[Unschooling-dotcom] TV
Nanci Kuykendall
>A book is portable. The other day, I was watching myYou know it also occurred to me that a book is a
>kids at a park and reading on a bench. Another mom
>came up with her kids, I set my book down and talked
>with her. If I'm parked in my living room in front
>of my TV, I don't have the opportunity for social
>interaction that I do when I'm out with a book.
conversation started too. How many of you have been
approached by strangers who have read the book you are
readin, or want to read it, or like the author? I
know I have.
By the way, for everyone who was concerned about my
health. A little investigation determined that I have
some kind of infection in my throat (white spots) but
not in the proper pattern to be strep. I am taking
something for it, and hopefully will have it cleared
up soon. I just began taking it this morning, after a
pretty rough night. Still in a fair amount of pain,
but hoping that will be over soon.
Nanci K.
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In a message dated 01/10/2002 3:00:19 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:
particularly looking at Malcolm in the Middle. First, the parents are
probably the most romantic couple I've ever seen on tv. They so clearly adore
each other. I found the episode where they explained how they all "got that
way" amazing. And I have to admit they give those kids a LOT of latitude.
Because I think Reece might be truly evil. ;)
Kathryn
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected] writes:
> My family likes the Simpsons, too. I don't know how I forgot to include it!I've become intrigued by some of the "dysfunctional" family tv shows,
> (I like it, but it's not on at a good time for me to watch it, so I usually
> don't--my 8 y/o daughter sets her clock by it.) We also like _King of the
> Hill_ and one of our big favorites: _Malcolm in the Middle_. All of them
> "dysfunctional family" kinds of shows. By examining what is "off" I think
> we can come to a better understanding of what is desireable in our lives and
> why....and we laugh, of course! _Spongebob Squarepants_ is funny, too, but
> also not on at a good time for me to watch.
>
>
particularly looking at Malcolm in the Middle. First, the parents are
probably the most romantic couple I've ever seen on tv. They so clearly adore
each other. I found the episode where they explained how they all "got that
way" amazing. And I have to admit they give those kids a LOT of latitude.
Because I think Reece might be truly evil. ;)
Kathryn
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Mary Hickman
Sandra,
You mentioned your kids watch less TV as they got older. When your kids were
5 years old and if they wanted to sit and watch all the shows on TV back to
back without ever getting up day in and day out, would you let them? Would
you spend your entire day in their world in front of the toob because they
were "learning" something and you wanted to be available to chat about the
shows? My guy picks a movie over visiting with friends, a bike ride, most
any other activity. He is passionate about it. I get unnerved, in a bad mood
and plain grumpy when he has his TV or die mood. By establishing clear
limits with him, allowing him to schedule when he will watch TV and what has
reduced our friction over this issue. He gets to watch and I know when it
will be and can plan my activities. If I'm interested in his choice, I'll
watch along. If it is Barney sings again, I'll do something else.
I do agree watching with the children is a great connecting experience. We
do this. We all get movies from the library and watch together. There are
lots of neat things out their on video. Disney Saturday morning does not
thrill me, though. Should I fake it? Should I sit and watch instead of make
some yummy food from scratch? I loss interest when I'm watching Clifford
again for the 100th time.
I find all things can be learning experiences, yet some things can become
dangerous/unsafe. Blocks are great fun, but thrown at a sibling can not
happen because it may hurt someone. This internet is fantastic, yet easy to
spend too much time on. I look at my son's glazed over expression and
wonder, is this TV media unsafe for him. He looks kind of ill, totally zoned
out, not really "there". Looks like a stoned teenager. You can not stand in
the way of the TV or he freaks out. His baby sister can not turn it off
without an explosion from him. This state of his is extreme. My 2 girls can
sit and watch no problem. You can ask them a question and they respond. You
can get them to go to the park before the movie finishes. They may or may
not finish the movie. Oh, I do trust he will be O.K., he is still so young,
simple clear limits seem to work for us now.
Mary
Sorry this got so long, I guess I am passionate about the TV too, in that I
do not care for it.
_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
You mentioned your kids watch less TV as they got older. When your kids were
5 years old and if they wanted to sit and watch all the shows on TV back to
back without ever getting up day in and day out, would you let them? Would
you spend your entire day in their world in front of the toob because they
were "learning" something and you wanted to be available to chat about the
shows? My guy picks a movie over visiting with friends, a bike ride, most
any other activity. He is passionate about it. I get unnerved, in a bad mood
and plain grumpy when he has his TV or die mood. By establishing clear
limits with him, allowing him to schedule when he will watch TV and what has
reduced our friction over this issue. He gets to watch and I know when it
will be and can plan my activities. If I'm interested in his choice, I'll
watch along. If it is Barney sings again, I'll do something else.
I do agree watching with the children is a great connecting experience. We
do this. We all get movies from the library and watch together. There are
lots of neat things out their on video. Disney Saturday morning does not
thrill me, though. Should I fake it? Should I sit and watch instead of make
some yummy food from scratch? I loss interest when I'm watching Clifford
again for the 100th time.
I find all things can be learning experiences, yet some things can become
dangerous/unsafe. Blocks are great fun, but thrown at a sibling can not
happen because it may hurt someone. This internet is fantastic, yet easy to
spend too much time on. I look at my son's glazed over expression and
wonder, is this TV media unsafe for him. He looks kind of ill, totally zoned
out, not really "there". Looks like a stoned teenager. You can not stand in
the way of the TV or he freaks out. His baby sister can not turn it off
without an explosion from him. This state of his is extreme. My 2 girls can
sit and watch no problem. You can ask them a question and they respond. You
can get them to go to the park before the movie finishes. They may or may
not finish the movie. Oh, I do trust he will be O.K., he is still so young,
simple clear limits seem to work for us now.
Mary
Sorry this got so long, I guess I am passionate about the TV too, in that I
do not care for it.
_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
[email protected]
In a message dated 4/12/02 11:15:10 AM Mountain Daylight Time,
mfhick@... writes:
The only time I can see that happening would be in a family in which TV had
been limited, and it had just been opened up. The kids might binge for a
week or two, especially if from experience they figured the mom didn't REALLY
mean it was freely available from now on, but that the offer would be
withdrawn.
Since the TV was just one of many things, since they were born, it wasn't
special or magic or the focus of their lives.
When Kirby was five he got a Nintendo. He would play Mario for hours at a
time, sometimes. I could see by his eyes that he was thinking up a storm.
We got him the player's guide, and subscribed to Nintendo Power, before he
could read. He learned to follow maps from that, and he learned deductive
reasoning, because on the bonus screen on that first Mario game, there are
only eight different arrays, and they were shown in the player's guide. I
would help him, at first, to make a good choice, eliminating some of the
arrangements with each guess. They only allow two mistakes, or you don't get
the bonus. Soon he could do it on his own, ALWAYS getting the bonus, and so
getting to more difficult levels of the game. And he taught the neighbors
deduction and the process of elimination with that chart.
By keeping his issues all in order and ordering the index, when he was eight
and had learned to read from those Nintendo resources, he learned to use an
index to look things up. A couple of times, he gave a friend a Nintendo game
for a gift, and he would make a little folder with photocopies of all the
articles about that game which had appeared in Nintendo Power, and the
"cheats" which appeared after the game came out, because the index allowed
him to find all those references.
The index was set up Issue#:page (like 35:14). Knowing that, he will
immediately understand how a Bible concordance works, and how references in
Shakespeare work.
So that was one trail his unlimited TV use followed.
We recorded Sesame Street a lot when he was young, and would move the best
parts to a "Best of" tape. We still have that tape, and it's six hours of
some of the best Sesame Street bits--art, animation, songs, guests. Holly
was watching it just a month ago; it's ten years old.
Marty loved the movie Dumbo. He watched it every single day for weeks. I
didn't have to stay with him after he had it memorized. And while he watched
sometimes he just sat (he's our introvert) and sometimes he played with toys,
or drew.
Our TV then was in the room next to the kitchen. We put a table in there so
the kids could eat in front of the TV (the house was tiny), and so I'd do
food prep, or my own writing or whatever, at that table so I'd be where the
kids were.
<<Would
you spend your entire day in their world in front of the toob because they
were "learning" something and you wanted to be available to chat about the
shows? >>
By putting "learning" in quotation marks, do you mean to say you doubt that
they were learning? By spelling it "toob" do you really intend for your
bias to be obvious? Some people write without a careful awareness of the
unintentional messages, but some are clear on what they're communicating, and
if that is true of you, then the question as worded above has a strong
sarcasm to it.
<<My guy picks a movie over visiting with friends, a bike ride, most
any other activity. He is passionate about it. I get unnerved, in a bad mood
and plain grumpy when he has his TV or die mood. >>
Maybe he doesn't like his friends much, and is tired of riding his bike in
the same old places. Maybe he wants to think about the world, and how people
interact, and how language can be art, and how cinematography and a good
soundtrack can be transporting.
If you're in a bad mood because YOU don't like what he's doing, that might be
a matter for your self introspection. If he is passionate about it and you
prevent his access, will you kill his passion? And while you're at it, is
there not a danger that his respect and hope will erode? My faith in my own
mother's good judgment eroded quickly as I saw her make selfish and arbitrary
decisions without regard for my own interests and desires and abilities.
<<By establishing clear
limits with him, allowing him to schedule when he will watch TV and what has
reduced our friction over this issue.>>
Sounds like the friction is on your end, and he's having to give up a passion.
<<If I'm interested in his choice, I'll
watch along. If it is Barney sings again, I'll do something else.>>
You can do something else and still sing along. I learned every Barney song
there was to learn. (By the time Pokemon came along, I didn't get involved
in that, because I still had a younger kid and I let the two Pokemon-boys
support each other in that interest.) I could have told them Barney was
stupid, and they were wasting their time, and to turn the damned thing off,
but my goal was their learning in happiness, so my priority and belief
prevented insulting their interests.
<<Disney Saturday morning does not
thrill me, though. Should I fake it? Should I sit and watch instead of make
some yummy food from scratch? I loss interest when I'm watching Clifford
again for the 100th time.>>
Do you have to TELL them it doesn't thrill you?
Can't you make yummy food and bring them some where they're watching Clifford?
People who will read the same book five times and listen to the same music
two hundred times sometimes say they will not watch a movie twice. It stuns
me that they're thinking in such a shallow way. There is SO much more to see
or to miss seeing in a movie than on a Beatles album or a Kurt Vonnegut book.
No professor will teach a book he hasn't read repeatedly and also read
background and commentary on. A child doesn't really KNOW a movie, or a
fairy tale, or a song, until after many hearings/viewings/singings.
<<I look at my son's glazed over expression and
wonder, is this TV media unsafe for him. He looks kind of ill, totally zoned
out, not really "there". Looks like a stoned teenager. >>
Sounds like you're jealous because he is Totally involved in something you're
not in on.
<<You can not stand in
the way of the TV or he freaks out. His baby sister can not turn it off
without an explosion from him. >>
If you came and tore the page out of a book or magazine I was reading, I'd be
pretty grumpy. Or if you even closed the book, or turned the page.
If I were watching a movie that I couldn't rewind and someone insisted on
making me pay attention to them instead, I would think the person was
extremely rude. I don't do that to people. I'd wait for a commercial if my
husband were watching West Wing and I wanted to ask him a question. If he's
reading a novel, I ask him if I can talk to him in a bit. He finishes the
paragraph or chapter, and comes and pays attention to me. My kids are given
and have learned to give the same courtesies to people inside the family and
out. "When you get a chance..." is way better than "TURN IT OFF NOW!" One
builds respect and love, and the other erodes it.
There was a sweet program on when I was little, on PBS, called The Friendly
Giant. Thanks to the internet, I looked it up one day, to show Holly
pictures, I hoped. I learned that the host (a musician and puppeteer) had
recently died. He was Canadian, and it was a CBC show. Reading about his
life and his beliefs about learning was wonderful. My mom used to come in
and say "Turn that boring show off." She had never even watched it. That
show was more comforting to me and more loving than my own mother when that
was happening.
If your son isn't like your daughters, the best answer might not be to shame
him about it and try to change him.
I hear Seven Spielberg and Robin Williams both watched a lot of TV when they
were little. Paul Rubens and Al Yankovic did too. I'm glad their moms
didn't tell them to turn it off, because their work has enriched my life and
my kids' lives.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
mfhick@... writes:
> . When your kids wereI would have, but that never happened.
> 5 years old and if they wanted to sit and watch all the shows on TV back to
>
The only time I can see that happening would be in a family in which TV had
been limited, and it had just been opened up. The kids might binge for a
week or two, especially if from experience they figured the mom didn't REALLY
mean it was freely available from now on, but that the offer would be
withdrawn.
Since the TV was just one of many things, since they were born, it wasn't
special or magic or the focus of their lives.
When Kirby was five he got a Nintendo. He would play Mario for hours at a
time, sometimes. I could see by his eyes that he was thinking up a storm.
We got him the player's guide, and subscribed to Nintendo Power, before he
could read. He learned to follow maps from that, and he learned deductive
reasoning, because on the bonus screen on that first Mario game, there are
only eight different arrays, and they were shown in the player's guide. I
would help him, at first, to make a good choice, eliminating some of the
arrangements with each guess. They only allow two mistakes, or you don't get
the bonus. Soon he could do it on his own, ALWAYS getting the bonus, and so
getting to more difficult levels of the game. And he taught the neighbors
deduction and the process of elimination with that chart.
By keeping his issues all in order and ordering the index, when he was eight
and had learned to read from those Nintendo resources, he learned to use an
index to look things up. A couple of times, he gave a friend a Nintendo game
for a gift, and he would make a little folder with photocopies of all the
articles about that game which had appeared in Nintendo Power, and the
"cheats" which appeared after the game came out, because the index allowed
him to find all those references.
The index was set up Issue#:page (like 35:14). Knowing that, he will
immediately understand how a Bible concordance works, and how references in
Shakespeare work.
So that was one trail his unlimited TV use followed.
We recorded Sesame Street a lot when he was young, and would move the best
parts to a "Best of" tape. We still have that tape, and it's six hours of
some of the best Sesame Street bits--art, animation, songs, guests. Holly
was watching it just a month ago; it's ten years old.
Marty loved the movie Dumbo. He watched it every single day for weeks. I
didn't have to stay with him after he had it memorized. And while he watched
sometimes he just sat (he's our introvert) and sometimes he played with toys,
or drew.
Our TV then was in the room next to the kitchen. We put a table in there so
the kids could eat in front of the TV (the house was tiny), and so I'd do
food prep, or my own writing or whatever, at that table so I'd be where the
kids were.
<<Would
you spend your entire day in their world in front of the toob because they
were "learning" something and you wanted to be available to chat about the
shows? >>
By putting "learning" in quotation marks, do you mean to say you doubt that
they were learning? By spelling it "toob" do you really intend for your
bias to be obvious? Some people write without a careful awareness of the
unintentional messages, but some are clear on what they're communicating, and
if that is true of you, then the question as worded above has a strong
sarcasm to it.
<<My guy picks a movie over visiting with friends, a bike ride, most
any other activity. He is passionate about it. I get unnerved, in a bad mood
and plain grumpy when he has his TV or die mood. >>
Maybe he doesn't like his friends much, and is tired of riding his bike in
the same old places. Maybe he wants to think about the world, and how people
interact, and how language can be art, and how cinematography and a good
soundtrack can be transporting.
If you're in a bad mood because YOU don't like what he's doing, that might be
a matter for your self introspection. If he is passionate about it and you
prevent his access, will you kill his passion? And while you're at it, is
there not a danger that his respect and hope will erode? My faith in my own
mother's good judgment eroded quickly as I saw her make selfish and arbitrary
decisions without regard for my own interests and desires and abilities.
<<By establishing clear
limits with him, allowing him to schedule when he will watch TV and what has
reduced our friction over this issue.>>
Sounds like the friction is on your end, and he's having to give up a passion.
<<If I'm interested in his choice, I'll
watch along. If it is Barney sings again, I'll do something else.>>
You can do something else and still sing along. I learned every Barney song
there was to learn. (By the time Pokemon came along, I didn't get involved
in that, because I still had a younger kid and I let the two Pokemon-boys
support each other in that interest.) I could have told them Barney was
stupid, and they were wasting their time, and to turn the damned thing off,
but my goal was their learning in happiness, so my priority and belief
prevented insulting their interests.
<<Disney Saturday morning does not
thrill me, though. Should I fake it? Should I sit and watch instead of make
some yummy food from scratch? I loss interest when I'm watching Clifford
again for the 100th time.>>
Do you have to TELL them it doesn't thrill you?
Can't you make yummy food and bring them some where they're watching Clifford?
People who will read the same book five times and listen to the same music
two hundred times sometimes say they will not watch a movie twice. It stuns
me that they're thinking in such a shallow way. There is SO much more to see
or to miss seeing in a movie than on a Beatles album or a Kurt Vonnegut book.
No professor will teach a book he hasn't read repeatedly and also read
background and commentary on. A child doesn't really KNOW a movie, or a
fairy tale, or a song, until after many hearings/viewings/singings.
<<I look at my son's glazed over expression and
wonder, is this TV media unsafe for him. He looks kind of ill, totally zoned
out, not really "there". Looks like a stoned teenager. >>
Sounds like you're jealous because he is Totally involved in something you're
not in on.
<<You can not stand in
the way of the TV or he freaks out. His baby sister can not turn it off
without an explosion from him. >>
If you came and tore the page out of a book or magazine I was reading, I'd be
pretty grumpy. Or if you even closed the book, or turned the page.
If I were watching a movie that I couldn't rewind and someone insisted on
making me pay attention to them instead, I would think the person was
extremely rude. I don't do that to people. I'd wait for a commercial if my
husband were watching West Wing and I wanted to ask him a question. If he's
reading a novel, I ask him if I can talk to him in a bit. He finishes the
paragraph or chapter, and comes and pays attention to me. My kids are given
and have learned to give the same courtesies to people inside the family and
out. "When you get a chance..." is way better than "TURN IT OFF NOW!" One
builds respect and love, and the other erodes it.
There was a sweet program on when I was little, on PBS, called The Friendly
Giant. Thanks to the internet, I looked it up one day, to show Holly
pictures, I hoped. I learned that the host (a musician and puppeteer) had
recently died. He was Canadian, and it was a CBC show. Reading about his
life and his beliefs about learning was wonderful. My mom used to come in
and say "Turn that boring show off." She had never even watched it. That
show was more comforting to me and more loving than my own mother when that
was happening.
If your son isn't like your daughters, the best answer might not be to shame
him about it and try to change him.
I hear Seven Spielberg and Robin Williams both watched a lot of TV when they
were little. Paul Rubens and Al Yankovic did too. I'm glad their moms
didn't tell them to turn it off, because their work has enriched my life and
my kids' lives.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Yol, Vishnu & Shanti
We don't have TV either, although we used to, and nobody misses it. We started getting so busy with other things, that we didn't even think about watching TV. That's why when we moved to NC we decided not to have it hooked up. We have a VCR and my daughter can watch movies any time she wants, too. When we travel she gets to watch TV shows at the hotel, and this just seems to be part of the "special" things we do when we travel. Unless, of course, there's something more interesting than TV...
Plus, she can rent any of those shows any time at the video store anyway, so we can save the commercials.
I am not anti-TV or anything like that, but it's pretty sad to see what TV has become. It's like "instant mental pollution" interrupting your show (if you happen to find a good one) every 5 minutes! I have better things to do with my life, and so does my dear daughter.
My two cents...
Yol
Hi all,
Plus, she can rent any of those shows any time at the video store anyway, so we can save the commercials.
I am not anti-TV or anything like that, but it's pretty sad to see what TV has become. It's like "instant mental pollution" interrupting your show (if you happen to find a good one) every 5 minutes! I have better things to do with my life, and so does my dear daughter.
My two cents...
Yol
Hi all,
>
> I had to throw in my two cents regarding the issue of limiting TV and video
> games. Our kids have a lot of access to Game Boy and Nintendo, but we do not
> have TV at all. When we first moved to Georgia, we had TV, cable and all.
> We found that there was so much garbage on cable that it wasn't worth
> keeping, so we got rid of it. Then about a month later our antennae broke,
> and we ended up with no channels. No one seemed to miss it, so we just never
> replaced the antennae. We have a VCR and a DVD player and the kids can watch
> movies whenever they want. We have a real issue with all the negative and
> blatantly sexually explicit media images out there - it's scary that they
> even use sex to sell children's products (I saw a very suggestive commercial
> for "Fruit by the Foot"). We feel that those subtle innuendoes are
> unnecessary and damaging. At our friends' houses, the kids can take TV or
> leave it. They aren't really "into" the latest trends, bands, fashions,
> etc., and we like it that way! Pokemon was the big thing when our TV died,
> so they sort of stalled there :)
>
> Anyway, I guess I just wanted to say that removing TV is not always a bad
> thing. I do agree that by restricting or denying access to something you are
> inviting an obsession, but it just doesn't seem to have happened in our case.
> Maybe it's because the stuff they enjoyed watching on TV (nature
> documentaries, for the most part, and Pokemon) are all available on video, so
> they don't feel like they are missing anything.
>
> Steph
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
[email protected]
On Mon, 09 Dec 2002 12:06:01 -0500 "Yol, Vishnu & Shanti"
<bluelotus@...> writes:
we're not used to it yet, most of Rain's activities are over for a while,
and we've turned the couch-futon into a bed pretty much permanently
because that's the only room with heat, so we do everything there. Last
night it was Futurama, Simpsons, 2 King of the Hills, Law and Order, and
The Practice. We're getting into these lawyer/investigator shows lately,
too... oh, and a movie about the 14th (I think) Dalai Lama, that was
first... Rain found it and started watching before I got there, so I
missed that first part, but it reminded her of The Cup so she was into
it.
I've been working on not feeling guilty about watching TV, and about Rain
watching TV. It's still hard, I'm still surrounded by people who see it
as a stupid or bad or inferior thing, something that will mess up barins
waves, a waste of time... I watched TV as a kid, we've collected videos
of some of my favorite shows (Aquaman, Land of the Lost) and it seemed
that there wasn't this kind of stigma to it back then. Now, admitting
that yup, we spent 6 hours yesterday watching TV feels like I should
apologize for it. But it was fun, we talked about stuff, we both read
during a lot of it (although I don't know why reading The Archies should
be more acceptable than watching Law and Order), and knitted...
Just thinking,
Dar
<bluelotus@...> writes:
> I am not anti-TV or anything like that, but it's pretty sad to seeWe've been watching tons of TV lately... the weather has gotten cold and
> what TV has become. It's like "instant mental pollution"
> interrupting your show (if you happen to find a good one) every 5
> minutes! I have better things to do with my life, and so does my
> dear daughter.
>
we're not used to it yet, most of Rain's activities are over for a while,
and we've turned the couch-futon into a bed pretty much permanently
because that's the only room with heat, so we do everything there. Last
night it was Futurama, Simpsons, 2 King of the Hills, Law and Order, and
The Practice. We're getting into these lawyer/investigator shows lately,
too... oh, and a movie about the 14th (I think) Dalai Lama, that was
first... Rain found it and started watching before I got there, so I
missed that first part, but it reminded her of The Cup so she was into
it.
I've been working on not feeling guilty about watching TV, and about Rain
watching TV. It's still hard, I'm still surrounded by people who see it
as a stupid or bad or inferior thing, something that will mess up barins
waves, a waste of time... I watched TV as a kid, we've collected videos
of some of my favorite shows (Aquaman, Land of the Lost) and it seemed
that there wasn't this kind of stigma to it back then. Now, admitting
that yup, we spent 6 hours yesterday watching TV feels like I should
apologize for it. But it was fun, we talked about stuff, we both read
during a lot of it (although I don't know why reading The Archies should
be more acceptable than watching Law and Order), and knitted...
Just thinking,
Dar
Deborah Lewis
***I've been working on not feeling guilty about watching TV, ***
I love TV.
I love that my son can see the way a cheetah moves when running at full
speed. I love that he can see an elephant giving birth and fruit bats
flying at dusk.
I love that he can watch flawed people doing foolish things and still see
a reason to love them. (Will and Grace, Bernie Mac, The Simpsons)
I love that he can see glimpses of other lives and other jobs and other
ideas and other cultures.
He can watch a young Elvis dance and sing, he can see the Beatles
"live", he can see Richard Nixon say "I am not a criminal.." He can be
at Woodstock.
He can sit in Deer Lodge, Montana and watch volcanos erupt.
What's not to love about TV?
We have two, never limit, never restrict and my son still plays outside
and goes to Karate and Judo and Tae kwon do and swimming and still plays
with friends and paints pictures and reads.
Don't feel guilty Dar, stay warm and enjoy.
Deb L
I love TV.
I love that my son can see the way a cheetah moves when running at full
speed. I love that he can see an elephant giving birth and fruit bats
flying at dusk.
I love that he can watch flawed people doing foolish things and still see
a reason to love them. (Will and Grace, Bernie Mac, The Simpsons)
I love that he can see glimpses of other lives and other jobs and other
ideas and other cultures.
He can watch a young Elvis dance and sing, he can see the Beatles
"live", he can see Richard Nixon say "I am not a criminal.." He can be
at Woodstock.
He can sit in Deer Lodge, Montana and watch volcanos erupt.
What's not to love about TV?
We have two, never limit, never restrict and my son still plays outside
and goes to Karate and Judo and Tae kwon do and swimming and still plays
with friends and paints pictures and reads.
Don't feel guilty Dar, stay warm and enjoy.
Deb L
[email protected]
[email protected]
opps sorry, I understand the no limit my concern is obesity runs in my
husbands family. My son is not very active anyway and I worry that the TV
will consume him as it does my husband. How do you get the healthy balance
to avoid the obesity problems. We don't limit food, I do encourage healthy
snacks, I don't make him go outside, (which he hasn't really been in weeks,
even in summer he isn't much of an outside person, I guess I just want him to
be healthy.
Heidi
husbands family. My son is not very active anyway and I worry that the TV
will consume him as it does my husband. How do you get the healthy balance
to avoid the obesity problems. We don't limit food, I do encourage healthy
snacks, I don't make him go outside, (which he hasn't really been in weeks,
even in summer he isn't much of an outside person, I guess I just want him to
be healthy.
Heidi
[email protected]
I just finished watching (unexpectedly, but it was fine) the Billboard Music
awards. Marty's a big fan of Nickelback, and Holly wanted to see the Michael
Jackson part. The finale was pretty wonderful. The "audience" at our house
was me, Keith, Marty and Holly. It lasted a little over two hours.
During that time Keith made and brought us a choice of rice/salmon in a bowl
or some homemade macaroni and cheese. I took the brace off my leg for a
breather and lotion and massage. We had the fire built up, and we discussed
this and that and the other as the show progressed.
Kirby came home with a few other friends (one drove him home after work,
another carload had gotten here before them) and they're upstairs playing
Deadwood. Marty's up there too now.
Keith's gone to watch the end of football in the back. Holly's in the
shower. I came to see what you guys were doing!
Sandra
awards. Marty's a big fan of Nickelback, and Holly wanted to see the Michael
Jackson part. The finale was pretty wonderful. The "audience" at our house
was me, Keith, Marty and Holly. It lasted a little over two hours.
During that time Keith made and brought us a choice of rice/salmon in a bowl
or some homemade macaroni and cheese. I took the brace off my leg for a
breather and lotion and massage. We had the fire built up, and we discussed
this and that and the other as the show progressed.
Kirby came home with a few other friends (one drove him home after work,
another carload had gotten here before them) and they're upstairs playing
Deadwood. Marty's up there too now.
Keith's gone to watch the end of football in the back. Holly's in the
shower. I came to see what you guys were doing!
Sandra
Kelli Traaseth
Heidi,
I had these same concerns, I would have lived without TV, a couple of years ago.
My son has actually lost weight in the last 6 months, since we've started this whole unschooling adventure, I think for us its the whole limit/obsession thing. We also lifted limits on the foods-hence he doesn't over eat.
There is something to say for vegging out, or escaping, such as, reading or watching TV, what-ever. I know as a kid I did those things when I was troubled, but I would also figure things out at the same time. So I guess I wouldn't call it vegging out.
I guess for me I can't even begin to know when my kids need that time, hopefully they will come and talk to me, but I know they won't always want to.
Even tho' I was raised in quite a controlling environment, I am very thankful that when I was home I was allowed to do pretty much what I wanted when I wanted.
I have to remember that right now, I have been pretty much pulling my hair out about my Mom lately.
Take Care,
Kelli
hmsclmyboy@... wrote:opps sorry, I understand the no limit my concern is obesity runs in my
husbands family. My son is not very active anyway and I worry that the TV
will consume him as it does my husband. How do you get the healthy balance
to avoid the obesity problems. We don't limit food, I do encourage healthy
snacks, I don't make him go outside, (which he hasn't really been in weeks,
even in summer he isn't much of an outside person, I guess I just want him to
be healthy.
Heidi
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I had these same concerns, I would have lived without TV, a couple of years ago.
My son has actually lost weight in the last 6 months, since we've started this whole unschooling adventure, I think for us its the whole limit/obsession thing. We also lifted limits on the foods-hence he doesn't over eat.
There is something to say for vegging out, or escaping, such as, reading or watching TV, what-ever. I know as a kid I did those things when I was troubled, but I would also figure things out at the same time. So I guess I wouldn't call it vegging out.
I guess for me I can't even begin to know when my kids need that time, hopefully they will come and talk to me, but I know they won't always want to.
Even tho' I was raised in quite a controlling environment, I am very thankful that when I was home I was allowed to do pretty much what I wanted when I wanted.
I have to remember that right now, I have been pretty much pulling my hair out about my Mom lately.
Take Care,
Kelli
hmsclmyboy@... wrote:opps sorry, I understand the no limit my concern is obesity runs in my
husbands family. My son is not very active anyway and I worry that the TV
will consume him as it does my husband. How do you get the healthy balance
to avoid the obesity problems. We don't limit food, I do encourage healthy
snacks, I don't make him go outside, (which he hasn't really been in weeks,
even in summer he isn't much of an outside person, I guess I just want him to
be healthy.
Heidi
~~~~ Don't forget! If you change topics, change the subject line! ~~~~
If you have questions, concerns or problems with this list, please email the moderator, Joyce Fetteroll (fetteroll@...), or the list owner, Helen Hegener (HEM-Editor@...).
To unsubscribe from this group, click on the following link or address an email to:
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
"Statistically," say statisticians who want to say "no tv," kids who watch
more TV are fatter.
LOGICALLY and sensibly, kids who are fat and are being tormented by other
kids, or who just happen not to be jockish anyway, tend to watch TV more than
those who are out and about because they have the need to roller blade or
whatever.
I had a friend years ago who was small, effeminate, weak, and his dad thought
that if he shot hoops in the driveway every afternoon for forty five minutes,
he would get bigger, butcher and stronger. No, what he got was teased by
every by-passing neighbor, and he spent 45 minutes every day resenting his
day to the bone. He grew up mean and evil. One of the few people I've known
in my life of whom I would use the "evil" word.
So too many times I've noticed parents and researchers and teachers and those
badillions who are doing "research" to get a master's degree or a PhD in
education so they can get OUT of the classroom and into an administrative job
telling other teachers what to do.... (BREATHE! <g>) ... I've seen them too
often take correlation as cause, because their paper only had to be 40 pages
and nobody made them prove cause.
Sandra
more TV are fatter.
LOGICALLY and sensibly, kids who are fat and are being tormented by other
kids, or who just happen not to be jockish anyway, tend to watch TV more than
those who are out and about because they have the need to roller blade or
whatever.
I had a friend years ago who was small, effeminate, weak, and his dad thought
that if he shot hoops in the driveway every afternoon for forty five minutes,
he would get bigger, butcher and stronger. No, what he got was teased by
every by-passing neighbor, and he spent 45 minutes every day resenting his
day to the bone. He grew up mean and evil. One of the few people I've known
in my life of whom I would use the "evil" word.
So too many times I've noticed parents and researchers and teachers and those
badillions who are doing "research" to get a master's degree or a PhD in
education so they can get OUT of the classroom and into an administrative job
telling other teachers what to do.... (BREATHE! <g>) ... I've seen them too
often take correlation as cause, because their paper only had to be 40 pages
and nobody made them prove cause.
Sandra
susan marie
.. two unrelated comments... I think tv is cool.. there's lots of good
stuff, lots of junk.. like anything.. it's a great source of information
and entertainment..
and second.. do you mean the Archies comic books? My uncle was a writer
of those -- that was his career. Pretty cool, as a kid, to have an uncle
who wrote comic books for a living.
peace,
susan
stuff, lots of junk.. like anything.. it's a great source of information
and entertainment..
and second.. do you mean the Archies comic books? My uncle was a writer
of those -- that was his career. Pretty cool, as a kid, to have an uncle
who wrote comic books for a living.
peace,
susan
On Monday, December 9, 2002, at 04:00 PM, freeform@... wrote:
>
> On Mon, 09 Dec 2002 12:06:01 -0500 "Yol, Vishnu & Shanti"
> <bluelotus@...> writes:
> > I am not anti-TV or anything like that, but it's pretty sad to see
> > what TV has become. It's like "instant mental pollution"
> > interrupting your show (if you happen to find a good one) every 5
> > minutes! I have better things to do with my life, and so does my
> > dear daughter.
> >
> We've been watching tons of TV lately... the weather has gotten cold and
> we're not used to it yet, most of Rain's activities are over for a
> while,
> and we've turned the couch-futon into a bed pretty much permanently
> because that's the only room with heat, so we do everything there. Last
> night it was Futurama, Simpsons, 2 King of the Hills, Law and Order, and
> The Practice. We're getting into these lawyer/investigator shows lately,
> too... oh, and a movie about the 14th (I think) Dalai Lama, that was
> first... Rain found it and started watching before I got there, so I
> missed that first part, but it reminded her of The Cup so she was into
> it.
>
> I've been working on not feeling guilty about watching TV, and about
> Rain
> watching TV. It's still hard, I'm still surrounded by people who see it
> as a stupid or bad or inferior thing, something that will mess up barins
> waves, a waste of time... I watched TV as a kid, we've collected videos
> of some of my favorite shows (Aquaman, Land of the Lost) and it seemed
> that there wasn't this kind of stigma to it back then. Now, admitting
> that yup, we spent 6 hours yesterday watching TV feels like I should
> apologize for it. But it was fun, we talked about stuff, we both read
> during a lot of it (although I don't know why reading The Archies should
> be more acceptable than watching Law and Order), and knitted...
>
> Just thinking,
>
> Dar
>
> ~~~~ Don't forget! If you change topics, change the subject line! ~~~~
>
> If you have questions, concerns or problems with this list, please
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> list owner, Helen Hegener (HEM-Editor@...).
>
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> an email to:
> [email protected]
>
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>
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peace,
Susan
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead
"All we are saying is give peace a chance."
- John Lennon
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 12/10/02 10:49:48 AM, scribblers2@... writes:
<< and second.. do you mean the Archies comic books? My uncle was a writer
of those -- that was his career. Pretty cool, as a kid, to have an uncle
who wrote comic books for a living. >>
So (with another disclaimer about "that word," and about sexual situations)...
Have you seen Chasing Amy? There's a scene about Archie comics.
Sandra
<< and second.. do you mean the Archies comic books? My uncle was a writer
of those -- that was his career. Pretty cool, as a kid, to have an uncle
who wrote comic books for a living. >>
So (with another disclaimer about "that word," and about sexual situations)...
Have you seen Chasing Amy? There's a scene about Archie comics.
Sandra
Deborah Lewis
***I understand the no limit my concern is obesity runs in my
husbands family. My son is not very active anyway and I worry that the
TV
will consume him as it does my husband. ***
I wonder if this is more about habits and patterns and maybe some
genetics.?
If the biggest and most fun thing a family does together is eat, or eat
in front of the TV, that's what kids will do.
If you're getting out to do other stuff I don't think it will be an
issue.
We hike in the summer. We go for walks, we swim, Dylan plays and takes
martial arts classes . We rent snow shoes in the winter, we go to the
climbing wall at the sports shop, skate, swim some more in the heated
pool, build two-headed snowmen. (if it will ever snow!)
We love TV and watch whatever we want but it's not the whole of our
lives.
My husband sprawls when he comes home from work. He works ten hours days
with a two hour commute each direction and when he gets home, he's done.
But he sprawled when we couldn't afford TV, too. And he can be prodded
up on weekends if there's something fun to do. <g>
Deb L
husbands family. My son is not very active anyway and I worry that the
TV
will consume him as it does my husband. ***
I wonder if this is more about habits and patterns and maybe some
genetics.?
If the biggest and most fun thing a family does together is eat, or eat
in front of the TV, that's what kids will do.
If you're getting out to do other stuff I don't think it will be an
issue.
We hike in the summer. We go for walks, we swim, Dylan plays and takes
martial arts classes . We rent snow shoes in the winter, we go to the
climbing wall at the sports shop, skate, swim some more in the heated
pool, build two-headed snowmen. (if it will ever snow!)
We love TV and watch whatever we want but it's not the whole of our
lives.
My husband sprawls when he comes home from work. He works ten hours days
with a two hour commute each direction and when he gets home, he's done.
But he sprawled when we couldn't afford TV, too. And he can be prodded
up on weekends if there's something fun to do. <g>
Deb L
susan marie
no, never heard of Chasing Amy.. is that a movie? What's it about.
s.
s.
On Tuesday, December 10, 2002, at 12:57 PM, SandraDodd@... wrote:
>
> In a message dated 12/10/02 10:49:48 AM, scribblers2@...
> writes:
>
> << and second.. do you mean the Archies comic books? My uncle was a
> writer
> of those -- that was his career. Pretty cool, as a kid, to have an uncle
> who wrote comic books for a living. >>
>
> So (with another disclaimer about "that word," and about sexual
> situations)...
> Have you seen Chasing Amy? There's a scene about Archie comics.
>
>
> Sandra
>
> ~~~~ Don't forget! If you change topics, change the subject line! ~~~~
>
> If you have questions, concerns or problems with this list, please
> email the moderator, Joyce Fetteroll (fetteroll@...), or the
> list owner, Helen Hegener (HEM-Editor@...).
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, click on the following link or address
> an email to:
> [email protected]
>
> Visit the Unschooling website: http://www.unschooling.com
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
peace,
Susan
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead
"All we are saying is give peace a chance."
- John Lennon
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Gerard Westenberg
<How do you get the healthy balance
to avoid the obesity problems. >
I exercise every morning. I have found two things - one, my kids have got more interested in exercise routines, in weights, etc after watching me exercise. So, some have taken this on themselves. Two, - I have taken to asking ( suggesting?) if someone wants to come with me on my walk, making it a Mum and son time talking and walking together. This, of course, has the added benefit of exercise for the older boys and I...Leonie W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
to avoid the obesity problems. >
I exercise every morning. I have found two things - one, my kids have got more interested in exercise routines, in weights, etc after watching me exercise. So, some have taken this on themselves. Two, - I have taken to asking ( suggesting?) if someone wants to come with me on my walk, making it a Mum and son time talking and walking together. This, of course, has the added benefit of exercise for the older boys and I...Leonie W.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
> When my two were little I did restrict TV & was very careful what theyOne of the more delightful results of my broken ankle is that my 3 and 4 year
> > watched, keeping full control of the remote. They were never allowed to
> just
> > switch it on when they felt like it.
old kids have fully mastered the remotes! They love putting their own tapes
or dvds in, starting it, pausing it to pee, backing things up to see a scene
over again. I get a bit nervous over the dvd, but often they ask for help
getting the boxes open and we end up putting them in. They watch whatever
they want (lately, ballets) whenever they want. But learning the remotes and
the buttons on the machines has been great for them.
That and learning how to get their own juice from the fridge!
Elizabeth
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
f him when watching TV. He is also fully emersed by the sound of the TV.
I did see Jane Healy speak and she does have examples of the harm TV may cause. She also talked about the classroom and how the brain grows. She said the growing brain is the one asking questions. So in a classroom, the teacher is asking the most questions and keeps growing intellectually. My son asks a zillion questions while watching TV. His brain is growing. He is learning. I still want to turn it off all the time, yet now I have learned to respect what the kids are doing. Am I interrupting something important or can we finish the movie later? My hubby and I do not want TV much. News maybe once in a while and that is all. We took the kids to the snow on Superbowl Sunday. A great way to avoid crowds. I think we are modeling the self- control we hope for. For now, when we are home, the kids can watch TV if they want. they watch a lot.
I did get overwhelmed recently with the hours they were watching. We have been on a Starwars role for weeks. I told the kids before bedtime that I needed a different day and I needed to be able to listen to music and dance and play with them so I was scheduling a TV free day. They completely respected it, woke up the next day, brought games out to play with me. Had they really had a problem with my idea, I would have listened and compromised. I'm happier not policing their TV. They are happier to be able to do what they like. If they are being ruined, they are safely home with a listening ear watching Between the Lions learning how to sound out words. And I was able to write for the first time in weeks.
Mary H
I did see Jane Healy speak and she does have examples of the harm TV may cause. She also talked about the classroom and how the brain grows. She said the growing brain is the one asking questions. So in a classroom, the teacher is asking the most questions and keeps growing intellectually. My son asks a zillion questions while watching TV. His brain is growing. He is learning. I still want to turn it off all the time, yet now I have learned to respect what the kids are doing. Am I interrupting something important or can we finish the movie later? My hubby and I do not want TV much. News maybe once in a while and that is all. We took the kids to the snow on Superbowl Sunday. A great way to avoid crowds. I think we are modeling the self- control we hope for. For now, when we are home, the kids can watch TV if they want. they watch a lot.
I did get overwhelmed recently with the hours they were watching. We have been on a Starwars role for weeks. I told the kids before bedtime that I needed a different day and I needed to be able to listen to music and dance and play with them so I was scheduling a TV free day. They completely respected it, woke up the next day, brought games out to play with me. Had they really had a problem with my idea, I would have listened and compromised. I'm happier not policing their TV. They are happier to be able to do what they like. If they are being ruined, they are safely home with a listening ear watching Between the Lions learning how to sound out words. And I was able to write for the first time in weeks.
Mary H
Andrea
I found this quote on a Montessori site while looking for something else
(one of the great things about using the internet)
"The primary danger of the television screen lies not so much in the
behavior it produces as the behavior it prevents... Turning on the
television set can turn off the process that transforms children into adults."
--Urie Bronfenbrenner
I googled Urie Bronfenbrenner and discovered he is the Jacob Gould Schurman
Professor Emeritus of Human Development and Family Studies and of
Psychology, Cornell University.
You know, what I found with my own children when they were small belied
what I had read about, and sometimes seen with, tv use. My children did
not become zombies in front of the tv. They were either engaged in the
program or watching it partly while doing something else. Maybe, based on
discussions I have read here, it is because they did not have anything to
escape or zone out from like day care, over-scheduling, or a difficult home
life. I did restrict the tv when they were younger and regret that now.
What I always wonder when I read these studies or opinions on child-related
matters is how much time the person/people conducting the study spend with
either their own children or other children in real everyday situations.
When you parent your children in an intensive way, that is, spend a lot of
time with them and react to their needs and desires, you know more about
them than a million studies could ever tell anyone. The expert opinions may
be interesting in a scholarly sort of way (for daycares and schools, I
guess) but they don't mean much in my day to day life.
Donna Andrea in Nova Scotia
(one of the great things about using the internet)
"The primary danger of the television screen lies not so much in the
behavior it produces as the behavior it prevents... Turning on the
television set can turn off the process that transforms children into adults."
--Urie Bronfenbrenner
I googled Urie Bronfenbrenner and discovered he is the Jacob Gould Schurman
Professor Emeritus of Human Development and Family Studies and of
Psychology, Cornell University.
You know, what I found with my own children when they were small belied
what I had read about, and sometimes seen with, tv use. My children did
not become zombies in front of the tv. They were either engaged in the
program or watching it partly while doing something else. Maybe, based on
discussions I have read here, it is because they did not have anything to
escape or zone out from like day care, over-scheduling, or a difficult home
life. I did restrict the tv when they were younger and regret that now.
What I always wonder when I read these studies or opinions on child-related
matters is how much time the person/people conducting the study spend with
either their own children or other children in real everyday situations.
When you parent your children in an intensive way, that is, spend a lot of
time with them and react to their needs and desires, you know more about
them than a million studies could ever tell anyone. The expert opinions may
be interesting in a scholarly sort of way (for daycares and schools, I
guess) but they don't mean much in my day to day life.
Donna Andrea in Nova Scotia
[email protected]
In a message dated 2/6/03 8:43:18 AM, andrea@... writes:
<<The expert opinions may
be interesting in a scholarly sort of way (for daycares and schools, I
guess) but they don't mean much in my day to day life.>>
Yes.
And even in the quote:
<< "The primary danger of the television screen lies not so much in the
behavior it produces as the behavior it prevents... Turning on the
television set can turn off the process that transforms children into
adults." >>
he said Turning on the television set CAN turn off the process, he said.
Doesn't say always. Doesn't say "does."
But anti-TV people love to jump on stuff like that and say "SEE!?"
See WHAT?
When a child has free access to all kinds of things, it's HIS process.
There's a world of difference between a child's life run by adult decisions
and schedules and an unschooled child who has his whole life, all day, all
night, at his own disposal.
If you (any reader reading this) haven't ever yet seen the result of a child
having real choices and freedoms, then you're not looking at the same thing
others here are looking at.
It's simple but hugely foreign. Almost all of what's written about children
and teens has to do with school, and overcoming the effects of school and
compensating for the time spent in school and trying to bridge the gap
created between parent and child by school.
This is such a new model that very little of the old "knowledge" works in it
at all.
Sandra
<<The expert opinions may
be interesting in a scholarly sort of way (for daycares and schools, I
guess) but they don't mean much in my day to day life.>>
Yes.
And even in the quote:
<< "The primary danger of the television screen lies not so much in the
behavior it produces as the behavior it prevents... Turning on the
television set can turn off the process that transforms children into
adults." >>
he said Turning on the television set CAN turn off the process, he said.
Doesn't say always. Doesn't say "does."
But anti-TV people love to jump on stuff like that and say "SEE!?"
See WHAT?
When a child has free access to all kinds of things, it's HIS process.
There's a world of difference between a child's life run by adult decisions
and schedules and an unschooled child who has his whole life, all day, all
night, at his own disposal.
If you (any reader reading this) haven't ever yet seen the result of a child
having real choices and freedoms, then you're not looking at the same thing
others here are looking at.
It's simple but hugely foreign. Almost all of what's written about children
and teens has to do with school, and overcoming the effects of school and
compensating for the time spent in school and trying to bridge the gap
created between parent and child by school.
This is such a new model that very little of the old "knowledge" works in it
at all.
Sandra
[email protected]
> I keep reading about the unlimited tv thing, and I just can't feel ok aboutI have a story about this. My former nanny, from when I broke my leg,
> > it.
>
stopped by today to arrange some babysitting time with me. She came with her
new charge, a three year old from a block over. My two, of course, were
still in their pjs at 11 and watching the Nutcracker DVD. Nathan has his
cape on. They were so excited to show the nanny the nutcracker that they
dragged her and the boy over to see. And then proceeded to dance along,
jumping, falling on the floor, kicking their legs, etc.
The boy stood there mesmorized by the tv. Completely transfixed. I asked
her why he was so quiet and she told me he is allowed 1/2 an hour of tv twice
a week. So, according to her, whenever he sees anything on a screen, he
stares at it and is afraid to move in case it is turned off. Poor kid. Too
many rules.
Some more thoughts thrown in to the ring.
Elizabeth
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 2/6/03 1:56:29 PM Central Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:
<< The boy stood there mesmorized by the tv. Completely transfixed. I asked
her why he was so quiet and she told me he is allowed 1/2 an hour of tv
twice
a week. So, according to her, whenever he sees anything on a screen, he
stares at it and is afraid to move in case it is turned off. Poor kid. Too
many rules. >>
This was me even into my adult years.
We were raised without tv.
When dh and I got married, his folks bought us one. As much as I believed it
was a "bad" thing, I couldn't tear myself away. I watched for hours, even if
I didn't like the show.
As a child and teen, my friends would get frustrated with me because when I
was at their house, that's all I wanted to do. It was SO fascinating.
I still become rather "zombie" like when watching, my kids aren't like this
at all.
They come and go, flitting from interest to interest. The only time they
really watch several shows in a row is in the evening, when Adult Swim is on.
(they love that warped sense of humor and the Japanese anime).
I could list all the cool conversations and things they've learned from hours
and hours of tv, I don't think it would convince anyone though. ?
Or would it?
Ren
"The sun is shining--the sun is shining. That is the magic. The flowers are
growing--the roots are stirring. That is the magic. Being alive is the
magic--being strong is the magic The magic is in me--the magic is in
me....It's in every one of us."
----Frances Hodgson Burnett
[email protected] writes:
<< The boy stood there mesmorized by the tv. Completely transfixed. I asked
her why he was so quiet and she told me he is allowed 1/2 an hour of tv
twice
a week. So, according to her, whenever he sees anything on a screen, he
stares at it and is afraid to move in case it is turned off. Poor kid. Too
many rules. >>
This was me even into my adult years.
We were raised without tv.
When dh and I got married, his folks bought us one. As much as I believed it
was a "bad" thing, I couldn't tear myself away. I watched for hours, even if
I didn't like the show.
As a child and teen, my friends would get frustrated with me because when I
was at their house, that's all I wanted to do. It was SO fascinating.
I still become rather "zombie" like when watching, my kids aren't like this
at all.
They come and go, flitting from interest to interest. The only time they
really watch several shows in a row is in the evening, when Adult Swim is on.
(they love that warped sense of humor and the Japanese anime).
I could list all the cool conversations and things they've learned from hours
and hours of tv, I don't think it would convince anyone though. ?
Or would it?
Ren
"The sun is shining--the sun is shining. That is the magic. The flowers are
growing--the roots are stirring. That is the magic. Being alive is the
magic--being strong is the magic The magic is in me--the magic is in
me....It's in every one of us."
----Frances Hodgson Burnett
Pam Hartley
----------
Pam
>From: [email protected]Now that's succinct. <g> Mind if I embroider it on something?
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Digest Number 3004
>Date: Thu, Feb 6, 2003, 1:36 PM
>
> Makes me think something is wrong with me or my kids
> because we watch TV. I know that's not true so not sure really why it
> bothers me. I just think it's a bunch of crap!
Pam
Mary Bianco
>From: Pam Hartley <pamhartley@...><<Now that's succinct. <g> Mind if I embroider it on something?>>
LOL!!! Oh I guess I should apologize for that one huh? It just rubbed me for
the umpteenth time the wrong way. Spoke before I had a chance to put it
nicely. Sometimes that's the best way to get a point across!!!
Mary B
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Odrade
Deb L. wrote:
[they had to toss out the toity because folks were
pooping to much. Or, "Bob, will just frappe the day
away and never do anything if I allowed a blender in
the house."]
Oh, thank you thank you thank you for a good laugh
this early in the morning, Deb! :D This just cracked
me up and is a great way to put things into
perspective.
-Tracy-
in MI
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!
http://platinum.yahoo.com
[they had to toss out the toity because folks were
pooping to much. Or, "Bob, will just frappe the day
away and never do anything if I allowed a blender in
the house."]
Oh, thank you thank you thank you for a good laugh
this early in the morning, Deb! :D This just cracked
me up and is a great way to put things into
perspective.
-Tracy-
in MI
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!
http://platinum.yahoo.com
[email protected]
All this talk about television reminded me of something that happened
several years ago with Colton, who was eight at the time. I am ashamed to
say that I went through a period of extreme TV snobbishness. I felt that
watching television was a waste of our time, so I got rid of cable. We only
watched carefully chosen videos, designed to enrich and uplift us. (I cringe
as I write this now!) I was totally obnoxious about it.
One day Colton and Bud returned from the library, thrilled with what they
had found. A video copy of "Godzilla!" I snorted derisively and suggested
that our time would be better spent with a book. I was ignored. They made
some popcorn and started the movie. I sat with them on the couch, or to be
more accurate, on my moral high horse, with an "uplifting" book in hand. I
rolled my eyes and sighed with gusto to point out how they were wasting their
time. Colton and Bud continued to ignore me.
Something finally penetrated my self-imposed role as the chief of the
culture police. A voice whispered in my ear: Look at them, Carol. Just LOOK
at them! I studied my son and my husband for about five minutes. They were
totally engrossed in the movie, yet they never stopped touching each other.
Colton would lean against Bud's shoulder as he giggled helplessly, or Bud
would squeeze Colton's leg during a particularly intense moment. They were
totally connected to each other through their movie experience, and it was a
joy to watch. I knew that they were making a memory together.
We had cable reinstalled the next day, and we never looked back. We don't
watch a lot of TV, but when we do, we do it together. We have laughed and
cried together as we have watched, and we have wondered and marveled.
Television has been a wonderful learning experience for me. It taught me to
loosen up, and to appreciate those wonderful moments when I cocoon with my
family. And when I watch my husband and son stomping around the house like
Godzilla as they destroy Tokyo, I know that I am standing on holy ground.
Carol
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
several years ago with Colton, who was eight at the time. I am ashamed to
say that I went through a period of extreme TV snobbishness. I felt that
watching television was a waste of our time, so I got rid of cable. We only
watched carefully chosen videos, designed to enrich and uplift us. (I cringe
as I write this now!) I was totally obnoxious about it.
One day Colton and Bud returned from the library, thrilled with what they
had found. A video copy of "Godzilla!" I snorted derisively and suggested
that our time would be better spent with a book. I was ignored. They made
some popcorn and started the movie. I sat with them on the couch, or to be
more accurate, on my moral high horse, with an "uplifting" book in hand. I
rolled my eyes and sighed with gusto to point out how they were wasting their
time. Colton and Bud continued to ignore me.
Something finally penetrated my self-imposed role as the chief of the
culture police. A voice whispered in my ear: Look at them, Carol. Just LOOK
at them! I studied my son and my husband for about five minutes. They were
totally engrossed in the movie, yet they never stopped touching each other.
Colton would lean against Bud's shoulder as he giggled helplessly, or Bud
would squeeze Colton's leg during a particularly intense moment. They were
totally connected to each other through their movie experience, and it was a
joy to watch. I knew that they were making a memory together.
We had cable reinstalled the next day, and we never looked back. We don't
watch a lot of TV, but when we do, we do it together. We have laughed and
cried together as we have watched, and we have wondered and marveled.
Television has been a wonderful learning experience for me. It taught me to
loosen up, and to appreciate those wonderful moments when I cocoon with my
family. And when I watch my husband and son stomping around the house like
Godzilla as they destroy Tokyo, I know that I am standing on holy ground.
Carol
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Mary
From: sognokids@...
<<We had cable reinstalled the next day, and we never looked back. We don't
watch a lot of TV, but when we do, we do it together. We have laughed and
cried together as we have watched, and we have wondered and marveled.
Television has been a wonderful learning experience for me. It taught me to
loosen up, and to appreciate those wonderful moments when I cocoon with my
family. And when I watch my husband and son stomping around the house like
Godzilla as they destroy Tokyo, I know that I am standing on holy ground.>>
Carol, what a wonderful post. I smiled the whole time I was reading it. Thank you for sharing. I loved it!!!
Mary B
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
<<We had cable reinstalled the next day, and we never looked back. We don't
watch a lot of TV, but when we do, we do it together. We have laughed and
cried together as we have watched, and we have wondered and marveled.
Television has been a wonderful learning experience for me. It taught me to
loosen up, and to appreciate those wonderful moments when I cocoon with my
family. And when I watch my husband and son stomping around the house like
Godzilla as they destroy Tokyo, I know that I am standing on holy ground.>>
Carol, what a wonderful post. I smiled the whole time I was reading it. Thank you for sharing. I loved it!!!
Mary B
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 3/26/03 12:35:41 PM Central Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:
<< . And when I watch my husband and son stomping around the house like
Godzilla as they destroy Tokyo, >>
"OH NO, There goes Tokyo, Go Go Godzila"
Is frequently hear playing on the stereo here....:)
Ren
"The sun is shining--the sun is shining. That is the magic. The flowers are
growing--the roots are stirring. That is the magic. Being alive is the
magic--being strong is the magic The magic is in me--the magic is in
me....It's in every one of us."
----Frances Hodgson Burnett
[email protected] writes:
<< . And when I watch my husband and son stomping around the house like
Godzilla as they destroy Tokyo, >>
"OH NO, There goes Tokyo, Go Go Godzila"
Is frequently hear playing on the stereo here....:)
Ren
"The sun is shining--the sun is shining. That is the magic. The flowers are
growing--the roots are stirring. That is the magic. Being alive is the
magic--being strong is the magic The magic is in me--the magic is in
me....It's in every one of us."
----Frances Hodgson Burnett
zenmomma *
>>And when I watch my husband and son stomping around the house likeGodzilla as they destroy Tokyo, I know that I am standing on holy ground.>>
This whole post was really beautiful, Carol.
Life is good.
~Mary
"The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green
earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive."
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
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