Whens a good time to expose your kids to the computer?

[lancer]

I have soon to be 3yr old this november. I'd like to build her a custom toddler friendly computer. is this too early to introduce her to one?

Also does anyone know where i can get a kiddie like keyboard and mouse?

this will be moved, sorry should have been in general hardware or something.

 

[mlakrid]

As soon as possible, just make sure you give him an account that only allows him to choose his sites from a drop-down menu, and put Net-nanny or another protection software in place...



PCs are the future... anyone who doesnt know PCs in the next 10 years probably wont be able to function in our ever changing world

 

[VenomXt]

Right after the point where they will stop eating the keys.

 

[lancer]

haha he is a she

i'll probably just have a few games like barbie or clifford that kinda stuff, she is way to young for the net and believe me when i say i'll lock that machine down tighter than..... well you think it up.

 

[mlakrid]

A virgin on prom night?

OOPS, thats the wrong direction...

:laugh:

 

[Evil Marge]

If my kids were still kids they wouldn't use a pc till they reached double figures.
My brothers 5 kids are aged from 7 (twins)-14. The twins aren't allowed on the computer and the older girls are restricted to a few hours a day but rarely bother.
They do the things we did as kids such as going out meeting friends, playing with skipping ropes, bikes etc instead of sitting googly eyed infront of a computer.

 

[lancer]

here here.....

 

[Evil Marge]

Forgot to mention this earlier.
Where I work there's an after school/ holiday club for kids age from 5-14 years. The parents were asked if they'd like us to get someone in to give the kids a few computer lessons during the summer holiday's.
Out of 14 kids only one parent said yes,the majority preferred old fashioned hands on activities such as outings to Adventure parks, board games and swimming etc.
The owner even offered to pay for a new up to date computer with internet access out of her own pocket but it was decided by the parents (who pay to send their kids there and it ain't cheap) that it wasn't what they wanted them to be doing during the holidays or after school.
I tend to agree,too may kids are missing out on learning basic social skills by not interacting face to face with other kids and adults.

 

[lancer]

marge i kinda agree, but annabelle, my daughter interacts with kids all day at school and on play dates, but the pc can be a good tool to use to expand their minds also.

 

[falconguard]

Sorry to get to this late. My 6 year old has been on it diligiently since 3...There is a bunch of software, Reader Rabbit. They have a preschool, and a todder along with increasing grade levels. My son is now very adept at using the computer and get do a lot of things. The one caveat I have is that the computer is in the family room and where my wife and I can see it... It will be there throughout the school life, that way we can monitor everything that goes on and everything they look at.


I don't care what people think. I am the parent.

 

[X-Istence]

It is good you are the parent, but a PC in the living room is not always the best option. This does not give them the chance to explore, as a site that seems out of place for the parents is immediately closed. The monitoring also means that the child never has to decide on their own if the site is bad or not.

As for when is too young, when I have kids, I am not allowing my kids on the computer until they are 8. And even then it will be a Windows 3.1 computer because they sure as hell are not getting onto the internet. Well maybe. I feel that kids should have time to fall, have a bloody knee and elbows, eat sand, play with worms, and in general have a great time, just like I had. I did not have a computer until I was 8, and that was Windows 95, with all kinds of education games.

 

[Mainframeguy]

I'll come back to this thread - but here is one thing to get from the get go - a keyboard with all the keytops in LOWER CASE! My daughters Godfather obtained one for my little girl - so as she becomes literate (now) she can work with the right letters on the keys! A small but important detail.... You will be surprised how intuitively they take to the thing.... also look into playing DVDs and maybe a winfast card - my daughter loves to putthe TV on the computer and it helps them understand the multimedia aspects.... I'll think of more as I go....

 

[Evil Marge]

marge i kinda agree, but annabelle, my daughter interacts with kids all day at school and on play dates, but the pc can be a good tool to use to expand their minds also.

So can reading picture books, singing, sitting on the floor playing toy's,dolls,teddies or whatever she prefers. Snuggling up and having a cuddle while reading a story or chatting is one of the things I miss now that mine are grown up,it helped teach them how to interact with adults face to face and make eye-contact which can't be achieved while sitting looking at a monitor.
If I had my time with them again I'd do today exactly the same as I did then.

The one caveat I have is that the computer is in the family room and where my wife and I can see it... It will be there throughout the school life, that way we can monitor everything that goes on and everything they look at.

I don't care what people think. I am the parent.

Using your words I don't care what people think either I'm the parent, I have my own ideas of how to bring them up and at a young age I wouldn't have them anywhere near a computer.
We never had a computer in the home till my kids were 10 and 12, they only had access at school and it never held them back.
I believed that if they were old enough to competently use a computer then they were old enough to be trusted to do so. We had a talk and set rules about what we expected from them and from day one I trusted them enough to abide by those rules without having adults looking over their shoulders. Kids need to be given a certain ammount of freedom and space to develop confidence and gain trust without the pressure of knowing that their every move is being monitored.I taught them to respect themselves and others and to know right from wrong etc.

It is good you are the parent, but a PC in the living room is not always the best option. This does not give them the chance to explore, as a site that seems out of place for the parents is immediately closed. The monitoring also means that the child never has to decide on their own if the site is bad or not.

As for when is too young, when I have kids, I am not allowing my kids on the computer until they are 8. And even then it will be a Windows 3.1 computer because they sure as hell are not getting onto the internet. Well maybe. I feel that kids should have time to fall, have a bloody knee and elbows, eat sand, play with worms, and in general have a great time, just like I had. I did not have a computer until I was 8, and that was Windows 95, with all kinds of education games.

A very sensible young man

On a side note I never touched a computer till I was about 33 and was taught everything I know by my kids. :laugh:

 

[lancer]

evil i'm afraid your ideas are slightly outdated, the world our kids are going into now requires a computer use in most things, most schools here in the states now work off a computer instead of pen and paper, well the schools in my area anyway.

My child does all the usual playing stuff, but i was just wondering if a computer could just be another useful tool along with barbies and kitchen sets.

 

[Evil Marge]

evil i'm afraid your ideas are slightly outdated, the world our kids are going into now requires a computer use in most things, most schools here in the states now work off a computer instead of pen and paper, well the schools in my area anyway.

My child does all the usual playing stuff, but i was just wondering if a computer could just be another useful tool along with barbies and kitchen sets.

Your daughters only a baby she's only 3,there's years before she needs a computer.
I work with kids aged from 5 week to 14 years though mainly in the pre-school room with the 3-5's. By law we have to work within a national foundation framework before they progress onto the national school curriculum and full time education,kids that age don't need to know computers yet and won't for a while yet

 

[Mainframeguy]

I can't exactly say I disagree with anything said in this thread....

But at the same time I have my own opinions and they are not hypothetical or ill-considered ones, because (as Lancer knows) my daughter has just turned five and she presently is the proud owner of a PII running Win98SE (this is actually a pre-req for her to run the Lemmings games! So I do not think I am being cruel to her....)....

Anyway, up until she entered year one (IE now) I would have pretty much agreed with Marge - I had spoken about the issue with two or three of her teachers. At the same time I am familiar with the fact that there is a communal computer in use in her classroom - so it already features in her education. The next BIG factor is that when she is around me she KNOWS I work on the computer - she also knows I can make fun stuff happen there (like capturing Noddy with my winfast card)... so there is the peer pressure variation on the lines of - you can have one so why don't I. The latter is particularly strong because I have four computers I guess....

Taking all these factors I have found a computer a good thing for her. It is offline but can (just) play a DVD for her and has a complement of educational software for when reading becomes more of a big deal and I am not able to give her all the one on one I would like (be realistic here - people may say it is what we ought to do - but did our parents, and is a bit of independent time for a child so bad?)....

I made sure it has a lower case keyboard - and I think that matters at her age. I also made sure it is pretty rugged and it happens to be situated (by chance) in the hallway. It is not online, nor networked (a format on the server would frighten me - and you never know what young fingers and minds are capable of - she once locked me out of my internet banking by changing the date forward five years - and that was just with the power button (she was two at the time)!!)

So that is the way i am going - but I only let her use it as she wishes - I show her it is a tool and let he be bored or frustrated by it as any child may be by anything - this is the modern world as I see it should be.

So that is where I stand - and I hope it is useful.

 

[lancer]

MFG totally agree with you 100%.

 

[Vanquished]

Not sure,
my little cousin is 6 and she uses the computer to go on webkinz all the time.
Her older sister at 11 also uses it.
Nothing bad has come from this, although id let my kids wait til the double digits if i had any. Maybe i'd let them play some games with me there.

 

[X-Istence]

evil i'm afraid your ideas are slightly outdated, the world our kids are going into now requires a computer use in most things, most schools here in the states now work off a computer instead of pen and paper, well the schools in my area anyway.

My child does all the usual playing stuff, but i was just wondering if a computer could just be another useful tool along with barbies and kitchen sets.

Yeah, and soon every kid out there will be using computers and all they will know is how to interact with the computer, won't be able to have proper hand writing (My handwriting is so bad I had teachers in high school tell me I had to type everything, including notes), and no social skills at all. There is a good and a bad to everything.

 

[Evil Marge]

Yeah, and soon every kid out there will be using computers and all they will know is how to interact with the computer, won't be able to have proper hand writing (My handwriting is so bad I had teachers in high school tell me I had to type everything, including notes), and no social skills at all. There is a good and a bad to everything.

Good point,if a child wants to learn new things they should be able to but theres more important basic skills which are needed long before computers.
As well as handwriting kids need to learn how to use words and speak in full sentences,they need to learn the art of communication.

Oh and btw did I say that in a few weeks I'll be officially qualified in childcare,education and development of children aged from 0 to 16 years?