I learned it on the computer!
This morning, I was driving the kids home from the club and, from the back seat, Anna said, "Dad, I know how to spell ... if it's a word like fan. But, I don't remember it in my head right now."
I asked her if Miss Mary (their babysitter) or Grandma was teaching her to spell.
She replied, "No. I learned it on the computer."
She told me that Sarah taught her how to use a Cat in the Hat program on the computer. Then she proceeded to explain the details of how she opens the program and the characters on the screen teach her how to spell words.
Last month, I took down the computer that Sarah had been using as her computer for the past several years. It was an old Win98 machine that I had pieced together from spare parts many years ago. In it's place, on the desk of a computer hutch in our home office, I set up my 5-year-old notebook computer. In 2001, I thought I would start a new career as a mobile computer consultant. Then, the tech bubble burst, we had two more kids, and I figured out that I like teaching at Towson University, where they have plenty of computers.
I remember how excited I was in 1998-99, when Sarah was about the same age Anna is now. I taught Sarah how to use the mouse to open programs and how to navigate through Jump Start and Reader Rabbit. Sarah got really good at using the computer and I believe that she has had an advantage in school because of it. I'm not claiming that the computer taught her anything that she wouldn't have learned anyway, but I believe that the practice she got at home developed a sense of confidence that has helped her be more comfortable and productive with school projects, when the computer is helpful, and often required.
Anna is behind me now playing with an Arthur Living Books program. I know that there is no computer program than can effectively replace the valuable experience she gets when Rebecca or I am sitting on the couch reading Goodnight Moon to her. But, she is learning how to use a mouse and navigate a screen. And, probably most importantly, she is developing a sense of comfort with computers that many of today's adults did not have as children.
It's a lot easier to learn it as a kid.
I asked her if Miss Mary (their babysitter) or Grandma was teaching her to spell.
She replied, "No. I learned it on the computer."
She told me that Sarah taught her how to use a Cat in the Hat program on the computer. Then she proceeded to explain the details of how she opens the program and the characters on the screen teach her how to spell words.
Last month, I took down the computer that Sarah had been using as her computer for the past several years. It was an old Win98 machine that I had pieced together from spare parts many years ago. In it's place, on the desk of a computer hutch in our home office, I set up my 5-year-old notebook computer. In 2001, I thought I would start a new career as a mobile computer consultant. Then, the tech bubble burst, we had two more kids, and I figured out that I like teaching at Towson University, where they have plenty of computers.
I remember how excited I was in 1998-99, when Sarah was about the same age Anna is now. I taught Sarah how to use the mouse to open programs and how to navigate through Jump Start and Reader Rabbit. Sarah got really good at using the computer and I believe that she has had an advantage in school because of it. I'm not claiming that the computer taught her anything that she wouldn't have learned anyway, but I believe that the practice she got at home developed a sense of confidence that has helped her be more comfortable and productive with school projects, when the computer is helpful, and often required.
Anna is behind me now playing with an Arthur Living Books program. I know that there is no computer program than can effectively replace the valuable experience she gets when Rebecca or I am sitting on the couch reading Goodnight Moon to her. But, she is learning how to use a mouse and navigate a screen. And, probably most importantly, she is developing a sense of comfort with computers that many of today's adults did not have as children.
It's a lot easier to learn it as a kid.
posted by Daniel | 10:56 AM
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