Super Why

Dani still LOVES TV. If I would let her, she would have it on all day long, but I feel the need to ration TV as a reward, or for times I need to get other things done. I always thought it would be easy to limit, but I have not found that the case.

When she wakes up early and I am still exhausted and tell her I want a nap, she responds "I watch a little show while you take a nap!". Unfortunately, I have taken her up on this offer a couple times.

One of her favorite shows is "Super Why". As I was watching her integrate many of the story elements into her play yesterday, I wanted to write what she has learned from this show.

1. The first thing she learned that I was very grateful for, was that tantrums and excessive crying mean you need to go to bed and sleep. Thanks to the "Jack and the Beanstalk" episode, we often talked about how the giant was having a big tantrum, which meant he needed sleep. After she saw this episode, putting her to bed when she was fussy became much easier, because she realized she needed sleep.

2. About a month ago Netflix added another Super Why DVD to their instant queue, this one included Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In the story Goldilocks makes a "big mess" and then needs to "clean up". Every time Dani makes a mess, she now apologizes "Mama, I sorry I made a big mess" and then says she needs to clean up like Goldilocks.

3. By December she knew all the typical consonant sounds from our own play. For at least a few months Super Why has been reinforcing the sounds she has learned because she will answer the questions they ask on the show like "what letter makes the /p/ sound".

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Though not as beneficial as the above points she has learned, she has also brought concepts of the story into her own life and play. Super Why's premise is that there are four storybook characters that have a problem in their real life and then they read a story to figure out how to solve their problem. The story often has a problem at the end that Super Why, the main character, changes a word or two in the story to help them solve.

4. About a month ago, Dani started responding to my concern that her hands are dirty, or her room is messy "Don't say that! Don't say that problem mama!" as if I ignored it, the problem would go away. Now when I say "I need to wipe your face" or something, she tries to negotiate by saying "don't tell me that story"

5. A couple days ago, I overheard her talking in her play. Her stuffed animal was crying and saying "I have to! It's in my story!" which is the typical plea for Super Why to change the story for a happy resolution at the end.

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That was all from only one show. It is not uncommon for Dani to tell me all about a show she has watched for the first time, and then add those details into her pretend play. I do not support letting kids watch TV in general, but it is hard to keep her away when I know I can have a break. I'm just very grateful to know that there are shows on TV that are safe, and educational, because she sure absorbs a lot more of them than I ever expected.