Although there are pedagogical and psychological currents that consider that exposure to television at an early age is harmful, the truth is that TV is an important element in many houses and, after three or four years, it is quite normal to use it for Children entertain themselves. I propose today use television to facilitate learning.
Watch TV the right way
I must say, to begin with, that the time a young child can watch TV must be limited and appropriate to each age. And that should not replace the play activities and experience that children need for proper psychological and body development.
Television, in excess, can have detrimental effects on the development of children and one must always keep in mind that what they need is the attention of an adult that accompanies them in their emotions and discoveries.
However, if we have decided to have a television at home and let the children watch it, we can surely get you profit as an element of fun and education. In the world of new technologies we can take advantage of them to make the best of them and TV is also a window to the world and an element that, well used, helps us to expand their education.
Essential tips for watching TV with children is that an adult always watches television with them, avoid using it as a babysitter, select the programs carefully, preferably use videos so as not to expose them to advertising or inappropriate content and never put the TV in the nursery.
We should not have the television in the background if we are not programming for a while to watch it and we should, above all, prevent it from being turned on with the children at home, as many contents are inappropriate for them. Above all, do not put news, adult debate or entertainment programs and movies with violence. But be careful, at any time, if we have it even in children's hours, they may be exposed to advertisements or trailers that should not be seen. So, If we use TV, always choose the programs and prefer videos whenever possible.
I do not mean learning to facilitate learning with television to give children programs that supposedly improve their cognitive or intellectual abilities such as the famous Baby Enstein, but to learn that in many children's programs there are valid elements that we can "pull thread".
"Pull the thread" on television
I talked about the concept of "pulling the thread" in education, based on a topic or aspect of interest of the child to advance and deepen learning. Since children enjoy their favorite programs very much we can add to the entertainment the possibility of using them as a first step to go pulling the thread, always present and being the communicating element that TV is missing, which, being only a transmitter and using only auditory and visual elements, complement it with explanations and games.
Using a constructivist perspective we understand that the child builds his learning with what he assimilates from his surroundingsTherefore, the role of the accompanying adult will be essential as a complement to what he receives from television.
The media they do not eliminate or replace human communication, they can even be a positive element of understanding the social and cultural environment and also offer enormous possibilities for knowledge. Although its use will be more complete from the age of seven and especially positive in Secondary, when understanding the messages and analyzing them critically is essential, we will be able to use it as an educational element from an early age, which will help make its use more rational in the future.
Really television is an educational element Whatever we do, like it or not, so better learn to use it and teach the child to do it. Our goal will be to use selected programs suitable for the age and maturation of the child, teach him to have a critical attitude with the contents and deepen the concepts and themes that appear, favoring his motivation.
Basic concept for using television in learning
Before giving practical examples of what we can find in specific children's programs it is important to consider some basic concepts that will help us choose the right ones to use television in learning properly.
It is important, first of all, understand the underlying values in the program, whether they are positive or others that exhibit violent or discriminatory behaviors or ideas. In reality, in most of the programs aimed at children, we will find, to a greater or lesser extent, aggressive situations, but a previous visualization will help us to discard them or, if we choose to have the child see them, then we can explain what things we have since they are not suitable for peaceful and respectful coexistence.
The relevance of the contents It is another factor that we can take into account, without this being fundamental, because, as we will see later, and more in the case of young children, from almost any program we will be able to extract relevant content, something that maybe we will have to take more care in the future . Although we must prioritize the entertainment factor more than ever, we must always remember that we learn more and better when something makes us enjoy.
We will continue talking about television as a learning element and I will give you some examples of children's programs that we will be able to use to "pull the thread" and offer children an educational and fun experience at the same time.
