Toot and Puddle (and Olivia!) on TV

My 2-year-old has been enjoying the Toot and Puddle shows on Noggin (my efforts to eliminate television are mostly a miserable failure, although we are increasing tour TV-off time and doing more reading together.)  

Next step (I realize we are doing this backwards) is to check out the Toot and Puddle books.

Toot and Puddle are a pair of best-friend pigs who like to travel and go on adventures around the world.  I love the theme, and the stories so far have been very cute and educational.  I can't wait to see the books.  

Another book is coming to TV soon... Olivia.  Here is a New York Post article about it. I have seen previews for Olivia, but can't find the schedule info, and I'm not sure which channel -- Nickelodepn, Nick Jr. or Noggin.  (UPDATE - it starts Jan. 26 on Nickelodeon, 11:30 EST.  Here's another article about it.) We have a copy of Olivia that was a resale shop find. Honestly, it's not among my most favorites (perhaps because we have all boys) but we should give it more tries and we will definitely check out the new show.  Perhaps like Toot and Puddle, the show will turn more families on to the book.

Olivia is also a pig, a precocious female pig that enjoys art and dancing, and wearing out her mama.  She's described in the Post article as "the piglet with a passion for fashion." 

It's all about pigs on TV!

This just in... Here's the Nickelodeon press release about the Olivia premiere, including channel and VOD info.

TV-free Tuesdays and Thursdays

I've mentioned how I admire TV-free families and how I'd like to reduce our family's screen time (television and computer). Many advise to go cold turkey but that's a little frightening. Last week we were enjoying several hours of unplugged family time and I had the idea of starting with only a few days a week.

Less TV (and computer for me) is a good move. We enjoy family time when we're not watching television and I feel happier and more connected to the kids.  

So when we do this....  who wants to join us?

(Disclosure: Today is a Tuesday and it's not happening today. I'm thinking of starting next week.)

Admiring TV-free families

After reading The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease, I am thinking again about limiting or eliminating our family's TV time. Trelease says in his book that kids can handle a maximum 8 hours a week before their education test scores begin to decline. My boys are still very young (ages 2 and almost 4) and I am afraid to track how much television we watch -- it's a lot. This is one of the failures of my parenting -- it started innocently enough.... we began watching Signing Time sign language educational videos (which are wonderful and I still love them so much), and then catching a few half hour episodes of kids programming...... but it has snowballed. We have a DVR and so Curious George (another family favorite) is always easily accessible -- probably much more available than it should be.

In high school, two of the smartest kids I knew were siblings who had no TV at home. They were both very intelligent (the oldest was accepted to MIT for college), and though I don't know what they did with their time, I'm quite sure they were avid readers. I really have no doubt that my children will be smarter and healthier if we watch less.

At these ages, it's so much more about my willpower than the kids'. We use television as a parenting crutch, and while I think we might be reducing our overall viewing, it's not easy. We tend to watch first thing in the morning (particularly if the kids are up early) and before bed (but we still read after that). I should be doing more reading with the kids in place of watching television, and the kids do play more when it is turned off. Last night we went to the library, which was wonderful, but my oldest wanted to check out a Thomas DVD, and we did... I have heard it might be best to go cold turkey but I don't know if I've got the strength. My excuse right now is that we have a newborn coming very soon and I think I *need* the TV while we are re-adjusting as a family and I am alone with two toddlers and a newborn. However, I really, really want to significantly reduce our viewing... I think it's important. I'm just weak.

Is your family tv-free or do you limit television?