Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school Favorite preschool learning materials and software

I see what you are saying mk13. I am one of those (weirdos) that hates that people are tied to their electronics and don't have time for interpersonal stuff including just learning from each other. So I try to avoid electronics for my child. But I understand that we are living in a techno driven world and sooner or later I have to give in. I am not ready just yet.:)

Whenever I see a post about tools for young children to use, I have to give my opinion. I have three children, an 8 year old son, a 5 year old daughter, and a just turned 3 year old son. I brought the first two children up in a very similar way. They watched very little television, unless it was educational. They did a lot of drawing, writing, and reading. They played with traditional children toys. They are both very intelligent. We were pretty certain that our oldest was gifted at a very young age. Our daughter is also very smart, probably gifted as well. And then there is my 3 year old. He is light years ahead of where they were. The only thing different in his upbringing was the fact that he began using an IPad at about 2 years old. We bought 2 Ipads for his siblings last Christmas. So he's had it less than a year. He just turned 3 this month. He has learned more from the IPad that he could have ever learned any other way. I had know idea what amazing apps were on there for young children. It is absolutely amazing. Every young child should have one. My DD3 uses the IPad more than any of the other children. It has become custimaized for his likes. Lately he has become obsessed with gegraphy. His knowledge is like nothing that I could have ever imagined from a three year old. He knows more about geography than anyone in the house. All of his states, capitals, continents, countries, state and country flags, and almost all of the capitals to the countries. It's really amazing.
Judging from his simblings, he probably had a good chance of being gifted. However, the IPad took it way beyond what I would have ever expected. I can't understand how the IPad is not advertised more for children. It is the perfect gift. It's like giving 1000 presents in one. It is well worth the money. Supposedly, Apple is going to announce a smaller less expensive version this week. Just in time for the holidays.
I have a few friends who started off with Android Tablets and they really didn't like them. Apparently the apps are not as good and are not approved by Google. Anyone can make an app on Android. Without an approval from Google. So, you don't always get what you pay for. I also heard some can contain a virus. My friends now have iPads. Another nice thing about the IPad, is that once you get an app, you can have it on all of your Apple devises. So, if you have an iPhone or another Ipad, you only pay for the app one time. you can play it on your iPhone, IPad, or Mac. You can even play it on your TV if you have Apple TV. I personally don't have any experience with other tablets. I just know there is not a price high enough for what the IPad has taught my son. It's been like we have had a private teacher for DD3 for the last year. I don't mean to sound obsessed, but it really has been amazing. My wife and I often say what would our other children have been like if they had IPads. We will never know. I just know DD3 is making the most of it!! Good luck.

Not to be a total PITA, but my 4yo knows all his states, state capitals, continents, and many countries from the expensive, advanced device known as a laminated map placemat. (Scrambled States of America helped with the capitals.)

YouTube. Anything I want to teach my kids I search for it on you tube. Originally I planned to look up how to teach it, then I realized there was already someone explaining it right there, cut out the middle man, and told my kid to watch the video, bookmarked it, told them to watch it again a while later until it all sunk in.

I really liked the Rock n Learn Phonics brand DvD.
I don't know what software you want. My son started learned his computer skills from Hooked on Phonics pre-k letter names and sounds cd-rom. He used a touchpad on a laptop, but I've read that those mini-mouses work well for little hands.
My kids watch tons of "brain candy" stuff that kids like. You can also find pop kid stuff in other languages. That sort of counts as educational because it's like the Rosetta Stone, right? La Casa De Mickey Mouse has full length episodes on YouTube. Again with the youtube.
Sesame Street, Super Why, and Word World have taught my daughter her numbers, letters, and the concept of blending, also to point out beggining letters. When my son was little we didn't have cable yet. She also knows her numbers because I learned "the big numbers song" from youtube for her brother and it's just so catchy. The two year old just turned two, the age I planned to start teaching her the three Rs. She's a few steps ahead of me due to the tv. The hubby just tried to start teaching her to count in Spanish. He said 1,2,3,4, trying to get her to copy him. She continued cinco, siete', ocho. (she missed one) She's been watching that Plaza Sesamo on the Spanish channel on cable tv.
I watch out for children's literature on tv, The Fantastic Mr. Fox; I googled a comprehension questions for Charlotte's Web after my son watched it recently. He wouldn't have chosen that cartoon because kids get much flashier shows these days. Well, you have to be exposed to those types of stories to get a taste for them, I guess. I read some books of childrens lit, My Father's Dragon, Peter and Wendy, A Little Princess and discuss the vocabulary and themes, but I don't think the substance of the story is limited to print version.

PS. Memorize this song and sing it a lot. Your kid will start singing it along with you. I think it helps them learn to talk and listen more clearly. Also when they're learning to read later and ask what's this sound make you can remind them "f-f-fan".

I didn't want to brag about all of the things my son has learned from the IPad. It is so much more than just states, capitals, and some countries. He knows every country in the world, including Island Nations. He knows how to spell every state in the USA. He can also spell nearly very country in the world. Countries like Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan. He knows nearly all of the world capitals. His geography goes way beyond states and capitals. It wasn't about me trying to say how much my 3year knows. It was more about me saying how his IPad has helped him.
It has also taught him many other things than geography. The IPad has helped teach him to read, write, count. There is even an app to help him go to the potty. The list goes on and on. If you can think of a traditional subject, there is an app for that. He can print nearly as good as my older children. He can read better than my 5 year old, and she's a good reader. The only thing different in the upbringing of my children is the Ipad. So in my case I think it has been a huge advantage for my youngest. I know there are a lot of people who do not want to embrace technology, but it can be a huge help. It's like anything in life, moderation. I'm not saying you should have your child on an IPad all day. However, it can be a huge aid in the development of young children.

A poster named Dude said it well the other day, "kids these days have it made. When we were kids if we wanted to know something we had to hope it was something one of the adults around us knew something about, or we waited for a trip to the library and looked at one or two of the three books available on the subject. Now, just ask Mr. Google anything."

This works-- for some kids and parents. Not all parents can really tolerate doing that kind of intensive/interactive toddler thing day after day. I would rouse myself to make the effort periodically, and I always felt horribly guilty for NOT doing all these great "hands-on" things with my daughter... but she didn't like them and neither did I. Every time I tried to be more like my "vision" of the perfect, Waldorfian mom, I wound up exhausted and cranky, and so did my daughter.

For kids with a non-tactile/kinesthetic bent, also, it is the very clumsiness of asynchronous physical development that frustrates them MOST. My DD was one of those children-- and she saw little point in the use of manipulative/concrete representations because by the time she COULD use them (physically), she already had moved past them into symbolic thinking. She also had (has) sensory issues and really couldn't stand to get her hands dirty/wet/messy. It was truly torture for her to play with play-do or paint or shaving cream (though I did try), and the pottery class that I signed her up for when she was three... oh my goodness, she was actually in TEARS much of the time. Talk about a BadMommy moment.

I say this with the understanding that we began parenting with EXACTLY this same outlook-- that technology (TV, computers, internet, etc) were not good for kids.

My daughter loved her LeapPad (she had one of the original ones when she was two). She hated being 'read to' but was very fond of reading "to herself" with the LeapPad.

One of the ways that I devised for getting DD to entertain herself for a short while was the "bean box." I bought bulk split peas and filled up an under-bed storage box with them and assorted old measuring cups, etc. DD liked to sit IN the box and pour the split peas (would also work with rice) and just play with them.

Other than that, she watched PBS and Blue's Clues, Bear-in-the-Big-Blue-House, and played Reader Rabbit (and similar software) on the computer. Computer chess. Oh, and talked to me. RELENTLESSLY. She loved Playmobil and before that, Fisher Price Little People. She also played elaborate games with her stuffed animals. She also enjoyed dress-up items (and really, scarves are terrifically versatile and VERY inexpensive if you buy at Goodwill or yard sales) and a gymnastics ribbon. We took out LOADS of books from the library. Puppets. She loved puppets.

Different things work for different parents and children. That's all.

LOL-- we had a floor puzzle instead.

I just have to add ... electronic toys, especially all kinds of touch pads can be a huge blessing to kids that have huge gaps between individual areas of development. DS2.5 is 3-4 years ahead in many areas but about a full year behind in fine motor skills. He was so unhappy, throwing tantrum, etc. when playing with puzzles, blocks and toys like that, until I realized his hands can't keep up with his brain. He's now for the most part super happy because touchpad lets him do what he otherwise can't. No more puzzle pieces flying across the room in frustration because he can't bend / twist his wrist the right way to put them in place ... he can now do puzzles as difficult as he wants thanks to android software. Of course we work on improving his fine motor skills (I can't wait for the day he'll be able to hold his own spoon or fork!) but until they are caught up, this is the best solution for him and us! ... he has a significant speech delay but after starting to read words 3 months ago, he's now starting to read full sentences ... thing he learned from his Leappad and V.Reader. He's never let me read books to him. He gets bored out of his mind ... but he loves ebooks ... so I am all for letting him do it his own way. I had my own stubborn ways when I was little, so I wouldn't expect from my boys anything different

I just think the jury is out on the early heavy use of technology by kids. We know that TV is NOT beneficial to children under age 3 (some benefits for older kids from some shows). Of course, it could be different for gifted kids, and the iPad and computer games are not the same as TV, but there's quite a bit of research on this. Like I said, the jury is still out, and it'll be interesting to see what the research finds. (There's a little bit of stuff out there showing that iPad book reading is quite different for kids than traditional books.) But I think the 3-d world has a lot of important developmental advantages for kids.

Also, I would never want my kids' primary exposure to literature to come through the iPad, Leappad, etc, because in my experience, the quality of the literature on these devices is wretched. Maybe it's improving now, but I really prefer to avoid all the TV character tie-ins and nonbooks written by ghost authors.

That said, of course sanity is important and I get that you have to entertain these Energizer bunnies. We have relied heavily on books on tape.