Help your child use television constructively

The responsibility of parents to monitor their child's learning environment is especially important when it comes to television. The TV can be a powerful learning tool when parents take time to set ground rules for viewing.

Here are some tips that may be helpful in establishing rules and presenting opinions about television to your child:

* Monitor what your children watch. Encourage your children to choose programs that make 
   them think, teach lessons and show characters who have values similar to yours.

* Watch television with your children. Ask questions about the program and encourage your 
   kids to ask questions as well.

* Limit television viewing time. It may be helpful to develop a weekly viewing schedule.

* During commercials, review what you have just watched and predict what will happen next.

* Remember that when children are watching television it takes them away from other things 
   such as homework, reading and sports. Plan activities such as games, trips to the library 
   and trips to parks and playgrounds to take the place of television.

Once you've established a basic foundation for television viewing, try to find new and fun ways of using the TV to teach your child. It may be hard to believe, but television can help teach your child geography and math. Try using some of these suggestions:

* Relate programs to what your child is studying.

* Have reference materials near the television so additional information is available. Have 
   your child look up new words in the dictionary, or look at an atlas to find places mentioned 
   in a show.

* Watch a program that takes place in another part of the United States, or another country, 
   and find out where it is located. Then read a story from that area, learn about that place's 
   history or cook a meal from that culture.

* Watch the news with your kids and follow a news story. Watch the same story on different 
   channels and discuss the differences and similarities. Find the same topic in the newspaper, 
   a magazine or on the internet and discuss differences between them all.

In our technological world, it is almost impossible to eliminate television from your child's life. By talking about it, and making it a fun learning experience, you can make television a beneficial part of your child's life.

Excerpts of this column were reprinted with permission from that National School Public Relations Association newsletter, "It Starts on the Frontline."


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