Technology for Early Graders

            In teaching children, we must pay great attention to the growth of the child in conducting activities and selecting materials that are appropriate for their use.A good early childhood teachersets appropriate expectations and provides each child with challenging yet “do-able” activities that would support learning (NAEYC). In line with this, parents should also play an active role in contributing to the children’s learning. Parents are highly encouraged to work alongside the teachers in providing activities that stimulate learning for the kids.

Now that technology has become a partner in your child’s learning, it now plays a big role in how your child learns. Having said this, it is important that you are knowledgeable on how to properly engage the children in learning using technology. Here are some examples on what you can do to make technology use more educational:

•      Allow your child to use and explore touch screen media that makes use of applications that reinforce the concepts they learn in school and applications or programs that will give your child a feeling of success in what they do. Below is an example of such.

Example Application: Lala Lunchbox (available in iTunes)– Why not get your child involved in planning their healthy lunch? This app provides a fun and easy way to pack lunch and it is also an educational experience for the child and the parents.

•      Give activities that allow your child to explore and feel comfortable with using older technology such as using a mouse rather than track pads in laptops or use keyboards instead of touch screens in surfing the internet. Starting from the basics will help the child understand the use of technology.

Example activity: Fruit Collection (Online Game) – Fruit Collection is a game wherein the mat should be moved to catch the fruits. This game involves the use of a computer mouse for easier movement of the mat.

(source: http://www.knowledgeadventure.com/games/fruit-collection/)

•      Make use of cameras to capture photos of activities and artworks your child has created. Celebrate your child’s accomplishments by sharing the artworks and performances of your child here.

•      Record children’s stories about their drawings or their play or explore digital storytelling with children. Co-create digital books with photos of the children’s play or work. (There are many websites and videos available online where you can get ideas about how to make storytelling more educational for your child. Better yet, make one yourself to make storytelling more personal for your child. The best part is, you can tell the story to your child over and over again simply by replaying the video.)

There are many other creative ways to use technology in helping your child learn. By trying out new technology and all sorts of different fun technological activities with your child, you also help them grow and develop. I hope that these examples will help you come up with other kinds of activities to do. Tell us in the comments what you have come up with!

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References:

·         National Association for the Education of Young Children (n.d.) Developmentally Appropriate Practice for Pre-schoolers. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/dap/preschoolers