Right after I had my daughter, 20 years ago, I had decided that I would only allow her to watch a half hour of tv per day, and that would be while I made her lunch.
That lasted for a while. Then, by the time I had three little ones, it had morphed into a half hour while I made lunch and another half hour while I made dinner.
Then, my husband picked up a second job, so I was home alone ALL day with 3 little ones who were always begging to watch tv. Plus, they all liked different shows. So, what’s a mom to do???
Well, I bought a tv for them and kept it in the play room, and would let them watch a movie, while I watched a movie of my own, almost nightly. I considered it my “break time”.
One day, while we at the library, my daughter discovered the movie section. Together, we chose a few educational, nonfiction videos and went home and watched them. I was surprised her younger siblings willingly sat quietly and watched with us. I was even more surprised, when, after a movie about Scotland, they wanted(well, she convinced them that they wanted to) to go to the library again and look for some books about Scotland. So, off we went for the second time in one day. We checked out some books on Scotland, along with a cookbook that had recipes from around the world, including Scotland! We went home, and our first “unit study” was created, even though, at the time, we were just doing what came naturally to us; it wasn’t a planned homeschooling assignment. We spent weeks working on a brilliant tri-fold display, with customs, clothing, map, animals, and food. Just by chance, shortly after this, we heard of a local geography fair that was open to anyone. Off we went and it was one of the most inspirational activities we’ve done! Our rabbit trail into unit studies for our homeschooling method had begun.
We would pick a subject and then delve into it. Oh the fun I had coming up with ideas to go with each subject. I was loving homeschooling! I was also enjoying looking for movies and such to add to our curriculum. Hmmmm….maybe tv wasn’t as taboo as I thought it was. We began to actually enjoy watching movies and shows together! The list of shows we enjoyed together is quite extensive. I was quite surprised by how much they would retain out of the programs we chose to watch.
So, about 15 years later, the kids talked me into trying out Netflix. They’d been hearing more and more about it from their friends. I was reluctant. Then, there was a documentary coming that featured a case from right near us, and I was also intrigued and we decided to do a trial run. We loved it and have been hooked ever since.
My kids are almost always busy, so we have very little time to actually watch tv, but I do like knowing it’s an option and I’ve been able to get past the stigma about allowing my children to watch tv. I’ve been thoroughly surprised and impressed with some of the documentaries we’ve seen. There are also so many shows we enjoy!
My youngest, 10, is the only one who chooses to watch tv when he can. His current favorites are: Fixer Upper; Dinosaur Train; Wild Kratts; Little House On The Prairie; Magic School Bus; Shark Tank & Veggie Tales.
So what are some of your children’s favorite shows to watch?
