Currently, there are a lot of tablets offered for sale everywhere. Whatever tablet it is, it will always be attractive to kids, and therefore teaching them how to use it correctly would give parents a lot less worries, and some possible learning for kids.
According to PBS.org, children should wait until preschool before they are given permission to use tablets.
“Children under two years of age learn best from real-world experiences and interactions, and each minute spent in front of a screen-based device is a minute when your child is not exploring the world and using their senses, which is extremely important in their development process,” says Dr. Carolyn Jaynes, a learning designer for Leapfrog Enterprises, as per PBS.
“However, by age three, many children are active media users and can benefit from electronic media with educational content,” she adds. “This content often uses strategies such as repeating an idea, presenting images and sounds that capture attention, and using child rather than adult voices for the characters.”
Knowing this, it would be best to take advantage of the learning that kids could receive through technology. Do you have an iPhone, iPad, or Android device? Parents.com gives a list of helpful apps that could help kids learn at home:
For iPad/iPhone only:
Elmo loves 123s
Disney Story Central
GoldieBlox and the Movie Machine
The Magic School Bus: Oceans by Scholastic
Fish School HD
Ansel & Clair's Adventures in Africa
Winky Think Logic Puzzles
Dexteria Dots 2
The Sight Word Adventure
Plants by Tinybop
Balloony Word
Thinking Blocks Multiplication
Number Run
For both iPad & Android:
Cookie Monster's Challenge
Stack the States
Habitat the Game
ShipAntics: The Legend of Kiki the Beast
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Crayola Color, Draw & Sing
Real Scary Spiders
Sparky & The Case of the Missing Smoke Alarms
School Zone Time, Money & Fractions On-Track
Pixie
Epic!
VocabularySpellingCity
BrainPOP Jr. Movie of the Week
SkyView
Although these apps could be helpful to your child's learning, best keep in mind that having too much screen time is not good for them.
According to PC Advisor, research has found that although it is convenient for parents to give tablets to their kids to entertain them, too much time spent on these gadgets bring negative effects.
Negative effects included are lower academic grades, psychological addictions to entertainment, computer game addiction problems, and sleep time problems.
However, if the usage of these devices is done appropriately, experts say it's OK.
“If they're using high-quality, age-appropriate media, their behaviour is positive, and their screen-time activities are balanced with plenty of healthy screen-free ones, there's no need to worry.”
