[00:04.94]Reading and speaking
[00:06.89]Education:fact or myth?
[00:09.78]1 Watching TV is bad for toddlers
[00:13.49]To give your children a head start in life,
[00:16.64]sit them in front of the televisin.
[00:19.04]A study of 200 American pre-schoolers
[00:22.18]has revealed that toddlers who watch TV
[00:24.63]for two hours a day develop more quickly
[00:27.68]than those who do without.
[00:29.67]On average,the two-and three-year-olds
[00:32.06]who watched TV scored 10 per cent higher
[00:34.54]in reading maths and vocabulary.
[00:37.34]However,the programmes have to be aimed at
[00:39.78]their age group-children derive no benefits
[00:42.36]from watching TV designed for adults.
[00:45.81]"Television opens up the world to many young
[00:47.85]children and gives them a head start,
[00:50.33]which is sustained
[00:51.35]in improved academic achievement
[00:53.71]throughout their school lives,"said Aletha
[00:56.10]Huston of the University of Texas.
[00:59.46]But the positive impact of TV
[01:01.51]declines with age, reports The Sunday Times.
[01:04.73]Older children who watch more than 16 hours
[01:07.46]of TV a week perform worse than their peers.
[01:07.46]