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	growing child education

Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Study on Educational Media

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In December of 2005, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation recently published the study titled, A Teacher in the Living Room? Educational Media for Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers. Here are some highlights:

• Despite products named "Brainy Baby," "Curious Buddies," and "Learning with Leap," no scientific studies have been published on whether or not babies actually learn anything from these educational products (this includes videos, DVDs, video games, and computer software).
• If you want your kids to learn by watching television, your best bet is to show them Sesame Street. This is the only program with extensive research on learning outcomes. In one study, kids who watched Sesame Street had higher performance in school than kids who did not. However, babies were not included in the study; only children over the age of three were evaluated.
• While most educational products encourage parents to use their products with their children, many DVDs feature a device that allows the video to start again after the video ends, which encourages children to watch the programs alone.
To read the complete study, visit www.kff.org