Children need to recognize that some of the expectations they set for themselves can get in the way of making better choices. Children hear a lot about what their friends watch on TV, and in general what they do with their time. Sometimes the result is that children come to expect that they deserve to spend a certain amount of time watching TV, because everybody else does. This expectation to watch can get in the way of exercising their minds in useful ways such as by playing, doing their homework and interacting with family members and friends. For instance, when children learn early the expectation at school age is they be the best students they can be, it is more likely their habit will be that TV comes only after homework is completed regularly and in a quality manner.
Expectations often become habits.
Dr. Jane Healy says of habits, Habits of the mind soon become structures of the brain. It is exciting when we begin early, with our preschoolers to create the expectation that quenching our thirst for knowledge and information through reading, conversation, investigation, playing, and other forms of getting answers is a pleasurable pursuit.