TV and Homeschoolers
I'm on a yahoo homeschool group list and right now and there is a long string of discussion about TV. I'm surprised at how many homeschoolers do NOT watch TV at all. Is this normal for most homeschoolers? Do your kids watch TV? Do you and your husband watch TV? If so, what do you watch and do you let your kids watch with you? |
June 9th, 2005 - Posted in Uncategorized | | 0 Comments No Responses to ' TV and Homeschoolers 'Leave a reply |
on June 9th, 2005 at 2:51 pm
Well, yes and no…
We do watch TV but not much. I don’t even allow my girls to turn it ON until after 3pm…especially in the warm months. I do watch a few select TV shows but only on Thursday nights…I love Survivor…so don’t call me at 7pm when the new season starts LOL! Hey, I think I could represent TOS on the next one, I might have a shot at a million big ones….just kidding! Me in a swimsuit, now there's something to have nightmares about LOL!
Back to my TV meandering ….my husband watches MUCH more TV than the girls or myself and he watches the normal GUY things….sports and *UGH* fishing shows….and you KNOW I DO NOT watch those, I think I'd rather watch paint dry. We mostly watch science shows and history stuff beyond the normal Survivor night. I restrict MUCH of what the girls watch on TV, I keep tight reigns on that. We do watch lots of movies though.
Anissa
on June 9th, 2005 at 2:52 pm
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I got distracted and had to go help with laundry and the dishwahser and forgot why I came…..
I watch CSI but hubby hates it. He likes Frasier, but they are always reruns and never in order, so it bugs me,LOL, but I watch with him.
The kids watch TV, but not much. I am picky about what they watch, they mostly watch DVDs and VHS tapes and spme PBS, but I don't like all of the PBS either. They like ZOOM and Cyberchase. We all watch documentaries together.
I try to have structured tv/computer time. I have a good schedule for school days, but I need a non school day (or summer unschooling) routine. they get 30 minutes media time (TV or computer). when theur school and chores are done, And sometimes Hubby lets them have an extra 30 hour in the evenings, they usually have to earn it by reading.
Weekends he lets them do too much I think (computer/tv) but he is in charge….
on June 9th, 2005 at 2:59 pm
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My friends are amazed that we don't actually own a real TV. I do have a TV Wonder card set up on one of my computers with a DishTV connection because I need to catch certain things for business (mostly I "timeshift" with tivo), but it's not our perferred method of distraction 🙂 Our life is crazier and more entertaining than most "reality shows".
Besides, why watch TV when you can blog 🙂
What do I say to our children about TV? Simple. I haven't discouraged it, I just say "Focus on what will produce God's purpose in you." This has helped them to make better choices supporting their vision for life.
on June 9th, 2005 at 3:11 pm
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Well,,,,I think you already know this about me….
But…
I like to watch :o)
So do my kids.
I am not necessarily proud of it…but it is the truth :o)
Oops…gotta go…time for Jeopardy!
Donna
on June 9th, 2005 at 3:56 pm
Have it……
But hate it. I *rarely* watch tv. My children watch it very little also. However, my dh has to have it on almost all the time when he's home. I figure that God is working on my patience and submissive chapters when tv/dh is involved. ;o)
on June 9th, 2005 at 4:04 pm
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Yes, I'll admit, we watch it 🙂 My kids barely watch it though, since I usually turn it on after they go to bed. My dh is really into watching sports: basketball,football, golf, bowling, etc. I like to watch reality shows, the Amazing Race is actually a family favorite. I am definately one who switches the channel over if anything (even a commercial) comes on that is offensive to me (such as immodestly dressed women, vulgarity, etc). After you weed that stuff out, there really isn't too much on.
on June 9th, 2005 at 5:03 pm
Edu DVDs
Our family is hooked on the OLD classic movies as well as educational documentary type DVDs. Answers in Genesis makes THE BEST creation DVDs….so does Moody.
-gena
on June 9th, 2005 at 8:28 pm
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Ain't got no cable. Ain't able to get no channels.
Gots me a Netflix subscription, tho! Sho nuff…
~Kolbi
on June 9th, 2005 at 9:17 pm
I'm with Kolbi
We only have Netflix and usually get more older movies and tv shows. My family is a gang of recovering tvaholics.
We all loved way too much tv. Everything just looked so good! We had minimal self discipline and strength to turn the tv off. God pretty much determined our non-tv status, when no one could figure out why this MONGO antenna on the side of our house won't get reception. We figured it was divine intervention and decided to try the no TV thing.
It's been almost 2 years. Yes we miss some of our favorite shows, but I realize when I watch tv how desensitized we had become. Between the commercials, skimpy clothes, horrible language and broken family relationships I am typically appalled now when I watch some at other familys' homes.
We're not radical, we think you can watch tv and enjoy it wisely. We've just decided that we enjoy controlling our selection of what to watch more. No flipping channels past all the yucky stuff. When a movie is over, we're more inclined to get up and do something else instead of flipping a channel to see what else is on.
Yet another example of what makes me realize that I'm "becoming" one of those people I used to avoid. : )
on June 9th, 2005 at 10:10 pm
Bad, BAD TV!
We finally bought a decent TV, a flat screen with a dvd/vcr combo. After 15 years. I lived for 15 years, married, without a remote control. I can't figure the doofy thing out and it drives me crazy. I forget that I can walk over and turn it on manually. It drives me nuts.
I am easily addicted to lawyer/police/crime scene investigation shows. But when I lie awake at night and wonder WHY they didn't figure out that so and so was really the perpetrator and they arrested and convicted the wrong guy, and how could they be so stupid not to figure it out blah, blah, blah, …….then I realize that I need to quit watching the TV!!!! At least I don't talk back to it like my grandma used to do. THAT is fodder for a new blog……speaking of which, you need to go read. 🙂
love,
Nancy, CSI
on June 10th, 2005 at 3:55 pm
Husband and I watch
certain shows when the season is on, LOST, Survivor, Apprentice, Alias, but they are not on now and I love the summer for that – I get so much more done! :+)
We let the children watch Animal Planet sometimes and rarely the Disney channel when there is something for the little ones (cartoonish); and a rare episode of Survivor when we know it is clean.
We are a Blockbuster (like Netflix) family with the TV Guardian.
:+) Kate
on June 10th, 2005 at 4:02 pm
Yes we watch
We do watch TV. My husband likes to watch golf, I like to watch some news shows, and sometimes we let the kids watch a show that they would like to see. There are many days the TV doesn't even get turned on, and then some days we may watch two movies in one day. We try to steer clear of the junk shows and just glean the things that are good. Basically, we use common sense when choosing shows to watch.
on June 10th, 2005 at 8:09 pm
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A modern Psalm taken from “The New International Unchristian Perversion.”
“The TV is my shepherd, I shall not want anything else. It maketh me to lie down on the sofa. It leadeth me away from the Scripture. It destroys my soul. It leadeth me in the paths of sex and violence for the sponsors sake, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will enjoy the evil, for blood and sex they excite me. It’s cable and remote they comfort me. It prepares a commercial before me in the presence of my children. It anoints my head with humanism, My coveting runneth over. Surely laziness and ignorance shall follow my family all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house watching TV forever.”
But don’t worry parents, as you know the TV doesn’t have any influence on the children of parents who don’t want it to influence them. That’s why the sponsors only advertise products you have already decided to buy.
on June 10th, 2005 at 8:27 pm
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That's another thing I *LOVE* about livin' in the country, there is NO cable. We are too far out to get any reception via antena….heeeee heeeee!
We did however have satellite television for a time….but it's GONE!
Marc loved to watch CSI…and we enjoy a good clean stand up comedian (but those are few n far between)…we just decided it was such a time waster, and we couldn't have it on unless the children were asleep…and it is truly just a LOTTA trash…….why PAY for that ??
We could definitley come up with better things to do with our time 😉
on June 10th, 2005 at 10:12 pm
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wow, very interesting; and the tv psalm from anonymous was, er, disturbing. i really like our subscription to our online rent-a-movie place. For a while we tried watching shows with the kids (especially Kings games) but my GOODNESS the commercials were unbelievably over-the-top. It certainly isn't the same three- channels type of programming I had as a kid. I wonder what our kids will be faced with as adults, and the decisions they will allow for their households when we are not their to enforce what the are subjected to….
thanks for your (honest) comments; it's very interesting to see how everyone manages things.
on June 11th, 2005 at 7:57 pm
I blogged about it
My answer was too long to post here so I blogged about it. You can read it here
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/spunkyhomeschool/1264/
Spunky
on June 14th, 2005 at 2:31 am
A no TV family ….wel, sort of….
We've been tv free for 5-6 years.
When I explained to the satellite company rep that we wanted the service cut off because we were turning off tv, he asked, "Well, what are you guys going to do for entertainment?" (Use the TV section of the paper to make paper maiche model of the human eye during our human body study!)
I must confess I miss the old reruns of The Match Game on the Game Show Channel.
However, I've taken to a new habit…buying the season collections of old shows like "Mr. Ed" (I couldn't let the Mr. Ed theme song skip a generation in our household!) and "Little House on the Prairie". In fact, we recently had a family "Little Hosue" marathon – watching all of Season 6 on one Saturday….DH and I had to see Almanzo propose to Laura! LOL
I try so hard to run past the movie section at Sam's Club. Hmm, are these considered "television"??? Am I cheating and really not tv-free?
Everyone all together, "A horse is a horse of course, of course…."