Active Family Services » Safety

Kids on the Internet

peter — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 02:19:04 +0000

Hooray! A guest post! Thanks to Heather Chou for sharing her article, Kids on the Internet.

Is it okay to let my kids play on the internet? Sure. As soon as your toddler is able to manipulate to mouse or press keys on the keyboard, he can begin interacting with the computer. By the time children are preschool age, they can navigate the internet with confidence. While some kids might not show much interest, others may want to play on the internet all day. You’ll most likely want to limit their time on the computer. With that in mind, make time on the internet a positive and educational experience.

The key is to provide your child with developmentally appropriate computer activities. A number of studies have demonstrated the positive effect of early computer use on children’s physical and psychological development. Computers seem to be most beneficial for children when they are able to relate their experiences in the real world to those on the computer. It seems, also, that structured curriculum on the computer enhances the experience.

The first thing to keep in mind when starting off your little one on the computer is his health and safety. Set up the computer to be kid friendly and then set some rules. If possible, put the computer in a central area where you can easily monitor its usage. Next, set up a user account for your child (don’t forget to password protect your own user account). Both PCs and Macs will allow you to set up personalized accounts for each user. As the administrator, you can set limits on usage, allowing access to only certain applications. Set up strict restrictions on web page viewing. You can always allow access to pages later if needed. Set up time limitations; set both the maximum usage for your child as well as what time of day you will let him be on the computer.

Once you’ve made the computer kid friendly, it is time for you to research which websites you’re comfortable with him visiting. You’ll want to preview the sites and put the ones that you want your child to visit on the bookmark bar for him. For the first few times, and occasionally later on, sit with him while he navigates the sites. Be familiar with what your child is learning and ask him about it later.

If your curious kid is asking questions about how things work, use the internet to show him. There are plenty of great resources on the internet for learning. Don’t limit yourself to pages designed for preschoolers, either. When your child show an interest in dinosaurs, for example, check out the website for the American Museum of Natural History. While some of the information is presented for kids at this site, it is for older kids. But, your preschooler can still enjoy it if you help navigate the site and explain some of the concepts to him. And, don’t discredit YouTube. After a visit to a grain mill last summer, my daughter was confused as to how the water made the wheel turn (it wasn’t turning when we were there.) On YouTube, I found at least a dozen videos of mill wheels turning and even a kinetic energy water sculpture, using the same principles as the water wheel. Watching that helped her to understand more and we were able to relate it to her real visit in a way that I could not have done without the internet.

Remember, that the internet is not a replacement for real life learning. Your child still needs time to play, alone and with others. After all, it is the work of children to play. The computer does not replace quality time with you, either. For most of us this is intuitive, but worth saying again.

Resources

Effects of Home and School Computer Use on School Readiness and Cognitive Development Among Head Start Children: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial by Li, Xiaoming, Atkins, Melissa S, Stanton, Bonita
findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3749/is_200604/ai_n17187489/
Safety on the Internet
www.safechild.org/internet.htm
A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety
www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/parent-guide/parent-guide
Child Safety on the Information Highway
www.safekids.com/child-safety-on-the-information-highway/
SafetyNet
safetynet.aap.org

Kid Friendly Websites

My favorite sites have little or no ads, are easy to navigate, and have enough material that my child can dig deeper into interesting subjects.

Babies & Toddlers (with a parent)

Preschoolers (and some early grade school)

School-aged Kids

LOST!…But Found, Safe and Sound

admin — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:22:54 +0000

I cried at the Audubon Society Spring Fair this year. It was because I was touched by a DVD the Shenandoah Mountain Rescue Group screened in their tent at the fair. “LOST!… But Found, Safe and Sound” is a film produced by the Association of National Park Rangers that tells the story of a girl who gets lost in the woods overnight, and is found safe the next morning. I cannot begin to imagine losing my kids in the woods, let alone overnight. I was moved enough to donate a few bucks to support the group’s important work, and you can donate online too.

Here is a copy of the flier they handed out, which I am sharing for educational purposes (as per their copyright permissions).

Click to view/download the PDF

As the film recommended, I bought my kids whistles the very next day. My son is still asking me to buy him a fanny pack to carry his emergency survival supplies.

Got allergies?

admin — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 05:25:37 +0000

I remember trying to find places to shop when we went dairy free, and I have seen many more moms go through the same transition when allergies took over their pantries. Now that we have grown out of our dairy issues I have found the perfect resource. Check out the Loudoun Allergy Network for lists of places to shop, restaurants, and lots of other support!

Bears in Loudoun County?!

admin — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 19:02:55 +0000

Check out this article in today’s Washington Post! After reading it you’ll probably be interested in advice regarding what to do when you encounter a bear.

Fun in the outdoors? Check for ticks!

admin — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:36:32 +0000

There are so many ticks out there this year! It can be a tricky line to walk wanting to get the kids outdoors but also wanting to keep them safe from nasty chronic stuff like lyme disease. I talked to our ped’s office extensively about this after finding our first deer tick — which looked like a freckle — this spring and what they emphasized most was finding the ticks and getting them off within 6–8 hours to minimize chance of transmission.

These are some things that we have embraced in our family’s tick prevention campaign:

making bath time an after-hike ritual or at least changing clothes shortly after the hike
wearing hats (we love Sunday Afternoons hats)
offer the kids something tasty (like a chocolate chip) if they find a tick on themselves or their siblings or you
google lyme disease — it totally motivated me to step up our tick checks
if you find a tick, a pair of clean tweezers is all you need for removal — forget all the crazy ways to remove ticks that we grew up with, like flames, alcohol or oil (yes, I had exciting childhood tick removal experiences)
talk to your pediatrician if you find a tick or if you have questions

In case you need further motivation, I have an fascinating story involving a tick, a belly button — not mine or my kids’, thank goodness! — and a trip to the emergency room. I will spare you the details and just let your imagination alone motivate you to do tick checks after every hike. (Getting off soap box now.…)

If you do find a tick that has embedded itself, make sure you remove it as soon as possible. If you remove a deer tick, you may wish to keep it intact and bring it to your doctor for testing to determine whether it is a lyme disease carrier. If it is not a deer tick, what you do with the pest is entirely up to your own discretion.

Happy hiking, and don’t forget to channel your inner apes by participating in a post-hike communal tick-check grooming session!

Time to buy new sippy cups!

admin — Sat, 03 May 2008 10:46:42 +0000

I have tried not to worry too much about the frenzy regarding the dangers of plastic. I have a keep it simple, never microwave in plastic, store stuff in something else when able, use non-plastic for some of the kids’ drinks and rotate brands so you mix up the evil chemicals but don’t get sucked into worrying about it policy. Doesn’t sound so simple when I type in out!

I have enjoyed using the $1 Nuby Sippy cups. I like the solid colors and the fact that I don’t get cranky when we lose one — after all, they are much cheaper than a latte — however, I lifted my head out of the sand when I got an email today linking to a blog that appears to be pretty well-researched and decided it’s time to retire them.

Infant & Child Product Recall Notification

admin — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:33:41 +0000

While we are talking recalls… there’s yet another list you can join to receive info on infant & child products. This one is put out by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Carseat Recall Notification

admin — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:22:36 +0000

Here’s a cool tool to clutter your inbox and help keep your little ones safe! The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offers an e-mail notification system for car seat recalls.