I assume I'm not alone in having a toddler who is fascinated by all things electronic -- the computer, the digital camera, my cell phone. For a long time I resisted letting Levi touch any of them, and restricted his activity to sitting on my lap to look at pictures.
Levi being Levi, however, it wasn't long before he realized that every time Mommy sat down at the computer, letters appeared on the screen. From then on, any time I even walked into the den, he would be on my heels, asking, "ABCs? ABCs? ABCs?"
I've developed several justifications for allowing him to type at the computer, none of them proven by any external sources whatsoever:
1. He'll need to learn to type eventually. He might as well get familiar with the placement of the letters.
2. It is short and easily restricted screen time. When he has typed out the alphabet and the numbers 1-9, he's done. (Occasionally, however, if I have nothing else pressing, I'll let him type out some of the other words he knows how to spell. There are about a dozen at this point.)
3. This may be totally bogus, but I feel like this might be a good capital-lower case letter activity. If I don't turn on caps lock (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't), then when he presses down a capital-letter key, a lower-case letter appears on the screen. He watches carefully to make sure the letter shows up, so while he's thinking "B," a "b" appears. That has to make a connection somehow, right?
4. Now that I've made a HUGE deal out of not touching any keys except the letters and numbers, it buys me five minutes to clean up breakfast or whatnot. But still better than a TV show, right?
I know there are games and cartoons online that are geared towards two-year-olds, but I'm still resistant to anything other than a Word document and letter- and number-typing. Anybody else have any thoughts [I'm sure you all do ;)] on computer usage for your pre-pre-schoolers?
Levi being Levi, however, it wasn't long before he realized that every time Mommy sat down at the computer, letters appeared on the screen. From then on, any time I even walked into the den, he would be on my heels, asking, "ABCs? ABCs? ABCs?"
I've developed several justifications for allowing him to type at the computer, none of them proven by any external sources whatsoever:
1. He'll need to learn to type eventually. He might as well get familiar with the placement of the letters.
2. It is short and easily restricted screen time. When he has typed out the alphabet and the numbers 1-9, he's done. (Occasionally, however, if I have nothing else pressing, I'll let him type out some of the other words he knows how to spell. There are about a dozen at this point.)
3. This may be totally bogus, but I feel like this might be a good capital-lower case letter activity. If I don't turn on caps lock (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't), then when he presses down a capital-letter key, a lower-case letter appears on the screen. He watches carefully to make sure the letter shows up, so while he's thinking "B," a "b" appears. That has to make a connection somehow, right?
4. Now that I've made a HUGE deal out of not touching any keys except the letters and numbers, it buys me five minutes to clean up breakfast or whatnot. But still better than a TV show, right?
I know there are games and cartoons online that are geared towards two-year-olds, but I'm still resistant to anything other than a Word document and letter- and number-typing. Anybody else have any thoughts [I'm sure you all do ;)] on computer usage for your pre-pre-schoolers?
Surveying his handiwork (a string of letters: always the alphabet, always in order).
Just posted this on Having Fun at Home's Facebook page. Needless to say, I agree :-) and I'll have to try the upper/lower case thing on Gracie.
ReplyDeleteI let my son type like this too! He loves finding "D" for Daddy, "M" for Mummy etc. I also let him use some of the sesame street online games. While teaching letters, numbers, rhyming, seasons, etc., they also give practise of following directions and mouse/track-pad skill. Mr 3 is quite good with the track pad on my lap-top now!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Katey!
ReplyDeleteErin, I have another friend who uses a lot of Sesame Street stuff for her little guy. Maybe that'll be one of Levi's new privileges when he turns three. :)