Computers – parents either love them or hate them, but they are here to stay and they need to be a part of our children’s education.
Parents are often concerned about how much time our children spend on the computer and in considering this family tension we have made a distinction between using our computers and associated technology for recreation or productivity. I agree, if computers are primarily used for recreation we need to be concerned, we need to monitor useage and ensure that our children are getting a balance of real life experiences, that they are outside exercising and having opportunity to interact with their family and friends.
But computers are a part of productivity today – they are a part of the workplace, technology is used in time management, connecting with friends, and creating art. Often we see computers in terms of productivity for ourselves, and yet only recreation for our children. In this day and age our children need to be as versatile with the productivity side as we are. Children can begin to use technology in a productive way from a very young age. My children were learning to touch type as soon as they started to read. (Daniel was actually touch typing before he was reading since his reading was delayed).
When we expose our children to technology we create the opportunity to teach them how to manage it and balance it with the rest of their lives.
Further Reading:
Learning to Type
Office Applications in Family Life
Children and Blogging
Removing technology is half the solution
I am very excited to see the development of online applications which engage our kids in creative ways. We took a term to use digital technologies instead of pen and paper for all our learning. Unfortunately, we didn’t continue with this as our internet is slow and limited – but for those with fast internet there is much to research and learn in terms of using online applications in our children’s learning. Read more: Communicating our Learning Digitally.
Affiliate link: The Next Story – and Boswells book
