Learning by Himself

I suggested my son watch the Discovery Channel for his TV time instead of Nick Jr. Anyway, he says, "I don't WANT to watch Discovery Channel--it's BORING!"  I told him I thought it was interesting and left it at that. Then he goes off and comes back about 15 minutes later and tells me some scientific fact about outer space and says, "I learned that on the Discovery Channel!" I believe that, for my ds anyway, he needs to feel like he has some sort of say in what we learn and how we learn it.