Are we introducing our children to technology
early in age?
This is a question we must ask ourselves as parents, caregivers, eductors, and guardians.While reading the book "Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children's Minds, and What We Can Do About It?" by Jane M. Healy, Ph.D, I have learned the importance of why we should introduce our children to technology at a certain age. Healy stated "During the early years, the brain has a staggering number of developmental tasks to accomplish, and environments influence its formation."
Which means from ages birth to five is where their foundaton of learning development begins. During these years is where our children will master these developmental task:
Learning in a social context,
Learning to use all the senses,
Learning to be a powerful learner, learning to pay attention,
Learning visual imagery and memory,
Learning to think logically, and
Learning new symbol systems.
Children will begin to learn the importance of play through physical development with their body and mind, playing with their peers, and they will begin their language development as well. From birth to five, our children are "Concrete Learners" which means they learn from things in the real world and from their families. Overall if a child is introduced to technology too early, it can affect their learning development, so it's very important to keep that in mind while deciding what is best for your child.
For educators who are having a hard time deciding when to integrate technology within there lessons, read this article by Murphy, L., DeQasquale, R., McNamara, E. (2003). http://journal.naeyc.org/btj/200311/techinprimaryclassrooms.pdf. In this article the authors share their experience from integrating technology into their lessons.
