Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Screen Time at Sceleratus Classical Academy

Limit media! Reduce screen time! Computers and TV are rotting our children's brains!

Kids are so incredibly drawn to those moving pictures that I see parents on online forums, facebook groups, and blogs asking other parents for efficient reducing/limiting strategies to get their kids off screens and doing other, more worthwhile things. While I wholeheartedly agree that proper balance in life is important for everyone, and children need to be physical and not constantly stagnate, I also allow quite a bit of screen time in our home. And that's something most parents who do are unwilling to admit in public or online. But I'm going to tell you why I allow it and why I'm not going to feel shame about it.

When I first read The Well Trained Mind (when Builder Boy was six months old) I really liked the idea of a book based curriculum with very limited screen time. Susan Wise Bauer's objection to media curriculum was that it was image based rather than word based, and that it was passive where as reading more actively engages the brain. And for the majority of children this may be true and very good advice. But what about the visual learners? The auditory learners? The kids who don't have the stamina to read a book, but can sit for hours watching a documentary about the subject and then tell you all the information they retained from it?

I have never considered myself to be a visual learner. I read much too much in my formative years to consider that possibility for myself. But the more I think about it, lately I have noticed that I have very strong visual memories. Another example; I like to crochet. I can follow a written out pattern, but I have a hard time picturing what it is I'm supposed to do or how it's supposed to look, and it often takes quite a lot of trial and error before it comes out right. However if it is accompanied by a visual chart, or is just the picture with the stick symbols, I do much better with deciphering the pattern and producing the desired result. In high school if I missed the first day a new concept was introduced and demonstrated, I would struggle to fully grasp the concept. But if I was there the first day when the teacher showed it and did the initial explanation, then I got it and had no problem. A friend the other day tried to explain a simple pattern she followed in making a weighted blanket. Reading the words in a text, I couldn't picture it correctly. I asked her to draw a simple diagram and suddenly it was clear. Come to think of it, that's probably why on all my craft or how to posts I have so many step by step pictures; I'm making the kind of blog posts I'd want to read and would be able to follow.

So maybe with some people, limiting the visual learning way isn't such a great idea. Early Bird learned his ABC's at the age of 27 month by watching Builder Boy play with the letters on Not playing himself and being the one to move the mouse; just by watching the screen. He took it in and applied it to other letter toys and flashcards in his life. I'm thinking he wasn't just being passive watching it. I've seen many parents have their child struggle with learning their letters and have other parents recommend LeapFrog: Letter Factory to them. Their kids watch the dvd and suddenly it all clicks! So maybe not all media learning is bad.

I recently was reading a book recommended by a friend that said babies and toddlers under two years of age should watch no television at all. The perspective on kid shows change too much, it confuses baby's brains, and they tune it out. Well, Lady Bug has been having to have her hearing tested because she was born early, and they keep failing her and making us come back because she's not responding to the sounds when they test her. I am personally of the opinion that she is more interested in the visual distraction the tester provides in front of her and she is tuning out the "background" noise like she tunes out her noisy big brothers. So I start her watching a show called Bonnie Bear that presents different noises and asks the bear/audience to identify the sound (available on Amazon Prime and Netflix Instant Streaming.) I thought it would be a good way to interest Lady Bug in sounds so that maybe she would start paying more attention to them and maybe next time she was tested she won't tune the sounds out. So, yes, I stationed my just turned one year old in front of a tv and intentionally got her hooked on a show. We'll see in a few months if it helps the testing situation. In the meantime, it has increased her vocabulary. Yesterday while at house that we had never been to before, Lady Bug pointed to something on the wall and said " 'ock!" It was a square wall clock with a swinging pendulum. Her tv show was the only place she had ever seen a clock like that; at no other time had someone pointed out a clock to her and said the word. She got that just from the show.

So, how do I reconcile all the messages telling me that I'm going to ruin my kids if they watch too much tv or spend too much time on computers with the evidence before me that my kids pick up a lot from those sources? I am very picky about what they watch or play so I know that if they're spending time on it, I don't have to feel guilty because I know they're going to learn something from it.

TV shows we've enjoyed in no particular order (from Nexflix or Amazon Prime or purchased DVDs):

Little Einsteins-exposed the kids to classical music and art, as well as other general knowledge things. They still recognize the music pieces if they hear it. (Mostly we watched on dvds given to us.)

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse-general preschool knowledge (Also dvds that were gifts.)

Blue's Clues-general preschool and kindergarten knowledge. Also good for teach homeschooled kids about stuff like Duck, Duck, Goose and other group games and other things that a homeschool mom might forget to teach her kid. Also deals with emotions, frustrations, and other social situations. (Used to be on Netflix Instant, but I don't think it is anymore. Available for free on Amazon Prime here.)

Thomas and Friends-teaches kids to be obsessed with trains. Seriously, this isn't really much of a learning show in my opinion, but the kids like it and there isn't so much objectionable material in it that I think it should be banned from our house. But if you do show your kid this, be prepared for a several year obsession with it. (There used to be a ton available on Nextflix Instant, both the old and the new. Now they just have some of the new ones. Amazon Instant has more selection, some that you have to pay extra for and many available for free with Amazon Prime here.)

Bob the Builder-another show that teaches almost nothing, unless you want to be a builder. Builder Boy loved the live action, non-story videos that showed how various types of buildings are made. There is one character that I do not care for, and if I had known how annoying and how much bad behavior he gets away with I probably would never have shown it to the boys. We used it as a teaching example; why he shouldn't have done that and what we should do if someone does that. But that is dependent on the parent watching the show with the kids which often defeats the purpose. Also, that approach doesn't always work, and sometimes kids still imitate the fool. So be warned. (Like the Thomas and Friends, Netflix has some and Amazon Prime has more.)

Go, Diego, Go-taught Early Bird some Spanish words to the point of him still being very interested in learning Spanish, and lots about exotic animals that Early Bird still remembers. (Netflix no longer has it, Amazon Prime does. The picture is an affiliated link.)

Sid the Science Kid-great kindergarten level science that covers lots of different areas, but in a targeted way that really appeals and applies to kids. (Netflix Instant, as of this writing, has all the episodes, Amazon Prime does not.)

Magic School Bus-awesome science, the kids love this show and watch it a ton and retain and apply what they learn from it. (Netflix Instant currently has all episodes, Amazon Prime does not have them for free. But they often have a really good deal on the entire series on dvd. Picture is a link.)

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That-preschool/kindergarten level science (Neither Netflix nor Amazon Prime has this. Some clips can be found at the pbskids site, as well as some learning games. I think this is one of the things you need to have an actual tv to watch these days. Looks like Amazon does sell 3 episode dvds for $5, but I'm thinking that's a good deal.)

Wild Kratts-great information about animal. Can be watched at a young age, but does contain "higher" level information in my opinion. (Both Netflix and Amazon Prime have lots of these and HEY, LOOK, NETFLIX JUST GOT MORE!! That discovery just made the boys' day.)

Super Why-kindergarten to first grade reading. If you are purely phonics, you might not like this show. But if you have an early reader who doesn't mind review of "easy" words, this is a good show for them. Or if you don't mind a not strictly phonics show, this is just fine for you. (Available on Netflix Streaming, none free on Amazon Streaming.)

Signing Time-great for teaching kids sign language (and learning it yourself.) Also, because it puts the word on the screen, it also teaches your early learner to sight read common words. (We bought the dvds. In the summer time the company that makes them have a sale of each dvd for $10 instead of $20, and we usually get ours then. There are some episodes available on Netflix Instant, but they are different than what we've used, and my boys didn't seem to like them as much. There also seemed to be less repetition. Amazon Prime allows you to rent a "episode" for a week, but that's not long enough, in my opinion, for the kids to learn it well enough, and it doesn't allow for review later on.)

LeapFrog-great for teaching beginning reading up through first grade. Also has some early number and math videos. (Nextflix has most of the videos that I consider fun "extra" videos. The three that I consider the best and most necessary have to be bought on dvd, and are completely worth it: Letter Factory, Talking Words Factory, Word Caper.)

Veggie Tales-teaches Christian values and Bible stories (Netflix has a few but not many; Amazon Prime has more. And we have quite a few dvds that have been given as gifts.)

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?-history, geography, and world cultures! A bit dated, but still good information. Will also teach some 90's references. (We bought the full collection on dvd for only $9 on Amazon. Picture is a link.)

Popular Mechanics for Kids-another slightly dated show, but still lots of great information from tv special effects, plumbing systems, science, technology, how things work, etc. More for kids older than kindergarten. Builder Boy loves it, Early Bird sometimes watches, but not very often. (Only available so far on Amazon Prime here.)

Builder Boy also enjoys shows like How Things Are Made, Dirty Jobs, etc. These should be watched with an adult because it does expose kids to things like amputations and artificial insemination of animals that a sensitive or very young child might not be ready for or may have questions about.

I'll do another post for computer games and apps that we allow, but for now I'm just going to schedule this to post or it's going to sit in my Draft Folder forever and be forgotten like the other 80 drafts there.
I didn't start this post intending it to look like a way to get affiliate credit, and I'm sorry if it looks like that. Some of the links are not affiliated, but the links are. I add links for my reader's ease to find things. I did this before I became an affiliate, because I like being helpful, and I always appreciate other bloggers who link to the things they're talking about. Buying anything after clicking on my links does not add anything to the price you pay, but helps me get a little extra money. That's how I bought the Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? dvd set. And a really cute baby book set that I started writing about and is one of those 80 drafts in my draft folder.


  1. Great post! I always intended to limit screen time and then I had a kid with SPD who was terrified of TV (yup, you read that correctly). Now that he's getting over it (knock on wood!!), we watch A LOT of these now. And happily! :-)

  2. I have a visual learner 'builder' type on my hands, too :)


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