What does television have to do with your kids’ late speech? Oh, it has a big influence. Language is learned by interaction, not media. Babies learn it from their social contacts with people around them. They would understand meaning of words from her behaviour and adult’s response.

However, there are programs, which are designed for kids. The point of those programs is to provide fun for children. You can let your kids watch them but try these tips below so these programs would not be the stumbling blocks for your children’s ability in speaking and communication.

• Limit their watching time

Never let your kids watch more than half an hour per day! Do you know why kids watching French or German television learn none of those foreign languages? It’s because television is not interactive. Well, there are some of the programs that nowadays are a little bit interactive like Dora the Explorer but that only applies for older kids.

• Accompany your kids

So, how to make that half an hour to be an interactive activity? Yes, you’d better accompany them. That way, you can use the half an hour of their time for both their pleasure and learning process.

• Carefully choose the program

You must remember that at certain ages, your kids’ interpretations are somehow still limited. It would be better if you choose programs which don’t create confusions. For example the talking trains, they still don’t know that trains don’t actually talk, so avoid programs providing characters using trains that can talk. You can use the programs later on when they grow a little bit more. Also, choose programs specially designed for kids, not any cartoons you can find because some are actually designed for adults. Choose programs that contains simple words that your kids can grab easily—of course, with your help since you also watch along with them.