this way. for whatever reason the tv
distracted us from one another. whether we were
"addicted" or watching what many consider a "normal"
amount of tv is up to the individual; we feel that our
family benefited from us tossing the tube.
notice there's nothing here about how much tv the kids
were watching?!! LOL
it's been almost four years since we cut the cable
service. what's really funny is that people think it's
very "strange" that we don't have access to tv at all
in our home. they are truly amazed that we "get along"
without the tv news broadcasts and reality shows. they
unashamedly gasp and say they don't think they could
do it (much the same as when people say they don't see
how i "stay home" with our three kids all day). i'm
amazed at how many conversations everywhere we go are
about these network shows and at how people become
obsessed with the details of these tv characters'
lives! LOL
in my fantasy world, the discovery channel, history
channel, animal planet and home and garden television
are available commercial-free and free of charge! LOL
my 2 cents...hope it helped!
kelli
--- kristina <angelhair45@...> wrote:
> This is my constant turmoil. My son is 2.5. We____________________________________________________________________________________
> didn't really allow
> movies/tv untill just after his second birthday. I
> am constantly torn
> on how much is too much. Should I limit how much he
> watches. Is it
> true that tv stunts learning and creativity? I was
> limiting it to
> only about 3 hours a week, but I think I created the
> forbidden fruit
> by that. Now I'm trying to not limit it, but I'm so
> worried that I'm
> letting him watch too much. Before I started
> venturing into
> unschooling I had thought I wanted to prevent a a
> tv-holic at all
> costs, but now I'm seeing that it may be a tool for
> his learning. I
> guess I need someone to dialouge with and help me to
> see it at
> different angles. My fear of screwing up my kid is
> preventing me from
> seeing clearly.
>
>
>
Want to start your own business?
Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-index
laura g
T.V. has never been limited around here. My kids are 5 and 3 and are
extremely creative, engaging, fun to be around and have LOTS of interests.
They watch t.v. when they want to. One thing i have noticed is that if the
t.v. is on disney for example and there really is very little else going on
that they will watch for a long time. However, if I dvr their favorite
shows they can see them when they want to (they ask because they dont know
how to use the controller yet) and when it goes off they typically go on to
something else.. or sometimes ask me to put on another show. Whichever is
fine with me but I feel it gives them more of a choice to stop watching. Tv
shows have opened up alot of new interests for the kids and new topics for
us to talk about. By dvring the shows the kids now they can watch things
whenever they want to so it doesnt tie us down.
_________________________________________________________________
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extremely creative, engaging, fun to be around and have LOTS of interests.
They watch t.v. when they want to. One thing i have noticed is that if the
t.v. is on disney for example and there really is very little else going on
that they will watch for a long time. However, if I dvr their favorite
shows they can see them when they want to (they ask because they dont know
how to use the controller yet) and when it goes off they typically go on to
something else.. or sometimes ask me to put on another show. Whichever is
fine with me but I feel it gives them more of a choice to stop watching. Tv
shows have opened up alot of new interests for the kids and new topics for
us to talk about. By dvring the shows the kids now they can watch things
whenever they want to so it doesnt tie us down.
_________________________________________________________________
Get the latest Windows Live Messenger 8.1 Beta version.�Join now.
http://ideas.live.com
Chris and Kelli Bailey
my previous post focussed more on the adult
relationship to the tv, so probably was not very
helpful. let me try again...
ds8 chooses to watch more tv than his siblings,
probably more than any other family member. ds5 has
begun to sit and watch more in the last 6 mos than
before and has begun to enact scenes from what he has
viewed while engaged in fantasy play. dd2 has very
little interest until the evenings. she will "zone" in
front of whatever the boys are watching when she
becomes tired, just like anyone else.
ds8 was strongly attracted to the tv screen from a
very young age. he would watch almost an entire hour
of teletubbies when he was about a year old. this
seems to be something unique to his
personality/learning style. well, maybe not unique, as
dh has trouble looking away from any tv screen no
matter what it is showing at the time! LOL
ds5 was always too busy physically to pay much
attention to the tube until recently. now he watches
much of what his brother watches, peppering him with
questions and commentary the entire time! LOL
dd2 may choose to watch more as she gets older, the
way her brother did. we won't know until we get there.
in the evenings when she is tired, she really enjoys
sitting in my lap with a baby einstein video. we talk
about the images and music, and after it's over, she
seems refreshed and ready to move on to more active
play. :)
just from observing my own children, i think there are
many factors determining how much tv a child will
watch, including age, temperament, learning style,
lack of other interests, etc.
overall, i don't think tv has affected my childrens'
intelligence, activity levels or anything else in a
negative manner.
keep in mind all of our tv watching is videos, due to
lack of cable or local network hook-up. the boys love
disney movies, scooby doo, tom and jerry and the like.
also stories about empowered children such as fly away
home and free willy. and videos of faraway places,
such as south america and australia. plus non-fiction
for children such as the eyewitness series. we have
checked and re-checked countless videos on volcanoes,
dinosaurs, and various weather phenomenon (especially
hurricanes, after hurricane katrina wiped out so many
of our loved ones' homes a year ago).
i'll bet at two and a half, your child has a whole lot
more interest in many other things besides tv. maybe
try turning it on for him only if he asks for it,
whether that be every other day or three or four times
a day! let him learn early that he is in charge of it;
it's not in charge of him! like you said, it can be a
tool for his learning about the world! :)
ds8 was working our vcr at age 18 mos, and we never
had a pb&j sandwich inserted into it! LOL children can
be guided to operate electronics responsibly at a
surprisingly early age. if you think it may work for
your family, try putting him in charge for a while and
see what happens.
hth,
kelli
--- kristina <angelhair45@...> wrote:
Want to start your own business?
Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-index
relationship to the tv, so probably was not very
helpful. let me try again...
ds8 chooses to watch more tv than his siblings,
probably more than any other family member. ds5 has
begun to sit and watch more in the last 6 mos than
before and has begun to enact scenes from what he has
viewed while engaged in fantasy play. dd2 has very
little interest until the evenings. she will "zone" in
front of whatever the boys are watching when she
becomes tired, just like anyone else.
ds8 was strongly attracted to the tv screen from a
very young age. he would watch almost an entire hour
of teletubbies when he was about a year old. this
seems to be something unique to his
personality/learning style. well, maybe not unique, as
dh has trouble looking away from any tv screen no
matter what it is showing at the time! LOL
ds5 was always too busy physically to pay much
attention to the tube until recently. now he watches
much of what his brother watches, peppering him with
questions and commentary the entire time! LOL
dd2 may choose to watch more as she gets older, the
way her brother did. we won't know until we get there.
in the evenings when she is tired, she really enjoys
sitting in my lap with a baby einstein video. we talk
about the images and music, and after it's over, she
seems refreshed and ready to move on to more active
play. :)
just from observing my own children, i think there are
many factors determining how much tv a child will
watch, including age, temperament, learning style,
lack of other interests, etc.
overall, i don't think tv has affected my childrens'
intelligence, activity levels or anything else in a
negative manner.
keep in mind all of our tv watching is videos, due to
lack of cable or local network hook-up. the boys love
disney movies, scooby doo, tom and jerry and the like.
also stories about empowered children such as fly away
home and free willy. and videos of faraway places,
such as south america and australia. plus non-fiction
for children such as the eyewitness series. we have
checked and re-checked countless videos on volcanoes,
dinosaurs, and various weather phenomenon (especially
hurricanes, after hurricane katrina wiped out so many
of our loved ones' homes a year ago).
i'll bet at two and a half, your child has a whole lot
more interest in many other things besides tv. maybe
try turning it on for him only if he asks for it,
whether that be every other day or three or four times
a day! let him learn early that he is in charge of it;
it's not in charge of him! like you said, it can be a
tool for his learning about the world! :)
ds8 was working our vcr at age 18 mos, and we never
had a pb&j sandwich inserted into it! LOL children can
be guided to operate electronics responsibly at a
surprisingly early age. if you think it may work for
your family, try putting him in charge for a while and
see what happens.
hth,
kelli
--- kristina <angelhair45@...> wrote:
> This is my constant turmoil. My son is 2.5. We____________________________________________________________________________________
> didn't really allow
> movies/tv untill just after his second birthday. I
> am constantly torn
> on how much is too much. Should I limit how much he
> watches. Is it
> true that tv stunts learning and creativity? I was
> limiting it to
> only about 3 hours a week, but I think I created the
> forbidden fruit
> by that. Now I'm trying to not limit it, but I'm so
> worried that I'm
> letting him watch too much. Before I started
> venturing into
> unschooling I had thought I wanted to prevent a a
> tv-holic at all
> costs, but now I'm seeing that it may be a tool for
> his learning. I
> guess I need someone to dialouge with and help me to
> see it at
> different angles. My fear of screwing up my kid is
> preventing me from
> seeing clearly.
>
>
>
Want to start your own business?
Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-index
[email protected]
<<i'm
amazed at how many conversations everywhere we go are
about these network shows and at how people become
obsessed with the details of these tv characters'
lives! LOL>>
Kelli,
We did the same thing for a year-completely cut the cable service. I did it because it angered me that I could not select the channels I wanted, I was forced to purchase a whole package when I only wanted some of the channels in the package. I believe you should be able to "menu select" the channels you want to pay for. Anyway, I also noticed how much people's conversations revolved around ficticious people's lives in television shows, and my kids felt left out because they were not able to follow what the other kids (at school, of course) were talking about. (I would have preferred to raise my kids without television but I lost out on the issue.) What disgusts me is the abundance of television shows that revolve around the gruesome murder of someone, usually female. These shows are sometimes fiction, (like CSI) but often are crime shows depicting real cases of brutality against (mainly) young women. Personally, I think it normalizes violence against women, but thats just my opini
on. There are also shows glorifying the merits of cosmetic surgery, and the proliferation of "airhead" female characters who make being stupid look cool and desireable. Then there's the soft core porn, like the Paris-Hilton-gets-off-with-a-hamburger-during-half time genre, and the girls in underwear gyrating their crotch in the face of music artists on BET. Unfortunately my kids dont choose the History channel, they choose that crap. We now have limited cable, but the clamor is up for the full package. Commercials are largely annoying to me as well. There is a rare good one, but they play them over and over, sometimes back to back, and the volume automatically goes up when the commercials come on. Overall, I dont believe television has had a positive influence on our family life. When we got rid of it for that year, our conversations were more in-depth and stimulating and we had more choice of what to bring in to our living room by choosing movies to rent. With TV, unless you are e
xtremely proactive with the remote, you get bombarded with a lot of crap. I am probably a minority opinion here, but I agree with the folks with the "shoot your television" bumper stickers on thier car. I have a close friend in England who has not had a TV for over four years and he feels getting rid of the TV is a subversive act. My advice is that if your kids are young enough to not miss it, and you dont really want or need it, dont have TV. You can always get it later if you feel the need.
Kathryn
-------------- Original message --------------
From: Chris and Kelli Bailey <cdbailey_99@...>
our family's experience (not very unschooly, i know):
when dh and i had cable, we watched it too much. by
too much, i mean it was easier to be passively
entertained than to "do" anything. i spent weekdays in
front of decorating shows and weekend mornings in
front of gardening shows. i dreamed and schemed and
spent way too much mental money, my head always full
of projects i couldn't take on. dh spent evenings and
weekend afternoons in front of the history channel.
we became annoyed when our cable company raised rates
twice in one year, so we just cut it off one day. we
thought it would be "good for the kids" anyway,
because frankly we didn't want them seeing all those
awful commercials :)
i didn't want an antenna on the roof (don't laugh!) so
dh decided to get an attic antenna. weeks passed and
we didn't get around to it. eventually we forgot. we
rented movies from video stores, purchased them at
yard sales and borrowed from the library. we played
card games and board games after dinner and read aloud
much more often. we eventually became comfortable with
not having cable and stopped missing it. believe it or
not, it took quite awhile (about three months) and now
both of us will tell you, if asked, that we are glad
it worked out this way. for whatever reason the tv
distracted us from one another. whether we were
"addicted" or watching what many consider a "normal"
amount of tv is up to the individual; we feel that our
family benefited from us tossing the tube.
notice there's nothing here about how much tv the kids
were watching?!! LOL
it's been almost four years since we cut the cable
service. what's really funny is that people think it's
very "strange" that we don't have access to tv at all
in our home. they are truly amazed that we "get along"
without the tv news broadcasts and reality shows. they
unashamedly gasp and say they don't think they could
do it (much the same as when people say they don't see
how i "stay home" with our three kids all day). i'm
amazed at how many conversations everywhere we go are
about these network shows and at how people become
obsessed with the details of these tv characters'
lives! LOL
in my fantasy world, the discovery channel, history
channel, animal planet and home and garden television
are available commercial-free and free of charge! LOL
my 2 cents...hope it helped!
kelli
--- kristina <angelhair45@...> wrote:
Want to start your own business?
Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-index
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
amazed at how many conversations everywhere we go are
about these network shows and at how people become
obsessed with the details of these tv characters'
lives! LOL>>
Kelli,
We did the same thing for a year-completely cut the cable service. I did it because it angered me that I could not select the channels I wanted, I was forced to purchase a whole package when I only wanted some of the channels in the package. I believe you should be able to "menu select" the channels you want to pay for. Anyway, I also noticed how much people's conversations revolved around ficticious people's lives in television shows, and my kids felt left out because they were not able to follow what the other kids (at school, of course) were talking about. (I would have preferred to raise my kids without television but I lost out on the issue.) What disgusts me is the abundance of television shows that revolve around the gruesome murder of someone, usually female. These shows are sometimes fiction, (like CSI) but often are crime shows depicting real cases of brutality against (mainly) young women. Personally, I think it normalizes violence against women, but thats just my opini
on. There are also shows glorifying the merits of cosmetic surgery, and the proliferation of "airhead" female characters who make being stupid look cool and desireable. Then there's the soft core porn, like the Paris-Hilton-gets-off-with-a-hamburger-during-half time genre, and the girls in underwear gyrating their crotch in the face of music artists on BET. Unfortunately my kids dont choose the History channel, they choose that crap. We now have limited cable, but the clamor is up for the full package. Commercials are largely annoying to me as well. There is a rare good one, but they play them over and over, sometimes back to back, and the volume automatically goes up when the commercials come on. Overall, I dont believe television has had a positive influence on our family life. When we got rid of it for that year, our conversations were more in-depth and stimulating and we had more choice of what to bring in to our living room by choosing movies to rent. With TV, unless you are e
xtremely proactive with the remote, you get bombarded with a lot of crap. I am probably a minority opinion here, but I agree with the folks with the "shoot your television" bumper stickers on thier car. I have a close friend in England who has not had a TV for over four years and he feels getting rid of the TV is a subversive act. My advice is that if your kids are young enough to not miss it, and you dont really want or need it, dont have TV. You can always get it later if you feel the need.
Kathryn
-------------- Original message --------------
From: Chris and Kelli Bailey <cdbailey_99@...>
our family's experience (not very unschooly, i know):
when dh and i had cable, we watched it too much. by
too much, i mean it was easier to be passively
entertained than to "do" anything. i spent weekdays in
front of decorating shows and weekend mornings in
front of gardening shows. i dreamed and schemed and
spent way too much mental money, my head always full
of projects i couldn't take on. dh spent evenings and
weekend afternoons in front of the history channel.
we became annoyed when our cable company raised rates
twice in one year, so we just cut it off one day. we
thought it would be "good for the kids" anyway,
because frankly we didn't want them seeing all those
awful commercials :)
i didn't want an antenna on the roof (don't laugh!) so
dh decided to get an attic antenna. weeks passed and
we didn't get around to it. eventually we forgot. we
rented movies from video stores, purchased them at
yard sales and borrowed from the library. we played
card games and board games after dinner and read aloud
much more often. we eventually became comfortable with
not having cable and stopped missing it. believe it or
not, it took quite awhile (about three months) and now
both of us will tell you, if asked, that we are glad
it worked out this way. for whatever reason the tv
distracted us from one another. whether we were
"addicted" or watching what many consider a "normal"
amount of tv is up to the individual; we feel that our
family benefited from us tossing the tube.
notice there's nothing here about how much tv the kids
were watching?!! LOL
it's been almost four years since we cut the cable
service. what's really funny is that people think it's
very "strange" that we don't have access to tv at all
in our home. they are truly amazed that we "get along"
without the tv news broadcasts and reality shows. they
unashamedly gasp and say they don't think they could
do it (much the same as when people say they don't see
how i "stay home" with our three kids all day). i'm
amazed at how many conversations everywhere we go are
about these network shows and at how people become
obsessed with the details of these tv characters'
lives! LOL
in my fantasy world, the discovery channel, history
channel, animal planet and home and garden television
are available commercial-free and free of charge! LOL
my 2 cents...hope it helped!
kelli
--- kristina <angelhair45@...> wrote:
> This is my constant turmoil. My son is 2.5. We__________________________________________________________
> didn't really allow
> movies/tv untill just after his second birthday. I
> am constantly torn
> on how much is too much. Should I limit how much he
> watches. Is it
> true that tv stunts learning and creativity? I was
> limiting it to
> only about 3 hours a week, but I think I created the
> forbidden fruit
> by that. Now I'm trying to not limit it, but I'm so
> worried that I'm
> letting him watch too much. Before I started
> venturing into
> unschooling I had thought I wanted to prevent a a
> tv-holic at all
> costs, but now I'm seeing that it may be a tool for
> his learning. I
> guess I need someone to dialouge with and help me to
> see it at
> different angles. My fear of screwing up my kid is
> preventing me from
> seeing clearly.
>
>
>
Want to start your own business?
Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-index
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Michelle Leifur Reid
On 11/22/06, kristina <angelhair45@...> wrote:
even prior to us unschooling. They are extremely bright and creative
kids. Will a child do nothing but watch tv all day? Perhaps if there
are no other options. But given other options my kids will usually
choose "other" over tv. We also have DVR (of which I highly
recommend) so when there are schedule conflicts or an ill-timed
program (it conflicts with something else we want to do) we record and
go. It never ceases to amaze me what I will find my kids watching.
It might be Power Rangers or it might be the History Channel. Perhaps
it is the Cheetah Girl's 2 or perhaps a show on Cheetah's on National
Geographic Channel. I might even find them watching anime or some
obscure program in Japanese with subtitles.
Michelle
> This is my constant turmoil. My son is 2.5. We didn't really allowMy kids have had pretty much unlimited tv for most of their lives,
> movies/tv untill just after his second birthday. I am constantly torn
> on how much is too much. Should I limit how much he watches. Is it
> true that tv stunts learning and creativity?
even prior to us unschooling. They are extremely bright and creative
kids. Will a child do nothing but watch tv all day? Perhaps if there
are no other options. But given other options my kids will usually
choose "other" over tv. We also have DVR (of which I highly
recommend) so when there are schedule conflicts or an ill-timed
program (it conflicts with something else we want to do) we record and
go. It never ceases to amaze me what I will find my kids watching.
It might be Power Rangers or it might be the History Channel. Perhaps
it is the Cheetah Girl's 2 or perhaps a show on Cheetah's on National
Geographic Channel. I might even find them watching anime or some
obscure program in Japanese with subtitles.
Michelle
Malinda Mills
Michelle wrote:
<< I might even find them watching anime or some
obscure program in Japanese with subtitles.>>
You never know where TV programs may lead you or your kids. Tristan (he just turned 10) was a huge fan of "One Piece" on the Cartoon Network. I have to admit that I hated the show...the voices and the jokes just grated on my nerves, and I had to leave the room when it came on. I did a bit of searching around and found it was dubbed from original Japanese anime (many shows are like this, but the One Piece animation style is so different I didn't pick up on it at first...anyway....).
I found a One Piece movie in it's original Japanese form with subtitles. Tristan is now a HUGE anime fan and insists that all anime MUST be seen in Japanese with the original voices. ;o) He has no issues with reading hours and hours of subtitles; it's what he prefers.
Now, we have indepth conversations about the characters, the plots, and have searched out other anime with the same voice actors.
I guess some would argue the above is "revolving our lives" around fictitious characters by all our discussions, but I don't see it that way at all. Tristan and I have found a common interest that has brought us together. We talk about the relationships and idiosyncracies of the characters and how we see those same traits in many people we either know or have known in the past. We make jokes about the shows. We are a family of movies lovers, and it's not uncommon for us to start reciting lines from movies....we are now doing that with the anime (in both Japanese and English).
It's also brought around a huge interest in the Japanese language, especially for me! I've been floundering for nearly a year trying to discover what my passions are. I found one lies with learning Japanese. This passion has now opened me up to several other interests I haven't touched in so very long like drawing and wrtiting.
Tristan has picked up a number of Japanese words with no sort of "formal" study (he has a much better ear than I when it comes to reading the subtitles and picking up the spoken word) and has a huge interest now in Japanese music. He'll devour manga, come up with his own stories, and finds various anime/manga pics and challenges me to draw them. He even crafted one of the characters out of polymer clay.
During the last L&L Conference Joyce had a anime/manga cosplay funshop. Tristan spent so much time thinking and putting his costume together, down to the smallest detail. He had the list of items he needed to find at the thrift store, what supplies he had to buy at other stores, etc. And he ended up being nearly a spitting image of the character (well, that's my biased "mom opinion" LOL).
All this from a TV show that I used to detest....go figure! ;o)
Malinda
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
<< I might even find them watching anime or some
obscure program in Japanese with subtitles.>>
You never know where TV programs may lead you or your kids. Tristan (he just turned 10) was a huge fan of "One Piece" on the Cartoon Network. I have to admit that I hated the show...the voices and the jokes just grated on my nerves, and I had to leave the room when it came on. I did a bit of searching around and found it was dubbed from original Japanese anime (many shows are like this, but the One Piece animation style is so different I didn't pick up on it at first...anyway....).
I found a One Piece movie in it's original Japanese form with subtitles. Tristan is now a HUGE anime fan and insists that all anime MUST be seen in Japanese with the original voices. ;o) He has no issues with reading hours and hours of subtitles; it's what he prefers.
Now, we have indepth conversations about the characters, the plots, and have searched out other anime with the same voice actors.
I guess some would argue the above is "revolving our lives" around fictitious characters by all our discussions, but I don't see it that way at all. Tristan and I have found a common interest that has brought us together. We talk about the relationships and idiosyncracies of the characters and how we see those same traits in many people we either know or have known in the past. We make jokes about the shows. We are a family of movies lovers, and it's not uncommon for us to start reciting lines from movies....we are now doing that with the anime (in both Japanese and English).
It's also brought around a huge interest in the Japanese language, especially for me! I've been floundering for nearly a year trying to discover what my passions are. I found one lies with learning Japanese. This passion has now opened me up to several other interests I haven't touched in so very long like drawing and wrtiting.
Tristan has picked up a number of Japanese words with no sort of "formal" study (he has a much better ear than I when it comes to reading the subtitles and picking up the spoken word) and has a huge interest now in Japanese music. He'll devour manga, come up with his own stories, and finds various anime/manga pics and challenges me to draw them. He even crafted one of the characters out of polymer clay.
During the last L&L Conference Joyce had a anime/manga cosplay funshop. Tristan spent so much time thinking and putting his costume together, down to the smallest detail. He had the list of items he needed to find at the thrift store, what supplies he had to buy at other stores, etc. And he ended up being nearly a spitting image of the character (well, that's my biased "mom opinion" LOL).
All this from a TV show that I used to detest....go figure! ;o)
Malinda
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Chris and Kelli Bailey
kathryn,
as you read, dh and i got rid of cable service because
of the ridiculous fees, but chose to KEEP it off
because we saw a dramatic improvement in *our*
behaviors and attitudes. nothing to do with the kids!
our kids are small yet...just 8, 5, and 2. we plan to
keep it off until they ask for it, at which time we
will re-evaluate the choice. maybe by then we will be
able to choose the specific channels we wish to
purchase!
i don't feel we are "missing" anything and the kids
definitely don't think so. they know some of their
friends watch shows that are unknown to them, but
haven't yet asked why WE don't have those shows. the
day will come, though, and that's fine.
for now ds8 becomes very impatient when commercials
run and "ruin" the program he is trying to watch at
gram's house! LOL we have used commercials as a
jumping-off point for discussing advertising in
general, so that's been a fun experience for all of
us. :)
btw, how old are your children now and are they still
in school?
kelli
--- airokat@... wrote:
Do you Yahoo!?
Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.
http://new.mail.yahoo.com
as you read, dh and i got rid of cable service because
of the ridiculous fees, but chose to KEEP it off
because we saw a dramatic improvement in *our*
behaviors and attitudes. nothing to do with the kids!
our kids are small yet...just 8, 5, and 2. we plan to
keep it off until they ask for it, at which time we
will re-evaluate the choice. maybe by then we will be
able to choose the specific channels we wish to
purchase!
i don't feel we are "missing" anything and the kids
definitely don't think so. they know some of their
friends watch shows that are unknown to them, but
haven't yet asked why WE don't have those shows. the
day will come, though, and that's fine.
for now ds8 becomes very impatient when commercials
run and "ruin" the program he is trying to watch at
gram's house! LOL we have used commercials as a
jumping-off point for discussing advertising in
general, so that's been a fun experience for all of
us. :)
btw, how old are your children now and are they still
in school?
kelli
--- airokat@... wrote:
> <<i'm__________________________________________________________
> amazed at how many conversations everywhere we go
> are
> about these network shows and at how people become
> obsessed with the details of these tv characters'
> lives! LOL>>
>
> Kelli,
> We did the same thing for a year-completely cut the
> cable service. I did it because it angered me that I
> could not select the channels I wanted, I was forced
> to purchase a whole package when I only wanted some
> of the channels in the package. I believe you should
> be able to "menu select" the channels you want to
> pay for. Anyway, I also noticed how much people's
> conversations revolved around ficticious people's
> lives in television shows, and my kids felt left out
> because they were not able to follow what the other
> kids (at school, of course) were talking about. (I
> would have preferred to raise my kids without
> television but I lost out on the issue.) What
> disgusts me is the abundance of television shows
> that revolve around the gruesome murder of someone,
> usually female. These shows are sometimes fiction,
> (like CSI) but often are crime shows depicting real
> cases of brutality against (mainly) young women.
> Personally, I think it normalizes violence against
> women, but thats just my opini
> on. There are also shows glorifying the merits of
> cosmetic surgery, and the proliferation of "airhead"
> female characters who make being stupid look cool
> and desireable. Then there's the soft core porn,
> like the
> Paris-Hilton-gets-off-with-a-hamburger-during-half
> time genre, and the girls in underwear gyrating
> their crotch in the face of music artists on BET.
> Unfortunately my kids dont choose the History
> channel, they choose that crap. We now have limited
> cable, but the clamor is up for the full package.
> Commercials are largely annoying to me as well.
> There is a rare good one, but they play them over
> and over, sometimes back to back, and the volume
> automatically goes up when the commercials come on.
> Overall, I dont believe television has had a
> positive influence on our family life. When we got
> rid of it for that year, our conversations were more
> in-depth and stimulating and we had more choice of
> what to bring in to our living room by choosing
> movies to rent. With TV, unless you are e
> xtremely proactive with the remote, you get
> bombarded with a lot of crap. I am probably a
> minority opinion here, but I agree with the folks
> with the "shoot your television" bumper stickers on
> thier car. I have a close friend in England who has
> not had a TV for over four years and he feels
> getting rid of the TV is a subversive act. My advice
> is that if your kids are young enough to not miss
> it, and you dont really want or need it, dont have
> TV. You can always get it later if you feel the
> need.
> Kathryn
>
>
> -------------- Original message --------------
> From: Chris and Kelli Bailey <cdbailey_99@...>
>
> our family's experience (not very unschooly, i
> know):
>
> when dh and i had cable, we watched it too much. by
> too much, i mean it was easier to be passively
> entertained than to "do" anything. i spent weekdays
> in
> front of decorating shows and weekend mornings in
> front of gardening shows. i dreamed and schemed and
> spent way too much mental money, my head always full
> of projects i couldn't take on. dh spent evenings
> and
> weekend afternoons in front of the history channel.
>
> we became annoyed when our cable company raised
> rates
> twice in one year, so we just cut it off one day. we
> thought it would be "good for the kids" anyway,
> because frankly we didn't want them seeing all those
> awful commercials :)
>
> i didn't want an antenna on the roof (don't laugh!)
> so
> dh decided to get an attic antenna. weeks passed and
> we didn't get around to it. eventually we forgot. we
> rented movies from video stores, purchased them at
> yard sales and borrowed from the library. we played
> card games and board games after dinner and read
> aloud
> much more often. we eventually became comfortable
> with
> not having cable and stopped missing it. believe it
> or
> not, it took quite awhile (about three months) and
> now
> both of us will tell you, if asked, that we are glad
> it worked out this way. for whatever reason the tv
> distracted us from one another. whether we were
> "addicted" or watching what many consider a "normal"
> amount of tv is up to the individual; we feel that
> our
> family benefited from us tossing the tube.
>
> notice there's nothing here about how much tv the
> kids
> were watching?!! LOL
>
> it's been almost four years since we cut the cable
> service. what's really funny is that people think
> it's
> very "strange" that we don't have access to tv at
> all
> in our home. they are truly amazed that we "get
> along"
> without the tv news broadcasts and reality shows.
> they
> unashamedly gasp and say they don't think they could
> do it (much the same as when people say they don't
> see
> how i "stay home" with our three kids all day). i'm
> amazed at how many conversations everywhere we go
> are
> about these network shows and at how people become
> obsessed with the details of these tv characters'
> lives! LOL
>
> in my fantasy world, the discovery channel, history
> channel, animal planet and home and garden
> television
> are available commercial-free and free of charge!
> LOL
>
> my 2 cents...hope it helped!
> kelli
>
> --- kristina <angelhair45@...> wrote:
>
> > This is my constant turmoil. My son is 2.5. We
> > didn't really allow
> > movies/tv untill just after his second birthday. I
> > am constantly torn
> > on how much is too much. Should I limit how much
> he
> > watches. Is it
> > true that tv stunts learning and creativity? I was
> > limiting it to
> > only about 3 hours a week, but I think I created
> the
> > forbidden fruit
> > by that. Now I'm trying to not limit it, but I'm
> so
> > worried that I'm
> > letting him watch too much. Before I started
> > venturing into
> > unschooling I had thought I wanted to prevent a a
> > tv-holic at all
> > costs, but now I'm seeing that it may be a tool
> for
> > his learning. I
> > guess I need someone to dialouge with and help me
> to
> > see it at
> > different angles. My fear of screwing up my kid is
> > preventing me from
> > seeing clearly.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> Want to start your own business?____________________________________________________________________________________
> Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
> http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-index
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>
Do you Yahoo!?
Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.
http://new.mail.yahoo.com
Ren Allen
~~our kids are small yet...just 8, 5, and 2. we plan to
keep it off until they ask for it, at which time we
will re-evaluate the choice~~
I'm glad you're open to re-evaluating the choice at least. BUT, have
you considered the possibility that your kids have heard enough
negative stuff about tv that they really don't feel open communication
can happen? I know *I* would NEVER have asked my folks about
television, knowing their negative views about it. There was no point
in talking about it, when I heard all the "bad" effects all the time.
They shut down an opportunity for connecting and learning together,
without much thought. Just something to consider.
If a parent says negative things about books all the time, I wonder if
the kids are going to ask for them the same? Parents have a huge
ability to impact communication in a family, embracing opportunities
for learning or shutting them down with heavy judgement.
Would a person wait until their kids were interested in books before
introducing them? Or say "we plan to keep books out of our home until
they ask for them"?
Ouch.
I think our attitude about various forms of communication decides
whether it will be an opportunity to connect and learn or be a source
of distress.
I had to learn this the hard way, trust me. After being brainwashed my
ENTIRE life about the ill-effects of tv I was convinced we didn't need
one. It took my beautiful children (and a few kicks-in-the-ass) to
help me shift my views. I'm so grateful I've learned that MY attitude
was deciding how much we got out of this one medium.
We have learned SO much through television and it's no more or less
important than anything else in our home. My kids would rather play
games, knit, cook and do art projects than watch tv most of the
time.......because it's just another option now. One among many.
Ren
learninginfreedom.com
keep it off until they ask for it, at which time we
will re-evaluate the choice~~
I'm glad you're open to re-evaluating the choice at least. BUT, have
you considered the possibility that your kids have heard enough
negative stuff about tv that they really don't feel open communication
can happen? I know *I* would NEVER have asked my folks about
television, knowing their negative views about it. There was no point
in talking about it, when I heard all the "bad" effects all the time.
They shut down an opportunity for connecting and learning together,
without much thought. Just something to consider.
If a parent says negative things about books all the time, I wonder if
the kids are going to ask for them the same? Parents have a huge
ability to impact communication in a family, embracing opportunities
for learning or shutting them down with heavy judgement.
Would a person wait until their kids were interested in books before
introducing them? Or say "we plan to keep books out of our home until
they ask for them"?
Ouch.
I think our attitude about various forms of communication decides
whether it will be an opportunity to connect and learn or be a source
of distress.
I had to learn this the hard way, trust me. After being brainwashed my
ENTIRE life about the ill-effects of tv I was convinced we didn't need
one. It took my beautiful children (and a few kicks-in-the-ass) to
help me shift my views. I'm so grateful I've learned that MY attitude
was deciding how much we got out of this one medium.
We have learned SO much through television and it's no more or less
important than anything else in our home. My kids would rather play
games, knit, cook and do art projects than watch tv most of the
time.......because it's just another option now. One among many.
Ren
learninginfreedom.com
[email protected]
-----Original Message-----
From: angelhair45@...
Should I limit how much he watches.
-=-=-
Should you limit how much he talks? reads? plays?
=-=-=-=-=-=-
Is it true that tv stunts learning and creativity?
-=-=-=-=-
Not in my experience. It enhances here. We've all learned so much from
TV!
-=-=-=-=-
I was limiting it to only about 3 hours a week, but I think I created
the forbidden fruit
by that.
-=-=-=-
That's what happens with limits.
-=-=-=-=-
Now I'm trying to not limit it, but I'm so worried that I'm
letting him watch too much.
-=---=-
What's too much?
Do you offer all sorts of other neat stuff to do? Or are you waiting
for him to stop watching TV and ask you for something else to do?
If TV is his best option, he'll choose TV.
-=-=-=-
Before I started venturing into
unschooling I had thought I wanted to prevent a a tv-holic at all
costs, but now I'm seeing that it may be a tool for his learning.
-=-=-=--=-=-
Are you saying that, now that you've ventured into unschooling, you're
producing a TV-holic?
Limiting TV is more apt to produce that "TV-holic"---if there is such a
thing---than free access to TV. There's no *need* to watch when you can
anytime. No TV on here, but Dr. Phil's being recorded by TiVO.
Did you watch TV as a child? Do you watch all day every day? Why? Why
not?
-=-=-=-=-
I guess I need someone to dialouge with and help me to see it at
different angles. My fear of screwing up my kid is preventing me from
seeing clearly.
-=-=-=-=-=
Lose the fear. Start THINKING. Fear inhibits learning. What are you
afraid of? What do YOU think???
~Kelly
________________________________________________________________________
Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and
security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from
across the web, free AOL Mail and more.
From: angelhair45@...
Should I limit how much he watches.
-=-=-
Should you limit how much he talks? reads? plays?
=-=-=-=-=-=-
Is it true that tv stunts learning and creativity?
-=-=-=-=-
Not in my experience. It enhances here. We've all learned so much from
TV!
-=-=-=-=-
I was limiting it to only about 3 hours a week, but I think I created
the forbidden fruit
by that.
-=-=-=-
That's what happens with limits.
-=-=-=-=-
Now I'm trying to not limit it, but I'm so worried that I'm
letting him watch too much.
-=---=-
What's too much?
Do you offer all sorts of other neat stuff to do? Or are you waiting
for him to stop watching TV and ask you for something else to do?
If TV is his best option, he'll choose TV.
-=-=-=-
Before I started venturing into
unschooling I had thought I wanted to prevent a a tv-holic at all
costs, but now I'm seeing that it may be a tool for his learning.
-=-=-=--=-=-
Are you saying that, now that you've ventured into unschooling, you're
producing a TV-holic?
Limiting TV is more apt to produce that "TV-holic"---if there is such a
thing---than free access to TV. There's no *need* to watch when you can
anytime. No TV on here, but Dr. Phil's being recorded by TiVO.
Did you watch TV as a child? Do you watch all day every day? Why? Why
not?
-=-=-=-=-
I guess I need someone to dialouge with and help me to see it at
different angles. My fear of screwing up my kid is preventing me from
seeing clearly.
-=-=-=-=-=
Lose the fear. Start THINKING. Fear inhibits learning. What are you
afraid of? What do YOU think???
~Kelly
________________________________________________________________________
Check out the new AOL. Most comprehensive set of free safety and
security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from
across the web, free AOL Mail and more.
Chris and Kelli Bailey
> I'm glad you're open to re-evaluating the choice ati'm glad that you're glad :)
> least.
> BUT, havewe are not "tv bashers", nor do we limit/control their
> you considered the possibility that your kids have
> heard enough
> negative stuff about tv that they really don't feel
> open communication
> can happen?
choice/use of videos at home or broadcast tv when
watching at other places. we don't feel tv is
inherently "bad" we just choose not to pay for cable!
to my knowledge, they haven't heard negative comments
about television from us. as you probably read from my
previous post, we choose not to have television for
our OWN sanity, not because of anything having to do
with the kids! LOL
> If a parent says negative things about books all thewe strive to be pretty neutral about all forms of
> time, I wonder if
> the kids are going to ask for them the same?
media. there are no strong feelings either way
(well...this is not entirely true, as i am an avid
reader, so i'm sure my dc have "picked up" on my
passion for books, but not because i've preached it to
them). they watch videos of their choosing--although i
do strew. *grin* they love books and magazines. they
play pc games and surf the net. they listen to music
cd's and broadcast radio.
> Would a person wait until their kids were interestedhmmm. i'm not sure i understand. books and tv fall
> in books before
> introducing them? Or say "we plan to keep books out
> of our home until
> they ask for them"?
> Ouch.
into a broad category of entertainment/learning, along
with trampolines, video game systems, pools, computer
use, jump rope, bike riding, etc. we choose what to
"introduce" and bring into our home life based on
desire and interest of family members. like i said, my
children have definitely been exposed to tv programs,
and if they ever want to be able to view it at home,
we will decide then. same goes for trampolines and
video game systems. i don't see the need to stretch
myself or my finances providing these things for them
just because everyone else has them or they might be
"missing out". especially when they have shown no
interest in having them!
> We have learned SO much through television and it'sthis sounds wonderful for your family, and i'm sure
> no more or less
> important than anything else in our home.
will apply to ours when our kids wake up one day and
decide they want cable. it's just a non-issue UNTIL
they express that desire. until then, we keep in mind
that tv is a great tool for learning, but certainly
not the only way to get information and entertainment.
they have their entire lives to enjoy tv and
trampolines, whenever they decide they would like to
have them!
thanks for the response, ren. i've been really
enjoying the great advice and differing viewpoints on
this list.
:) kelli
____________________________________________________________________________________
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plaidpanties666
--- In [email protected], Chris and Kelli Bailey
<cdbailey_99@...> wrote:
either. I also have a 5yr old who isn't always terribly verbally
expressive. So I've wondered how I will/would know if she wants
cable - or in our case dish service. She might very well not ask for
it, especially if it wasn't a case of her deciding all of a sudden,
but slowly, over time. So I've been trying to watch her in
situations where cable *is* available - friends houses, mostly - and
try to get a sense of what she might want that way, and also the
degree to which she understands "cable" vs watching movies, since
we'd have to talk about the fact that to afford dish service we'd
have to dump netflix. Right now I think she's happier with netflix.
I haven't even started to factor in my stepson's interests, yet -
Yikes! But I'm pretty sure at this point he wouldn't think to ask,
for the reasons Ren suggested. More for me to ponder.
---Meredith (Mo 5, dss Ray 13)
<cdbailey_99@...> wrote:
>> this sounds wonderful for your family, and i'm sureThis is something I ponder from time to time. I don't have cable,
> will apply to ours when our kids wake up one day and
> decide they want cable. it's just a non-issue UNTIL
> they express that desire.
either. I also have a 5yr old who isn't always terribly verbally
expressive. So I've wondered how I will/would know if she wants
cable - or in our case dish service. She might very well not ask for
it, especially if it wasn't a case of her deciding all of a sudden,
but slowly, over time. So I've been trying to watch her in
situations where cable *is* available - friends houses, mostly - and
try to get a sense of what she might want that way, and also the
degree to which she understands "cable" vs watching movies, since
we'd have to talk about the fact that to afford dish service we'd
have to dump netflix. Right now I think she's happier with netflix.
I haven't even started to factor in my stepson's interests, yet -
Yikes! But I'm pretty sure at this point he wouldn't think to ask,
for the reasons Ren suggested. More for me to ponder.
---Meredith (Mo 5, dss Ray 13)