More talk, less TV
January 30, 2008 – 12:00 am
“In an influential study published in 1995, social scientists Betty Hart and Todd Risley recorded everything that went on in 42 households to see why some children fared worse in school than others.
One factor especially stood out: the number of words the child heard.
Lots of talk around babies and toddlers — an average of 30,000 words per day — led to larger vocabularies, higher IQs, more success in school. By age 4, the most successful children had heard 30 million more words than less successful children. ”
This is really just common sense, but it is soooo easy to just put your child in front of the TV somtimes. Like most everything, it’s okay in moderation. I know the television becomes an easy baby sitter in most families because let’s face it, us adults want some time to ourselves as well.
Just be mindful of what your children are watching and for how long they are watching TV. I actually have a friend who’s 3 year old niece is watching horror movies! :O You would think that it is common sense to NOT let your child watch movies like that, but some people just need to be told.
