How do I avoid my kids just wanting to watch tv?
grandchawhe4
My kiddos (6 and 4) are very new to unschooling. I've been homeschooling them for the last year without much success. We've just started unschooling over the last week and all my oldest wants to do is watch tv. I put limits on the amount of time, but it gets frustrating when he asks to watch another show. I used to have 'school time' that took up most of our day, now that's gone and I'm at a loss.
Any ideas?
Danielle
Any ideas?
Danielle
BRIAN POLIKOWSKY
"My kiddos (6 and 4) are very new to unschooling. I've been
homeschooling them for the last year without much success. We've just
started unschooling over the last week and all my oldest wants to do is
watch tv. I put limits on the amount of time, but it gets frustrating
when he asks to watch another show. I used to have 'school time' that
took up most of our day, now that's gone and I'm at a loss.
Any ideas?"
Read here:
http://sandradodd.com/tv
Alex Polikowsky
http://polykow.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingmn/
________________________________
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
homeschooling them for the last year without much success. We've just
started unschooling over the last week and all my oldest wants to do is
watch tv. I put limits on the amount of time, but it gets frustrating
when he asks to watch another show. I used to have 'school time' that
took up most of our day, now that's gone and I'm at a loss.
Any ideas?"
Read here:
http://sandradodd.com/tv
Alex Polikowsky
http://polykow.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingmn/
________________________________
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
otherstar
>>>My kiddos (6 and 4) are very new to unschooling. I've been homeschooling them for the last year without much success. We've just started unschooling over the last week and all my oldest wants to do is watch tv. I put limits on the amount of time, but it gets frustrating when he asks to watch another show. I used to have 'school time' that took up most of our day, now that's gone and I'm at a loss.<<<One week is not enough time to make a difference. : -) I can say with complete confidence that you can let them watch TV as much as they want. They will self-regulate once watching TV gets old and boring. My older girls 8, 5, & almost 3 requested a TV Free day. Last night, my 5 year old asked if we could start having TV free Tuesdays. I said sure and didn't think anything about it. When we got up this morning, my almost 3 year old ask me to turn off the TV and turn the radio on instead. Normally, we have the TV on pretty much 24/7. They turn it off or go in other rooms and play. The TV isn't a big deal to them. Kids need time to adjust when you start removing limits.
Connie
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
plaidpanties666
--- In [email protected], "grandchawhe4" <grandchawhe4@...> wrote:
Okay, brace yourself - let them watch as much as they want. You don't have to tell them you're doing that, just say yes when they ask for tv, and when they ask for "one more" - keep saying yes. Have other things available, fun things, but expect them to watch a lot of tv for awhile. Its natural for people to want thing that have been limited! Its part of what makes something a treat or luxury item - its a limited commodity.
That wasn't what you wanted to hear, was it? Once kids stop thinking of tv as a luxury item, then other fun things will be more appealing, they'll be able to choose to do something else.
In the mean time, it can help to plan some outings that start early in the day to give you all a bit of a break. It also helps a whole lot for you to learn a little tv etiquette - don't ask kids to change gears in the middle of a show, wait for the end. Also, it can help to make conversation during a commercial, rather than in the middle of a show. That kind of etiquette will save fighting! No-one likes to be interrupted in the middle of something.
---Meredith (Mo 8, Ray 16)
>*************************
> My kiddos (6 and 4) are very new to unschooling. I've been homeschooling them for the last year without much success. We've just started unschooling over the last week and all my oldest wants to do is watch tv. I put limits on the amount of time, but it gets frustrating when he asks to watch another show. I used to have 'school time' that took up most of our day, now that's gone and I'm at a loss.
Okay, brace yourself - let them watch as much as they want. You don't have to tell them you're doing that, just say yes when they ask for tv, and when they ask for "one more" - keep saying yes. Have other things available, fun things, but expect them to watch a lot of tv for awhile. Its natural for people to want thing that have been limited! Its part of what makes something a treat or luxury item - its a limited commodity.
That wasn't what you wanted to hear, was it? Once kids stop thinking of tv as a luxury item, then other fun things will be more appealing, they'll be able to choose to do something else.
In the mean time, it can help to plan some outings that start early in the day to give you all a bit of a break. It also helps a whole lot for you to learn a little tv etiquette - don't ask kids to change gears in the middle of a show, wait for the end. Also, it can help to make conversation during a commercial, rather than in the middle of a show. That kind of etiquette will save fighting! No-one likes to be interrupted in the middle of something.
---Meredith (Mo 8, Ray 16)
Debra Rossing
Watch -with- them or go do something else for your own self - that
knitting project or that novel or the yoga DVD that's been gathering
dust...sitting there stewing over them not doing educational looking
stuff isn't going to be helpful. Given their ages, they probably need
your assistance to find when programs they want to see are on. Go
-looking- for them and help them access those programs. Go to the
library and see if there are related books (Arthur and other cartoons
have a series of books as well). Are there foods you can prepare that
are similar to what Little Bear is eating? And so on.
To put it in a slightly different perspective: if your kids were sitting
around all day reading or writing poetry, would you have the same
problem? Think about why. TV is considered 'bad' and 'a waste of time'
while reading is 'good' and 'educational'. But these days, TV can take
you more places, more clearly than books in many cases and
*particularly* for those whose learning style leans toward visual and
auditory - they NEED to see color and movement and hear the sounds, the
printed page isn't their primary means of absorbing information.
Also, what -else- are they doing? I know very few young ones who are
sitting totally still watching TV for hours at a time. There's often
other forms of play happening in parallel to what is on - whether
they're acting out the characters and scenes or whether they're
drawing/coloring or building with Legos or whatever, odds are there is
other stuff going on that is getting lost in the fear of TV.
--Deb R
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knitting project or that novel or the yoga DVD that's been gathering
dust...sitting there stewing over them not doing educational looking
stuff isn't going to be helpful. Given their ages, they probably need
your assistance to find when programs they want to see are on. Go
-looking- for them and help them access those programs. Go to the
library and see if there are related books (Arthur and other cartoons
have a series of books as well). Are there foods you can prepare that
are similar to what Little Bear is eating? And so on.
To put it in a slightly different perspective: if your kids were sitting
around all day reading or writing poetry, would you have the same
problem? Think about why. TV is considered 'bad' and 'a waste of time'
while reading is 'good' and 'educational'. But these days, TV can take
you more places, more clearly than books in many cases and
*particularly* for those whose learning style leans toward visual and
auditory - they NEED to see color and movement and hear the sounds, the
printed page isn't their primary means of absorbing information.
Also, what -else- are they doing? I know very few young ones who are
sitting totally still watching TV for hours at a time. There's often
other forms of play happening in parallel to what is on - whether
they're acting out the characters and scenes or whether they're
drawing/coloring or building with Legos or whatever, odds are there is
other stuff going on that is getting lost in the fear of TV.
--Deb R
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This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and
intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they
are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify
the system manager.
This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by
MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses.
www.mastercam.com
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plaidpanties666
--- In [email protected], "Debra Rossing" <debra.rossing@...> wrote:
But that's something else to look at, too - Are there other things to do in the same room? If your house is pretty tidy, and the tv is separate from "play areas" that will get in the way of kids playing while the tv is on.
---Meredith (Mo 8, Ray 16)
>> Also, what -else- are they doing? I know very few young ones who areIf they're used to tv being limited they might just watch, especially at first. Morgan is amazing at multi-tasking while watching tv, but when she's watching something new she usually focuses pretty intently. When kids aren't used to having lots of tv access, then a whole lot of things are new - and if they're not sure how long all this wonderful tv access is going to last they may be trying to soak up every last moment.
> sitting totally still watching TV for hours at a time.
But that's something else to look at, too - Are there other things to do in the same room? If your house is pretty tidy, and the tv is separate from "play areas" that will get in the way of kids playing while the tv is on.
---Meredith (Mo 8, Ray 16)