This is not about being harsh to people who loves teaching animal sounds to young children. Just an observation and a quick spark of some questions while wandering off in the messy world of balancing realities and the not-so-real things seen on youtube.
I was watching a nursery rhyme video my daughter tapped from my phone. It's been quite sometime since we stopped watching those supposedly "educational" nursery rhyme vids you often see on youtube, since she has elevated to a more sensible things to watch from the laptop.
As I watched along with her, I couldnt help but contemplate on the dancing cow, swaying monkeys and other odd-looking movements of an animal. What exactly are these videos trying to convey to young children? Not to really challenge every science over everything, i just noticed and began to question myself, why the heck would a cow dance that way? Or a monkey sound that way, or a horse dance like some confused animal while producing the sound they "supposedly" make.
As far as reality is concerned, I don't see the relation between trying to show a video of confused animals to enhancing whatever skills a child needs to enhance. Why do we even teach fake animal sounds to young children?
I had no issues about these things, my daughter also watches those when she was really younger---and I do not exactly know why I let her watch confused animals. I don't try to evaluate everything, in fact this realization came only tonight..
I couldn't help but connect the idea as well on why do we let children, i mean toddlers, study shapes, colors, alphabets, numbers, forced to read, drilled with phonics, forced to write, etc...when there was no scientific study that these things are integral part on being a human being. Compared to looking deeply on what's essential, their socio-emotional intelligence and other skills every human being needs to "succeed" in this world.
As I watched the video and wandered off in the land of questions, I couldn't help but ask, how complicated have we made early childhood these days? Or do I rather ask, how quick do we replace real connection between children and real things with these non-sensical videos? Surely it is very entertaining, but these questions made me ask, why the heck would people want to project to young children a dancing cow, confused horse or an annoyed-looking monkey?
