Using Television To Teach Your Child

Son, with completed lap book.

I know there is a big debate about screen time. What is too much? Should there be limits? Even my sons pediatrician mention limiting television time to only two-years, which was very strange to me to hear from his doctor. I never thought about television as being a medical issue. (I will mark that under things that make you go, hmmm!) Well this is  not what I am writing this blog about in case you were wondering, but I am recognizing that this is an issue and I may write about screen time at a later date. This is more about how to use the screen time effectively and in a way your child will like.

My son adores Curious George. I know some parents consider this  twaddle, but I just don't agree. If you have ever watched any of the recent Curious George's you know that at the end of each episode is an educational segment where a teacher is usually doing some type of science project based off the Curious George program that was just watched. Well I noticed my child was fast-forwarding towards this important part. I realized the reason why is because he wasn't personally involved. So I decided to experiment with the concept of doing mini unit studies around programs he was already watching.

Since we use prerecorded programing I scanned the shows he would watch over the week and picked out one or two that I thought I could put together a unit study on without a hiccup. We did this for the first time back in August 2014 and my son enjoyed it so much that we have been continuing with it.

Based off a cartoon about loggerhead turtles.

 This is how we do it:

1. I scan the television programs and pick out one or two (or more if desired) shows that my son and I are interested in. (Example: Wild Kratts: Black footed Ferrets)
2. I Google the topic of the show looking for age appropriate educational materials centered around that study. Sometimes I will pickup additional reading materials at the library on the topic.
3. I print the materials out and sometimes it may include and interactive online game or video.
4. I have my child watch the program.
5. We discuss the program and I introduce the materials to my child. Now we have spent anywhere from an hour to a week studying on of these television based topics.
6. We usually conclude by making everything we did on the unit study into a lap book.

It's a lot of fun and a great way to engage your child, especially if you need to perk things up. Please let me know what is working in your homeschooling classroom in the comments below.



Lap book on Loggerhead Turtles