Choosing TV Shows for Kids

Kids absorb everything they hear and see. That is why parents, like us, should be conscious of our child’s surroundings which can affect his or her development. 

I wrote about how I limited Addie’s iPad and TV time. If you haven’t read it yet, you can read it here. Anyway, Addie doesn’t look for her iPad anymore. When I give it to her, she plays with it for around 15 minutes and then she’ll play with her toys or read her books, and make kuwento. Ang daldal na niya, nakakaloka!

Yung TV, mejo mahirap tanggalin, especially since Addie stays at home on weekdays. But I make sure that she doesn’t watch TV the entire day and that she watches shows which can actually contribute to her mental and moral development. Here are some of the shows she watched/watches: 

1. Baby Einstein. 

I think this show is more suitable for kids aged 2 years and below. But because Addie loves the animal puppets and the classical music calms her down, I still let her watch this before she sleeps. 

2. Baby Genius. 

Baby Genius helped Addie to learn numbers and the alphabet.

3. Hi-5

Basta Hi-5, dancing and singing yan! Yun lang magkaka-Australian accent ang kids niyo. Si Addie, kahit na slang ang English, pag humingi ng milk “Didi” pa rin. Hehe.

 4. Barney 

Give the purple dinosaur a chance. Mejo disturbing siya for us adults kase nga naman purple carnivorous dinosaur pa rin siya, pero madaming valuable lessons na tinuturo si Barney. Also, the kids usually speak in complete sentences. So helpful siya.

5. Maya the Bee. 

Addie loves wildlife and animals, and for now, favorite niya ay mga insects. Minsan nagpahanap ng photos sa google ng cute insects. Naisip ko nung una, challenge ata yun. Wala namang cute ipis!! Pero there are cute insects like Maya the bee.

6. Elmo 

Addie also likes Elmo. Cute naman kasi. 🙂

Eto ang mga shows na I think dapat iwasan ni Addie: 

1. Bananas in Pyjamas

Medyo slow si B1 and B2.

2. Tom and Jerry 

Not too many lessons to be learned from this cartoon, except maghabulan at mag-gantihan (i.e. mga lessons of violence).

 

3. Pocoyo. 

Pocoyo is cute! Pero hindi siya advisable sa kids na may tendency maging bratty kasi brat si Pocoyo!! Imagine niyo nalang stress ko nung ginaganito ako ni Addie…

at ito… sabay sabi ng “NO!” 

 

In the same way that children learn from the behavior of the adults around them or from what they observe in their actual environment, they naturally will pick up from what they see from different media such as the television. As parents, before we leave our children in front of the television, we should always consider the scenes our children will be exposed to and whether the characters are good role models for our little ones. In the end, kung okay naman ang sense of discernment natin as parents when it comes to the various factors affecting our child’s growth, the results will eventually show later on.  

Kayo, ano ang favorite TV shows ng kids niyo? 🙂