Re: INVASION OF THE CHILD HACKERS

["Stack Smasher" <stacksmasher () gmail com>]

I think most people read my message and get from it what they want, no she
is not in front of the computer instead of outdoor activities, she is on the
computer after dinner and before bath time and bedtime and it is SUPERVISED.
I think that basic things like just being able to use a mouse and touch pad
build on hand eye coordination and the whole point is to be comfortable with
technology. I don't know what country you live in but the computer programs
in US schools suck badly. I agree that she should learn a second or third
language but it will be Chinese and Spanish and maybe German as these will
help her in her future more than any other.


P.S. I would be living in the Netherlands if I could convince my wife to
move : )



On 4/17/07, Marco Ermini <markoer () markoer org> wrote:
> On 4/16/07, Stack Smasher <stacksmasher () gmail com> wrote:
> > My daughter is 3 and she has had a laptop of her own since she was 2.
> You
> > would be amazed at how much more she likes going to the 6-7 sites I have
> > bookmarked for her then watching TV. Sesame Street and Nick Jr. are her
> most
> > favorite. My parents where over a few weeks ago and where shocked when
> she
> > not only plugged in the laptop into the wall socket, but turned it on
> and
> > went to her favorite web page. Needless to say when she goes to school
> she
> > will probably know more than her instructor, I believe that there is a
> huge
> > "digital divide" in the world and I want to make sure my child is
> > comfortable with technology that is CRITICAL for her success in the
> future.
>
> Actually, my opinion is that there is no advantage in giving a laptop
> to a 2 or 3 yo to let him/her browse two or three bookmarked site,
> over having a 6 yo appropriately starting grasping how a computer
> works. If the first has at any stage any minimum "manual" advantage in
> handling the instrument, it's just that (manual practice, for instance
> using the keyboard and the mouse), the latter will recover it very
> quickly.
>
> On the other side, studies demonstrate with abundant evidence that
> young kids (especially in your US) are becoming more and more fat and
> obese because of the sedentary lifestyle. Since every decent school
> has a computer program (and yourself of course, once your kid grows to
> 6 yo), when he/she is between 2 and 6 yo you should have your kids
> running more outside in the garden rather then having her browsing the
> Internet.
>
> If you want to give her a real advantage in the life, then let her
> learn several languages. In Netherlands and in many other EU contries
> which are not native English speaker, they start studying English from
> the age of 4 - in Netherlands they can then study up to 4 foreign
> languages, depending on the school and choices.
>
> Kids up to 12 are very very easy in picking up languages; instead of
> growing the usual obtuse mono-language ignorant script kiddie, offer
> her something better, like the deepness and the intelligence that
> brings seeing things from different points of view - this is what
> languages is about, it's about cultures. When you know several
> languages, you can do whatever you want in your life and do it
> successfull - being it computer related or not.
>
>
> Cheers
> --
> Marco Ermini
> Dubium sapientiae initium. (Descartes)
> root@human # mount -t life -o ro /dev/dna /genetic/research
> http://www.markoer.org/ - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcoermini



--
"If you see me laughing, you better have backups"

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