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July 8, 2008

Can TV Teach Your Kid to Read?

by Dewi L. Faulkner

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Cliff Hanger, the long word freak-out, the Smarty-Pants Dance, those mysteriously-floating jewel-toned lips that teach about vowel sounds using jazzy riffs and beautiful harmonies; the list of things to love about PBS children's series Between the Lions goes on and on. The show is fun. But can it really teach kids to read?

According to a new slew of surveys conducted by some very well-known universities... yes. Or at least it can significantly help. Thanks in part to these findings, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) recently announced its commitment to funding seasons seven and eight of the popular television show.

Studies by the University of Kansas, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and others, say Between the Lions gives children a leg up when it comes time to learn to read. In the University of Kansas Study, performed by Dr. Deborah Linebarger, kindergarten students who watched Between the Lions outperformed students who did not at a ratio of 4:1 in reading skills like letter-sound correspondence, phonemic awareness, and concepts of print. In the Harvard study, students who watched Between the Lions, rather than Arthur, had an easier time blending words, even though they'd scored significantly lower than these same students before the study began.

During the two consecutive school years (2004-2005 and 2005-2006) that eleven Tribal Head Start programs in New Mexico implemented the Between the Lions American Indian Head Start Literacy Initiative project in 48 of their classrooms, students showed dramatic improvements in early English literacy skills. For example, before the project children knew, on average approximately six letters. By the end of their participation they knew about nineteen, according to a study by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication. The number of children considered at risk for reading failure dropped from 39 percent to 12 percent as measured by the popular screening tool, Get Ready to Read.

Could your kid be next? Would he learn his alphabet and master his phonics if only you switch from Sponge Bob to Between the Lions? Unclear. But at the very least, he'll probably love that Smarty-Pants dance.


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17 Comments

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Other readers' comments on this article:

  1. i refuse to say that tv can help kids learn to read , all tv does is make your child a couch potato , and never really learn what life is about , can tv teach them how to fish, hunt , grow a garden, teach them the value , of thier country , , no this has to be taught by the parents . to many parents depend on the tv , to be a baby sitter , and they also expect thier teachers to teach life skills, and how the world , really goes around     sincerly david whalley

    Posted by david whalley on May 9, 2007 5:10 pm

  2. TV is a tool like any thing else and can be abused.  Today it is often abused, but that does not make it inherently evil.  I know people that are obsessed with hunting or golf or a myriad of other things to the detriment of their own children.  I think balance is the key.  TV can teach wonderful things through the powerful imagery it has at it's disposal or if used without discipline can be extremely harmful.
     
    As to the article, I would like to also suggest that parents turn on the closed captioning.  Running the words along the bottom of the screen helps as well and it's so easy to do.  I believe in the 70's they did a study and showed children that had a parent in the household that was hearing impaired and had that black box on their TV's for closed captioned scored remarkably higher in reading.  Today that black box is built into pretty much all TV's.  So, why not use it?

    Posted by Chris Marshall on May 14, 2007 2:15 pm

  3. that was a good article infact now i might watch it and i'm 20

    Posted by MEGAN GREENWOOD on May 28, 2007 7:29 am

  4. to some extent Tv is good for childs to learn many things abot the education but it doesn't teach the values of life and how to become a good person and citizen of that nation and it not teach the maral lessons .it possible only through the parents and the teachers.
                               Suryakant Narsune

    Posted by gurukant narsanu on Jun 11, 2007 12:19 pm

  5. I think that kids should not sit inside ALL day and watch T.V. they should get outside. Like Mr. Whalley I also think that watching T.V. makes you a couch potato. It did to me. But I do tink T.V. can teach lessons. If you watch the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana you would see that there is a moral to most of the shows. That coupled with comedy and a great plot make the show popular. Kids also learn the lesson as the main character, Miley, does.

    Posted by Andie Broman on Jul 2, 2007 9:39 pm

  6. The information in this article may be true. I'll give you guys the benefit of the doubt; however, I believe the best way to teach a child how to read is through parent interaction (telling stories, pointing out everyday objects and spelling/explaining etc.) Nothing teaches better than human interaction no matter how successfull a TV show is!

    Posted by gary R on Aug 4, 2007 3:51 pm

  7. Maybe mine was a singular case, but TV actually taught me how to read and speak English.  Ok, ok...there's a vast difference in TV programming from when I was a kid though.  I watched things like Sesame Street, the Electric Company, Zoom, and those wonderful cartoons the School House Rock.  These have been replaced by MTV.  MTV?  Kids are learning to adults by watching MTV??  Blechh....oh my head hurts.  

    Posted by Joshua Dagcuta on Aug 5, 2007 9:01 pm

  8. I think that there are certain children shows that can help a child build an early foundation of phonics prior to entering kindergarten. TV shows that are on PBS which include sesame street are among the very few that help a child familiarize themselves to the english language, but I believe that parents should not rely on TV shows to teach their children how to read. School, interaction, and a productive learning environment are essential to a child's growth, especially the basic years or word and sound recognition.

    Posted by Sheena Lim on Aug 5, 2007 11:47 pm

  9. i think kids should be outside playing,being active!  Instead of being stuck in the house having your eyes glued to the tv.  Its not healthy.  They become so hooked to the tv that kids would not care to do anything but sit at home  and watch cartoons.  Although i know there are educational shows that would help children learn and teach children  but why let them watch tv when they can read books and communicate and play with other children at the park or having playdates.  They'll get so hook on educational tv that they rather do that they learn other ways!

    Posted by SHUNTELL TAFUNA on Aug 6, 2007 6:25 pm

  10. I think that every kid's cognitive abilities develops differently.  I would say maybe TV does work because I learn to understand languages from TV and maybe it does not work for some.  But I still think the best thing would be to use the old school style where kids should learn vocabulary from the dictionary book and read books with the help from the parents, teachers or other caregivers.  I think that watching television would lead to a bad habit because this can be the cause why people spend so much time sitting in front of the TV as they grow!  And the media have such a effect on the kid's development of what it shows and exposes!

    Posted by Irene Kwan on Aug 7, 2007 3:09 am

  11. You know...sometimes the television discussion is SO serious. Not that reading or parenting is NOT, but it takes many repetitions and combinations of experiences to grow a child. I don't believe TV is evil, nor do I believe it is fruitful in excess. Let's be realistic - kids lead busy lives, as do parents. Frankly I believe my kids benefit from an occasional 30-60 minutes of "chill time" in front of some quality programming -- they are in motion between school and activities practically 13 straight hours a day! If the television programming can provide positive social examples or some learning device to help the child process a reading rule (for example), terrific! It may not teach him to read all by itself, but it could potentially support the effort, particularly if the parent helps reinforce the concept afterward. Schoolhouse Rock, anyone? I'm no martyr parent; sometimes I need 30 minutes to get something done, and my tired kids need a way to wind down and recharge. Having a tv doesn't mean abdicating your parental responsibilities, but it doesn't mean you are negligent either. P.S. I watched a ton of tv when I was a child - a proverbial latch-key kid - and it *wasn't* PBS. I was the biggest bookworm in my class. Go figure. Just another perspective.

    Posted by Kathy on Aug 28, 2007 11:43 am

  12. I agree with the article. Because, my now 3 year old didn't talk until I started to let her watch t.v. I had refused to let her watch any tv at all until she was almost two. I decide to turn on PBS and within weeks she was talking. Now at three she is starting to read. She picked up on shapes, colors and can count to 25 since she was 2 1/2. My teaching her wasn't enough. And I do limit the amount of tv watched and the shows. But in some cases tv isn't always a bad thing if you limit it's usage.

    Posted by Valerie on Aug 29, 2007 9:42 am

  13. The point that seems to be missed here is that BTL takes up exactly one half of an hour of a child's day. The article did not say plant your son on the couch and watch him sprout while a television teaches him to read. It said that kids who watched this show and presumably others like it read better and faster. What parent can't take 30 minutes out of their child's play schedule to let them watch a benficial show. Even in school, teachers will use visual media such tv to teach their classes.

    Posted by Shell on Sep 18, 2007 4:07 am

  14. In my experience I am not in fact sure that by watching TV you can learn something. Maybe you can.
    If you want your child`s eyes to be glued to the TV screen evrey day fine go ahead.I would rather just open a big fat textbook in front of them and tell them to read, if they really know how.

    Posted by Courtney on Nov 26, 2007 6:22 pm

  15. Wow, I am amazed at what I just read it has some reasonings;)

    Posted by Anonymous on Nov 28, 2007 8:20 pm

  16. yes educational programs on tv can build a foundation for your child to learn to read. my now two year old watches sesame street, rock n learn video, reading books to him. he knows his uppercase and lower case letters he knows all his letter sounds,he knows his colors,his shapes etc
    people you are missing the point going outside or staying inside does not teach your child life skills. parents have to be involved for these things. i am very much there when my child is watching tv to reinforce what is being taught. this is very important for a child that is young and learning parent involvement. he does not watch tv 24/7 you know what he loves to learn.

    Posted by ann-marie on Jan 5, 2008 9:47 am

  17. This article is no surprise to me at all.  I learned quite a bit from watching Sesame Street and the Electric Company when I was four (at least my mom says so; she'd buy me new Little Golden Books and I was able to read them!) Oh, and yeah, I did get lots of play time outside, too.
     
    Ann-Marie (#20) has it right!

    Posted by Jen on Jun 7, 2008 3:25 pm



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