B-Dag

Television is often blamed for the decreased literacy and other problems with education, but watching the right educational shows with children deserves some credit as well. Educational children’s shows run the gammut from shows focused on pre-reading and self esteem skills, to shows that demonstrate interesting science lessons. Often, teachers play clips from these shows in their classrooms and incorporate them into their lesson plans.

Of course, many shows claim to be educational, while in reality they have very little educational value. This is why parents should not simply park their kids in front of the television to watch an “educational” show. They need to watch the show with the child at least a few times to get a feel of the lessons it is trying to teach and so that they can talk to their child about the shows, and guide their children towards shows they deem most appropriate for their family’s value system and what will also teach them what they need to know.

While learning from TV is important, it is also important that shows be entertaining as well. Educational children’s shows need to be fast moving and employ interesting characters and concepts in order to continue to hold the interest of children as well as their teachers and parents. Having these qualities will encourage a child’s natural curiosity and enable them to learn even more on their own.