I actually haven't really looked at all, but I thought I might ask if anyone knows of some that are *very* decent, I mean no worldly music, and things questionable - no cartoons etc etc, but rather am looking for educational things, counting, shapes, colours, abc's that sort of stuff.
So far I've only come up with Baby Einstein DVD's but still some of those are questionable like the shapes for example! Anyways, any other thoughts would be appreciated. :)
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Personally, I'm not a big fan of DVD's for toddlers, so I'm afraid I'll not be much help. (I've read too much research on the effects of TV on young children...) However, there are some DVD's of Beatrix Potter stories being read, and it's static images taken directly from the books with the story being read directly, and my sister and I enjoyed those (in VHS, of course!) when we were about 3-7 years old.
She's getting big enough now, would she sit and "read along" with a book? They make books on disk/tape still, and there's a little bell to tell when to turn the page, and that's a way she could do good books without you (you could even record them yourself) assuming you're looking for a way to occupy her for 5-10 minutes or whatever. I also know my niece and nephew really enjoyed their little leap pad or think pad... not sure which they were... things, which you can get lots of different books for, and will keep preschoolers busy for hours sometimes!
Are you against cartoons as a form of art, or the behaviour often manifested by cartoon characters?
We use a lot of DVDs/videos with the children, will have a think if there is anything I could recommend. .
I like your new blogger skin! and the photo matches it very well :D
As far as DVDs; I've also read about negative effects of TV (even educational programs) so I haven't looked into finding anything myself... so I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions other than perhaps some nature DVDs by National Geographic. I realize even then it would be difficult to find something totally fine, though.
Perhaps I should have mentioned that these DVD's weren't for just anytime but to keep my sanity! I gather I'm not going to get anywhere with ideas so I'll end that here.
I don't agree with cartoons probably because, they often show worldly behaviour and so on.
Another thing, what do you mean by "negative" effects it can have on a child? I'm sure it has neg effects if they are watching it non stop throughout the day, but I doubt an hour a day would harm them, especially if it isn't something showing violence and etc that you normally get with tv shows etc, obviously they wouldn't be watching those things anyways. Anyways, we have neg effects from so many things in life I just believe we need to moderate certain things (obviously!) like dvd watching, internet use, and so forth.
Oh, and Melissa, that is a good idea about books and tapes thing, I need to look into that. Thanks!
They are finding that even Baby Einstein DVD's and other "educational" programming geared to babies and toddlers actually negatively impacts their vocabulary and other linguistic abilities and their reasoning abilities. (Had to research this for a paper I wrote, lol). It's not the behaviour, but the cognitive that is negatively impacted in babies and small children. The recommendations of said studies actually recommend no more than an average of 1/2 an hour of television in a week under age 5, and no more than 1 hour a week until they are 12. I'll have to see if I can find the studies for you...
Okay, here are a couple of links, and if you google "effects of television on babies" you'll find a wealth of even more information. these are two of the articles I used for my paper though.
http://www.pbs.org/parents/childrenandmedia/article-faq.html
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/protecting_your_family/tv_and_todays_family.aspx
The studies I read said that TV in small children (under two) is harmful because the images move much more quickly than real life--they jump from scene to scene or from one camera angle to another, often within seconds. The rapid shifting of images impacts a child's ability to concentrate on real life, which obviously moves a lot more slowly.
One study synopsis I read stated that every hour of TV watched daily (this is in 1 and 3 year olds) produces about a 10% increase in the likelihood of the child developing ADD (attention deficit disorder). So a child who watches 3 hours a day (not uncommon these days, sadly) has a 30% chance of developing ADD.
So the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) and other associations recommend no TV at all for children under the age of two--but Amelia's over two, right? I'm not sure how much is supposed to be "okay" for children over two, but I'm sure a little bit is harmless (as long as the content is not harmful, of course).
Of course one person's idea of "a little bit" may differ quite a bit from another's...my boys watch up to 1/2 an hour a week at their dad's, which in my opinion is fine (depending on what they're watching, of course).
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