I remember times in the past when most of what could be considered educational in television was found on PBS and shows such as Sesame Street and Mister Rogers to teach "the basics" to preschoolers. There was an occasional documentary but not much more.

Today, however, whether we are watching an "old fashioned" television set, or one of the exciting new high definition or flat screen models of televisions, the chances to "learn something new every day" have been greatly increased by the addition of new programming. These additions help to keep up with the demand of consumers wanting more and more options.

One of my favorite learning stations is the food channel. No matter when I turn the station on throughout the day, there is someone cooking great looking recipes and either giving me ideas for dishes to cook or teaching how to do a new method or prepare a new recipe.

If you do not enjoy cooking, maybe you would enjoy learning about different parts of the world. The Travel Channel does this very well by sending their crews all around the world to show where the best (and sometimes worst!) vacation spots are including where to find the best hotels and eateries.

Many people enjoy tuning into the History Channel as often as possible. Here is where to find everything from ancient history of the world to the more modern history of America and other parts of the world. No matter when a viewer tunes in to this station, there will certainly be something to learn from it.

And those stations are just the beginning. There is programming now that covers things like crafts, home improvement, and many do-it-yourself projects. For many topics of things to learn, there is Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel. If you wish to learn more about the religions of the world or just hear some sermons from your own religion, there are numerous television stations covering religion.

As I am making the list of television stations that are available for learning, it strikes me that as long as one has a television in the house (well, and cable or satellite!) there should never be a problem with boredom. I remember the days when there really wasn't much on the tube at all and if you got more than three of the local stations, you were very lucky indeed.

If you want to learn more about how the government works, tune into C-Span for a while and watch the inner workings of the United States congress. The same goes for Court TV station if you want to learn more about the law and courts.

This was not in any way a complete list. I cannot possibly list all of the cable stations that serve as a learning tool for viewers of any age. I know that it is easy for the population in general to complain about the television programming that is available, but we really don't have to tune into the worthless programming! We can instead learn how to cook a special dinner, start a scrapbook, re-enact a civil war battle, build a bookcase, go to Paris, or any other number of fabulous things that are at our fingertips to learn on any given day.