Make A Place For Computers In Children's World

Make A Place For Computers In Children's World 
By Dr. Kanchan Bodas, Mon Jan 2nd 

Computers have become an important part of our everyday livesand will be even more in the future. Knowledge about computersmight become as important to elementary school children asreading and writing.

There has been a lot of debate whether computers should be usedwith younger children. Some educators doubt the value of moderntechnology with younger kids. But some researchers have foundlot of positive learning benefits with the use of computers inyounger kids, especially when an adult supervisor is involved.Positive impact has also been found on children withdisabilities or special needs. It has been said that "Technologycan change the way children think and learn." 

Children are great "thinkers". Their rapidly growing brains areassimilating a lot of knowledge from their surroundings. Lot ofdata is analyzed and stored in the memory cells. Positive playexperiences, visual and auditory stimuli give a big boost tothis process.For example; I was pleasantly surprised one day when I saw my2and half year old twin girls playing with their toy fishes.They were holding a couple of dolphins, making jumping movementswith their hands and dolphin sounds with their mouth at the sametime. They were pretending that the dolphins are playing in thewater. Then they picked up a whale which started talking to thedolphins. They made whale sounds with some "clicks" and"tweets". Being a mother I was fascinated and of course veryproud. I learned later that they were looking at theEncyclopedia with their dad, on the earlier day and hadrepeatedly watched the sound clips and little video clips.

Explore, create and learn while having fun. That is a child'slife. Playing is a lot more to children then just having fun. Aschildren play, they learn 

about themselves and their surroundingenvironment. They learn social skills, learn to solve problemsand also develop their motor skills. Playing enhances theircreativity and imagination. 

These days wonderful computer based educational games andactivities are available in the market for children. There areexcellent websites on the internet, which provide informationand educational games for children. Parents and caregiversshould find play activities fit for their children. They shouldbe challenging, but not frustrating or overwhelming. Parents aretheir child's first playmates. Children enjoy a game lot morewhen a parent or family member is involved in the play.

Should children surf on the internet? It is "informationsuper-highway." It has its own benefits and risks. Childrenusing internet without supervision is a risk, but with aknowledgeable and responsible adult it could bring lot ofbenefits. It is just like driving a car and riding a car.Children can safely ride and enjoy the information super highwaywhile a responsible adult is in the driver's seat.

Of course there should be a limit on how much time children canspend on the computer. As a general guideline the rules can besimilar to those used for viewing TV. Anything done in excesscan be harmful. Consumption of too many vitamin tablets in a daycan also be harmful.