Milly

I watch cbeebies every day from 6am to 7pm, not because i'm a psycho, but because i have two kids under the age of 2yrs who need to be kept busy, but i'm not that bad a mother, i do take them out to playgroups and the park too.

Cbeebies, is actually a really interesting program to watch from the angle of seeing what kids are most interested in, how the programs are educating our kids in social ethic as well as equipping them with some academic tools. My daughter is absorbed by a few programs like Mister Maker which are creative in nature, so i assume she will enjoy arts and crafts and i wasn't wrong. I did some simply card making with her and she loved it and was concentrating intently all the way through while other kids who were doing the same craft at a playgroup were losing interest and trying to run off to do something else.

She also loves Brum, a little car scooting around and saving the day. I noticed that she likes to watch a program that has a negative aspect to its story line which is then solved somehow by a hero like Brum or Sporticus, a superhero health freak that is always exercising and again saving the day!

Brum is particularly intriguing for her as well as Mr Tumble from the program Something Special. Both these programs have really exaggerated facial expressions with every action, so the people in Brum are reacting in a completely over the top fashion to the actions taking place around them and Mr Tumble is also reflecting the same exaggerated gesticulations. Also Something Special features sign language which has always captured her attention and the other day she moved her hand in a sign language style to say yes. I think she may have a forte for sign language, although i wouldn't want to encourage that just yet because i would like her to rely on her verbal skills to communicate.

It's amazing how much we can learn about our child by observing them watching TV. I've always held that TV is an excellent educational source as long as conversation about the program is taking place between guardian and child. If the child is watching blankly and isn't stimulated by being told the names of things in the program then verbal development can regress.

Interaction with the TV is essential.