I am a bad mother. Bear gets sort of unlimited screen time. I mean, he doesn't get screen time after around 6.30pm and he often chooses to play football outside and he sometimes reads anyway but he doesn't get the time limited (before 6:30). He also knows that if I catch him with something not age appropriate then he will be in big trouble and I'm usually in the room with him. So YouTube videos are football, funny cats, gameplay, odd bits here and there and lots of documentaries. Some of them are interesting and I watch over his shoulder.
Yesterday bear was doing Art. Bear takes after me when it comes to art. He's not quite as inept (I can't draw stick figures) but it isn't his thing. He is also colour blind which doesn't help. So he was distracted and picked up the booster science papers that were lying around. Bear is Year Five, the papers were for Year Six. Bear explained to the teacher that there was a mistake on the papers. The paper said that while the moon orbited the Earth and the Earth orbited the Sun, the Sun didn't orbit anything. Bear pointed out that the Sun does orbit something. Apparently the Sun and Solar System orbit some sort of cloud which is part of the Milky Way. He learned this from YouTube. Apparently he is correct. I have no idea. A few years ago he was able to correctly explain to a teacher how to do a mathematical process that had not been covered by the school because he had seen it on YouTube, understood it correctly and remembered it. He's going to be one of those kids in high school.
And that is what unlimited screen time has done for bear.
I must admit I didn't limit time on television and computer when my kids were little but the computer was in the living room (mind you this was a few years ago lol). My kids never seemed the worse for wear. Especially for the tv - they could take it or leave it. I did monitor what kind of programmes they were watching. My friend whose kids were rarely allowed to watch television were mesmorised when it was on. They were like zombies. It was quite funny to watch
ReplyDeleteBear sounds exactly like my brother he was always outstanding at maths and science at school. He is now a principal design engineer. I am like bear i love YouTube though I only watch craft and sewing videos. I think that it is great that he has such a thirst for knowledge, you have a bear to be proud of.
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