iPad for kids?
Was wondering if anyone in the Haus has an iPad and if so do your kids use it. More specifically your younger kids. My daughter will turn 4 and I am thinking of buying her, and myself
, the new Ipad with the camera. I have read that there are some really good apps for education but haven't met anyone who has actually used them. Possibly no one is crazy enough to buy a 4 year old an iPad? It would serve a couple purposes besides hopefully education. The camera will allow me to see her every night while I am at work, she can watch movies on car rides and plane rides, like to IM CDA.
Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks in advance.
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As to the nine year old, he has a December birthday and really, really wanted a laptop. We came up with an agreement that he would forgo a large birthday party with friends, get no family gifts for his birthday and only the laptop for Xmas. He got a few other gifts from grandparents, but it was a sparse Xmas for gift quantity. There was a little shock at Xmas as that was all he really got, but he loves it and uses it everyday. Glad we got it.
The family bought "me" an iPad in the summer for my birthday. I rarely saw it. It is amazing how kids just "know" how to use it. Go into an Apple store and watch the 3-6 year olds. It's totally intuitive and they think nothing of using the device to its fullest. I'm a kind of techie and my 5 year old gives me tips. My wife and I had a couple very long discussions over Xmas presents this year and both agreed in the end for a big great gift rather than a bunch of smaller things. The five year old loves it and uses it all the time. It's a mixed use thing. Certainly some games, mostly the free apps. We have lots of family board games we play like checkers, risk and other great games we all play. We don't strictly monitor its use, but there is a time and place for it. Grumpy behavior and it goes away immediately for a long time. No use before homework, at the dinner table, while friends are over etc. We use it for entertainment, family games, some education and motivation. Outside play trumps indoor electronics every day.
We definitely get odd looks when we are out and he has the device and when we tell others it's his, the odd looks get odder
Register the iPad and the age categories for "who uses the device most" question start at age 3 or 4 I think. A lot of kids own iPads.
I'm starting to get to know my iPad finally!
tom
http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/
From NPR:
In her book Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, Sherry Turkle examines our proclivity for robots, smart phones and social networks, and though far from suggesting we ditch technology, she wonders if we aren't losing out on human contact in the process. - More at http://www.npr.org/2011/02/25/
OK Rich, I'm shutting myself down on the forum RIGHT NOW and heading for the weight room, where I can talk face-to-face with folks like the 70 y/o biker/power lifter who rolled his Harley on top of himself on 7-5-2010 (he tattooed the date on his forearm), lost 50# off his muscled 5'6' frame, and now is struggling back to form with nerve damage in his arms. We bemoan our status together weekly.
I believe my kids are well adjusted socially and can handle the technology. We have family dinners every night and we talk. No tech and no withdrawing from the family. My daughter wouldn't think of texting during meals. Nothing is that important. We have friends over regularly and we expect kids to be part of the conversation when appropriate.
You want to gives kids the tools and means to be successful in life. Education isn't just for school hours. I installed wikipedia on my phone years ago. It settles many a debate in the family where kids speak loudly and with confidence but are completely off base. The 9 year old now often goes to the site for fact verification. Tech can be a good thing.
Moderation and appropriateness for the circumstances are crucial.
It's not easy but so far I have no regrets.
Tom
I have an ipad and the kids use it. They have no issues using it and do better with it than real lap tops which they also use. Kids are just turned 7 and just turned 6. We thought about getting them an ipad of their own for xmas but decided to get them each an ipod touch. They love the things. They are pretty much an iphone without the phone. They are small themselves and have tiny hands so have no issues with the size of the things. Its great that they each have one so there is no fighting over it etc. They have some mindless games on them but a bunch of educational ones. They love some of the math games. They also have their own music, email etc. The things are really cool. My 7 year old has been making videos and sending them to grandma and grandpa.
We [mainly my wife as she is home with them] limits the use pretty strictly. Maybe its cause they are so young but they are not at a stage where they would play games all day anyhow. For far it seems like a good choice. Time will tell.
The podcast I shared talks about the changes that the constant push of information, status updates, texts, emails, is having on adult's and kid's ability to maintain real world relationships, affects the quality time that parents spend with kids, etc. I'm 43yo and feel a pronounced "itch" to check my email, the forum, etc on either my iPhone or Mac within minutes of waking up. And I dont' get a ton of texts, don't tweet or check FB much at all. I can't imagine how stuff like that (texts, emails, status updates, etc) would change the hardwiring of a kid's brain, litterally.
Obviously, I have zero parenting experience, but I found the podcast very interesting and shared it with Patrick, Joanne, and my sister (7yo twins + 2.5yo)
As to technology in general, it's all around us and will continue to be. You can hide under a rock or learn to use it properly. I truly believe technology changes the world for the better. EN is a fantastic example, not possible even 10 years ago. 500 people with a common interest all leveraging each others skills and knowledge. Yeah, it can be a sink hole for time if abused, but it can also be fun and informative if used properly.
They have access to a computer at home. Seems like a reasonable compromise on all this.
My boys are now 24, 21, 19 and 17. Between the 24 y/o and the 17 y/o it's as though we are living in a whole new world. The oldest three are NO WHERE NEAR as wired as the 17 y/o. I see a big, big BIG difference. The effects of technology on this son, as opposed to those only a few years older, are real and not a good thing.
With my 17 y/o I see what is becoming a text book example of the perils of this wired connectedness. He is distracted all the time. It's one thing to be able to monitor children when they are little, but you just don't sit on a 17 y/o. His texts (sent and received) average 4000+ a month--you do the math on how many a day that is. Think you will be able to control that when your kids are older? You won't. Many of his friends have THOUSANDS more texts than that per month. I am not kidding.
And you know what he has? A cell phone. A 7 y/o Razor. That's it. No iPad, no smart phone, no laptop (until college). I cannot imagine a him getting sucked into the delights of such cool technologies. I am living and seeing the result of the brain's rewiring that Rich talked about. It's real, and it's not good--I'm warning y'all.
Of all of my boys, Casey has an intelligence and sharpness that is a gift. What I see is a kid distracted and glued to that phone to the point where I KNOW it interferes with homework, school--the sheer ability to concentrate for extended periods of time. He is the most unwired of all of his friends with the most basic of the technologies, and it has had a major impact. Just my experience, but if you talk to my friends with teenagers, you will hear the same story, and worse.
Tucker -
We have an iPad and an iPhone. For a 4-yr old, I love love love "ABC Animals" and "pocketphonics". ABC Animals are adorable interactive alphabet flash cards, with wonderful illustrations. They're very interactive, i.e. they pronounce the letter and when you double-tap they flip over and let you practice drawing the letter. pocketphonics is a great phonics/handwriting app. The kids can play fun games drawing letters and doing multiple choice phonics exercises. Very cute.
The kids also play the heck out of Angry Birds, Cut The Rope, Skee-Ball, 3D Labyrinth, Flight Control, Football, and Field Goal!