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Achieve optimal learning success with your students by following these suggestions on teaching children with television and music.
These days, it takes a lot to keep kids focused and interested in learning. Rote teaching just doesn't cut it anymore. If you really want to help kids gain new knowledge in a fun and modern way, you've got to teach them using media that they understand and appreciate. Achieve optimal learning success with your students by following these suggestions on teaching children with television and music.
Step 1:

Encourage active discussion while watching television. For both parents and teachers, television can be a great way to impart academic learning. But it hast to be used properly as a teaching tool. If you want a child to learn from the content of a television program, the best method is to sit with the child as he watches the show. Throughout the show, spark up conversation about the concepts presented by the television program. Because you are present, you can explain concepts in more or less detail, depending on the age of the child. You're there to answer questions as the child learns from the TV, and you're there to sensor topics that aren't appropriate. Teaching children through television requires being present and active in the learning process.

Step 2:

Restate important ideas and facts. When you use the television as a teaching tool for children, it is important to highlight and restate the learning you want the child to gain from the television program. You can't just sit the child in front of the TV and expect him to absorb all of the facts from the program without any help from a teacher or parent. As the adult, you need to spend some time summarizing the new knowledge after the child has watched the show. This is the key to using television as a learning tool. It's okay to allow children to learn through this media, but follow-up discussions and activities (that don't require a television) are necessary in order to really cement the new learning into student's minds.

Step 3:

Choose exciting themes to show on television in your classroom. Teaching with a television can reach a lot of students, especially those with special education needs. For students who struggle to grasp concepts presented through traditional teaching methods, television can help to breach the gap between you and their learning styles. Use a teaching tool that a student can relate to, and you'll see instant results. For the majority of students, television teaching will be most effective when the content presented is exciting. Floods, tsunamis and animals in their natural habitats are fascinating for students to watch on television, much more so than, say, a boring documentary of the war of 1812 filmed 20 years ago. Choose the television programs you want to present to you class wisely, as the content alone will determine whether students learn or nap during your class.

Step 4:

Use music to encourage language development.  Music is also an invaluable teaching tool. Instead of teaching facts by memorization, have students learn a song. They'll still absorb the knowledge you want them to have, but they'll be more excited to do so. As a teacher, I've had great success in the past teaching multiplication facts to 6 to 10-year-olds using a fun musical CD. Kids can learn difficult concepts at earlier ages because it only requires them to learn a song. You can also try this teaching method for grammar, science processes, and even historical facts. Find a CD that contains the music, or make up the song yourself. You'll be surprised at how effective music and television are at teaching children new concepts.

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