Little Gates in Training

My family has a love / hate relationship with computers. I love computers, they hate them. Or more specifically, they hate how much time I spend on the ‘puter’. Ok, so maybe I am a little addicted.

In all seriousness, I think computers play a huge role today and I actually can’t wait to get my children computer literate.

 

I know technology can be dangerous, and I also know that too many children are spending way too much time in front of the (TV/computer) screen, but as with everything else in life, it is all about moderation. A word that is as familiar to me as my long lost cousin’s aunt’s husband’s second wife’s neighbour.

 

When do you think kids are old enough to start messing around on the ‘puter? My feeling is it is never too early to start grooming the next Bill Gates.

 

Comments

[Sue at eLuckypacket]

I think it's appropriate when they show interest -- at any age. And yes, in moderation. And as long as they read and paint and sing and play, etc. also ;-) My three year old loves doing "letters" ... I open MS Word, crank the font size up to 100 and let him at it. And he likes playing games at the Word World and Sesame Street sites, and video Skyping with his grandparents in SA. Has just mastered the mouse ... so we have to watch him ... to avoid him trashing stuff.

[Gus]

I agree with you that it is never too early. Our kids (3,5 and 7) use the Big Boet Program (proudly South African) The program covers maths, language, memory, perception, thinking and creativity. English and Afrikaans, so they can do both. I love it because it is educational and fun. It also covers different age groups -: 2-5, 5-7, 7-9 etc. Go and have a look on www.edutain.co.za Jump Ahead is also a great program to use.

[Helen]

My eldest are 3 & 5 yrs old. They do computers at their pre-schools. My nieces also introduced them to www.nickjr.com when we were in the UK and they have great games on there that teach them all sorts of things. They also speak to daddy (who works overseas) on Yahoo messenger. I agree everything in moderation.

[melissa]

OK so this was aeons ago but my now 18 year old was on a computer when she was 3 so I think now is the time for your kids!

[nola]

My son used to shoot demons on Doom 1 when he was 18 months old :) on the old Windows 3.1. Yes it was inappropriate but it kept him quiet while I spoke on the phone/cooked dinner etc. Today he's a real softie at 16 so it didn't do any lasting damage.

[beyond]

i love your blog, tertia, you crack me up.
the thing is, computers (like tv and video games) are addictive to kids. when my nephews were old enough to want to play on the computer (they are not allowed video games and have strict tv rules), they were only allowed to do so the equal time that they had read. you read an hour, you get to sit at the computer an hour. i admire my brother-in-law and his wife for pulling this through. i know it isn't easy.

[Emma B]

Our girls (just turned two) love the computer, and we let them play with it as much as they wish. Considering that Daddy and I are both computer programmers, we kind of have to -- there are more computers than people in this household, so there's always one available to them.

The girls are big fans of Baby Smash, which I can wholeheartedly recommend to other parents. It keeps the kids from opening programs or committing mischief, and pops up letters and shapes and stuff to amuse them when they bang on the keyboard. It's great for toddlers who can't really play games yet.

[JConroy]

My son is the same age as your twins. He's already using the computer for select things and in moderation (as you say). There are 3 computer game / learning programs that we love from Dr. Seuss - The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham and ABC's. They are great because they have a "read to me" mode and a "interactive" mode. And he also loves Kid Pix. He's just getting the hang of using the mouse and being able to interact with the games. I think you can never start too early. Kids these days are going to grow up in a computer world....it will always be second nature. Whereas we have all had to learn to use the computer (with varied skill and success) in our later years. I say Go For IT (with age appropriate games and supervision.)

[pam]

I limit my kid's TV and computer time -- to be honest they hardly ever ask for it, but when they do we're big fans of Tux Paint, which is a fantastic open source paint programme for kids with lots of stickers, special effects, etc. I prefer it to the JumpStart etc because it's completely open and undirected, they can play however they want while learning the basics of mouse use, opening and saving files, printing etc.

[Bottonz]

My little girl is 1 and we bought her the comfy keyboard for her first birthday, she absolutely loves it !!!!
Husband and I are both Multimedia Designers so we spends a LOT of time in front of the "puters"
Here is the link if you are interested.
http://www.kalahari.net/crafts/Easy-PC-Keyboard-1st-Steps-1-3yrs-Beginners/5693/33177557.aspx

[mijk]

use a kidfriendly browser My son was five when he figured out google on his own and found a clip on youtube that had the teletubbies murdered. He hasn't slept for a week and now I have a kidbrowser on his part of the computer. He does have e-mail to write to family... Daughter (same biirth date as K& A) plays games mostly with one of us sometimes with her brother..

I do think it is improtant to show them how it works..

[Jen M]

My kids are on the computer from age 3. If you use Firefox, download Glubble - it basically lets them browse to their hearts' content and it's all kid-safe.

[Pat]

Sponsored by Best Buy! LOLOL! i actually clicked on the link to see how hard my leg was being pulled.
My nephew had an amazing way of using the web long before he could read. He recognised his lingks (and the instructions on the games he played - Like try again or play or exit) as word-pictures and not words. So he couldn't spell play if you asked him, but he could recognise the letters put together in any graphic.

[Kim]

I have a laptop in the living room which my 3 yr old thinks is his. I don't let him use it that much but sometimes when I come in he hs found word and is making an article - he says. He knows wingdings as he likes the pictures and can change the size and color of the fonts etc. He can also find the internet and you tube as he remembers the symbols. I have to be careful about him being on you tube as there are some sickos on there - even with Thomas the Tank there are sickos that turn it into something scary or nasty. I don't let him go on it too much but am always surprised at what he picks up on.

[Liz]

My son is 8, he has been doing stuff on the computer for a couple of years. He mostly play games and get on Wiki to do his geography school works. My daughter is a month shy of being 4, she plays computer games, like dora and such.

[Anny]

I think my oldest was about 2 when we got him a Fisher-Price farm game. We've always had educational games-toddler,preschool and so on. The other kids were probably a little younger than 2 since they had the older sibling(s) to follow after:)

[Amy]

The earlier the better. With moderation of course!

[Melany]

In moderation and only if it's educational games (like the jump-start stuff) then I would say around 4 /5

[Nicole]

I'm all for letting them on the computer as soon as they show interest. My kids all started around 2, with age appropriate games/websites. Keep in mind they are learning valuable skills on the computer (fine motor, hand-eye coordination, cause and effect, etc.), not to mention any other educational and higher level reasoning that an individual program may teach (letters, numbers, sounds, words, problem solving etc.). Our favorite websites are probably nickjr.com and my older kids love clubpenguin.com and webkinz.com. For preschoolers I love the Franklin the Turtle Schoolhouse and Clubhouse CDs and so do my kids, but they are hard to find these days. The I Spy CDs are fun, and for older kids (6 & up) we really like My First Amazing History Explorer and Zoombinis Logical Journey.

[Melodee]

My now-6-year old was three when she began playing on websites for preschoolers. She instinctively knew how to manipulate the mouse. I was pretty impressed!

[Sister Mel]

I did frown initially at your moderation comment knowing how foreign that concept is to you being a big addict to anything remotely addictive.... gym, drugs, your sheepskin slippers, internet, smoking, drinking, IVF.
Best get my critters comp lit so they are not like me.

[Tripsmom]

I prefer to encourage my kids (4 years old) to play outside and to use their imaginations when playing e.g they build houses with blankets and overturned chairs etc. I feel there is enough time later for the "puter" and if they have the aptitude they will pick it up quickly when they start.

[Ruth]

our 13 month old discovered touch screen technology when we flew from Australia to Europe when she was 8 months old - she had a blast pushing the icons, altho her dad didn't enjoy the fast forward, rewind, stop and off stuff so much! still, it kept her super quiet, and taught me how darned simple the technology we use actually is. she does lots of stuff on my phone, like calling her dad (easy screen stuff - truly kids play to dial last number called), and even called emergency services 111 in NZ last time we were there. she plays with our macs, delighting in her dad's 'fart' widget etc . . . which she operates with one button, and boy does she know where that thing is!!! we think a 1/4 hour per day, with about the same in DVD or youtube stuff, is fine. kinda like sweets and treats - not forbidden, not all the time, just in measured doses. its the way of the future, so she will need the knowledge, but she gets way way way more outdoors play, walking on a leash (she's a houdini, bike riding (in her little seat behind dad), swimming etc, music that she self selects by going thru our cd collection, and picking random ones that we then play . . . plus much more book and hand puppet type play than computer time, and we leave her alone to do her own thing as much as possible so we don't smother her.
email me in 20 years time and ask me how it went???

[Mert]

I nannied for a very short time for a Asian family that was very into computers. The mom told me to let the 20 month old play his computer games...when it wouldn't 'work', he crawled under the desk and moved a computer cord plug from one tower to another. Color me impressed! 20 months old and knew why the 'puter wouldn't work. Shoulda got his signature, bet he'll be the next Bill Gates! Watch out, once K & A are comfortable with them, they'll be beating you on it and getting into your things!

[Hadey]

Very interesting topic, I think. My daughter is 15 months and she is already interested in playing with the mouse and the keyboard, but I can't imagine letting her actually "play" on the computer. I guess I never thought about it before, but it seems that once they start preschool/kindergarten it makes sense to let them start getting used to the computer, especially since they are likely using them at school. However, as one of the commenters in the link posted below pointed out, her daughter can't even hand write her name yet... I think emphasis still needs to be placed on the 3 "R"s or we're really doing our kids a diservice.

Here's an interesting discussion about this topic recently on a mama site in Portland.

http://www.urbanmamas.com/urbanmamas/2008/09/when-she-says-i.html