[NOTE: This page hasn't been updated since 2004 - read at your own risk! - JUST starting update!]
Since I started this website, back in 2003, a child's world has changed dramatically. It used to be that a child had reading, movies, and audio. Then everyone started slicing and dicing and voila! It's the same, but different.
Technology is moving so fast that it's hard to capture exactly what's out there, but this section will touch on the various types of media that you can use with your kid. But there's one rule of thumb that I want to invoke and invoke again: the basic senses and tools matter most when you're a kid.
- Being with other people, physically. (Not virtually.)
- Getting along with other people, through negotiation and bumping into one another.
- Facing someone over a table to play a real game, even if it takes more time and there are boring pockets in between your moves.
- Listening while someone tells you a story. Learning how to create pictures in your head that were NOT created by a team of Disney artists.
Did you know that the ability to create pictures in your head while you're reading is one of the most important steps toward fluency?
So, while I will talk about media in this section, I will implore you, by the spirits of all good parents before you: even if it's a pain in the butt, even if your kid begs and screams to be plugged into their Nintendo for 8 hours a day, don't give in. I tell my child that when he has his own career he can choose to do video games all day. And we strictly limit TV and video game time. Good suggestion? No video games during the week.
So what kind of media am I talking about?
VideosOnline stuff - what's offered on websites (games, etc.)GamesComic BooksRadio stuffTVI have a boy. I can't lock him into a closet his entire life, so I know that I'll have to deal with this stuff and as I look at it and try to be informed, I'll stick what I find online. Fair enough?
But I will ALSO research Media Criticism!
Radio stuff
This is the coolest thing. From American Radio works, it's the presidential tapes. You can actually listen to Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon right now, right at your desk. Isn't the internet grand? Here's a list of their documentaries.
Online stuff
Here are three websites for children which are put together by symphonies in the US.
Comic books
They are, people argue, real writing. Or something like that. I don't buy it. But they certainly are a fascinating look at life.
Comic Book Resources has tons of information and links to almost all of the comic stuff I've ever heard of
Of course, here is the Green Lantern's unofficial home page.
Mom is now working on a graphic novel page!
Television
Oddly enough, I had no references to TV on this site. Until today. Oh, yes, sure I had the obligatory "TV is evil" references and essays. I mean, hey, who wouldn't? But here is the Encyclopedia of Television. Wow. Reference material about TV. Obviously, it deserves a place.