Tuesday, March 13, 2012

[bearshorty]

Why do ten year olds get IPads for their birthdays? I really don’t like all the new touch technology with the fingerprints all over it.

Still love the weather. And since it is Spring Break I actually have time to go for a walk and enjoy it. I forgot what that was like!

The fun part of the day was calling the fire department. Mama saw the fire in the brush by the beach from our window and I called it in. It is a good thing the ground is still pretty wet. We don’t think this was natural fire by any means. And a tad scary since we saw not just the black smoke but actual flames.







My computer is still acting out. I think it is because I keep it in my lap and not on the table – it is much more stable on the table. I might have to open it up to try to tighten some connection which is not a comfortable thought.

Comments

[amanda_in_pajamas]

As much as I am against letting children camp out in front of a screen for hours on end, and prefer toys that don't require batteries, light up, and make sounds, I'm actually OK with kids having tablets like the iPad IF (and it's a big if) they are monitored and limited. There are some really great educational apps out there, not to mention its capabilities as an e-Reader. I also think it depends on the kid. Can the kid be trusted to take care of it? Can the kid be trusted to use it as intended and not do things on it he or she is not allowed to do?

As you've probably guessed, I let my 5-year old use an iPad. Mostly he uses it for educational purposes and reading e-books. He's also allowed to play approved games on it as part of the 30 minutes of screen time he gets a day. It's been a great tool for teaching. He has difficulty writing his letters. By utilizing the iPad, we can take the writing out of subjects like spelling, math, science, and geography removing the frustration factor that distracts from the lesson. (We work on handwriting separately each day. He doesn't get out of learning it, as it is an important skill, we just take it away as an obstacle to learning other things.)

Just my two cents. I do think that UNsupervised and UNlimited access is obnoxious and does a lot of harm. And, I'd go so far as to speculate that there is more of this happening than of closely monitored use.

[bearshorty]

My neighbor's parents (she is the 10 year old girl who got an iPad), don't monitor technology use very much. She goes to school and does scheduled activities like swimming but at home she can watch TV as much as she wants. And this is her personal iPad not just something she gets to borrow from her parents. I very much agree with your philosophy on this - I just don't think kids should get iPhones and iPad and just do what they want with it.

I used to love computer games that had math problems you had to solve!