iPod touch Considering buying an iPod touch for my toddler

[jread]

Yep. People without children don't understand at all. They have never dealt with a bored toddler having a meltdown in public and embarrassing the hell out of you.

My daughter gets to play with her iPod Touch when we are in the car, or when we're at the grocery store, etc. Basically anywhere that she's confined and has nothing else to do. Besides that, I put it away and she spends her time doing something active.

It is very easy to judge when you have never been a parent. I used to do the EXACT same thing. There were many "I will never ____" statements that I changed my mind on real damn fast. At the same time, there are a lot more of them that I haven't changed.

I'm just saying that I don't get why parents start out by getting their kids hooked on electronics at such a young age.

We live in an electronic world now, and just about everyone has these devices. It's no different than TV was when I was a kid (and then when the original Nintendo came out). I wanted to watch TV and/or play games all day, and my parents had to establish limits so that I would still go outside and get plenty of exercise. It wasn't that they got me hooked on TV or Nintendo, it's that I really, really enjoyed those things.

Your child is going to be around electronics every day, and they are going to want to play with them. The first time they see your iPhone or iPad, they are grabbing for it. Eventually you'll have some games on there for them for those times when you have them somewhere boring and are trying to keep them entertained. Eventually, you will get tired of having your phone covered in snot and drool, and being dropped, so you decide getting a cheap, used iTouch with a protective case isn't such a bad idea. Load it up with educational games that actually teach them something, and it's really a great thing. Then limit them to only using it at times you control, and it is a fantastic thing.

 

[LilCat]

I'm just saying that I don't get why parents start out by getting their kids hooked on electronics at such a young age.

That's not what you said (or how you said it) but I digress.

I don't know any child her age that can stand being put in front of a screen long enough to get hooked on anything. Their attention spans are crap at this point...

If you can afford it and it keeps everyone sane, why not? And the poster before me makes an excellent point about sneezing, coughing, fingers in the mouth then touching your device. Ick. Get your own!

 

[Brittany246]

That's not what you said (or how you said it) but I digress.

I don't know any child her age that can stand being put in front of a screen long enough to get hooked on anything. Their attention spans are crap at this point...

If you can afford it and it keeps everyone sane, why not? And the poster before me makes an excellent point about sneezing, coughing, fingers in the mouth then touching your device. Ick. Get your own!

Lol.. Ok, then do whatever you want. Nobody's stopping you.

 

[Brittany246]

Yep. People without children don't understand at all. They have never dealt with a bored toddler having a meltdown in public and embarrassing the hell out of you.

My daughter gets to play with her iPod Touch when we are in the car, or when we're at the grocery store, etc. Basically anywhere that she's confined and has nothing else to do. Besides that, I put it away and she spends her time doing something active.

It is very easy to judge when you have never been a parent. I used to do the EXACT same thing. There were many "I will never ____" statements that I changed my mind on real damn fast. At the same time, there are a lot more of them that I haven't changed.



We live in an electronic world now, and just about everyone has these devices. It's no different than TV was when I was a kid (and then when the original Nintendo came out). I wanted to watch TV and/or play games all day, and my parents had to establish limits so that I would still go outside and get plenty of exercise. It wasn't that they got me hooked on TV or Nintendo, it's that I really, really enjoyed those things.

Your child is going to be around electronics every day, and they are going to want to play with them. The first time they see your iPhone or iPad, they are grabbing for it. Eventually you'll have some games on there for them for those times when you have them somewhere boring and are trying to keep them entertained. Eventually, you will get tired of having your phone covered in snot and drool, and being dropped, so you decide getting a cheap, used iTouch with a protective case isn't such a bad idea. Load it up with educational games that actually teach them something, and it's really a great thing. Then limit them to only using it at times you control, and it is a fantastic thing.

I know kids are going to want to use your electronics, but are they on it so much that they need their own? >_> I pretty much feel the same way about television. It's a pretty bad habit to start. Great to start early, right?

 

[jread]

I know kids are going to want to use your electronics, but are they on it so much that they need their own?

Yes. I live in a big city with horrible traffic. It takes 45-minutes to get from my house to my daughter's daycare every morning, and just as long (or longer) in the evening. The bulk of her iPod Touch use is during that time, when she's strapped into her car seat and we're sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. A 3-year-old doesn't last very long in that situation with nothing to do.

So yeah, 1.5-hours daily makes it worth it to me, plus she uses it on trips or when we're in the grocery store. It is absolutely worth her having her own device, especially since I need my phone when I'm in the car and can't give it to her for the entire trip.

 

[Sym0]

My 3.5 yo Daughter has my 1st Gen iPad. When I say "has" I mean shares it, but I don't use it anymore so it might as well be hers.

I started letting her play with it from 6 months out of a bit of fun. Then within 6 months (when she was 1) she was all over the multi-touch interface.

She still plays with it occasionally now that she is 3.5, but her younger 2 year old sister uses it more.

The main thing it is used for is ABC iView (free quality TV in Australia) and some cool toddler games, like Toddler Email and Duck Duck Moose titles.

She has learned so much, and stands head an shoulders above her cousins it's not funny.

She knew the alphabet by 2, could count to 20 and back again by 2, she knows how to spell her name which is not short, but I suspect this is copying and image retention more than understanding how literacy actually works.

Further to this her day car school (which is long day care more than classes, just playing and stuff) has a set of iPads too for learning.

I police it at home and it is taken away if there is trouble, but to be honest there is rarely any, I noticed that TV is just as addictive to a Toddler so limiting any media is a normal parenting expectation, the iPad just extends from this.

From this her younger sister is about 3 months ahead of her with abilities at the same age because of the influence her sister has. It's quite remarkable, but be warned that from 6 months you'll have a baby that thinks every magazine and photo frame can be swiped to unlock it LOL!

 

[Brittany246]

Yes. I live in a big city with horrible traffic. It takes 45-minutes to get from my house to my daughter's daycare every morning, and just as long (or longer) in the evening. The bulk of her iPod Touch use is during that time, when she's strapped into her car seat and we're sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. A 3-year-old doesn't last very long in that situation with nothing to do.

So yeah, 1.5-hours daily makes it worth it to me, plus she uses it on trips or when we're in the grocery store. It is absolutely worth her having her own device, especially since I need my phone when I'm in the car and can't give it to her for the entire trip.

Makes sense, but is that the only thing that will keep her attention for that long? How did parents & children SURVIVE without hand held electronics?

 

[BMJT]

Sorry but I don't buy the "nobody likes the smart kids, so make sure they don't get too smart!" excuse for not wanting kids to be as smart as possible as early as possible. Frankly, sad as it is "as smart as possible" in this country is borderline passable in a lot of other cultures, especially for kids, so getting them as far ahead as possible is critical (unless you are ok making under 100K a year, which I suppose is fine for a lot of folks but would probably send my wife into convulsions lol...).

You seem to have a very strange, and limited, definition of success, one that seems disproportionately skewed towards earning money.

 

[jread]

How did parents & children SURVIVE without hand held electronics?

Well, when I was a kid we didn't have them, at least not for awhile. I was born in '79, so we started getting some of those terrible Tiger Electronics games in the mid-80s, then the original GameBoy came out in the late 80s.

Let me tell you, it freaking sucked... for me and for my parents. My brother would read books, but I never could do that because it made me extremely car sick. So I would stare out of the window until I got bored, then would spend the rest of the time annoying my brother/parents, with my dad swinging his hand around the back seat trying to smack me while he's also trying to drive.

It would have been better for everyone if I'd had an iPod Touch

 

[Outrun1986]

Most people listened to portable music players, such as CD's and Walkmans, which were a lot cheaper than other things at the time. Walkmans have been around for a long time, if you are going even earlier in time then you just listened to radio or read books. They used to have things like travel board games but those never worked since every bump in the road knocked all the pieces and you can't really do a puzzle in the car, same with board games. So you were limited to a gameboy if it was 1988 or later or books, or Walkmans or the talkboy I think it was in the home alone movies. Otherwise you annoyed your parents with "are we there yet!" Toddlers probably just screamed the whole time after they were bored and the parents had to put up with it. Although in those days we didn't have the car seats we have now, if you even used a car seat so there was a bit more room to move around in the back seat instead of being strapped into a 5 point harness where you can't move at all.

We only had one TV in the house until I was about 10 years old and no home video games and computers until I was well into college. No one cared about picture quality, brand or where the TV was made and TV's were something you had to save up for not like today when a 32 inch flat screen is not enough and people have to have the best and biggest TV with the best picture quality and people go out and buy those on a whim even if they have no money for it. No one really needs a 70-90 inch screen, at least around here, but people fill their living rooms with stupidly big screens that don't even fit the size of the room just to say they have it.

The leap pads and VTECH's are so overpriced and clearly not built for a child as they should be meaning the build quality is not there and neither is the support when your device breaks, so the iPod is better for the child especially when in situations where they cannot be doing anything active. Kids cannot be active 100% of the time, there will be times where you have to sit in a waiting room, airplane or long car rides with them when playing on a device would be more productive than doing nothing at all.

 

[beautifulcoder]

Please good people, I love how the folks without any kids are all uppity saying "I would never.." Well, when you have kids most of us change our tune real quick.

I see iDevices as an effective learning tool. And yes, I think every school system should have one instead of antediluvian technology such as lame and unimaginative print books.

 

[cgk.emu]

Why can't they play with regular toys and the iPod Touch? My daughter who is now 4 has had an iPod touch since she was about 2 1/2. She loves to play with the iPod touch but spends most of her time playing with her toys. The iPod Touch is a great learning tool. By 3 1/2 she was doing 1st Grade level math and reading. Sure she may have done this without her learning apps, but they sure didnt hurt.

So, parenting had nothing to do with the fact that she was doing advanced math (for her age)? The iPod Touch did it all for you, eh?

 

[oneMadRssn]

I'm just saying that I don't get why parents start out by getting their kids hooked on electronics at such a young age.

What makes you think that by letting a child play education games on a gadget in moderation will get them 'hooked'? It's not herion, and they aren't junkies. It's a tool, and a good one when used in moderation. On the flip side, by denying them access to technology, they will lag behind in their ability to use the technology. That lag grows wider as kids get older, and those that lag usually get left behind by teachers and schools.

I'm reminded of a story I read on lifehacker forums, where a father began teaching his toddler to use the computer; but he started with command line. He loaded up linux with a few education games, but disabled any GUI. The toddler learned to navigate the command line interface pretty quick, in order to play the games. Later, he installed a simple customizable GUI. A few years later, this kid is probably the only kid elementary school knows how to write advanced scipts in linux. He's not hooked on anything, he still rides a bike and throws sticks. However, his father has also set him up for potential great success in the future.

Makes sense, but is that the only thing that will keep her attention for that long? How did parents & children SURVIVE without hand held electronics?

That aruement is ridiculous. Parents and children also survived just fine before the invention of Baby Tylenol, automobiles, electricity, bicycles, etc. Are you planning to live like the Amish until your child is old enough for gadgets?

 

[Brittany246]

What makes you think that by letting a child play education games on a gadget in moderation will get them 'hooked'? It's not herion, and they aren't junkies. It's a tool, and a good one when used in moderation. On the flip side, by denying them access to technology, they will lag behind in their ability to use the technology. That lag grows wider as kids get older, and those that lag usually get left behind by teachers and schools.

I'm reminded of a story I read on lifehacker forums, where a father began teaching his toddler to use the computer; but he started with command line. He loaded up linux with a few education games, but disabled any GUI. The toddler learned to navigate the command line interface pretty quick, in order to play the games. Later, he installed a simple customizable GUI. A few years later, this kid is probably the only kid elementary school knows how to write advanced scipts in linux. He's not hooked on anything, he still rides a bike and throws sticks. However, his father has also set him up for potential great success in the future.


That aruement is ridiculous. Parents and children also survived just fine before the invention of Baby Tylenol, automobiles, electricity, bicycles, etc. Are you planning to live like the Amish until your child is old enough for gadgets?

Iol... A toddler with a tablet is just ridiculous. I've taken care of a few toddlers with ipads/ipods and they always throw tantrums when they're taken away. Their parents just park them on the couch and let them use them for hours at a time. Instead of teaching them yourself, you're relying on apps, tv, and movies.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Iol... A toddler with a tablet is just ridiculous. I've taken care of a few toddlers with ipads/ipods and they always throw tantrums when they're taken away. Their parents just park them on the couch and let them use them for hours at a time. Instead of teaching them yourself, you're relying on apps, tv, and movies.

You must think pretty highly of yourself if you think you can teach math, vocabulary, etc better than an app.

Sounds like you're just a babysitter who's scared that technology is obsoleting your job

 

[beautifulcoder]

So, parenting had nothing to do with the fact that she was doing advanced math (for her age)? The iPod Touch did it all for you, eh?

It facilitates learning and so do books and other kid friendly equipment.

Iol... A toddler with a tablet is just ridiculous. I've taken care of a few toddlers with ipads/ipods and they always throw tantrums when they're taken away. Their parents just park them on the couch and let them use them for hours at a time. Instead of teaching them yourself, you're relying on apps, tv, and movies.

You are being ridiculous. No one on here is advocating this. In fact, if my kid is being plain nasty then she doesn't get to use the iPad. Plain and simple. I call it leverage.

 

[Brittany246]

You must think pretty highly of yourself if you think you can teach math, vocabulary, etc better than an app.

Sounds like you're just a babysitter who's scared that technology is obsoleting your job

Funny...

----------

It facilitates learning and so do books and other kid friendly equipment.



You are being ridiculous. No one on here is advocating this. In fact, if my kid is being plain nasty then she doesn't get to use the iPad. Plain and simple. I call it leverage.

Keep telling yourself that.

 

[Brittany246]

Please good people, I love how the folks without any kids are all uppity saying "I would never.." Well, when you have kids most of us change our tune real quick.

I see iDevices as an effective learning tool. And yes, I think every school system should have one instead of antediluvian technology such as lame and unimaginative print books.

lol @ uppity. That's your perception.

What happened to just teaching your kids yourself? I would rather have kids spend time with their parents than have a computer teach them. I feel like people do it because it's easier. "Here's your iPad, Johnny. Here are your lessons for the day." You don't have to use apps in order for your child to be advanced in certain subjects. Instead of parking your kid in front of a tablet for an hour, you can teach them the lesson yourself. I never had apps, computers, or television to teach me how to do **** as a kid. My mom taught me outside of school and sent me to private school as well. I was advanced for my age... especially in math.

 

[oneMadRssn]

What happened to just teaching your kids yourself?

Do you also plan on using peices of paper and crayons? Kids seemed to grow up just fine before those things; what ever happened to just explaining things without needing fancy paper or writing tools.

I gaurantee you kids will learn more from parents and ipad as compared to parent only. In fact, I don't need to gaurantee it; it's proven. Preschools that use iPad as one of the several modalities of learning have shown consistently better results than simple teacher interaction alone. More modalities of learning = more learning, less fatigue.

SCIENCED!!

 

[Brittany246]

Do you also plan on using peices of paper and crayons? Kids seemed to grow up just fine before those things; what ever happened to just explaining things without needing fancy paper or writing tools.

I gaurantee you kids will learn more from parents and ipad as compared to parent only. In fact, I don't need to gaurantee it; it's proven. Preschools that use iPad as one of the several modalities of learning have shown consistently better results than simple teacher interaction alone. More modalities of learning = more learning, less fatigue.

SCIENCED!!

I see no sources.

 

[beautifulcoder]

Walk away from the crazy... walk away.

 

[adiddas125]

How about we let children play with Legos, dolls, foam swords with capes, and let them interact with other kids their age.

I see too many kids with problems behaving themselves in social groups now. Extreme introverted behavior or just being plain rude and not knowing "good" manners.

Its your kid and your $, so do whatever you want, but personally I think kids need to go out and play with other kids and have more contact with nature.

 

[beautifulcoder]

How about we let children play with Legos, dolls, foam swords with capes, [sic]iPod/iPad[sic] and let them interact with other kids their age.

I take it you meant to to add iDevices to that list, correct? I fail to see how this has anything to do with your main point.

I see too many kids with problems behaving themselves in social groups now. Extreme introverted behavior or just being plain rude and not knowing "good" manners.

Again, no one here is advocating this.

 

[oneMadRssn]

I see no sources.

I bet there's lots of things you don't see.

Your profile says you're a student. Go use your school's JSTOR account and look them up yourself. I just did. Searching ("preschool" AND "ipad") in psychology journals brought up quite a few good results.

 

[Brittany246]

I bet there's lots of things you don't see.

Your profile says you're a student. Go use your school's JSTOR account and look them up yourself. I just did. Searching ("preschool" AND "ipad") in psychology journals brought up quite a few good results.

Ok, so then post them here. If you're going to say something's a fact then post your sources. I'm not going to go find things to back up your statements. You should be doing that yourself.