Computer Time for a 3 Year Old?

This made me chuckle because the idea that kids this young have to "learn" computer skills seems sort of ridiculous. These kids are technology natives and can figure out how to use a complicated device in about 2 minutes. The philosophy we have with my daughter who is 4 is that she will likely be attached to a computer, a smart phone, an mp3 player, an e-reader, or whatever they come up with next for the REST OF HER LIFE. Why rush enslaving her to the technology? Let her run and play and interact with real people while she still can! She's got plenty of time to "learn" the skills. Ha!

1 mom found this helpful

C.,
I have a Mac too and I have bought games in the past, but they weren't made for a mac and although they worked it wasn't the best...you really don't need to buy any games you can use what is online, I love these two...
http://www.starfall.com/
Starfall is great for reading and learning all the letters.
http://www.ixl.com/membership/family/
The ixl you have to have a membership for but it wonderful! and now they have made it so it can read the questions to her. Great for math.
here are a few others we use...
http://www.crayola.com/index.cfm
http://pbskids.org/
http://disney.go.com/
Have fun!
E.

My son is five, and I actually trust him with our computer (not a mac, so I cannot recommend 'mac' games.).

However, there are "I Spy" games and others such as "Jumpstart" that work well for this age. If you prefer and don't mind the internet, PBS Kids has a good website, too. Basically, just do a search on home schooling and games and see what you pull up. Your daughter's teacher should also be able to provide you an appropriate list. My son's Kindergarten teacher did.

Just remember to balance her time with some computer time, activity (play time - for moving around so she is not 'stationary' as this can lead to bad habits and health later) time and reading time.

It should all come together for you if you follow a routine.

Oh~ and if you choose to~ 'Click Start' is a great first 'computer' for a little one to have. It helps to develop computer skills and it's a plug/ play on the TV.

EDIT: I love Starfall ~ this helped my son read in less than three days time! :)
Also, I think the reason the teacher would suggest it; it helps with hand-eye coordination and the reading skills.
I personally do not have an issue with my son using the computer or click-start computer as I make it a priority for him to get exercise! He has some time on the computer to play (and decompress), more time reading with us and by himself and gads of time working out with me and dad ~ yoga with me, running on the treadmill or using the stationary bike... he LOVES it!
As long as you balance and monitor your child's sites or games, you truly have nothing to worry about. I find it humorous the way some parents treat this subject. (like the mom w/ triplets. very bizarre to me.)

Hi C.,

Any computer games that your daughter plays should be educational. She is very young and needs to do other things to strengthen her language and physical skills that have nothing to do with computers or television, so her time on the computer (and TV) should be limited. Having said that as a caveat, there is definitely a place in her life for learning to use computers. The pre-school teacher knows that as soon as she gets to kindergarten, computers will be used to facilitate learning. She's giving you a heads-up.

When my younger son was 4 years old, he still didn't understand the use of the alphabet and couldn't really do any math. He had some special needs in language and motor skills and I was really worried about him. He had been in speech therapy for 2 years by then (was in speech for a total of 7 years) and occupational therapy for several years as well. So early intervention was part of our lives. I hired a woman who ran a business as a homeschool tutor to see if she could help me learn how to teach him the alphabet and early math. She tried several different methods, without a lot of success. Then one day she put him on the computer with a DK program (Dorling Kindersley - google their different sites to see what you can find) called Bear and Penguin, I Want to Read. Wow!!! He all the sudden got it! She also had a Bear and Penguin I Love Math that taught him numbers and adding. It was a godsend. I don't know if those particular games are around anymore, but if you look, you can find something appropriate. Just make sure it is easy, on her level as a 3 year old, or she will not get anything out of it except to like the computer. Don't get just fun stuff that teaches nothing in order to get her computer skills. There's too much other developmental stuff she needs to work on outside of computer. Also, only allow her a half hour a day once she starts enjoying the computer - less before she gets used to it. It will take over her life if you aren't very careful.

Just as an aside, my son is in honors classes in 8th grade now, and doing great. I'm very glad for all the advice I was given back when he was young - your daughter's pre-K teacher sounds terrific.

All my best to you,
D.

I have to agree that the longer you can postpone the addiction to electronic devices and the more you encourage learning through interaction with the real live environment the better. 3 seems quite young and soon enough she'll be learning those things regardless, so why rush? I don't think it will put her "behind" at all - I mean seriously? Of course we all make our parenting choices, but I do think the AAP recommends minimal 'screen time" so you might want to make sure to add up all time on computer, tv and watching movies etc to not exceed that.

C.,

Computer games can be great for eye-hand coordination and fine motor skill development. We have Macs and my son (almost 7) likes games on freeonlinegames.com and freeaddictinggames.com

You could look at PBSsprout online and Nick Jr's website for games too.

Limit the time, though. Maybe 15 minutes?

We have a three year old girl who would spend hours on the computer if we let her! We now give her a half hour to 45 minutes in the morning and then she can play while I am cooking dinner (her computer is set-up at my kitchen counter so I can see exactly what she is doing). If the computer is used by everyone in the house set her up with her own user id and no password. She sometimes delete's stuff on the desktop; not on purpose but she's learning what everything does. We also have it set-up so that when she clicks on internet explorer it automatically takes her to nick.com/games and she loves to play the games with her favorite characters and they teach good things like spelling, sharing, identifying what is wrong with pictures - really educational and free! Hope this helps!

Hi, My son is 3 and is great with the computer... we let him play only educational and creative games... pbsk.org and boowakwala.uptoten.com

My 3-year-old (nearly 4) recently started using the computer on his own. I also reccommend www.starfall.com. He also really likes www.poissonrouge.com, which teaches foreign language (go to the castle and make the appropriate foreign flag appear). He spends 30 to 60 min a day (but not every day). Anything he does has to be educational and supervised.

It is really your choice if you want your kids on the computer or not. Some say do others say don't. I have three kids. a four year old, a three year old and a one year old. The oldest two have been using the computer since they were about 18 months. The best site i have ever seen for the kids is www.starfall.com. It's free and teaches the ABC's and early reading. It taught both kids their letters and sounds before they were two and a half. It also takes a bit for the kids to master the mouse.

But, really, if you are unsure... do what your gut says. There is nothing that says that the kids HAVE to use the comptuer. Our computer just happens to be in the main room and the kids see us on it all the time...

Our 5 year old triplts are not allowed on the computer. I know they need the skills but hey will get that when they start school. I find that it's just a bad habit that doesn't needed to be started yet. If you do plan to start something, I would suggest getting some kind of Leap Frog hand held device that is strictly for fun learning.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

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There are some good websites with alot of free games. My 3 year old likes pbskids.org, playhousedisney.com and nickjr.com. Have fun!

I am surprised that a preschool teacher would suggest computer time for a 3 year old. My kids (aged nearly 5, 3 and 1) NEVER play on our computer. I don't think it is appropriate. There is nothing they can learn on a computer that isn't better taught in other ways (IMO).

Jessica

I actually walked away from a preschool that I was interviewing when they stressed how great it was that their kids were on the computer. I figure that they will learn how to use a computer when they are older and that they don't need to start using computers at a preschool age. At that age they need to be learning how to interact with each other, social skills, etc than computer skills. (just my opinion)