Effects of Television on the Cognitive -behavioral patterns of children

Effects of TV on children.

With the advent of television came a lot of other things. Lot of channels, lots of information, lots of confusion and ofcourse then came a whole lot of TV addiction. It's not just adults, we see children hooked on to television too. With a galore of things to offer, how can one decide what is right and wrong? It's not just subjective but cognitive. The impact that television has on child's brain. How does it have a bearing over the child's development is something that's more imperative to understand. I chanced upon this video by Mr. Dimitri Christakis who talks about the effects of TV on the cognitive aspects, which leads to behavioral challenges in children.

Click here to watch it and let me know your views.

Alternatively you may also click on the link below.

http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxRainier-Dimitri-Christakis

18 things to teach children

18 things to teach your children 

This is the most inspiring and thought provoking quotes I have come across. It is by Dorothy Law Nolte in her book, Children Learn What They Live: Parenting to Inspire Values. 

Doesn't it say so much, that we can try and instill in our children and around. It needn't just be applied to children, I believe works really well even with grown-ups

Children Learn What They Live: Parenting to Inspire Values by Dorothy Law Nolte

Children Learn What They Live Quotes 

“If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn . . .

If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight . . .

If a child lives with fear, he learns to be apprehensive . . .

If a child lives with pity, he learns to feel sorry for himself . . .

If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy . . .

If a child lives with jealousy, he learns to feel envy . . .

If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty ... 

BUT

If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient . . .

If a child lives with encouragement, he learns to be confident . . .

If a child lives with praise, he learns to be appreciative . . .

If a child lives with acceptance, he learns to love . .

If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves..

If a child lives with honesty, he learns what truth is . . .

If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice . . .

If children live with recognition, they learn to have a goal.

If children live with sharing, they learn to be generous.

If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith in himself and those about him . . .

If a child lives with friendliness, he learns the world is a nice place in which to live . . .” 

How to read a book to a baby/ toddler?

Reading
I bought a couple of books for my lil one recently. I saw that he took a keen interest in reading. I know he can't read yet but he still likes to flip pages, look at pictures, go back and forth the pages and then do his favorite thing- to tear. I wonder how much fun it must be for them to tear pages of a book. I have also seen a couple of videos on YouTube of babies laughing and enjoying hysterically at the sound of a paper being torn. And seeing my lil pudding do the same just seals my doubt , it sure must be a whole lot of fun else why would they, isn't it? 

Well, coming to books, I started with a couple of books from Sesame Beginnings series. They have four of them ( Nighty night, At the zoo, Bubble Bubbles, Eyes Nose Fingers & toes) and cost a dollar each only. It's easy to read with rhyming words at the end of a sentence and illustrated with bright colorful sesame characters. 

Now I have graduated to a book with stories like Good Night Moon, The very Hungry Caterpillar, My book of shapes & colors and more.

I will share some tips on how to start reading a book to a baby/ toddler.

1. Choose a book. You can start with any simple book. Nothing fancy and expensive. Do not forget to get a hard board book. This prevents the baby from easily tearing the pages.

2. Pick a time for reading. It could be before nap/ bed time, during playtime, before/ after bath, anytime that you think is easier for both the baby and you.

3. Be Consistent. Being regular and on time, gets the baby to enjoy and learn the art of reading.

4. Some other things that I believe can make it more interesting are by adding you own touch to reading. Making actions with hand or gestures with face, voice modulation a, wavering the tones as per characters can add more fun to the reading. This is totally up to you and is not a must.

Hope these tips help. If you want to know more or ask anything, please feel free to comment.

Elimination Communication.

This post has been drafted 3 months back and had not been posted until now. The reason being, I always decided to create a blog but never got a chance. Now! Blame it on time, energy, sheer laziness or me just being me sometimes. You may read it in two parts, one when I started elimination communication/ potty training-familiarizing-session and later after a month of training. I will write the dates for you to know exactly when I wrote this.

Pic source

Jan 4, 11.20pm

Two weeks back I decided on potty training my little one. I researched and watched a lot of videos online to pep me up. Actually the videos just kicked in the enthusiasm. So I went and bought a potty reducer and recently ordered a potty chair too. My enthusiasm was so evident that I decided to make him sit on it right away as soon as we got home. And believe me or not, he peed. Oh! Yeah he did. Ok! I thought this may be just a fluke ..so the next day I tried again, and he did pee again. What more did I want, I thought this is it! So now my aim was to maintain it. Ok did I mention Apple, that is what i call my son with love is just 11 months old. So that is my big challenge- challenge to train a 11 month old to go potty and to continue doing so. Phew! I said.

I did a lot of research and came across a term called "elimination communication". You can read more about it here. Ok! Now before you say isn't Apple too young to potty train. Am I not torturing him? Why force him so soon? Let him be "ready" .  Ok ok! First I am not forcing my son. I am just familiarizing him with the process and the potty. Secondly he has never been made to cry or forced to sit on it. Thirdly I don't think there is any thing that says babies have to be "ready" to go potty in a toilet. I think if you can teach a baby how to drink milk , eat food , sit in a car seat, then I think you can teach a baby to potty too. Yes ! Teaching a toddler may be easier than a baby as you can explain with words.


Feb 12, 7.48 pm

Ok! Sorry , I have been wanting to update on my progress but just didn't get a chance to sit it down and write. 

It's almost a month and 2 weeks since I have been potty training/ ECing my lo. I can proudly say it has been 2 weeks since I have changed a soiled diaper. He is now trained for pooping in the toilet. I am yet to train him to pee, though I started with it but have postponed it for summer. I did the training pants and all , but now since it is cold here on the east coast, it's not wise on my part to leave him in his onsie and underpants only. But poop yes! He does it and also become more regular in time.

Some of the goods and bads of my training experience. Again this my opinion based on my experience. I am sure everyone else has their own and will say differently.

- I started towards the end of his 11 months, which I think is a great age to start considering he was sitting steadily and was crawling pretty swiftly. He is yet to start walking. I also began early as I had friends who started late after 2 years and still are trying hard to get them to sit on the potty.

- we started with pee training as it was easier for me to get him to sit as you don't really have specific timings for peeing. Make him sit ( btw I make him sit on the toilet with a toilet seat reducer on top, and I have a reason why I did that first, will tell you as we go along) on the toilet, turn the shower on for a minute, he feels cold and shivers and pees.. I did this for a week and then he got the hang of it.

- continued doing this twice a day to thrice a day and I had no specific timings to do this.. It was random.

- in the mean time I started watching cues to know his poop timings. I would take him immediately and put him on the potty. Sometimes he would have done and completed in the diaper other times I was lucky to get him do in the toilet. 

- I continued doing this and my lo got used to the idea what he needs to do when he is on the potty. 

- by week 3 and four I didn't have to turn on the shower, he knew what he had to do. He also got regular on his poop timing rather i was able to recognize his signals and cues.

- by week five he was regular and would poop when I put him on the toilet seat.

Now all I need to say lets try and poop. He sits for a couple of minutes and poops. I am not specific on time..take him around his usual time though.

I slacked a few times. Not good on my part..coz with babies it's important to be consistent.

I did not incentivize this activity with toys or anything else. Reason being I didn't want him to get any other idea why we go to the bathroom. Kept it simple.we go to the bathroom to pee and poo..not play. But yeah I do appreciate and make a big deal! Yay! Look baby poo pooed / pee peed! Yay! Clap clap.

I also put a colorful magazine on his lap..now this is not a reward but to keep his hands off his privates. Yes he has not idea and keeps fiddling.

Ok, the reason I told you I put him directly on the toilet seat with a seat reducer is I didn't want another task, to transition him from potty seat to the main toilet seat later. Though I have bought one, the fisherprice froggy potty ( and its good, fits his lil tush perfectly) I plan to use it mainly for peeing. But this is once he starts walking and is trained to pee. It will be a easy one if he wants to go pee without my help. He needn't wait. But that is sometime from now.

One thing I learnt from this whole session is with babies, patience and being consistent are key to get them trained or make them learn anything. There were times when I would say, forget it! I ll wait till he can talk and walk..but then I didn't want to give up..it's easier for them to learn when they are young than later.

If any of you would like to know more, please feel free to ask. I would be glad to share.