Technology for Kids.
This week my parents sent over a Leap Pad XDi for my son who is nearly five.
Essentially its a kids 'learning' tablet, iPad if you like. The wife has been having an eppy she hates these things, she hates him watching telly too. She has already set out to hate it before knowing what it is all about and want's to send it back. I took at look at it's app store and I must admit every app is a saccharine filled and cartooney and quite drummed down. It's always been my belief that the manufacturers of this stuff quite often underestimate the intelligence of their users.
I don;t know what to do now. The way I see it I think there is room for 'fun with technology', but my wife is very anti, in a kind of 'what does it teach him that I cant do better' kind of way. It's my opinion that a bit of technology even just for fun does no harm providing its set in a context of moderation.
If I send the item back, my parents will be offended, my son will be unhappy and only my wife will be vindicated (which is not something I'm setting out to prevent). Once my son turns 5 I will teach him ZX Basic, thankfully my wife sees the value in that so its not all bad.
What's your view on kids and technology and the like?
Essentially its a kids 'learning' tablet, iPad if you like. The wife has been having an eppy she hates these things, she hates him watching telly too. She has already set out to hate it before knowing what it is all about and want's to send it back. I took at look at it's app store and I must admit every app is a saccharine filled and cartooney and quite drummed down. It's always been my belief that the manufacturers of this stuff quite often underestimate the intelligence of their users.
I don;t know what to do now. The way I see it I think there is room for 'fun with technology', but my wife is very anti, in a kind of 'what does it teach him that I cant do better' kind of way. It's my opinion that a bit of technology even just for fun does no harm providing its set in a context of moderation.
If I send the item back, my parents will be offended, my son will be unhappy and only my wife will be vindicated (which is not something I'm setting out to prevent). Once my son turns 5 I will teach him ZX Basic, thankfully my wife sees the value in that so its not all bad.
What's your view on kids and technology and the like?
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Comments
You can't stop progress so you need to go with it and it'll be teaching him skills he'll use in school and beyond.
Kids will find their own path whether you try to guide them or not. My son has used PC's since he was 4 years old (he's now 20) and is extremely proficient, at the same time he has discovered (and developed) a real talent for drawing which he uses in conjunction with his PC skills to produce art which he has now begun to sell.
I've always said put enough choices and opportunities in front of kids and they'll choose the one they like and want to persevere with, the real crime is when you as a parent limit those opportunities and deprive your child of a hobby or pastime they'd really enjoy.
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ZX Basic is the way to go though. Teach him well.
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My belief is that you have to let your kids find their own path and technology is something they're going to encounter in everyday life for the rest of their lives. Kids like to play and especially with gadgets. Denying him the use of something he would probably enjoy sounds, well, a bit cruel to be honest. It's not as if his usage of it isn't going to be monitored.
Yes it does with exception to the fashions bit which at 4 is not a problem anyway. At school we all knew the kid with parents like that. It does work though from a pure ability perspective but I agree he is a kid and my wife is warming to the idea.
If as parents you have the time to spend with your kids playing and learning new things then I don't see why you need worry about them spending too much time with a tablet or the TV. If it's time to leave them to play on their own then you need to let them choose what they're interested in, really, or they'll just complain. Or if the grandparents are so interested, get them to come over and babysit! Still, sounds like it's your missus that needs to learn some IT skills...
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Kids learn through play, and it's vital that they express themselves as much as possible with a variety of tools. They get enough modular teaching at school (which kills creativity) so let him be a child! It won't last long.
Leap pads a just as good with parent interaction as they are leaving the kids ot get on with it.
And I guarantee if you try to teach him to code without him asking first or showing an interest, he will grow up to hate it.
Tell her it is bad for her health.
Then, ban her from travelling at more than 20 MPH. Some Victorians thought travelling at speed would cause them to be unable to breathe.
As long as you follow the advice in this thread (so far) and have clear lines about what is right and wrong, acceptable and not acceptable, you won't go far wrong. To start with, it may be wise to limit the amount of time a child is allowed to do some activities.
Mark
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As for sending the gift back that would be pretty insulting to anyone, not just the parents. Worst case if the kid didn't like it, I'd leave it sitting gathering dust rather than send it back and hurt the parents feelings.
Quite agree. Sending it back to the parents would be the worst thing you could do. Families fall out over such things.
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