When should kids take computer lessons?
The use of technology nowadays has allowed the creation of educational material –ιδιαίτερα μαθήματα– for very young children. As always nowadays parents try to see when is the right time to give their child access to the magical world of computers.
The psychological part and the climate that exists in the house for technology always play a role, as well as the tendency of the child.
Excuses for a child not to start computer lessons or even to have access to technology from a young age, many electrostatic waves, screens with strange radiation, fear of addiction, reduced imagination, etc. are heard.
Respectively, there are many reasons to start, such as the amazing educational material, the audiovisual media that can pass positive messages to children, the greater familiarity that one acquires early on in a tool that will surely be used by Ms.
So how do we decide?
Each case is special so let’s try to look at the data from all sides. From the technological side but also from the social side.
Touch technology has come.
It offers the possibility that we do not want a mouse to start using the computer, so we can give a two-year-old such a device that can work it. Can easily view photos and videos, listen to songs, open applications. I do not say telephone because some people are special with the radiation of a telephone device. (If your touch device is a phone, simply turn off the phone for zero radiation while accessing the child).
In this way we can give him stimuli that in the traditional ways we would have difficulty. There are many applications to help children learn basics such as colors, animals, notes in ways we had not even imagined before. Such a device enables us to have accumulated knowledge of many board games in our hands at a much lower cost but also better direction to the needs and weaknesses of our child.
Be careful this does not reduce the need for the child to play with a regular board. To touch real pawns and have real opponents against him. It just allows us to have more options for our little one’s education.
So can a 2-year-old have access to electronic devices?
At this sensitive age 2 to 4.5 parents are also sensitive. Especially those who have studied the evils of television and may have managed to have their children with very little influence from it. Certainly these families are not ready for such moves and they certainly do not leave their children behind. However, if the devices already exist at home and there is a positive mood, access with specific baby category applications can begin. You will easily find toys with notes and animals with sounds.
So how much computer use should a child make?
The TV may be a good benchmark for computer use.
Having gone through this stage with my own stimuli and my own experiences I see that parents and especially parents who raise the first child need education at every level to make the right choices and in fact are not 100% sure about each one of them. So first we say no TV and we see where it will go, then we find some good series and find that a little “good” TV does not hurt. But in order to define a show as good, we, the parents, must also watch it, and certainly at the age of 2.3 we see the series of children, but for how long.
And surely some words like “stupid” or “stupid” bother us that we do not want our children to hear but when will they be able to? These experiences we have raising our children, setting boundaries, which we modify according to the experiences we and our children live, determine our choices.
Beware of uncontrolled use!
This happens in good cases-conditions, the rest have to take the children to grandparents for many hours and there things are different !!! Access to television and children is grandfather’s strong point. It is the chocolate, the merenda, the sweet that will make the grandchildren love him. And the parents are running to close holes.
Returning to computers the situation is the same. The access that children will have determines the positive or negative effect of the use. As with TV, you need moderation and specific access time. As with TV, you need specific content choices that only parents can make. If the rules are followed the result is better as the computer is NOT a TV, it is interactive and can give stimuli and reactions that passive TV watching does not approach.
Online private lessons might not be a good idea for young children, but after the age of 12, you can gradually familiarize them with technology.
