We're not against television in our family. I'm not ashamed of it, I love to watch TV with Lilli. We sing songs and talk about what's going on and the characters. I point out things she knows and related them to whatever she has picked up that week. She learns a lot and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that we interact with her, it's a tool not a babysitter.
However, once in a while we read about something that turns us off to a show. For example, Curious George teaches children how to misbehave by saying it's o.k. because he's a monkey. We monitor what she watches, we pay close attention to what she is picking up and try very hard to ensure that she's not being exposed to anything we wouldn't want to teach her ourselves.
Her favorite part of a show is the introduction song. Most of the time she will sing the song and not pay any attention to the rest of the show unless there's singing involved. She has recently started "singing" along with anything she recognizes, whether it be a song we sing together or a theme song on a show, she tries to mimic the sounds of the song. Of course most of the time they sound nothing alike, but it's adorable.
Her (and my) favorite show is Sesame Street. She loves Elmo and will stop dead in her tracks if she hears an Elmo song. She also watches Nick Jr. and Sprout from time to time. I'm not a huge fan of all of the shows she enjoys, to be honest I turn them off if I can't take any more. Dora was never a favorite of mine, but it's on right before bed and gives us an opportunity to clean up after dinner, get her pj's on, put away all of the day's toys, etc. She learned the word "backpack" and she has a Dora and Boot's tub toy that she learned how to "wash" while we wash her. All great learning tools... right?
Well, for those of you who have not heard the theme song to Dora:
Please note the "D-D-D-Dora" part... Dora the Explorer has taught my daughter to stutter. Needless to say, Dora is off of the regularly viewed programming list. Lesson learned.
"Song of the Entry"
