Florence
Flyer
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APRIL 2008 |
HOW TO BE A SMART TV PARENT
The bad news is that the evidence is overwhelming: the more time children spend staring impassively at a TV screen the poorer they do in school, the less creative and imaginative their work is, the more fearful and aggressive they are, the more willingly they accept negative stereotypes of people, and, not too surprisingly, the more likely they are to be overweight.
The Good News The good news is that you don't have to surrender to TV. You can protect your child from television's harm and, in some cases, turn TV-watching into time well spent.
For starters, the three to three-and-a-half hours a day that the average child watches TV is too much time for a youngster to spend with his or her body in park and brain in neutral. That's robbing time from healthier activities -- playing sports, reading, pursuing a hobby, or simply enjoying the company of friends or family.
If pulling the plug on the TV is out of the question, then you should at least insist that your child reduce the hours he or she spends watching television. Take time every Sunday with your child to study the weekly TV schedule. Discuss the specials that are previewed and your child's favorite weekly shows. For each day, pick one or two shows that you approve of and that your child wants to watch.
Your child's TV-watching should be limited to these shows plus the occasional special entertainment or public information program that the entire family can watch, enjoy and learn from together.
What's Your Child's TV IQ? But watching less is only half the battle. The other half will be won when your child learns how to watch TV intelligently -- that means questioning and thinking about everything he or she sees.
* For example, two-thirds of the hundreds of commercials children see every week promote sugared cereals, candy, greasy snacks and fast-food meals. While watching together, help your child sort fact from fiction and help him or her understand that commercials hardly ever give a balanced report. Follow-up with a trip to the market to check nutrition labels on advertised products. * Children of all ages need to discuss what they're thinking and feeling as they watch violence or intolerance on TV. Don't belittle their fears, but correct any misinformation they may have and explore ways people on the screen could have behaved differently. * Frequently challenge your child to explain why something happened in a TV story and to predict what will happen next. * Discuss why TV news broadcasts often only show the side of a story that is visually dramatic. Together, check the thoroughness of TV news coverage by reading about the same story in a newspaper.
Yogi Rascon Principal |
Time is more valuable than money because time is irreplaceable!
Tips for Test Taking!
April 7th – CiCi’s Pizza Night April 8th – 5th Grade Math TAKS April 8th – 1st Grade Field Trip April 11th – Class Group Pictures April 15th – Chick-fil-A Spirit Night April 29th – 3rd / 4th / 6th Grade Math TAKS April 30th – 4th / 6th Grade Reading TAKS May 1st – 5th Grade Science TAKS
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FRIENDLY REMINDER
Please remember, for up-to-the-minute information on weather related delays or closing, tune your radio to 88.5 FM, KEOM-Mesquite Schools Radio.
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