A Day in the Life - Making Peace With the TV

A Day in the Life

Nov. 23, 2005

Making Peace With the TV

I was just recently telling schooldaze about this whole mental thing I've been through lately regarding the TV-- I have been guilty of being one of those moms in the past who would let the "electronic babysitter" keep the kids out of my hair for WAY more hours than I care to reveal :) Well I have changed my ways very much so-- I started by cutting back TV viewing to one hour-- just Dora and Diego after lunch that's it. Well then I was still disappointed because you would be AMAZED at how much advertising they pack in between those shows!! My three year old was rattling off all sorts of specific toys that she just "had" to have-- no thanks!! So off it went again. And then I remembered-- PBS doesn't have commercials so I decided to check out their website (www.pbskids.org) and it is great. I've made peace with my TV.

First I decided that if we are going to watch TV at all-- we are going to watch high quality television programs that are educational AND entertaining. Sure I know Dora has some educational merits but honestly the programs we're watching on PBS are so much more engaging, especially for my older daughter. The two programs that we've decided upon are Between the Lions and Reading Rainbow (I was sooo excited this show was still on the air, I always loved it). Between the Lions has so much good stuff about phonics, word families, great literature, etc. and what is even better is that on the website they have a curriculum guide that offers great supporting literature, activities, let's you know what sounds and word families will be focused on in upcoming episodes, etc. Reading Rainbow is great because they continue with certain themes through out certain episodes.

What is great about having these resources for me is that since I don't have a curriculum these shows and the supplementary materials offer me a free resource to build themed units around. I know as a teacher that repetition and extension are such great ways for children to learn so I am excited to see where this will take us. These shows won't be the bulk of my teaching by any means but it is nice to have a starting point to work from.

My daughter (3yo) finally said something about her "real" school yesterday-- we drove by it and she asked when do I go to school again? I told her well now we do homeschooling and I just waited to see how she'd respond. She was just quiet for a few minutes and then asked, "does that mean we get to make more puppets?" and I said yep! and she was satisfied. :-)

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Comments

Nov. 23, 2005 - I love it!

Posted by hsmomof2

Always like to hear how families are getting away from tv and/or using it to their advantage and not the tv network/advertiser's advantage. Do be careful though - while PBS doesn't have commercials per se, those sponsor spots in between shows come mighty close, and (at least here in the Pacific NW) some are not much better than the commercials on "regular" tv! (I miss Reading Rainbow, my kids said they are too old for the books now...)

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Nov. 24, 2005 - Untitled Comment

Posted by CyberMommy

Oh yes you are right about that! :-) They have some very persuasive spots of Chuck E Cheese between shows a lot of times-- I get around that by only watching one show at a time-- turn it on right at the start of the show and then when I see credits rolling off it goes! I'm a sneaky chick! LOL

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Dec. 5, 2005 - YEAH!!!!

Posted by schooldaze

Wonderful post! So encouraging!!! I read your response and I remember doing that with my children (I was sneaky too).

Anyway, I'm so glad things are working out for you! Home schooling is so wonderful in that you can take what you want and throw out the rest!
That little interaction with you and your daughter about her "real school" was so cute!!! It's great that she can see that school can be fun....just wait till you get to acting out historical events complete with costumes and stuff. Your girly girl will flip for those old hoop skirts!!! =)=)=)

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About Me

A fun yet sporadic blog where I explore my ups and downs with home schooling, getting in shape, getting and keeping my house in order, being a good helpmeet, etc.