| There are many good programs on PBS. But no television can replace the important daily activities you do with the children in your care. Fortunately, you can use TV to enrich your curriculum and lesson plans. Television will help you the most if you use it selectively and sparingly. The following tips will be helpful. Use the VCR
To tape the programs that you think are appropriate to use with your children. A VCR tape can help in many ways! - You can review the show(s), choose the segments you think are most useful, select books and plan activities you will want to do with the group.
- You can stop or pause a tape to ask questions.
- You can watch a favorite segment again and again.
You can fit it into your schedule!
If you cannot tape ahead of time, select programs that are specifically tailored to the age group you are caring for.Use a TV Guide
To learn about the show from its title. Look for shows that highlight the very things you want your children to learn. - Be ready with activities that can follow up any topic you watch on TV: whether you watch a show about whales or a show about bulldozers, some activities can fit anything.
- Be ready to write a group story, make up a play, or go to the library and find books.
Encourage Your Children to Respond
To what they see and hear on television. Break the mold-TV can be so much more than "sit quietly and listen."- Encourage your children to ask questions, talk about what they see, imitate what they're watching, and dance along.
- Let them know they are free to come and go as they please.
- Have other activities or centers available so children never feel they are confined to sit at the TV.
Triangle of Learning
Think of the TV segment or show you are viewing with the children as one point in a triangle of learning. Reading and related activities are the other important points-all three come together to spark learning.- If you watch a segment about cooperation, follow it up with a good story that also shows characters cooperating.
- Do an activity about cooperating: make a list of the chores that must be done and talk about good helpers. Or, build a block tower together.
- Refer back to the segment they watched: ask questions- why is cooperating important? Young children need lots of repetition in order to understand and digest new ideas. Use TV, books and related activities again and again to reinforce the learning.
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