h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I think that life is better without a tv for example I wouldn't have found h2g2 if I had a tv... I've found that the only decent tv is GB and thats not that good either.

Hello opti!

I agree that tv can be a problem. We decided around last Christmas to give tv a try, so we bought a tv, vcr and dvd player and got cable. We found only one or two shows that we liked, but we would record them and watch them whenever it suited us, zipping through the commercials. This worked reasonably well and provided a little entertainment (along with the odd movie that we would rent). However, my 10 year old daughter took to sneaking tv watching at every opportunity she could. It lead to big conflicts within the family - she felt bad for not being able to control herself and for lying about it, and we felt bad because we couldn't trust her.

So, now the tv is unplugged and has been for about a month. We don't really miss it, either. We haven't disconnected the cable yet, since we may give it another try when the weather gets colder and we don't want to be outside as much.

I wish my family would take to no tv at all ... as far as I'm concerned the net is a better time spender and its where the money can be made if you learn all the techy stuff ... I have a friend who grew up without a tv and she's very bright I think that not having a tv was a good thing for her although now at uni she watches tv with her uni mates... I don't i'm usally found on here...trust is one thing that is vital in any relationship so I can see your side and your daughters...

It's particularly difficult, since we home school our daughter. She is a very sensitive sort and can only take so much input before we have a major blowout. If she has had a lot of stimulation (from tv, an outing, reading an exciting or emotional book, etc.) then afterwards she'll usually throw a tantrum over something. That's why we had to ration the tv so much for her. We also have to ration her reading, although it almost kills us to do so - we love to read ourselves and so much of her learning is through reading. Nevertheless, we manage to strike the right balance most of the time, so life is pretty good. We'll see if we can find a way to include a small amount of tv, but it's not an urgent problem.

little confused er why do you home school your daughter? (because of her tantrums etc?)what are the pros and cons of home schooling your child?... I've never come across this situation before. I'm sorry this happens ... may I ask what is the cause of it?

As a child I read a lot and would stay up till late reading before I fell asleep ... now having studied English up till now ... I am very sick of books. I can see your side easily books are fantastic and can open your mind to a range of different aspects from thoughts and feelings to fantasy worlds and real life experiences. Well done on managing to strike a balance it must have been difficult. Hope all continues to go well love opti

We home school because we think that it provides the best "education" possible. What we do is called unschooling and you can read more about it here: http://www.unschooling.com/

Another very good place to read something about it is here: http://www.lifelearningmagazine.com/read.html

Once you've read a little bit about it, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

I think learning of any kind is great we are always continuing to aquire knowledge whatever we do in life

I think home schooling is a good idea because they can get your full attention rather than struggle at school and get over looked. The drawback I feel is that the child doesn't socialise with other children of his or her age.

Thanks for the links .... i'm actually learning how to get people in to role play parts of my story for me