Learning from the TV

[BigPapaChunk]

I just read this article: www.economist.com/news/united-states/21654103-elmo-and-cookie-monster-make-you-cleverofficial-big-bird-big-brain

Apparently watching TV can have a beneficial affect on a child's development. Which TV programmes have helped your DC's learn? What was the episode and what did it help them with?

To start with me, the episode "Dance Off" on Pocoyo has really helped my DS to become more sociable and practice his dancing.

DD2 has learned about animals from Deadly 60 and History from Horrible Histories. She used to enjoy Numberjacks (apart from the Number Taker who scared her).

Horrible histories - history
Deadly 60 - natural world
Call the midwife - post war social history
Atlantis - discussing Greek myths
Merlin - discussing British myths
Great British sewing bee - got DD into textiles
Bake off - baking styles

DD is a huge sponge she spouts a fact, when asked where did you learn that it is often a TV program.

All BBC though, I have not know her learnt a fact from ITV.

She watches about 6 hours a week.

My younger dd learns lots from TV.

Yesterday's favourite was "My Life" about children whose grandparents have dementia. She was fascinated and asked lots of questions. I was very glad she took an interest, as (unknown to her) her dad's large close-knit family has had several cases of early-onset dementia which appears to be hereditary. And he's an older dad, so she may be living with dementia before many more years have passed.

Any documentary about Egypt which might possibly include a mummy is a hit.

We have had several taxing intelligent discussions following various episodes The Simpsons.

Horrible histories is funny, but is too much of a mish mash to teach anything worthwhile. Dc's have got things very mixed up on a number of occasions but because they saw it on HH, they wont believe it didn't happen exactly that way.

That's a good point, Tigerfeat. I have noticed that people often take the first thing they hear as the correct one, anything else is only correct if it matches it. I remember being confused about things I read in comics. That's something to be aware of.

It is not rocket science. Of course bright, entertaining programmes which introduce letters, numbers and other educational stuff to children will help them learn. Cbeebies is packed with such programmes. You can then also go on the G&T forum and claim your child taught themselves.