I'm constantly amazed at the redundancy of the "TV is bad for your children" hype. Don't get me wrong, there are some mind-numbing kids shows out there, and too much of anything can definitely be a bad thing. But since I myself grew up watching "Seseme Street" and "The Letter People" - and I'm convinced to this day the latter was why I was always a good reader in school - I just can't pass up the power of TV to educate children. And having a toddler and a preschooler at home, I've learned a thing or two about the shows out there for the not-yet-school-age set.
Believe it or not, there are some great early learning programs on television right now. One of my favorites is Super Why on PBS. I have even used it in the classroom this year with my kindergarten students. This show covers the gamut of letters and sounds, spelling, word recognition, comprehension, and even teaches social skills! The characters in the show become super heros to read, and the animation and story lines really keep the kids interested. Although they're not too good about updating it, PBS Kids has a free video podcast of the shows available on iTunes. The website has a lot of great educational games for young kids too.
Another one of my favorites for my kids to watch is Pinky Dinky Doo on Noggin. This show is about a little girl who likes to tell (somewhat outrageous) stories. They also tend to teach a life lesson, but the thing I think is really great about the show is that it teaches vocabulary words like "enormous" or "engrossed" to very young kids in a way they can understand and remember what they mean. It also does a great job of teaching story concepts and comprehension skills. Also one nice thing I just realized after checking it out, you can watch full episodes directly from the website.
Not that everything my kids watch is completely educational - at the moment, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins and My Friends Tigger and Pooh are all right up there on the "must watch" list. And don't get me wrong, Mickey does a great job of teaching colors and math concepts, and the Little Einstein expose kids to art and music, which I do think is very important. But for phonemic awareness and reading skills, I've yet to find anything that beats the other two. Now if they would only re-release the old "Letter People" shows...
