Thread: Kids online

Hi, Irene!

I'm not comfortable going online with preschoolers. I'd like preschoolers to spend their time playing, building, talking, singing, and generally interacting with the world around them (not on a screen). I also would like it if they didn't watch much tv and didn't play electronic games. I'm a dinosaur. There are probably some software programs and websites out there that young children can use without being able to read, and I just don't know about them. I know some useful sites for kids who have learned to read. My 3rd graders know how to access various software on our school server, how to use a word processor, and sometimes go online for research purposes. I choose the site and give them the url; they negotiate my chosen site only. There are probably some people out there who have done good things with preschoolers and the net; I hope they will let us know!

Thank you for your reply! I absolutely agree with you. Kids should play and communicate with each other and the outside world but not through the screen. One of my respondents posted that he is a believer in teaching kids to discern as oppossed to just keeping them from stuff. I think that kids should grow and learn to use computers as they are likely to be a tool that they use in school, in life, at work. I try to be there to help them learn, and to show that it can be used to their advantage if they stay objective about what they find.
One of moms has sent me a huge list of sites for kids. Let me know if you would like to have it. Here are some of them:
[url="http://www.wicked4kids.com/play/index.shtml"]http://www.wicked4kids.com/play/index.shtml[/url]
[url="http://www.posnayko.com"]http://www.posnayko.com[/url]
[url="http://www.poissonrouge.com"]http://www.poissonrouge.com[/url]
[url="http://www.theodoretugboat.com"]http://www.theodoretugboat.com[/url]
[url="http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/kids"]http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/kids[/url]
[url="http://www.alfy.com/brain_train/ind...lashDetect=True"]http://www.alfy.com/brain_train/ind...lashDetect=True[/url]
[url="http://www.billybear4kids.com/games/online/games.htm"]http://www.billybear4kids.com/games/online/games.htm[/url]
[url="http://www.igrandparents.com/grandT...oloringBook.asp"]http://www.igrandparents.com/grandT...oloringBook.asp[/url]
[url="http://activitypad.com/online-games/"]http://activitypad.com/online-games/[/url]
[url="http://disney.go.com/park/bases/pla...lash/index.html"]http://disney.go.com/park/bases/pla...lash/index.html[/url]

Thanks for the list! That's plenty to get me started. I fully agree that kids should be taught to discern rather than just being kept from stuff. That could be done for the very young when an adult sits with them and talks about why they are using one site rather than another. As they grow, the child could begin to discuss with an adult why one site is more reliable than another, etc. I think I see that as a one-on-one kind of thing. My 3rd graders could probably engage in whole class discussions. As a matter of fact, giving them a couple of sites to view and discuss is probably a really good use of our lab time! We have one connected computer and one not connected, a large-screen model for whole class instruction in our classroom. We get 45 minutes a week in our computer lab where everyone can work on their own computer. Our school provides software programs (like reader rabbit) for our youngest students. Currently, my 3rd graders are working on keyboarding skills and learning to use Microsoft Word. We connect to the internet when I know there is something specifically helpful to what we are doing in class. (Usually research). For older students, here is a great website that can be used to demonstrate why all info found on the net is not to be trusted. It was developed by a librarian:

[url="http://home.inreach.com/kumbach/velcro.html"]http://home.inreach.com/kumbach/velcro.html[/url]