RE: Educational TV (was Re: [Nolug] Cool wired house in Old Metairie)

> Here you guys go read this
> http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5479418/
>
>
> Roland
>
The problem with introducing anything to children (at any age) is that thing
(if it ingages the child for more than 5 minutes) becomes a substitute to
parental guideance. I personally have a now 7 year old that I gave her her
first computer at 2. I played the little games WITH her and REINFORCED what
she was learning with other activities. The simple thing is investigate the
software and what it teaches, be involved in the learning process and follow
up with hands on 3D games.
(Eg. Software with a sorting game, get plastic geometric shapes (available
at education stores) and play lets sort these.)

My major argument for 'playing' with the computer is this. Computers are
all around us, even in McDonalds. If you introduce a thing before there is
a fear of the thing, there will be a better chance of learning.
(Eg. I found an old 286 compaq laptop that was of no real use. My daughter
was trepidatious until I showed her the laptop had MS Paint. 'OH' she says
with joy 'I use that program at school...can I use it on here too?')

To further my point, what if your child was introduced to an AS400 or
whatever at work. Would you A) what him or her to panic at the
unfamiliarity, or B) Confidently look for simularities and be egar to learn
what is being explained.
Personally, my 7 year old is in the B category and does very well in all of
her classes (better than her father).

Now, to be fair, I have not introduced my 21 month old daughter yet, and
probably won't till she is two.
(I don't want her drooling on my keyboard)

Anyway, thats my 2 cents.
Chris R.

attached mail follows:

Here you guys go read this
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5479418/

Roland

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nolug@joeykelly.net [mailto:owner-nolug@joeykelly.net] On Behalf
Of Mark A. Hershberger
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 9:09 PM
To: nolug@joeykelly.net
Subject: Educational TV (was Re: [Nolug] Cool wired house in Old Metairie)

Ron Johnson <ron.l.johnson@cox.net> writes:

>> Related to the study you mention, a more extensive study found that
>> for every hour of TV a child watched on average every day, they were
>> 10% more likely to develop ADD. Which, I suppose, means that if a
>> child watches 10 hours of TV a day on average, they have a likelihood
>> of 100% of developing ADD.
>
> Do you remember where you saw that study?

This study was all over the place in April. Here is one copy of the
summary:
http://www.kotv.com/main/home/storiesPrint.asp?id=60304&type=t

At the end, they include a statement from the assistant director for
research at Sesame Workshop saying "We do not ignore this research",
BUT they want to know if the content of what is watched matters or if
watching with a parent matters.

People /want/ to believe that "educational" TV is better for a
child. They /want/ to believe that by sitting the child in front of
the TV for an hour, they are doing him some good.

In fact, the study didn't keep track of what the children watched,
just how much TV they watched. I'm sure that the parents
participating in the study made sure that their children watched
extra doses of educational TV.

Lots of studies have been done to confirm what we want to believe
about educational TV. Study after study shows that children who
watch educational TV are better off than children who watch sitcoms.

Educational TV does teach your child: it teaches them how to watch TV.

Mark.

--
A choice between one man and a shovel, or a dozen men with teaspoons
is clear to me, and I'm sure it is clear to you also.
    -- Zimran Ahmed <http://www.winterspeak.com/>
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