T is for Training
Ella is nearly 3 1/2 years old. She’s WAYYYYYY behind some of her friends on learning technology because I’ve been a bit hesitant to start the process with her. We don’t have an iPad or iTouch or iPhone and a BlackBerry doesn’t quite cut it for a toddler. I mean, she spells everything wrong for starters!
We had the opportunity to review an iPad this summer and Ella took to it like a duck to water. She LOVED it and wanted to play with it all of the time. I didn’t have the same passion for it, however and hesitated in handing it over readily as it was just a loaner. Ella was surprisingly good at using the iPad, however, without any real instruction.
I’ve begun looking at kiddie versions of the iPad as I simply cannot justify a £300+ purchase for a 3 year old (yes, Mummy would manage to use it too, no doubt). There’s the LeapFrog LeapPad and the V-Tech InnoTab and of course the good, old-fashioned iPod Touch which seems like perhaps the best option, albeit not the cheapest. This may end up being one of Ella’s Christmas presents so I would appreciate any input and reviews on any of those listed above and how your children get on with them.
In the meantime, we’ve taken Mark’s old laptop, cleared it of grown-up software and started to teach Ella how to use the mouse and play games on sites like Channel 5′s Milkshake, Cbeebies as well as Fisher-Price and Lego-Duplo. She LOVES it and has picked it up very quickly. It still makes me twitchy, seeing her clicking and pointing and poking at a laptop (not MINE for sure) but I do know how important it is to get her started on this path. Surprisingly, Mark has been the one to instigate the laptop with her. He has far less patience than she does but it’s been good training for Mark as well.
So, this week’s Gallery Theme is “T”. The Cafe Bebe take on that theme is “T” is for “Training”!
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and T for technology! My two year old and one year old can already make my phone and computer do things that I can’t…. granted they do it by accident but they are still babies! Imagine how competent their generation are going to be when they are teenagers / adults!?!
It’s scary to think how good with technology our kids are going to be. No-one will be able to write as they will all just be typing, which is quite sad. There is nothing like a hand written letter x
Ella is a similar age to my son. He will be 4 in a month. He’s been using my iphone for well over a year, I have some games/apps just for him (perfect at the supermarket check out) the size of the iphone (so itouch) is perfect for little fingers.
He also uses the laptop with supervision, we love Cbeebies website.
At school I remember the whole class crowding round one computer, how we’ve leapt forward.
Congrats on Day 2 of nablopomo! I think you are right to do it slowly, I used to teach media and researched lots into children and media. I think it is all great in moderation, yes they need the skills but they also need to learn lots of other stuff at this age too. They pick it up at lightening speed whenever they tackle it!
Hmmmm – B has been able to use an iPhone sunce he was about 7 months and an iPad since he was 10 months which was too early really and i blame daddy!!going slowly is sensible because you are able to use your phone and pc equipment in peace probaby whereas i sometimes think B thinks they are his and not mine!!!!
Well done on day 2 of NaBloPoMo i havent done mine yet – aim to get it posted later cx
I love the way kids pick things up so easily. I can’t put my iPhone down anywhere without MC finding it and using it…she usually says “I just need to do some work on your phone”. Wonder where she picked that up from?
SAHMlovingit,
Ella does the same thing w/ calculators, old mobiles and the LeapFrog Laptop that we got her for Christmas last year. “Have to do some work like Mummy”. Is this a good thing or a bad thing??
Karin
Jenny,
As I don’t have any i-Products, this hasn’t been an issue but I’m not overly keen on the idea of Ella being able to work something like that. We just received a Fisher Price “toy” which is basically an iPhone/iTouch phone case. Protects your phone from drool & dropping but still allows buttons (but not the home button) to be pushed AND has a mirror on the back to entertain the kiddies (or allow you to touch up your makeup). Genius! I recommend it!
Karin
Alexander Residence,
We’re going slow with Ella’s introduction to technology and I think that’s totally fine! She’ll be knowing more than her Daddy in a few weeks time, that’s for sure! 
Thanks…Day two hasn’t been too bad…I think around Day 18, it’s going to get sticky!
Karin
Helloitsgemma,
I do want to get an iTouch for Ella & Me with Apps she can use. We’ll see what Santa brings.
I remember Apple computers being introduced to our school for the first time when I was about 11 or 12. We learned keyboarding/typing on Electric Typewriters though…how ancient is that!
Karin
Mum2babyinsomniac,
Quite funny! 
Karin
We are spending plenty of time with Ella on writing and colouring and not focusing too much on the computer or easy ways to do things. She has become fascinated, as of late, with making copies of the work she does!
Lucy,
Karin
Yes, TECHNOLOGY! Duh! They will be little rocket scientists before we know it…scary huh?
I believe teaching kids technology in moderation is definitely useful for them. My daughter also started with Cbeebies when she was around 3 ( she is almost 5 now) She doesn’t sit at the computer daily but enjoys it now and then
Beans been using the ipad and has taken to it really well, she struggled with using a mouse on the lap top and just couldn’t do it.
Now she’s loving an app on the ipad where she can learn to write letters with her fingers! We’re just trying to get 2 leap pads ordered for their Christmas pressies but find it hard to find stock anywhere – both the leap pad and innotab are sold out pretty much everywhere at the moment
Bad show I say!
We’re big iPad and iPhone fans in this house. Little Man has just turned two, but he has been competently navigating his way around the iPhones and the iPad since he was 18 months old. I think how beneficial these pieces of technology are is all in the way you use them and what you use them for. Many kids games are quite passive or seem to have limited educational value, so it’s all about making good choices with them.
Back in July, I had a really interesting discussion with Lisa Sunbury from RegardingBaby, all about the pros and cons of early technology introduction (http://www.mama.ie/?p=2738). I’m all for it, if it’s done with care, and she is of the opinion that there is no harm, and lots of benefit to waiting. I’ve never been so good with waiting though…!
Hmm to be honest I’d just stick to laptop or computer. We do have smart phones at home but they (and tablets) are famous for causing neck problems, let alone addiction (i spend alot of time telling mine that she cant play on our phones but she really wanted it for her fix!)
Also, I’m a bit against buying some really expensive techno stuff like NintendoDS for my almost 4 years old, what am i gonna buy her in the future?
But thats just my opinion
We are iFanatics in our house (not me I prefer a mouse) and the kids have been handy with the iPad and iPod Touch since a very young age. I think the Bug was under 3, and GG is the one who teaches me how to do stuff on the iPad. It really is very intuitive. Now I haven’t tried the new LeapPad, but I can only imagine it to be better and more appropriate to learning, given that everything Leapfrog do is brilliant like that. You will have a very happy girl on Christmas morning with that kind of stash
)
I think we need to bear in mind that kids today are growing up with way more technology than we did, so what seems strange and counter-intuitive to us is going to be very natural for them. Moo is fascinated by Hub’s iPhone and can even do the slidey-touch-screen thing! (see I totally know what it’s called…) Saying that, I am determined to make sure she can hand write/draw and use a pencil/pen confidently as well. It’s a fine balance and sounds like you’ve got it covered!
Such a new world they are growing up in! My friends and I were talking of cassette tapes, pencils, records and hand dial telephones that were stuck to the wall the other day. My children thought we were nuts and very old!
It’s strange to see my 8 year old show my 1 year old something on an iPad – something that wasn’t even thought of when we were young. My 20 month old has the words, ‘iPad’, ‘iPhone’, ‘Facebook’ and ‘YouTube’ in her vocabulary already! Eek!