Thursday, November 14, 2013

Article Response Questions #1: That may be an exaggeration, but truly, I worry that I’m allowing my children to be too involved in the digital world. I don’t even want to think about them being old enough to get on the computer and start using the Internet. That’s another world out there, and probably, another post in the future about how we manage that.

I believe that the key to this, to get the balance of these activities right, is that children should also immerse themselves with “old-fashioned” activities.

Remember when we were toddlers? When we were kids? When we were teenagers? How did we learn? We played in the sandbox to learn about textures. We learned to stack blocks. We learned to sort shapes with shape sorter toys. We played with water, using cups and other vessels to learn about volume. We learned to open and close lids on boxes, to remove and replace objects in those boxes. We learned to draw with crayons on paper. We learned to read with picture books. We played with doll houses, train sets, jigsaw puzzles, board games. We played on swings, see saws and merry-go-rounds.toddlerstoys

When they are much older, we will eventually allow some time on a computer. However, we will also want them to learn how to use their hands, like put together a simple piece of furniture, or fix their bicycle. We want them to literally, get their hands dirty.