Cbeebies is educational (CBeebies)

Member Name: mum2boys82

Product:	CBeebies
Date:	12/07/08 (138 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Educational, innovative in children's television

Disadvantages: Could let your kids watch too much television

I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old and when I was first pregnant I was very harsh on my sister who let my niece watch Cbeebies almost all day.

However, once my own little bundle of joy was born, and then got to about 1 year old I realised just what a godsend Cbeebies actually was.

I will admit now that I let my children watch far too much television, my eldest can sing many more theme tunes than I can name the shows of, however I don't feel that bad.

The reason I don't feel like a horrible mother is because the shows are of such high quality and teach so many different things that I don't mind him glued to the screen for a couple of hours most days.

My favourite programme is Something Special with Justin Fletcher who uses makaton (a form of sign language), I started using this with my eldest child when he was just a few months old so we could communicate even if he couldn't talk, so he loves to watch the signing and join in as best he can. I would like to think that there will one day be a follow on show for older children as I think signing is a great skill to teach.

We also like Big Cook, Little Cook as they make some great dishes that we have also tried at home and they teach children that the oven is hot and they should always have an adult help them.

The bedtime hour is great as it is a good wind down for the day, as soon as the Story Makers, The Night Garden or 64 Zoo Lane starts my little boy knows it is nearly time for bed. They finish off with a song at 7pm and that is it until 6am the next morning.

Most of the shows will be aired twice in one day, a morning set and then an afternoon set. I only allow the boys to watch a programme once in a day and try my best to get them active and outside (weather permitting) in between. Although they do get active when they copy Pete doing all the dancing on Boogie Beebies.

My children are also quite green as Eco Beebies teaches them all about reusing and recycling.

So how much television is too much for a child? It's hard to say how much is good or bad for them, it is a personal decision. I have had to stop my eldest from watching certain programmes on CITV as he was copying some bad behaviour from a naughty little boy called Henry, however we don't have this problem with Cbeebies.

Summary: A little of this can't do them any harm!