How much TV is too much TV? For a toddler like Lucas, I have read that we should restrict TV time to under an hour a day. But on the other hand, without TV (or in Lucas' case, its educational DVDs or Youtube) my son would not have been able to name animals, count til 20, name shapes and colors, sing with Barney, speak Spanish with Dora or sing nursery rhymes with Mother Goose and dance with Pororo.
Every morning when he is having his breakfast, the TV is switched on to Disney Channel - where he watches Agent Oso, followed by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and then I switch channels to Rolie Polie Olie before he goes to school.
When he comes home, he usually asks for Pororo on the computer or he asks for a DVD while I cook dinner.
In between watching TV, he plays in his room, reads some books with me and I take a few minutes to flash him some cards (depending on his mood, if he feels like them).
So is Lucas getting too much TV? Does watching too much TV make him asocial? And hamper his imagination?
One thing I noticed about Lucas watching animations on YouTube is that he watches them in French, English, Spanish, Korean, Japanese and Italian. I try to limit the languages as Lucas tends to mix all his languages and comes off speaking a coffre of words that makes no sense except for the few english and french words thrown in. But does this mix allow Lucas to be more open to new languages when he grows up? Or is this going to turn into a speech problem for Lucas later on?
Speechwise, he has improved in the past 2 weeks - I find that he is speaking more french now, and his words are enunciated clearly now.
He comes home from school humming and singing - in french. But then he watches Pororo and starts singing in English and Korean as well!
I've decided earlier on that if Lucas is watching an educational DVD, then its fine - as long as he is learning stuff and not watching anything weird or violent (no Tom & Jerry for Lucas!). But the effects of watching more than an hour of TV a day is still not too apparent - should I worry that he does not have an imaginary friend? Does that mean he is not imaginative enough?
But how can he not be imaginative enough when he starts imagining monsters and such and tells me he's scared when the lights are switched off?
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Hi , it's been a long time that i read your blog and i like what you write . i am vietnamese and i have been living in France for 34 years , i understand quite well your concerns about life in this country and about educating your boy . Concerning TV , i think it's better not let Lucas watch TV before going to school but after school .
ReplyDeleteBut are you working finally ? it really depends on your "disponibillité" so as to determine his time facing the TV ;
NL
Hi NL,
ReplyDeleteI tried not switching on the TV immediately in the morning this weekend - and Luc didn't even ask for it :)
Will be working this week, and Luc is in school til 5 pm anyway, so he won't be having a lot of TV time anymore.