do your pre school children have any computer based learning/play?

[breaghsmum]

im not sure if this is the right forum, but my son is 3.5 and is at nursery school. my mother has bought him a vtech computer for his age group. it has got me thinking how much time other children this age/pre school spend using computers. either learning or playing games. as yet my son has shown no interest in our home computer and i know there isnt one at his nursery, but i was wondering if i should be encouraging it/ discourageing it or what. any access he had would of course be 100% supervised by me.

[ceciliaaherne]

Encourage it. They do it at school and probably even at some nurseries. My dd (3) likes going on yo the CBeebies website and doing squigglit pictures (She needs some help controling the mouse). My eldest two are very computer litearte through school and have started to use it more at home too.

[Seona1973]

my dd had computer time at nursery and also uses the home computer. She also likes the cbeebies website and the nick website (she is 5 btw)

[MrsMattie]

Yes, my DS (3) plays PC games at nursery and we play web games and look at the CBeebies website at home.

[Fillyjonk]

I discourage til about 5, they have better things to do with their time before then imo

then allow educational stuff from about 5, eg educationcity

ds did not know how to use a mouse 6 weeks ago, is now as good as I am . computers are not at all hard to use, they learn fast once they start on them.

[MollieO]

My ds has his own computer (old one from work not connected to the internet). We have Letterland and Jolly Phonics computer games. He doesn't spend much time on it and when he does it is educational. He is 4. He uses a computer at school. Occasionally I let him loose on my computer where he can access Cbeebies. I think it is important for him to see the computer as a tool for learning.

[ramonaquimby]

I think computers aimed at kids are a waste of money - you're better off waiting until they are old enough to use your own pc/laptop with you beside them. It's a big con I think.

[ThingOne]

Ours use our pc and the wii. A good site for little ones to use themselves is poisson rouge. No reading needed!

[treacletart]

www.poissonrouge.com is great for pre schoolers.

[KittyFloss]

I think dd was just 4 when she started using the computer, she picked it up very quickly and was soon navigating sites (cbeebies etc). Imo vtech things are crappy and expensive (anyone want a vsmile and laptop lol).

She's 5 now and in reception and loves playing toontown and going on to various sites. I can't see the harm in it tbh, computers are not going away and will be an integral part of your child's learning/life in the future, at parent/teacher consultation the teacher said dd was great with a pc and could teach her a few things lol.

[KittyFloss]

Oh and she gets an hour a day at most, usually after school.

[annoyingdevil]

My dd has around 10 mins a day. She likes Cbeebies and Playhouse Disney. She navigates her way around and uses the mouse ok - she's 3.5

[christmasiana]

treacletart i LOVE that poissonrouge site - THANK YOU!

[breaghsmum]

thanks for all your comments, i know computers will play a role in his education, and of course in his working life. i just wanted to know if he was at an age now where it would benefit him or not. i dont want to fall into the trap of him just wanting to be on the computer. i visited the cbeebies website this evening and there were a few things that he seemed capable of. i think i'll keep it as a treat rather than as something he expects to do everyday all day. thanks again.