Elementary Education and the Computer

There are several schools of thought about young children and computers. I happen to believe that a child needs early exposure if he is going to keep up with the rapid advancements in computer technology. My children start on the computer as soon as they can work a mouse--usually by the end of their second year. Here is how it works in our home:

Logistics and Safety

Each member of the family has their own account on Windows. I, as the administrator, have a lot of control about which sites they enter. I have strict filters installed and each child is regularly reminded of internet safety. They are never aloud to use their own name, give my birth date if one is needed, know not to disclose information like location, and, as an added precaution, the computer is right in the living room so there is always someone peering over the player's shoulder. Even with that, there are sneaky predators. The children do not have their own email account and are quick to tell me if something uncomfortable happens. (For instance, my daughter had a boy come up to her in a game who had a heart above his head. She left the area, he followed her. She put a grumpy cloud over her head and ended the game. She immediately told me about the situation and I praised her for not letting it go too far.) They should be taught that pushing Alt+F4 will close an open screen since some ads or pictures will pop up despite filters. By pushing Alt+F4, they don't have to look for the X, they can just get it off the screen.

School

There are several sites that are for the youngest players (Fisher-Price, KneeBouncers, and some on PBS Kids, for example) that get them comfortable moving the mouse, clicking on items and learning how to navigate a site--even though they can't read. As they get older, the free educational games on the internet are exhaustive. I spend some time about once a quarter searching sites, updating games based on the child's skills and eliminating the sites that received an icy reception by a child. I have put some of our favorites on the sidebar. Because each child has their own account, I can bookmark only games at their level. Each homepage is specific, too. The five year old, for instance, has PBS Kids for her homepage while the ten year old has NASA. Also, each child has a school folder. During school hours, only the highly regulated games within the school folder may be played. Starfall may be fun, but is way below my eight year old daughter's level. It is not an approved school game for her.

After School

There are several activities that are harmless and entertaining, such as Pixie Hollow. This computer time is earned. Because I have control over time limits (it shuts off at a certain time), I can give them "one hour when you finish the dishes."

You have to put in a bit of time before you give your children access to the computer and you have to know that your computer screen will always have fingerprints on it. I think, however, that they benefit from being familiar and comfortable with a computer for as long as they can remember.