If he or she is watching in private, you can’t talk about what’s happening on screen. (Also, studies indicate that watching TV before bedtime can disrupt young children’s sleep, so it’s best to keep TV out of their sleeping spaces.)

Gerald Herbert/AP
Parents raising media literate preschoolers can set limits on where kids can watch – here, Frankie Thevenot, age 3, plays with an iPad in his bedroom in Metairie, La., Oct. 21, 2011.