Teaching Computers to Your Toddler

Familiarity and comfort with computers is no longer an option. To make it in the age of iPods and PC’s, our kids must be given the opportunity to gain relevant computer skills. In fact, many schools expect students as young as Pre-K to ALREADY have a grasp on some of the more basic computing abilities upon entering.

This idea may sound overwhelming to the busy parent, but it is actually a simple and rewarding process to expose your child to this new skillset. It is well known that young people adopt new languages and skills much faster than their adult counterparts. So, with a little supervision, perseverance, and organization your kid will be a computer whiz before you know it!

To begin, show your child how to use the computer’s mouse. Practicing this ability is wonderful for refining fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Even toddlers can steer the mouse and click on an icon, just place your hand over theirs at first until they learn to correspond their movements with what they’re seeing on the screen.

Next, help your kid gain familiarity with the keyboard. Once a child knows their letters and numbers they can type away on the keys. Open Microsoft Word and show the child that when they type a certain letter or number that same letter or number appears on the screen. You can use the keyboard to test their knowledge of the alphabet, practice counting or simple arithmetic and spelling.

Once your child has had plenty of practice with the keyboard and mouse, you can begin to introduce the World Wide Web. There are so many websites geared towards children that you’re certain to find one that fits your child’s specific interests. Many of these sites have developmental learning in mind and can help with furthering their practice of computing as well! However, a young child should never be left to their own devices online, even on a kid-friendly site. Keep an eye on them in the beginning to make sure they aren’t clicking on anything that will take them away from the site you intended them to view.

An exciting component of the computer introduction for any child is email. Show your little one how they can talk to family members or friends using the computer! Use your email address but note in the subject line that it is a message from your child and then help them type out a message and send it off to Aunt Sally or their favorite babysitter. For most exhilarating results, alert the recipient that a message is headed their way so they can respond instantly, while the child is still on the computer. They’re certain to be awe-struck and excited by the power of technology.

Finally, do a little research and find a few age-appropriate computer games for your child. These usually mask learning with hours of fun, allow your child to play offline (and unattended) AND can oftentimes be found for free at your public or school library.

Grammarly the most powerful grammar checker on the web encourages early introduction to technology. We are also proud to provide complete English Grammar Rules resources

~Kelly