Kids and computers.

[racedude1984]

Just wanna get some thoughts and opinions about kids and computers. I'm kinda the family computer guru. I like tinkering with computer and spend quite a bit of time on the computer. My daughter (Angelina) has always been involved with computers. When she was 2 we gave her a broken keyboard to beat on. She loved doing that because she always seen me on a keyboard. Now she is 5 she loves getting onto the computer. We let her play educational games. She is able to access the internet on her own and loves going to disney.com, pbskids.com and other websites. When she was almost 4 my step father who is a macintosh guy had rebuilt her an older mac book to play with and she loves it. We loaded it with games and fun things. The macbook is kinda slow and can't run all the games and she gets frustrated because it's slow. Last week we seen a little "netbook" at costco for 350. It has a 10.1" screen. We bought it for her and we get home started setting it up and I went to upload games on it and realized it doesn't have a cd drive. I was surprised. I guess it keeps the cost down. I networked my computer drive and loaded games on her computer. Well her screen is too small to play the games. We are going to take the small computer back. Now I'm kinda stuck, I looked up small computers and was looking for one with a decent size screen and a CD drive. I'm finding that if I wanna do that it's going to be a bigger jump in price.

I'm now stuck wondering if I should cough up the extra cash to get her something she can use better and ask myself if it's going to benefit her. She can navigate a computer great and don't wanna keep her out of the new technology loop. I don't mind her on my computer but it's hard to share.

So what do you guys think of kids and computers these days.

 

[a22shady]

I bought my Daughter a computer on Black friday about 2 years ago. SPent 300 on it came with 17inch monitor/Color copier/scanner/Printer and good sized tower. She was only 4yrs old. And I had recently Upgraded my computer so I removed the Proc. from my old motherboard and took my Ram out anf Stuck my old Proc which was a nice upgrade to her computer and 4GB ram. SO it runs very very well. Even though all she would do is play her learning Games (Preschool/1stgrade) etc. she loved it and learned a bit. Now she is 6 and knows how to go onto the Net look up and Play games (nickjr/Cartoonnetwork) etc. She also knows how to send out email. I worked with her alot since she was 3 1/2 and most kids as long as the parent is there to help them and have a good atention span shouldnt be to difficult.

My opinon is if your going to spend the money get a half way decent one that they will be able to use for atleast 5yrs or more. you can get good ones at Bestbuy/walmart 4-500

 

[Diver0001]

I have two computers. One "desktop" and one "laptop" that I need for my work. The kids use both of them.

No child at 4 or 5 years old needs their own computer. That's like buying a bicycle for a baby.

Come back to this question in 10 years. Meanwhile set them up with a user account on *your* computer.

Sheesh.

R..

 

[a22shady]

To each his own, No they do not specifically need there own but if you can swing it why not. It teaches them alot and keeps then interested. Starting young with the learning games and alll help there hand/eye cordination also with number and letter recognizements. Promotes reading and spelling.

I work from home and I am always on my computer. My G/F has her own Laptop but same think she is a teacher so she takes it to work and when she gets home she needs it. So for us it made sense for her to have her own or else there would be no time for her to use it.

 

[Ayisha]

There is definitely a time and place for computers in a child's life, but it should be very, very limited at 5 years old. Young children really don't need to be on a computer for more than half an hour or so per day - that's plenty. Computer time should not interfere with outdoor and indoor gross motor play or other cognitive/fine motor activities. Excessive use of computers, watching TV, etc. is linked with childhood obesity and declining health in young people in North America. Just as in adults, children can get VDT's resulting in eye strain and headaches. Both computers and TV trigger excessive chemical activity in the brain leading to difficulty falling asleep for often an hour after exposure, so there should be no computer or TV use closer to bedtime.

Educational computer games can improve hand-eye coordination and aid language development, but so can non-computer activities. That type of learning, however, requires an adult or mentor to facilitate the child's learning rather than a computer. Finding a balance would be ideal.

Computer use does little to improve a child's concentration skills. In fact, young people seem to have a harder time focussing and seem to require constant stimulation and "input". Baby Einstein, as an example, has been shown to scatter a young child's brain activity and overstimulate them, decreasing attention span. The show "24" is an adult version of this idea, catering to the overstimulated brain that needs constant and varied input.

Excessive computer use can also interfere with social skills, as can be seen with many teenagers. Many young people these days would rather text, email or chat rather than have a face to face conversation with others and retreat to their computer games. Again, there is a time and place in moderation, but in excess it can interfere with the development and maintenance of social skills, social etiquettes and norms, building friendships, and learning to read body language and perceptual cues.

Diver0001, I would be more concerned about a child having their own computer at an older age in terms of safety, especially if they have access to the internet. Children's computers should be in a family area that is easy to monitor and with parental controls. Very young children have been known to "chat" with strangers, some of whom are adults pretending to be children in order to "lure" unsuspecting young children.

In very limited use, computers can be used to aid development, as long as all other types of learning are incorporated into the child's daily life as well.

 

[captndale]

My son is in his early thirties now and works as a computer programmer. When he was 8 years old I bought him a clone of the Apple 2E, the state-of-the-art Apple at the time. It came loaded with a word processing program and the BASIC computer language. I refused to buy any games for him. That forced him to learn how to program the computer himself. By the time he was in high school, he was the one teaching his instructors in the computer lab.

 

[Laustimus]

How about a Mac Mini? They are inexpensive and you can get any monitor you want for them plus you can get a 3rd party mouse and keyboard like the kind made easier for kids and that can take the extra abuse They have Core2Duo processors in them now so they are faster then 90% of the small laptops on the market.

Also the parental controls in Snow Leopard OS are very good and easy to setup (Windows Vista/7 finally got 'decent' parental controls but they are still not nearly as simplified as as the OSX ones, they end up listing every single EXE on the computer) , plus they are built in so they don't cost anything extra. You can limit what websites they go to, what apps they can open, you can limit what hours of the day the computer can be used and how much time per day they can be logged in. Plenty of free games and learning apps right on apple's site too under the "Downloads" tab. For example click here

And for the record I'm not an Apple zealot I am actually a certified Microsoft Systems Engineer since 1997. I just happen to think Apple offers the best home user computer there is

 

[BOHUNTER]

My little man is 6 and he can without any blink, turn it on, pop in his 4 digit pass code, google his lego, wizard101, freereealms, and doesnt need any help, then sign in with his different passwords and codes. Play the games with keyboard keys and a mouse. Its freakin unreal. He is in 2nd grade and we used to speak code around the house, well he can decipher it now since he can spell. Problem is when they see something on tv they go look it up! I block everything and run anti viral software constantly. I showed him ONE time how to change the image on the screen as the background, every week once or twice we have a new pic! Kids catch on real fast!

$1,400.00 lap top grandpa bought the 5 year old at the time! I was like are you on drugs!....... I got socks!

He is my lil man but dang if he aint sharp on this stuff! I got him a Wii game the other night, within 2 hours he was in the Master Ninja level of Ninja turtles... LOL.. I dont dare play he always beats me at eveything.. and the Bowling, golf, tennis, and boxing which they all come with... Roy Jones couldnt get a Jab in on this rascal!

I encourage use of technology, I got a transcript of my JrCollage the other week for a License and I withdrew and then passed with a "D" Intro to Computers... LOL Haaaaaaa

SH

 

[humanbeing]

Computers afford children (and people in general) with an important resource: the opportunity to self-teach. It doesn't matter what kind of computer you put in front of her. If she wants to learn about it, she will. If she doesn't, she won't, and that's fine too. It's her choice.

Logistically, if the computer is slow, try installing some form of Linux. This will also enable her to access more of the computer's inner workings, if she so chooses.

There is a man in India named Sugata Mitra who installed a computer into the outside wall of the building he worked at. It faced what was considered a slum area in New Delhi. Children wandered over and began investigating the computer. They weren't given any instruction or direction. The results were amazing. The children learned very quickly and deeply, just by curiosity and experimentation. They taught themselves and each other. These are people that were illiterate and had never heard of a computer before. Dr. Mitra has now formed a group that has installed computer kiosks around the world.

Here is an article about this. Dr. Mitra calls it Minimally Invasive Education:

Minimally Invasive Education: Lessons from India | Psychology Today

 

[Ayisha]

That article was very interesting. Thanks for sharing.