How young is too young?

Bobblun

I have a question for all. I have a 3 year old, who will turn 4 in December, that I have taught how to use the mouse and keyboard. Surprisingly she can manipulate the cursor with surprising accuracy and efficiency. There are a lot of on-line games and sites geared towards school aged children which is to be expected. I feel that she is too young to play such games, not that the content is not suitable for her age but more that she tends to get frustrated very quickly if she can not figure out what to do on her own.
Do you think she is too young?
When do you think children should be introduce to computers?
I think it is too late for me to not let her play on the computer because that is all she talks about when I get home from work, and it is a time for us to bond.

lackofcheese

When do you think children should be introduce to computers?

I'm sure many here would say they should be using computers in the womb

Apreche

Get an Apple // and some word munchers, and let her play on that.

Dkong

I think I was playing dumb little games on the computer when I was about 5 or 6, I think. I didn't start actually getting on the internet until I was in about 6th or 7th grade, though.

Funfetus

I didn't start actually getting on the internet until I was in about 6th or 7th grade

Oh my god I feel old.

Bobblun

Get an Apple // and some word munchers, and let her play on that.

I actually have a 10 year old HP that I am going to wipe, maybe I should set it up for her to play with. My biggest fear though is that she may get too frustrated with it and give up on trying to learn how to use it.

gomidog

I played the Atari and the trackball bit me!

I actually have a 10 year old HP that I am going to wipe, maybe I should set it up for her to play with. My biggest fear though is that she may get too frustrated with it and give up on trying to learn how to use it.

If she does, she'll get over it. I don't think it will traumatize her for life against computers or anything. Limit the time she spends on there, but basically let her play it when she wants to. I mean, even potty training can be frustrating as a toddler, they don't all take to it immediately. However, I haven't met people who have an aversion to toilets because of it. Let her go at her own pace, gently guiding her, and if she gets frustrated let her stop and leave it alone until she is ready for another try.

Loganator456

I was using the computer very well when I was 3, so I don't think that's too young. Of course, my Dad is the "computer whiz" at his job so that was somewhat expected.

Bobblun

Thanks for the advice gomidog. I have thought about installing linux on that machine but I am worried it may be too much for her to handle. But she surprised me in how fast she learned how to use the mouse and how quickly she can pick up gaming concepts. Maybe I'll just do it.

Cremlian

18 for some states, but others are 14 and 16, Ohhhhh Yea.....

Oh wait, your not talking about that are you...

Omnutia

18 for some states, but others are 14 and 16, Ohhhhh Yea.....

Oh wait, your not talking about that are you...

FRC Forums: Civilized, but not too civilized.

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I'm sure many here would say they should be using computers in the womb

Indeed, just shove an Eee PC up there. Sorry ladies, just running with the crazy idea.

On a more serious note, I myself just played games back when we had a Commodore 64. I was 8 years old back then I think, my little brother was 5 then. Once we had figured out how to start a game with the help of an acquaintance down the road (my parents were (dad still is) completely incapable of using anything more technological than a handheld calculator), we played the racing game that was on a (HUGE) floppy, and LODE RUNNER. Green on black awesomeness, ladders set up to look like an eagle, awesome stuff. I wish I had been given a computer sooner. Only owned that Commodore 64, an second-hand old computer with Win 95, and then Windows XP.

Personally I say that you can just teach your kids about computers and let them use it when they get more curious about it.

Omnutia

I'm sure many here would say they should be using computers in the womb

Indeed, just shove an Eee PC up there. Sorry ladies, just running with the crazy idea.

Nanobots that can work through the placenta and begin forming cyborg implants in the fetus. That's not such a far fetched idea.

...

Nanobots that can work through the placenta and begin forming cyborg implants in the fetus. That's not such a far fetched idea.

But that's not the fetus USING a computer, that's the fetus BECOMING a computer. I agree though, either way sounds awesomely insane.

Jay

I think it’s a legitimate concern that the kid is playing games that are just too hard. Some children may just grind through it until they get better but understandably some at that age would just get mad and walk away. I don’t think it would scar her for life against technology but it may slow down there introduction to computers. If your daughter isn’t up to stuff to be having fun with number munchers, (in all honesty outside of school I would have never played that game) I would suggest going to www.ytv.com to the games section. I’ve seen my brother play a few of the games on the site when he was younger and they seemed to be easy enough that most children would be able to tackle them. I can’t guarantee all the games are still as easy but I can’t imagine they would ramp up the difficulty considering their target audience. I would check but I’m at work. Simple games like this should be good to play until she gets the fundamentals down.

bodtchboy

My son liked to type (or just push random keys) on the keyboard at 2 months old. At a year and a half old, he would play some abc game on the fisher price website (all you have to do is hit a key and it will go to the next letter). He's now 2 1/2 and he can restart his spongebob dvd when it is over, which requires moving the mouse to the play button and clicking. Smart little bugger, since I didn't teach him that. He must have watched me do it enough times to know what to do.

Right now he likes to watch stuff on the computer rather than interact with it. Perhaps I should try one of those interactive story cd's for him. He might be old enough for that now.

Funny you should bring up this topic: I just talked with my wife this weekend about making a cheap 2nd computer for my son disguised under the primary reason to use it as a DVR for my wife's shows if/when we get a TV for the basement.

Bobblun

Right now he likes to watch stuff on the computer rather than interact with it. Perhaps I should try one of those interactive story cd's for him. He might be old enough for that now.

I bought a Diego game for the Wii when it came out. She was about 2 and a half and it seemed a bit much for her at the time, so she really hasn't played it that much. Now, I think she would be able to play it with little difficulty, but she is hooked on a website that my wife found the other day, which has Diego, Wonder Pets, and Dora, among others.

Wings

I've been using computers since the age of three myself- of course, that was stuff like Mathblasters. a few years later I started googling around for Pokemon stuff. I don't think it should be too much of a problem, but I don't know much about parenting...


Then again, when I was very young, Dad used to play the original Quake with me... he let me be the jump button. It was fun jumping away from Monsters and such. Old Quake FTW

Dkong

I didn't start actually getting on the internet until I was in about 6th or 7th grade

Oh my god I feel old.

Well, yeah, not saying that I actually recommend against getting on the internet before 6th/7th grade. I mean, shit, I was 13 at the time. I'm sure 9 or 10 year olds can handle it just fine.

Mr. Eric

I didn't start actually getting on the internet until I was in about 6th or 7th grade

Oh my god I feel old.

Well, yeah, not saying that I actually recommend against getting on the internet before 6th/7th grade. I mean, shit, I was 13 at the time. I'm sure 9 or 10 year olds can handle it just fine.

I started using it (actually) in about 2nd grade. It's really a pretty simple concept when you are so young.

gomidog

Then again, when I was very young, Dad used to play the original Quake with me... he let me be the jump button. It was fun jumping away from Monsters and such. Old Quake FTW </p>

Your dad FTW, yo! Geek parents are great! Do they like anime and vidjagames?

Wings

Then again, when I was very young, Dad used to play the original Quake with me... he let me be the jump button. It was fun jumping away from Monsters and such. Old Quake FTW </p>

Your dad FTW, yo! Geek parents are great! Do they like anime and vidjagames?

Well, my dad is a geek, but Mommy isn't really. He isn't an anime fan, but he does enjoy his scifi- Battlestar, Firefly, Sarah Connor... I'm not major into that stuff, but we do have a good Star Trek rant every so often. As far as vidjagames, Daddy isn't you know, huge into them, but he does like a good racing game, or an FPS. He's not a modern geek- He just found out about facebook- but he's plenty geeky for his own time. He works as a freelance web designer in his free time. He's pretty awesome.

gomidog

I remember when I was little, my parents (who did not argue much at all) having a very heated discussion on whether you died when you used the Star Trek teleporter.

My dad is not so much with the video games, but he plays puzzle-y stuff on his DS. He is super into the anime (especially Ghibli) and Japanese dramas, though. He and my mom get so addicted!

Wings

I remember when I was little, my parents (who did not argue much at all) having a very heated discussion on whether you died when you used the Star Trek teleporter.

My dad is not so much with the video games, but he plays puzzle-y stuff on his DS. He is super into the anime (especially Ghibli) and Japanese dramas, though. He and my mom get so addicted!

Well, we were watching Wrath of Khan while we ate dinner, and Chekov comes up to Kirk, reporting for duty, and Kirk says "Take the weapons station." My dad suddenly jumps up and says "OH, I FAINALLY GET IT! Kirk was pretty much saying "KICK HIS GENETICALLY SUPERIOR ASS!"" Lots of good times.

Victor Frost

My dad is a big Star-Trek geek. He used to watch the original series on saudi television in iran when he was little. When I was little, he gave me an grey IBM laptop with a monochrome screen and it ran dos. The coolest thing was watching it boot up and the IBM ascii splash screen. He told me I used to type type type on that thing until the floppy drive broke. After that he put me on a IBM tower with a COLOR SCREEN! Now the IBM splash screen was blue and I could play sammy the snake! I've been on computers ever since. In-fact, I can't remember a time when I haven't been either in front of a computer or playing a video game. Oh, there was that time I got a pink power ranger action figure, but that was quickly replaced with a bat mobile.