Learning With Media

Technologies such as television, videos, DVDs, and computers can expand thinking skills and ignite imaginations. They can also nurture a love of learning and encourage an appreciation for human diversity. Children will learn best from media that is engaging and developmentally appropriate. Programming like Sesame Street is a good example of educational media that allows you to extend the learning in fun and creative ways.

These tips can help you make the most of the media tools you choose:

  • Model healthy media use by balancing screen time with other activities.
  • Choose developmentally appropriate programs that build on your child's interests and develop her imagination.
  • Enhance learning opportunities by keeping your child involved. Pause to ask for predictions, check comprehension, discuss issues, or review content.
  • Repetition increases learning. Just as your child loves reading favorite books over and over again, he loves re-running videos and computer games. With each repetition, he is building on what he has learned.
  • Incorporate media at your convenience. Try not to be restricted by the broadcast schedule; if you want to spend extra time outside on a beautiful day, videotapes, DVRs and DVDs allow you to do so without missing anything.
  • Plan ahead. If you preview a program before sharing it with your child, you can select the part(s) of a show or game you want to highlight. This way, you can have a follow-up activity and book selection ready.

Integrating Fun and Appropriate Media

Using media in active ways helps prepare your child to interact with the content she sees and hears. Media can also extend your child's learning, especially when the lessons are reinforced with follow-up activities.

Here are some steps to help you integrate media into your child's routine:

  • Decide what you want to show, then plan a schedule. You can use the information on program topics that's available through your PBS station and online.
  • Plan questions to ask during screen time.
  • Plan activities. Act out scenes, draw pictures, play games, or sing songs that build on what your child has learned.
  • Find related books and schedule a time to read these books aloud.
  • Prepare your child. When you are ready to play a tape or use the computer, tell your child what he can expect or what you want him to do. Mention some of the things the characters may be doing.
  • Set time limits. The deepest learning happens when your child learns with all of her senses, so alternate between screen time and activities that give your child an opportunity to touch and manipulate objects, move her body, and shift the focus of her eyes.

Media can be an effective teacher. Your child learns from what he sees on screen, whether it is a violent program or an educational program. You can help him get the most from on-screen content by steering him towards age- appropriate educational programs and using related activities to enhance your child's learning experiences. The activities you choose should reinforce program themes and lessons, help your child appreciate differences and similarities (racial, ethnic, lifestyle, gender, cultural, physical, language, family groups, and abilities), and include a wide variety of materials to encourage creative expression. Viewing, doing, and reading can happen in any order. The key is to use words to remind your child of the links.

Using Television, Videos, or DVDs

  • Show your child through your own actions that it's fine to sing, clap, dance, or play along with what she sees on the screen.
  • Help your child identify shapes, colors, and numbers by repeating them along with the show.
  • Have your child explore her feelings by identifying emotions and naming what the characters are experiencing. Help her recall her own experiences and relate them to what she sees on screen.
  • Respond to your child's questions about things that are happening on screen. Help him understand concepts like cooperation and feelings by talking about the situations and characters he has seen.
  • Practice sequencing by asking your child to re-tell a story she has seen or to identify what happened in the beginning, middle, and end.
  • With videos and DVDs, you can create an interactive experience by using the pause button. Pause the program and encourage your child to guess what will happen next. Keep in mind that too much stopping and starting may make it difficult for preschoolers to follow a storyline unless they have seen the program before. You can also use the rewind feature to practice listening skills and let your child check the program to see if his memory is accurate.

Using Computers

  • Explore the world. If your child is curious about a certain subject, like "elephants" or "Africa," go online and do a search. You will quickly find a number of websites you can visit to learn more.
  • Model how to use the computer to write stories, make art or music, and find information, as well as to play games. In the early years, your child is learning how to use the mouse and the keyboard, so the simpler the program, the better.
  • Visit the websites of some favorite television programs, like Sesame Street, to find program-related activities and more information about program topics.
  • Add internet safety to your other safety lessons. Teach your child never to give out personal information on the computer. Preview websites to make sure they are age appropriate and that they follow basic privacy guidelines (that is, are you comfortable with the way they track your online activities and use any information they gather about you?).

Choosing Media

The following tips can help you choose developmentally appropriate media that will maximize your children's interests and educational opportunities.

Selecting Television Programs, Videos, or DVDs

When selecting television programs, videos, of DVDs, ask yourself if what you are looking at:

  • Reflects the values you want to teach and/or content you want to share
  • Shows (rather than just tells) key concepts and repeats important ideas in a variety of ways for different kinds of learners
  • Has characters that encourage participation and are good role models for your child
  • Encourages your child to use her imagination
  • Introduces age-appropriate issues
  • Uses language that your child can understand and introduces new words to build her vocabulary
  • Gives your child chances to practice problem-solving skills
  • Leaves your child feeling good about himself and others
  • Gets your child excited about learning
  • Adds new information to your child's knowledge base and builds on skills in a fun and entertaining way
  • Features concepts your child is interested in learning
  • Allows you to pause for further discussion

Selecting Computer Software or Websites

When you are considering computer software, you might also ask if it:

  • Can be used with easy cursor movements (matching a beginner's limited fine motor skills) and responds quickly to commands (so your child doesn't get distracted while waiting)?
  • Provides increasingly difficult challenges as your child's skill level improves in both individual and group situations?
  • Provides ways for your child to make interesting things happen and gives him lots to talk about?
  • Helps your child see cause and effect by clearly responding to a user's actions?
  • Provides opportunities for your child to engage in problem-solving?
  • Supports the languages spoken by your child and introduces new languages?

Resources

Television-Proof Your Kids: A Parent's Guide to Safe and Healthy Viewing
Lauryn Axelrod

The Smart Parent's Guide to Kids' Television
Milton Chen

Young Children: Active Learners in a Technological Age
J. L. Wright & D. D. Shade, eds.