At What Age Introduce Kids To Computers?

jaqian

At what age would you introduce your child to computers?

I've a son who will be 2yrs this July and he's started noticing the keyboard and "daddy" typing on it and wants to have a go. I let him bash away on a broken laptop or a spare keyboard I have lying around. But I was wondering from what age should I properly introduce him to computers and what games/software etc would you recommend?

Anyone tackled this already, love to hear your experiences.

Femelade

http://store.ergocube.com/ergokids.html

http://www.rmlearning.com/BabyKeyboard.htm


these are some good sites for keyboards, the second one might benefit you for about a yr maybe?
i didnt get any of these myself so i'm not sure how good they are. my daughter is 5 next month and she's been using the comuter since she was about 2 and a half. you can get software for anything you son is into, my daughter had a good "little bill" cd rom and a rolie polie olie one but you can get all sorts for all different ages. or even online you might find some good free games for your son.

if you google "baby keyboard" you'll get lots of choices for different types, they have only a few buttons on them and special cd roms that come with them.

hope this was some help to you.

-Femmy

tk123

I started letting my nephew play with the PC when he was about 2 - i'd gotten all this kid's software with it for free so we started off with that. There was one little game where you made a track and when you were finished trains and cars would go on the track and another music type one that he liked. As he got older we played puzzle type ones where he'd be solving the puzzles to make stuff happen - animations etc. He's 10 now and a whiz. You really have to watch them thou - he was playing a game online one time and asked me how to spell something -when I looked to see what he was doing he was chatting to whoever he was playing against - I wasn't comfortable with that at all!

KdjaCL

Wordpad with big fonts.
Paint with big spray can.

Mouse and KB skills all in one go.


kdjac

Femelade

KdjaC wrote:

Wordpad with big fonts.
Paint with big spray can.

Mouse and KB skills all in one go.


kdjac

yeah thats how i started my daughter too, she loved paint.

TempestSabre

I never thought of this at all! My little guy is always bashing my keyboard and using the mouse, I just assumed he was copying me. Never occured to me to let him actually use it. Kinda hoped I'd keep him away from computers.

jaqian

TempestSabre wrote:

... Kinda hoped I'd keep him away from computers.

Why? They're used everywhere, it'll also be good stimulation and he might have an aptitude for it.

TempestSabre

jaqian wrote:

Why? They're used everywhere, it'll also be good stimulation and he might have an aptitude for it.

I work in IT I think theres better things to do with your time. Look how much time I waste here. Anyway like I said it never occured to me. I think I'll fire up that old Apple Quadra I have somewhere.

Femelade

TempestSabre wrote:

I work in IT I think theres better things to do with your time. Look how much time I waste here. Anyway like I said it never occured to me. I think I'll fire up that old Apple Quadra I have somewhere.

well my daughter benefited from using the computer, yeah she did colouring, painting, jigsaws but sometimes she would go onto the computer and play educational games. some are quite good.

Slutmonkey57b

cbeebies website is very good for fiddly little games, pictures to print of fand colour. etc. www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies

Nevyn

Mine started out with cbeebies and now have moved on to cartoon network.
The reader rabbit series of games is quiet good and a lot of them can be got and taken out on loan from the library.

Jammer

My 3 and half yr old nephew can type is name, and his mothers name, my name etc. Got him a 'Learn to Type with Spongebob' thing for €7.99 in PC World, he loves it.

He has a go of Need for Speed on my Xbox360 sometimes too, although he hasnt mastered the art of 'braking' yet...but he likes the controller shaking in his hands and the noises of the cars...

No harm letting him have a go once in a while, everything is computers now, and it is an advantage in almost any job to have intermediate-advanced computer skills.

ZENER

I bought my son an Amiga 600 when he was 3 - he's 16 now. He loved Noddy and also had a great time with D-Paint. IMO they're never too young. Great for hand eye coordination.

ZEN

cormie

I think it's best to keep them away from any electronic form of entertainment (tv/pc/video games) for as long as possible.

holly_johnson

My daughter will be 5 next month, and she has been using the pc since about 2 and a half. She is brilliant at it, really good mouse control.
She loves http://www.nickjr.com or .co.uk, she's Dora mad and they have great games and pictures to print and colour. Also, Disney Princess is good:
http://disney.go.com/princess/html/main_iframe.html good pics there too.
She also loves playing the Sims 2 with me.

I think it's great to get them started whenever they show interest, it's an essential skill requirement nowadays so why not let them have some fun too?

Adeptus Titanicus

My son was 1 last week, and he can pause and start MP3s in iTunes, and skip to the next track. I think that's basically because the space and arrow keys are the ones most easily reached given his height, the height of the desk and curious little fingers (but his choice in music is very interesting!)

Ickle Magoo

My son is 14months & will happily type away on the keyboard (not that he knows what he is typing but he laughs away!)....he can also turn on & off the PC, put discs in & take them out....it's scary how much they pick up!

I think it's great....my in-laws are PC illiterate & we spend hrs trying to teach them how to use theirs but they seem almost scared of it! :rolleyes: I think it's great to teach kids as much as possible while they still have that "no fear" about them.....depending on how precious your PC is of course!

cormie

Just don't turn a learning tool into a best friend.

Nevyn

pcs and games consoles and the tv have a part to play in helping us teach our children and to divert them but there has to be limits on how much time we allow our children to while away at them.

Mine barely got a look at any of the above today as I had them out for two hours creating flower beds and playing with worms after school.

cormie

But does that mean they are stuck in front of the above for 2 hours every other day?

I don't think there is any need for game consoles for children to be honest. TV and PCs are very limited as to what it can teach children, basic counting, colours and rhymes yes, this all leads to an academically prepared child, but not necessarily to a happy child.

Nevyn

Nope they have plenty of other things to be doing after schools activites and toys to play with.

Cormie do you have kids ?

cormie

No, I'm 21 so not yet:) why do you ask?

Hugh_C

jaqian wrote:

At what age would you introduce your child to computers?

Get them an iMac when they're four. After a few months they'll show YOU how to use it!

hc

Hobbes

3-4 would be the best time to start training them on gold farming. They will find repetitive stuff fun at age. :v:

ambro25

My daughter is 20 months old. She has been introduced to all things 'techy' from as early as I can remember, she can now:

* operate (in basic terms, switch on & play vids) my ARCHOS AV Player
* put a DVD in the player & play it
* switch pretty much any AV/HiFi stuff on/off + switch channels & commute sound on TV
* use a gamecube pad (thumbpad and buttons) (and switch the GC on/off of course)
* use a GBA SP (and press buttons)
* use a mouse and a keyboard (well, move mouse to move pointer as she's now asociated both movements + right-click for pop-up menu, and press keys on keyboard)
* 'steer' (not quite where she should, but...) using my PC steering wheel when she sits on my lap
* draw using stylus & MS Paint on my (old) Tablet PC (currently working on teaching her how to pick different colours)

I can honestly say getting her used to touchscreen technology was inspired, but short-sighted: I'm now having problems getting her to understand that no, you can't press the NTL Digital on-screen buttons (red, blue, green, etc.) on the TV, LOL!

The earlier the better, but with measure (nothing replaces pens, crayons and paper), and of course use 'expendable' gear inasmuch as possible: she's not allowed near my 'main' lappy or my gaming PC, but can fiddle with whatever else to her heart's content and experiment (under supervision, so that she knows that you press buttons and turn knobs and whatever else gently)... The day she inadvertently switched on the 5.1 amp after having fiddled with the volume knob, leaving it on max output, she learned a valuable lesson (I reckoned she jumped about 2ft clear off the ground when it came on, hehe!)

cormie wrote:

No, I'm 21 so not yet:) why do you ask?

May I? Because you are not partaking yet in the experience that is rearing a child. And it's a big one, at that. Not that you are not entitled to your opinion, of course, but it is not so well 'informed' in the context of this thread. Fair enough?

Good comment KdjaC (re. Word/Paint) and good comments also about splitting interaction with other children, with parents and digital interaction. It's all a matter of balance, and it's a hard one to strike at times

mike65

When my niece (3 yrs) visits I have to lock the PC room as she'll only cause mayhem otherwise. So many cables - so much fun!

Mike.

stormkeeper

ambro25 wrote:

I can honestly say getting her used to touchscreen technology was inspired, but short-sighted: I'm now having problems getting her to understand that no, you can't press the NTL Digital on-screen buttons (red, blue, green, etc.) on the TV, LOL!

I have to say that I found this comment quite cute... lol

cormie

ambro25 wrote:

May I? Because you are not partaking yet in the experience that is rearing a child. And it's a big one, at that. Not that you are not entitled to your opinion, of course, but it is not so well 'informed' in the context of this thread. Fair enough?

No I'm not partaking in rearing a child, my 21 month old niece pops around every so often but that's nothing to go by, at all. However, my sister, her mother, is of some what the same opinion as I, which I'm happy to see. Maybe I'm just too much of an idealistic, I'd prefer to see my child coming home mucky, cut up and bruised (to a small extent of course) rather than thinking it's gained a few more pounds on it's arrival home from a local lan meet up or even the local friends bedroom where he has a 51 inch widescreen tv.

ambro25

cormie wrote:

(...)
I'd prefer to see my child coming home mucky, cut up and bruised (to a small extent of course) rather than thinking it's gained a few more pounds on it's arrival home from a local lan meet up or even the local friends bedroom where he has a 51 inch widescreen tv.

ambro25 wrote:

(...)
The earlier the better, but with measure (nothing replaces pens, crayons and paper),
(...)
and good comments also about splitting interaction with other children, with parents and digital interaction. It's all a matter of balance, and it's a hard one to strike at times

run_Forrest_run

I work in IT and I feel the earlier you get the little ones interacting with computers the better. It great for problem solving skills and logical reasoning etc..BUT do not abuse it...don't let your child sit in front of it for hours on end just for a quiet life...a run outdoors still beats it IMHO.

cotwold

Early, and get them typing properly(itll pay out dividends in the future)