Posted by
Cliff
on from the improving-the-K-experience dept.
andres32a asks: "I currently run a private preschool located in Latin America. I have been always interested in finding new ways of giving kids a legitimate educational advantage through fresh applications of technology. What technology would you like to have seen applied in your kindergarten?"
Truthfully, I think that it would be better to let the kindergarteners play with blocks, color with crayons, and generally let them act like little kids.
They'll have plenty of time in the coming years to learn all about computers, iPods, and cellphones. There are enough problems with people being addicted to their computers without getting the kids hooked at such a young age.
Re:Back to Basics
by
Broken+scope
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Legos are one of the best toys you can give to a child who will not ingest them. Give them the manual. Let them build once then watch them go from there.
I'd agree on the PC front. I also think (as someone who did use a computer from an early age and having glasses from the age of 8) that the effect of staring closely at a screen at a close distance on younger, malleable eyeballs would need to be investigated as well.
There are times it could work - the TI Speak and Spell was a great and appropriate use of technology as 'edutainment'.
Re:Back to Basics
by
mrfrostee
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Truthfully, I think that it would be better to let the kindergarteners play with blocks, color with crayons, and generally let them act like little kids.
This is exactly right. Let them build with their hands and socialize for a few years.
After a few more years, when they are ready to move from blocks to a computer, try Scratch
I used to teach kindergarten, so I can give a little bit of insight into this.
I agree that the way that kindergarten SHOULD be taught is give kids blocks, etc and let them run around outside. Now, in PRACTICE, kindergarteners are required to sit and do worksheets most of the day. They are allocated about 15 minutes recess in the morning, a half hour for recess after lunch, about a half hour lunch, and about a half hour of "centers" time per day. Centers includes things like blocks, playing house, reading casually, and computers.
In my classroom last year, we used computers that ran windows 98 and had an old dot matrix printer that my husband had to search for hours to find the right programs to run. We played Clifford and microsoft paint. Computers were the most popular of all the centers. They were drawn to it. So I guess I figured if that's how they want to use the little free time they're given, why not let them?
Re:Back to Basics
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
I agree with the parent post. Keep small children away from technology. Under 6 years old is when so much important developmental and sensory stuff happens. Computers, television, games, all overstimulate sight and understimulate the other senses. This is not to say that technology has no place in early childhood education. Use it to manage the organization. Use it to train the teachers. Use it to communicate with the parents.
If you have loads of money, then hire somebody to put up a Windows or Mac box loaded with all sorts of commercial software, which is exactly what many here will suggest. But since you are writing here and asking about it, I will assume that you are not Bill Gates. Instead, use Linux/BSD and there are a number of good applications out there. I am currently having my 3 y.o. use ChildPlay and gcomperie (sp). She is learning all about the mouse and loving it. There are a number of educational type games out there that encourage this behavior. And in general, you can even run the Windows apps in wine (keep in mind that these are simple apps). Check out some of the memory games. In addition, check out the site for TuxPaint. It is geared towards kids. In fact, just thinking about it, there are several distros geared for education. Ubuntu has a derivative called edubuntu.
-- I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
If you have loads of money, then hire somebody to put up a Windows or Mac box loaded with all sorts of commercial software...
Unless by "Mac" you're talking about System 7, I disagree completely. It seems to me that quite a lot of the so-called "educational software" advertised today completely sucks in comparison to what we had back circa 1990. Number Munchers, LOGO, Oregon Trail, Hypercard... maybe even Dino Park Tycoon... those were examples of good software for kids! If I were running a preschool I'd go dumpster-diving for that stuff rather than get something new, and it would have nothing to do with price.
--
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Actually, my son old figured out the mouse at 18 months with xeyes. Had it doing funny full screen eye movements with his own specific sound effects. Clicking stuff he figured out by just having a blank desktop. I've given him his own account, and sometimes when he bugs me at the computer, I log him in, let him play for a bit and come back to have a chuckle at what he's managed to do. He gets bored pretty quickly and I think that's a good thing at his age (now 2yo).
I tend to think that kids at pre school age will learn more if they involve their entire bodies in play, so while having a computer might be interesting, I think blocks, cardboard boxes, crayons, paint and other children are by far the most valuable learning tools.
You can learn the basics of electronic machine control from turning a light on and off, or playing with a DVD remote. PCs don't really become meaningful until a bit later, and if anything they may be detrimental. I personally subscribe to the view that it's better to learn to interact in a world without undo or reset/reboot before being exposed to Ctrl+Z. I've watched my two year old son figure out loads of logical and physical truths by playing with cups of water, and found it really interesting to see him figure things out that I know might apply later such as learning the beginings of arithmetic by climbing stairs.
I think everyone would agree that the trick is to support and encourage them to incorporate learning in their play, I just don't see how artificially introducing new fangled kinds of play with machines is any better all the fun stuff around already.
K12LTSP is a distro directly aimed at education. and has all of the fun edutainment games. Watching the 1st graders use TuxPaint and KTuberling has been quite enjoyable as they create wildly imaginative "artwork";)
Excellent way to teach kids about the mystical world of police.
The home chemistry kit of sugar and other stuff.
and most of all,
The Cowboy Neal punching doll.
Great for stress relief for all ages.
The irony
by
michaelmalak
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· Score: 4, Informative
It's ironic to see "kindergarten" and "technology" in the same sentence, since Frobel invented Kindergarten in the early 19th century as a "garden" for children where they can learn through physical manipulation of materials and practical life activities. This description sums it up best:
Friedrich Froebel's enduring significance was through his formulation of the 'kindergarten system' with its emphasis on play and its use of 'gifts' (play materials) and 'occupations (activities).
Friedrich Froebel believed that humans are essentially productive and creative - and fulfilment comes through developing these in harmony with God and the world. As a result, Froebel sought to encourage the creation of educational environments that involved practical work and the direct use of materials. Through engaging with the world, understanding unfolds. Hence the significance of play - it is both a creative activity and through it children become aware of their place in the world. He went on to develop special materials (such as shaped wooden bricks and balls - gifts), a series of recommended activities (occupations) and movement activities, and an linking set of theories. His original concern was the teaching of young children through educational games in the family. In the later years of his life this became linked with a demand for the provision of special centres for the care and development of children outside the home.
For those wondering how this fits in with Montessori, Maria Montessori independently rediscovered much of the same nearly a century later, but as part of a much more comprehensive and cohesive system of education.
It's ironic that people can mention Froebel and Montessori and disregard technology, when both of them devised and introduced technology (props) in their practice. Not modern technology, sure, but what was available at their time - Froebel's "gifts" and Montessori's devices like buttoned panels.
What we lacked until recently was adequate computational toys to introduce computers to kindergartners. But ingenious use of what existed was always possible.
One obvious choice would be a ground "turtle" robot like Valiant's Roamer. I, my wife, and several preschool teachers have employed it extensively, with great results and to children's enjoyment (see a brief paper here). You can command it with command keys for "forward", "back", "turn left", "turn right", and can even program a sequence of these orders, like in Logo.
Talking about programming, there are many things you can do in kindergarten. ToonTalk and Electronic Blocks come to mind.
In general, you'd want children to be able to feel comfortable around a computer, not feel it is a "special" item for adults or special occasions, nor a "treat" for rewarding other behavior. Both of those perspectives would be inadequate for a healthy relationship with technology. Most modern research points towards adequate integration of computers in preschool practice, precisely by avoiding reserving them for special occasions or turning them into treats.
I invariably find the best summary and guideline's to be those compiled by Rachel Bolstad for New Zealand's Ministry of Education, which you can find here (p. 41 - 55 in the PDF). With these in mind, I devised a four-approach guide which I presented two years ago at a conference, but is available on-line.
Certainly! We got lots of stuff for Kindergarten
by
gd23ka
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· Score: 2, Interesting
We got ID cards, chip implants, GPS tracking, polygraphs, MRI scanners, iris scanners, highly sensitive mikes, DRM coded Sesame Street and to top things off we have George Monbiot to read to them his latest rantings on man-made global warming and against all the 911 "conspiracy theorists".
Tell you what, kids don't really even belong in Kindergarten. They should spend their time in intact families than in the arms of the state.
Kindergarten is a fantastic place for kids to learn the basics of technology, like mouse skills. Don't underestimate the value of sitting them down quietly with a good picturebook.
While I agree that a well set up computer will contribute greatly to their development, I suggest that you limit their time on it strongly. Children also need to learn that the world is not the instant-reward predictability of kids PC games. Give them blocks, let them build things, let them cry when it falls down.
I'm sure people will be able to post a bunch of links to some useful free (and Free) software though. Your main technical challenge is sourcing the hardware cheaply. Theres some great "kids" keyboards out there (from qwerty to pig/cow/horse), but they can be expensive;)
I am curious
by
WindBourne
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· Score: 5, Insightful
The poster RUNS a preschool. That is s?he is concerned with all aspects of a child's education. Since they are running a private one (and one with a nice web site), I would assume that they have loads of education on child development as well as how to teach. So, here you are trying to tell him how to run a pre-school (note: NOT a simple daycare). So, what experience do you have that you know so much about children pre-school AND you are also on a geek site?
Seriously, for the other posters (mgb68 and more to come), when somebody who is asking for help on something that they may not have loads of knowledge on, please do not put them down by telling them that they are wrong to explore options. It is damaging to this site, to the geek world, and the those that could use the help (and god knows that many in the world NEED help). I think that the director should be able to explore loads of good options. And yes, handling computers is now part of our society. Children will have to learn it.
For those of us with young children, I would bet that most if not all, have their children playing with the computers as well as playing on the jungle gym, the McyD's play ground, games, circle time, nap time, reading, etc. My daughter (and in about 2 years, my son) play with multiple educational packages on Linux. It is fun to watch her and she enjoys it.
-- I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Re:I am curious
by
mgb68
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· Score: 2, Informative
How much experience do I have? Just mine and what I have seen with my little sister. As soon as she got an account on the family computer, she wanted to IM and email the kids next door instead of just walking over there. I know that my personal experience is that I end up spending more time sitting in front of the computer and less time mountain biking than I would like.
The question is asking for our opinions. If the person already knew what technology to have in the classroom s/he wouldn't have bothered asking.
I agree that technology is coming to saturate our lives more with each coming year but my opinion is that kindergarten is too early.
The question at hand is, "What technology would you like to have seen applied in your kindergarten?" "Blocks," and so forth is a perfectly valid answer. What expertise exactly is anyone here supposed to draw on when answering this question, either that way or in the terms you want to see? Your objection to the answers invalidates the entire exercise. If we don't know enough to be qualified to say "blocks", we're not qualified to recommend any particular high-tech doodad as beneficial either.
In any event, you lose your bet. I have young children and I don't "have" them playing with the computer. I tolerate them playing with the computer. The one only wanted to use the computer with educational software in the first place because he got used to it in preschool. Considering that he's autistic -- which is why he was in preschool -- I'd much rather have him engaging in face-to-face social interaction, or exercising any other cognitive skill that he finds difficult. Playing with the computer came very naturally to him.
The question at hand is, "What technology would you like to have seen applied in your kindergarten?" "Blocks," and so forth is a perfectly valid answer. What expertise exactly is anyone here supposed to draw on when answering this question, either that way or in the terms you want to see? Your objection to the answers invalidates the entire exercise. If we don't know enough to be qualified to say "blocks", we're not qualified to recommend any particular high-tech doodad as beneficial either.
My wife works in a private dayschool. What do they have?
blocks
costumes
books
simple toys (cars, dolls, etc)
a reading loft
a hamster
audio cassettes with songs and read-along books
lots of construction paper, crayons, glue and child scissors
jungle gym
teachers who actually teach them (depending on age) colors, numbers, alphabet, etc, etc.
One computer that they hardly ever use. I think it's mostly to impress prospective parents.
Yeah... but with IM, you can multitask. Your sister could talk to multiple kids at once!</sarcasm>
Re:I am curious
by
ElectricRook
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· Score: 2, Interesting
The bane of technology, is the isolation it causes.
Communication via an avatar is impersonal, and often involves rude insults and poor behavior... Read/. with a filter of -1, and take a look at the first few posts.
Consider how people often use the cel-phone, palm-top or music-box, as a shield to ignore others.
Observe that regular TV watchers, equate viewing their favorite TV shows, the same as visiting friends. They begin to lose the distinction between reality and TV. Call them on it, and they become very irritated. But watch their conversations, telling others about the exciting things they saw on TV, almost as if they were there. Their real lives have little excitement or reality, because they spend the majority of their time in a pretend life.
Yes, I have three kids, and it's pretty hard to keep the reins on the Technology Genie, let alone try to get the damn thing back into the bottle.
I did kick the TV's and computers out of the house for three months (June-September) a few years back. Sibling fights went to zero... But I knuckled under to the threat of divorce.... I considered that a broken home would be worse on the children, than an intact home under the rule of the technology genie.
-- - High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.
According to Steven Levitt, there's no statistical difference between the academic performance of children who watch lots of television, and those who don't (in contrast to the "television rots the brain" theory). Nor is there a difference in the performance of children with computers in the home, and those without (in contrast to the "computers make kids smart" theory). If accurate, and I haven't heard any rebuttals, it's food for thought for both you and the OP.
I agree that a well-rounded experience is beneficial, however kids (as adults) are inclined to gravitate toward whatever activity they enjoy regardless of what parents do or say. Of course limits are always important, because anything in excess can have deleterious effects.
You also need to be a bit careful with some of Levitt's popular works is that they are written in an easy to read style, but the exact wording of the conclusions matters so some care needs to be taken. I have known people to misunderstand him before, for example many people take to lack of correlation between children being read to and learning to read to mean that there is no correlation between early teaching of reading and learning to read. I have lent my copy of Freakonomics to someone, so I cannot check what it says on the topic of TV and education.
The other problem with Freakonomics is that it does not (again unlike his academic publications) give details of the statistics and methodology. In this case we need to know what measurements are used, at what age, over what period TV viewing was measured etc.
As for computers, I think that they can have both negative and positive effect depending on how they are used, so I am not surprised that there is no correlation.
We do not have a TV, but my daughter does have a PC with software we feel to be beneficial.
That's reminiscing... Some of us grew up before glue was non-toxic, and came in a plastic stick.
-- - High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.
I remember learn how to count games!
by
CrazyJim1
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· Score: 2
I remember playing on my TI-99 learn how to count in my preschool/kindergarden years. It'd show me different shapes like rabbits or spaceships n stuff, then I had to press the right number of how many there were. The game was really fun, so I'd count for hours on end. Then there was advanced stuff like addition and dreaded subtraction. What made the game was the fun animations it had to set up the scene. I think all little kids should be able to play learn how to count games on computer, they're really fun. And a fond memory!
Technology is the one thing I can think of that, above all others, would have made kindergarten WORSE. The extent of readily-available technology we had in my kindergarten in 1986 was the cassette player for random songs for us to dance to and sing along with.
Biotech was another issue entirely. Our teacher had an extra set of eyes IN THE BACK OF HER HEAD!!!!!! And we learned of a sharp tooth snail that lives IN OUR NOSES and will cut off any fingers that end up inside.
As far as giving kids an advantage, though, I think keeping tech, especially computers, OUT of kindergarten is the best thing you can do.
"And we learned of a sharp tooth snail that lives IN OUR NOSES and will cut off any fingers that end up inside."
Too bad, it has been since learned that by ingesting wind-born particles through the stomach (eating boggers), the immune system learns not to over react to them with a histamine response.
I think the best way...
by
Fullhazard
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· Score: 3, Funny
To use technology to make Kindergartens better would be to make stronger bars for the cages.
Re:I think the best way...
by
nothing+now
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· Score: 0
Iron isn't strong enough anymore.
Damn you Kellog!
Legos... and LOGO!
by
mrchaotica
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· Score: 2, Informative
I had great fun (and learned a lot) by playing with Legos as a kid, but I can also say exactly the same thing about LOGO too. Sure, it teaches you about geometry and programming and whatnot, but more importantly it was the coolest thing since Oregon Trail!
--
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
I thought logo was pretty cool, although frankly they didn't try and teach us much of it. But regardless I would rather see Squeak used. Logo is procedural, and that's great, but Squeak is also object-oriented and much more approachable than Logo. The OLPC Project is putting Squeak with a project called etoys on their system, thank goodness. I think I could have learned a lot more in Squeak... And anyway, it does everything logo does, except make you learn a language you'll never use again.
-- "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Re:Legos... and LOGO!
by
TheRaven64
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· Score: 2, Informative
Actually, Logo isn't a procedural language, it is a functional language complete with closures (that's blocks to Smalltalk programmers) and is semantically very similar to Lisp. Of course, most of the time it is just used for teaching geometry, so people tend not to be introduced to the advanced features.
I would still recommend Squeak as well, but please don't underestimate Logo.
As far as I can remember Kindergarten involved learning the alphabet, numbers and writing english, so I think that the sooner children are taught to touch-type they'll more easily adopt any computer-related technology later on. Obviously learning to touch-type perfectly at any great speed is out of the question, but if they can get the fundamentals of typing, not to me mention loss of fear and novelty, they'll be on equal footing with writing - an equal skill in these modern times.
I totally agree that everyone should learn to touch type. The only problem with kindergarteners learning it is that they won't learn to write as well. Writing is a very important skill, at least in the United States where we still have to write to fill out paperwork and do in-class assignments. As well, it would be silly for students to have to type to do math.
If they really need to write something on a computer, give them a tablet with OCR so that they can see the letters they're trying to emulate. Don't teach them to type. It's probably pretty hard to understand this, but when you teach a kid to type he/she isn't going to want to learn to handwrite anything and that skill is much more useful at their age anyway.
Even though I'm on Slashdot I'm of the opinion that technology should play a role in education only when it facilitates the otherwise impossible. If there's something you absolutely need a computer for in kindergarten, go ahead and use it; but teaching kindergarteners to type when they could be socializing or developing less rote and more creative abilities is a mistake. Teach it to them when they're older and they've already learned to handwrite quite solidly.
I agree that typing is a really important skill, but kindergarten is too early to be teaching it.
-- SRSLY.
Nothing at all
by
squisher
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Since you are running a kindergarten, I really believe there should be no technology at all. There could be educational games, sure, but nothing that involves technology. This is entirely unscientific, but I have a gut feeling that a lot of the autism and similar developmental problems stem from the fact that people these days are not getting enough social interaction anymore. Technology should not be in a kindergarten, the time when children have the cognitive abilities to take an advantage of that will be later on.
---Since you are running a kindergarten, I really believe there should be no technology at all.
Since it's raining outside, I think you're stupid. See how your sentence structure makes no sense?
---There could be educational games, sure, but nothing that involves technology.
No electricity for the lights, and no clean water. It uses... (shudder) TECHNOLOGY!!!!!
---This is entirely unscientific, but I have a gut feeling
When I have a "gut feeling", I usually need to go to the bathroom.
---that a lot of the autism and similar developmental problems stem from the fact that people these days are not getting enough social interaction anymore.
Oh, autism (YAWN). And, what is your supposed definition of autism?
---Technology should not be in a kindergarten, the time when children have the cognitive abilities to take an advantage of that will be later on.
Yep. No electricity, no clean water, no lights, no nothin... Technology is evvvvul and will autize the little kids brains!!
meh.
--
Mod parent up! by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Thurs, Nov 31, @13:37
There was an article recently in the SF Chronicle which said a correlation exists between autism and increased time kids spend in front of the tv. I think your suggestion is spot-on.
So... no running water, no electric lights. I'm not one to dis the Amish, because it works for them, but that's not the way the rest of us live.
When our first daughter was about 1.5, she always wanted to play with the television remote control, so my wife and I thought, "Let's just buy her one of those universal remote controls that she can play with so that she won't break the real/expensive remote. Nope. Both daughters saw mommy and daddy using the TV's remote and that's the one they wanted to play with. My point is that your children want to emulate you. If you don't use technology at all, fine, put your kids in a tech free learning environment, but if you use computers, telephones, refrigerator to do your daily tasks, your children will want to learn to use these things.
-- All ideas^H^H^H^H^Hprocesses in this post are Patent Pending. (as well as the process of patenting all postings)
That is funny, because GP said "autism and similar developmental problems stem from the fact that people these days are not getting enough social interaction". To this, you said "your suggestion is spot-on".
So, my confusion stems from: "stem from" == "causation"; and you said "spot-on". My mistake; you must have meant something else.
There was an article recently in the SF Chronicle which said a correlation exists between autism and increased time kids spend in front of the tv.
I think it's more than autism causes increased TV watching more than TV watching causes autism. My best friend's brother acts autistic (different diagnosis but simular disease) and he watches TV because he can't do much else and he's still (at 25) at a mental level where the pretty colors fascinate him. My friend also nannies for autistic children and others with mental disabilities and I've meet some of them and I can tell you that autism is not just watching too much TV, it's a severe mental illness.
-- "What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
Autism & other developmental issues are discoverable long before even pre-school, let alone kindergarten. Technology in kindergarten, while I disagree with the idea of doing it, would not be a factor there.
Depends on how much you want to spend...
by
ender-
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Since you didn't specify OSS, I can highly recommend one particular commercial product. I used to do tech and field support for this product.
|Disclaimer| I used to work for the company which distributed and supported the following products. I no longer work for said company, but feel deeply about the high quality of the product |end Disclaimer|
It is called "The Waterford Early Reading Program" [although I believe they now have Math and Science as well, but haven't personally seen these newer products]. It is currently distributed by Pearson Digital Learning [It was called Electronic Education, a division of Addison Wesley Longman when I worked there]
Anyway, the idea is that for Level One, a set of one to three computers [depending on class size] is placed in a Kindergarten [or Pre-K] classroom. Each day the students spend 15 minutes on the computer. Much like many reading programs the program guides the student through the process of learning to read, [actually the first couple days are spent teaching the child to use the mouse] using songs and games. In this case, the instruction is backed by research done by the Waterford Institute and the Waterford School [a private school in Utah]. The software is able to keep track of lessons/concepts which the student has or hasn't mastered, and can keep giving lessons on the items the student still needs help with.
In addition to the 15 minutes on the computer, each student gets a set of videos [with videos from the program], a set of cd's [with music from the program of course], and books [can you guess? With stories from the program]. These are for the students to take home, in the hopes that they can get their family to read with them, or at least play the music/video's to enforce the learning.
After Level One, they have Level 2 [First Grade] and Level 3 [Second grade] to continue building on the lessons].
In my years of supporting the product, and spending time in the classrooms, I have to say that I really believe it was a great program. The kids absolutely LOVED it! If the computers were down, the teacher would tell the kids that I was there to fix the computers. Without fail, the entire class would cheer loudly! Of only one system was down, and I had to stop some kids from using the other working computers, they would plead with me not to make them get off the computers until I swore to them that they would not lose their turn for that day.
I even had one kid stand up, turn around, look at me and pee his pants! The teacher said that this was not uncommon. The kids were so worried about losing their turn at the program, that they didn't want to get up to go to the bathroom!
There is a downside to this wonderful system though. It is NOT cheap. I don't know what the prices are these days [when I worked there, Pentium 2's were hot stuff], and I don't know what kind of deals can be done with private [especially out of US] schools. Generally the system was sold with anywhere from 1 to 3 computers plus a printer, and the cost included student sets [books/vid/cd's] and support for three years.
Generally our sales force spent 20% of their time selling the product to school districts, and 80% of their time helping the school districts find grants or other funding.:)
But if it's something your school might be able to afford, I highly, highly, highly recommend the product. Of course, it's only for English, but your students will get a great start on learning to read English with this program.
/I made sure I had a copy and set of books/tapes before I left, even though I didn't have a kid yet at the time. //My daughter is almost ready to start! Yay! ///I miss working on a product in which I believe so deeply.
Re:Depends on how much you want to spend...
by
ender-
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· Score: 1
Oh and just to head off the folks complaining about 'technology' in a Kindergarten classroom. As I mentioned, each kid only goes on the program for 15 minutes a day. They are basically unsupervised during this time [just meaning that the teacher continues the normal activities for the rest of the class while the 1 to 3 students are at the computer]. It's not meant as a 'sit at the computer all day and learn' type of thing.
I agree that this sort of thing should be limited, and most time in Kindergarten should be spent socializing, playing with Lego's and Blocks, and playing tag and duck-duck-goose.
As a matter of fact, now that I'm in my 30's, I think most of my time at work should be spent socializing, playing with Lego's and blocks, and playing tag and duck-duck-goose.:)
Teach the kids...
by
Bin_jammin
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· Score: 4, Funny
how to solder. Basic electronics is also a must. This all ties in together, because kids need to learn basic electronics, and nothing says fun like 20 kids with 40 watt irons.
I think children should learn programming languages and good software design principles as early as possible, especially scripting languages, and especially software security.
C, Ruby, Javascript, Actionscript/Flash are what I'd push now.
Kindergarten may be a bit early, but certainly by third grade, I think all students should be required to program as an integral part of all the curricula. An emphasis should be placed not on just computer languages, but on robust and secure software design methods.
And yes, you did read that correctly: third grade.
I also think that children should play online strategy games (like prisoner's dilemma, chess, and poker, at different ages) until they reliably and repeatedly win against novice players.
C, Ruby, Javascript, Actionscript/Flash are what I'd push now.
Kindergarten may be a bit early, but certainly by third grade, I think all students should be required to program as an integral part of all the curricula. An emphasis should be placed not on just computer languages, but on robust and secure software design methods.
Dude, that's a bit over board. What you need to do is push Logo. Heck, each time that I check out the latest Logos I'm more and more surprised by the programming skill set being taught by it. What you just need to do is get secure programming as simple for kids to play around with as legos or other building blocks. Kids love to build towers, walls, or forts with blocks and knock them down. They should be able to easily/safely do the same on the computer (and not just in games like SimCity.)
Does the tool help get the job done?
by
davidwr
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· Score: 1
Technology is a tool, nothing more. If it helps get the job done and is cost-effective, use it. If not, don't.
Kids won't be hurt if they go their entire kindergarten year never using anything battery- or electrically-operated other than the water cooler and ceiling lights.
On the other hand, if you have a particular teaching goal that can be further enhanced by technology, then by all means use it.
When I was in Kindergarten, we had audiovisual technology like record/tape players and movie/filmstrip players and that was about it. The teacher used them to help her teach and to help us learn and explore not as an end into themselves.
Oh, of course we used all kinds of "non-tech tech" like pencils, paper, glue, and paints - tech cavemen kids of 60,000 years didn't have. The teacher used an iron and oven to finish off some of our heat-cured artwork. Shrinky-Dinks anyone?
-- Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Great glasses that you have there.
by
WindBourne
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· Score: 1
I see it all the time. When I was child, I heard in such notables as Nixon, Reagan, and these days W. Everybody remembers the past in a better light. Afterall, if it really was all that good, and nothing beat it, then competition would take hold and wipe out the new stuff.
So with all that in mind, lets skip the computers, the blocks, the books, and even the pictures. Instead, just tie down the baby and infant and let them learn it by genetics and osmotic absorption. Now that was the GOOD OLD DAYS.
Or perhaps there is good stuff available today that will be beaten in years to come?
-- I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
LOGO. It's kinda fun, doesn't take much brainpower to play with, but has a huge amount of depth to plumb. Then when you find the handful of kids who take LOGO to its limits, start them off on even more interesting things.
On the subject of Kindergarten...
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EvilCabbage
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Many years ago I was setting up some spiffy new computers for a local kindergarten.
At the time I had fairly long hair, a goatee and was dressed head to toe in black. Black shoes, black trousers, black long sleeve business shirt, black tie. Not so much trying to make a statement, but I kept most of my wardrobe black so I always had something that would go with everything else. I lacked imagination, ok?
Anyway, I'm setting up one of these machines and I turn around to find a small girl sitting on the table watching me. She was probably five years old.
I said to her, "Hello sweetie, could you please hand that to me", pointing to the mouse sitting next to her and flashing my most pleasant smile.
She looked at me with a really miserable look and said "No."
"Oh" I remarked. "Why is that?" I asked, expecting her to tell me that teacher had instructed her not to talk to strangers, or some other good moral learning.
"Because, you're the bad man." I held back a bit of shock and proceeded to grab my own damn mouse and finish the job.
I wasn't just any bad man, I was *THE* bad man. Knowing I scared children so much kinda broke my heart. The next day I trimmed my goatee, got a haircut and started wearing Hawaiian shirts to work.
So I guess my advice is: When improving kindergartens through IT services, wear Hawaiian shirts.
Re:On the subject of Kindergarten...
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Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
Knowing I scared children so much kinda broke my heart. Sounds delightful actually.
You shouldn't be asking "how can I use technology to teach the children?". You should be asking "How can I teach the children?". If technology helps you with your primary goal, great, but it's a means to an end.
I don't think the question was specifically asking how to teach computer skills to kids, but how to use technology to enrich the educational environment.
That being said, you can do a lot with a projector, a computer, and an internet connection.
I teach English in elementary schools in Japan. If the kids are interested in a topic, I go to google for some images, and youtube for some video. I can show them anything in the world, rather than relying on what pictures the library might have. I was even able to introduce them to my parents over a video conference. I can help my students explore their interests to a much greater extent than if I didn't have these resources.
Like most cases, I think it's best to look at your goals first, and then see where technology can help you achieve them.
The answer is simple
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Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
None.
Re:Certainly! We got lots of stuff for Kindergarte
by
P(0)(!P(k)+P(k+1))
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· Score: 1
They should spend their time in intact families than in the arms of the state.
Based on your link to Landover, I couldn't tell whether you were speaking tongue-in-cheek; but I was just having a conversation with my wife today about the homosexual persecution fantasy (even though homosexuality is the de facto standard nowadays), and that taking a stand for the nuclear family is a radical and violent gesture.
some Open Source resources
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cwgmpls
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· Score: 2, Informative
This site has about a dozen free software titles for Linux that are good for kids. I've used a few of them with my kids. They've been great, and the price is right.
Re:some Open Source resources
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huckamania
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· Score: 1
That is a sad collection of software...
If you were in the US of A, I would suggest going to Big Lots, Ross, Burlington, etc and buying any cheap (less then $5) piece of licensed computer kid products (dora, mickey, clifford, etc) you can find. Sometimes you can find a 4 game combo for $5 that will have a mix.
My daughter is 2 yrs, 4 months old and knows the alphabet, numbers, some words, some math, speaks in full sentences, is polite and has already started potty training. Not all of that is because of her computer use, but my wife and I are amazed at what she knows cause it's not like we push it on her. We limit her computer time and use it as a reward (gotta love reverse psychology).
As an aside...
When she was just a baby, I used to hold her in my lap while playing Battlefield. I would drive around in a jeep and she would hit the space bar to honk the horn. I used to love tellling people I just ran over that my baby was honking at them to get out of the way.
Re:some Open Source resources
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the_womble
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· Score: 1
The games in Gcompris worked really well for my daughter. For example, it helped her understand the idea of categorising things.
I was quite surprised at some of the things she understood - like the Gcompris water cycle game.
The list you link to is a bit short. I would add some version of Logo (we use Kturtle), and simple board games.There is a lot more I have not tried yet.
Once they can read and spell a bit, they can start using a web browser. My daughter recently did her first Google image searches.
For older children there is a lot more.
Re:some Open Source resources
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cwgmpls
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· Score: 1
Your point is well taken. There is loads of cheap kids software to be found in the bargain bins of many retailers. Personally, I use linux with OSS because I am running my software on free, recycled computers that will only run variants of Linux, or Windows 98. And Windows 98 is no longer supported by MS.
I could buy a newer computer and run XP or Vista, but then the $5 software you mention does not seem so cheap any more. I'm not in a position to lay out hundreds of dollars for a kids toy, no matter how educational it is. Especially since the computer industry is pretty well set up to make sure that any newer computer I buy will be obsolete in a few years.
So far I've been able to find more than enough OSS kids stuff to keep my kids busy. And I'm glad to know I can run it for as many years as I want -- or at least until the PCs capacitors blow out. At which point I can replace it with another free PC
Re:some Open Source resources
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ElleyKitten
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· Score: 1
Depending on the stats of your computer and the system requirements of the game you can run them through wine. I know because I have a wierd compulsion for anything Hello Kitty and I've gotten a couple games to work on my Ubuntu box. Though, you might want to keep with the oss stuff for your kids, because the most "educational" thing I've found with Hello Kitty is making ice cream sundays and saving penguins from water. Maybe Dora would teach them Spanish, but she'll also convince them that you need to buy them overpriced Dora shoes and Dora stickers and plenty of other things they don't need.
-- "What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
-- We do not live in the 21st century. We live in the 20 second century.
Toy Computers
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Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 1, Interesting
When it comes to preschoolers, I'd teach what you are already teaching: reading, verbal communication, sharing, motor control, imagination, all the usual stuff.
If you can use technology to do that better, great, otherwise don't bother.
Whether or not you use "real computers," I WOULD put "toy computers" or "pretend computers" in your classroom so the kids will have something that "looks like a computer" that is OK to drop or abuse as kids will do. Also, with toy computers they can pretend to draw and pretend to do other "computer things," exercising their imagination without waiting for a real computer to become available.
Back when I was growing up we had non-functioning toy sinks, toy phones, etc. to help my generation use its imagination. We also had real Speak-And-Spells and other electronic toys that actually worked.
If you have one computer in your classroom, consider buying a handful of cheap digital cameras (under $20 in USA at Wal-Mart, possibly available at walmart.com). These cameras do not have an LCD screen. A handful of cameras and a computer and printer can teach photography, sharing, cooperation, patience waiting for the printout, plus give them something to take home to mom and dad. Combine it with a simple picture editor and you can teach spelling, keyboarding, saving and retrieving files, and some photo-editing.
The Incredible Machine
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KlaymenDK
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· Score: 3, Informative
"Back to basics" - check "Something to keep lego's and lincoln logs out of the plebians' mouths" - check "runs on cheap equipment" - check Actually learning something useful - check Great big fun! - check
Re:Certainly! We got lots of stuff for Kindergarte
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JonnyCalcutta
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· Score: 1
Wow. You guys are great. First we have single guy telling us what to do with our kids. Then we have nuclear family guy telling us that homosexuals are not only bringing down the family unit (what do they do, stand outside your house and hand out recruitment flyers?) but also that they are now the standard unit of mankind. Here was me thinking the gays were just looking for the ability to live their own lives under the same conditions as everyone else, when all along they are actively campaigning against our right to be straight and have a family. And to think I was buying into that woolly-minded, liberal, each to their own crap. I better go and tell my gays that they can't visit anymore in case they destroy my family.
You are hereby banned from slashdot.
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brunes69
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· Score: 1
Around here, technology is the answer to EVERYTHING.
You would think you would have learned that by now.
For example - I hear kids in Africa don't have enough food to eat or water to drink? Send them cheap laptops!
Re:You are hereby banned from slashdot.
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ElectricRook
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Around here, technology is the answer to EVERYTHING.
I work in a high tech company, where the majority of the Black employees are natives of Africa (Ghana, Nigeria). Think they started with technology? One guy told me he did not even see a car until he was 16 years old. He was 24 at the time.
He speaks better English than most Americans of any race.
-- - High Tech workers, please say NO to Union Carpenters, their Union sees fit to control our compensation.
Who said that technology = less social interaction? Why not try something like setting up a video link with another school? Hell, another school in another country. All you need is Skype and a webcam - you could even have it setup and running 24/7 as a screen on the wall that acts like a "window" to another location...
A helpful answer
by
viewtouch
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· Score: 2, Interesting
I see lots of useless comments here that offer you nothing but sarcasm. That's unfortunate. What I'd like to suggest to you, however, is this: You can provide children software without putting any computers in the classroom. All you have to do is give them displays which have a network connection. These are available from an Australian company called ThinLinx. You won't need to put network cables everywhere, either. You can use wireless networking. All you need for this is a wireless router, about $50.
You can add touchscreens to the displays at a very low cost by going with any of the Chinese touchscreen manufacturers. This will give you the ability to provide software that the children can interact with by just using their fingers. This software can teach them virtually any subject that you want to teach them. I have several such programs for children. They are fast learners and typically master interacting with the software in just minutes.
Foundations love to give money to educational institutions and educators looking for ways to apply technology to helping children learn. I'm willing to bet that you can get the small amount of equipment you need (since you don't need computers) from any foundation with children and education as their primary target. This describes most foundations. Any individual with a few thousand dollars could also provide enough money to properly equip your classroom.
With your Internet connection you will be find that anyone in the world could remotely manage, update and support a computer located in, for instance, your office, and that this computer would be more than adequate to support ALL of the wireless touchscreen displays that the children would be interacting with.
"You can provide children software without putting any computers in the classroom. All you have to do is give them displays which have a network connection. These are available from an Australian company called ThinLinx. You won't need to put network cables everywhere, either. You can use wireless networking. All you need for this is a wireless router, about $50."
Wow! this IS pretty interesting. Can you give me any more pointers or references on how to implement this?
For the hardware, you can find ThinLinx with any search engine. ThinLinx was in Brazil last year promoting their hardware. For the software, you can send me an email by clicking on my URL. You've seen people using touchscreens and graphical displays in restaurants - that's software that I first created in 1985. It's been widely copied throughout the world. I have software tools that can be used to create similar user interfaces for children, even children as young as 2 years. No wires, no computers - yes, it is pretty exciting. We have all of this in point of sale now. Adapting it to education is very, very easy, and fun.
As a teaching tool, eschew technology. We're talking about five and six-year-olds. Teach them to count, and to read and write: for that you need phonics, pencil and paper. After that, it's all gravy. I'd even go so far as to say that trying to integrate computing into a kindergarten curriculum is really putting the cart before the horse. I'd wager that technology at that age is more likely to be an impediment to learning than a boon: skip it. Computers will still be there in a few years, by which time, they'll (hopefully) be able to read, write, and do arithmetic. (Never mind that schooling is probably too regimented in the first place: why make the kids sit still even longer?)
That's horrible advice. Yes, teach them mathematic concepts, and literacy, and composition, but use technology to do it. You've never seen software that can facilitate this, probably, but eschewing technology just because you haven't seen it applied successfully is patently illogical and betrays the fact that you are not thinking logically about this issue.
Re:Just off the cuff:
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Canthros
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· Score: 2, Insightful
I'm thinking quite logically about this. Given the state of educational software, it's reasonable to conclude that this guy will either need to write his own or rely on software which is insufficient for his needs and which is likely to be less effective than traditional methods of instruction. Given the competence of the average software developer, the former seems an ill-conceived idea. It should be obvious from what I've said so far why I think the latter course a poor choice as well.
Consider further: a computer will cost more money, introduce wholly unnecessary complexity, be less reliable, and probably less effective than using traditional means to teach the exact same material, to some dubious, equivocable, and mostly non-existent gain. Teaching kids to read and write is a solved problem, and one in which re-inventing the wheel is unlikely to produce real benefit. There are workbooks and primers and what have you. It may not be as sexy or innovative as sitting a kid in front of a computer to learn their ABCs, but it does work.
Maybe, just maybe, the one who's not thinking about this rationally is you: why does a kindergartener need to use a computer?
I've already created one software paradigm that has been copied, adopted and put to use worldwide - the graphic touchscreen point of sale user interface, and I have no doubt that as it is adapted and applied to other markets, including the pre-school and elementary school markets, it will continue to be copied, adopted and put to use worldwide. The advantage I have at this point, an advantage I've only recently gained, is that hardware is now available which makes computers unnecessary for local users and the software to deliver the content to users is free. That will accelerate the embrace of this approach.
There are no computers needed in the classroom and no computer-savvy administrators needed in the school's staff. You may have missed that part. Your problem is that you aren't aware of all the things that you don't know, but nobody's holding that against you.
If your only tool is a hammer, eh? I'm not worried about complexity getting in the way of the teacher teaching. I'm worried about complexity interfering with the kid learning.
Remote terminals of the sort you described aren't that new. I remember something similar a few years back when thin clients were a big thing last (still?). Woo. Hardware and infrastructure still cost money, as does support for same. (They may not need anyone on staff, but they'll still need someone to fix things when they do, inevitably, break. No system is perfect, after all.) That's all pretty much orthogonal to my point, so I suppose it's just as well you're not holding against me something that doesn't even matter.
None of what you address really deals with the question of course material, which is still likely to be sub-par. Even if you solve the hardware and infrastructure problem, you have still solved a problem that doesn't exist by introducing additional complexity without any obvious benefit. The problem simply isn't "How do I use technology to teach kindergarteners?", it's "How do I teach kindergarteners?" If the solution involves technology, that's great. But it's not really a requirement, for the same reason that teaching math doesn't have to involve a calculator (and, in fact, there are benefits to learning to do as much math by hand as possible).
Seriously, never mind. I'm too busy doing everything I'm talking about to justify devoting any more time listening to you trying to tell me it can't be done. That's as boring to me now as it was 25 & 30 years ago. You're comfortable and nobody wants to upset that. Nobody has a right to deprive you of that.
#1 Drop the flash on your website, it is far too excessive. (sorry, had to comment)
#2 Techology for the kids: Etch-A-Sketch, Speak & Spell and See-n-Say were hot items in my day that are pretty beneficial. The See-n-Say was popular with the younger kids and the Speak & Spell was a very hot item with the older kids. The Etch-A-Sketch had some durability issues as I recall though.
I'm not sure if there are any new toys that match the level of success of these old classics. I'm too out of touch with the kids toy market today to know really. But look for similar qualities in new techy toys that these old classics display and they're sure to be a hit with the kids.
The most important single factor in daycare is the quality of the food. They are not livestock, they are children. (though they are little animals in fact)
Perhaps you cold best apply technology to kindergarten management, menu planning etc.
Web cams?
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Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
This thought just occurred to me. Perhaps parents would appreciate a few web cams so they can check up on their kids from work at lunch or break time. It would be sure to brighten a parents day to watch their kids play or eat lunch for a few minutes while at work. It would also be reassuring to new customers that their kids are being treated well and having a good time. Of course they could not be public and only accessible by your parents.
Re:Web cams?
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andres32a
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Actually we've got that already. Parents just love it. And we run the entire system on linux! We actually got the idea thanks to/. a couple of years ago.
Kindergarten Tech
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Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
If I had learned maths using the Nintendo DS brain age game, I would be a maths genius by now. This is way kids should learn 'boring' tasks like rudimentary arithmetic, by making it a fun, competitive (with themself) game.
Simon
Headsprout and Precision Teaching
by
arete
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· Score: 1
Headsprout (headsprout.com) is an awesome online early reading tool. It may be of limited use to you as it seems to be only in English, but I definitely wanted to include it for anyone else who might be looking for this answer. (I know some people involved with it, but I have no formal connection.)
The second thing I have to recommend is Precision Teaching. This is 1970s educational high-tech, but the important principles are missed in most education I've seen recently. The required hardware is a special kind of graph paper and a pencil - so it's not exactly digital. The wiki below I maintain, and it has a relatively good overview of why you should be interested in PT - and then a very large links page for more detailed or scholarly information.
Dianetics and Scientology for kids?
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wakaramon
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· Score: 0, Offtopic
I found interesting that under the "Philosophy" section of the school's site they quote the "educator" L. Ronald Hubbard, better know as a pulp fiction and science fiction writer and founder of Dianetics and Scientology.
Re:Dianetics and Scientology for kids?
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Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
I checked and don't see any reference to this... care to provide the link?
I also don't see the need for much tech in K. Paste, scissors, crayons, paper, blocks, Legos, Lincoln Logs. Tinkertoys would be good, but I'm not even sure you can get those any more.
I really think kids need to learn to work in the real world before we drop them into virtual worlds. And at that age, interacting with people is far more crucial than interacting with machines.
Unless, of course, one thinks SkyNet is taking over tomorrow. In that case, make sure you start teaching them how to make bombs, tracking systems and time machines.
I was suprised no one mentioned this but set up a web-cam so the parents can log in and watch from work or from home. You can have it on all the time or just for a specified group time. Alot of daycares here do this, it helps involve the parents in their child's life.
Actually we've got that already. Parents just love it. And we run the entire system on linux! We actually got the idea thanks to/. a couple of years ago. We are just about ready for the next big thing, and wanted to ask slashdot for what could that be...;)
Re:Certainly! We got lots of stuff for Kindergarte
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gd23ka
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· Score: 1
--"even though homosexuality is the de facto standard nowadays"
I don't think homosexality is the de facto standard nowadays though I would no doubt enjoy being in a minority of straight men left to provide pleasure to millions of lonely and immensely horny women. Ah, the fantasies of male puberty.
As far as homosexual persecution goes, I'll agree with you in that it follows the ADL standard pattern: "We need special and elevated rights to defend against persecution".
Encourage art and music. Both use analytical and mathematical processes and teach design, form, shape. The artistic process also teaches to see beyond the "rules," something I think many technical teaching styles are hampered by. They say that developers develop open source software because they have an itch they need to scratch. Creativity is important as well as an uninhibited approach to problem solving and for thinking of ways to scratch that itch. Legos teach building and are creative tools, but they aren't everything. Drawing, sketching, keeping an idea journal, encouraging expression, are important too. Teach them how to write well so they can communicate their ideas with others. Teach them how to persuade and visually communicate what they are enthusiastic about. If they are meant to be programmers or a developer - that will happen in time. At this young age, helping them realize their abilities and have confidence are more important in my opinion.
-- Lane Myer: I have great fear of tools. I once made a birdhouse in woodshop and the fair housing committee condemned it.
A great reference for all educators
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
Is here. Do schools today kill creativity? Awesome TEDtalk from Sir Ken Robinson
Wrong approach
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
As a former technology teacher - the issue in most American schools isn't what technology is available, but that teachers continue to use the same classroom methodologies that were in use before the technology was available. The majority of classroom teachers have no idea how to effectively employ technology to support learning goals. Some teachers might use powerpoint to reenforce a lecture - or use one-trick edutainment software to teach a specific skill like typing, math, or spelling drills; but by and large educators have no idea how to leverage technology to support current and future learning.
I agree with what seems to be the majority opinion here. The primary purpose of kindergarden is foundational skills like letters (perhaps reading), counting, and socialization. Some of these skills might be teachable by computer for some children, but the computer (in its current state as a GUI) is really only good at engaging visual and perhaps auditory learners. Many kids require tactile, and kinesthetic reenforcement, especially with foundational concepts like numbers (especially zero), language skills, and social skills like turn taking and sharing.
What I would really love to see in school technology curricula is using the computer as a means of communication and problem solving across disciplines. Most school curricula focus on specific languages or applications (how to use MS office). I believe they should focus on using available software to communicate thoughts, concepts and data visually, aurally, and collaboratively. Tools like social networking, wikis, scripting/programming and media production like podcasting and video editing can all be leveraged to help kids learn to reseach, write, calculate, reason, debate and collaborate. Unfortunately most school are just at the point where teachers are using email and can fire up a projector and run Powerpoint.
Downloadable answer
by
Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
"Encourage art and music. Both use analytical and mathematical processes and teach design, form, shape. The artistic process also teaches to see beyond the "rules," something I think many technical teaching styles are hampered by."
Just make certain they don't try to make a living with it.
Definitely use a Linux distro...
by
DJ_Maiko
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· Score: 1
I recently wrote an article on the beauty of giving my friend's kindgartener her very own copy of the Edubuntu 6.10 LiveCD. In a nutshell, she loved it & is getting lots of use out of it. Her parents love it since there's nothing to install. Then again, this isn't the normal type of gift you give 5-6 year old kids but I prefer to give kids books or learning materials instead of video games & dollies (mostly since the human brain is SO much of a sponge at that stage of development that, imho, if they're not learning, you're handcuffing them for the rest of their life). The (obvious) benefit of a Linux distro is cost but a side benefit is that you're also teaching them a completely different OS (which is like teaching your kids 2 speech languages at once)!
Having said that, though, you have to be careful how much you allow them to play on the computer. I'm a very BIG believer in that kids should be outside playing & interacting as this develops a healthy appreciation for nature as well social skills. You see, I have a BIG BEEF with how are children are being raised (here in the US), you never see kids playing out in the streets anymore (something I looked forward to daily when I was growing up). Instead, parents drop a dvd into the dvd player, buy their kids xbox'es and/or allow their kids too much time on the computer. Sure, it's borne out of the need for 2-income households these days (meaning no time to be w/the kids) but I'm very worried for our future leaders. This behavior might (but hopefully won't) lead to our nation's future leaders having ZERO SOCIAL SKILLS! I mean, kids don't even know how to share these days, how are they supposed to learn diplomacy & pass good laws when our lives are in their hands in the future?
In the end, a healthy mix of educational software (there's other Linux distros like eduMorphix, etc.), books & social interactivity with children their age are the best "tools" for your pre-school.
Buena Suerte!
-- Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever.
-Mahatma Ghandi
The developmental tasks of a five year old are tough enough. They need to develop the attention span, visual discrimination, and other pre-reading skills necessary to begin reading. They need to work on the fine muscle control that will assist them with writing. They need to continue figuring out how to get along with the other kids. They need to be able to sit still for longer periods of time. They need to work out the kind of abstract reasoning that will help them when they start doing arithmetic. At home, they're hard at work with a variety of difficult jobs such as telling time, doing up their buttons correctly, and tying their shoes. Physically, they're developing enough balance and coordination to ride bicycles, skate or rollerblade, and play organized sports. Fortunately, most five year olds are up to these tasks, and it's a genuine pleasure to watch them enjoying their many accomplishments. But that's a pretty full plate. Don't rush them. Work with them on these truly important skills, and they'll be ready for the technology when it comes along. Children need to build platforms for themselves so that they can make progress, and it's not good to add more to their work than what they already have. It's the job of the educator to assist them.
-- "Here's what's happening. You're starting to drive like your Dad..." - Red Green
The developmental tasks of a five year old are tough enough. They need to develop the attention span, visual discrimination, and other pre-reading skills necessary to begin reading.
Do average kids really just start on pre-reading skills by kindergarten? I know I and all my friends had started reading by the time we got to school. I guess it depends on the parents, and kids do develop differently, but I'd think they'd at least be able to learn to read in kindergarten. Also, can 5 year olds really ride bikes and play organized sports? I was 10 before I started bike riding, and my sports weren't organized until about then either. Maybe I was a really unusual kid, but it seems like your descriptions of what 5 year olds do seems off.
As for technology, the goal is not to learn technology but to use technology to learn. Text RPGs will encourage kids to learn to read better, and math games will keep their attention much better than flash cards. You can also use the computer to find children's videos to teach them about about certain subjects (PBS has many of its shows online). Some things might be better taught in a traditional way, but where technology can help, it should be used.
-- "What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.
Here's what I do in my K/1 classroom.
by
desotoix
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· Score: 1
I teach 5- and 6-year-olds in a cross-age K/1 classroom. I work at a private school that funds technology generously. We have an interactive white board & ceiling mounted projector in our primary meeting area, a small lab area that has 4 computers, and a couple of laptops. We also have access to cameras for making movies, microphones for podcasting, and things like scanners and external hard drives.
The interactive board is magical. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but writing with a stylus and projected light gathers attention and engagement in a way that's significantly different from dry-erase markers on a whiteboard or chalk on a blackboard (which I still occasionally use.) In a typical lesson, I'll write some letters on the board, and then click and drag them around to make words. Sometimes I'll open a browser window and show a short video clip to go with the lesson. We write stories on the board that I can save, email, or put on our class website. During exploratory time, kids take turn using the board on their own to do freehand drawing with a kid-friendly image editing program.
Our podcasting so far has been about reading fluency. Kids pick a book they want to read, and practice it until it sounds just like talking. I record their reading, add a little music and publish the podcast, and then kids either listen at home or on the computers in the classroom. We publish books as well, where kids write and illustrate the content, I scan the pages, and we end up with a nice hardcover book that stays in out classroom library. The movies we've made so far have been about our classroom routines ("This is how we do reading," "This is how we do math," "Here's what to do to clean up at the end of the day.") I thought they'd be beneficial for the next batch of kids, but the procedural thinking that goes into making these helps the current class even more.
I spend a lot of time with the following questions: "What does technology add to this lesson?" and "How much of this should I teach kids to do and how much should I do myself?" I follow their interest and answer as many questions as I can when they want to create technology projects, but some things are just "teacher jobs." Kids in our class use the computers independently when they're playing math and reading software. They use the interactive board with minimal guidance. I set up the camera and laptop when they want to make stop-motion videos, and they shoot all the frames. I do the scanning for book projects, as well as most of the audio and video editing for podcasts and movies. We primarily use Macs, which have been very graceful at handling these media tasks. However, the interactive whiteboard company has been slow to produce Mac driver updates.
As I read all this, it may sound like we're using technology all the time. The truth is these kids are building, reading, doing math, and playing outside more on any given day than they are holding a mouse, a camera, or a microphone. Technology in our classroom is just another tool, and when used appropriately is extends, enriches, and chronicles our learning.
Where I live the average 5 year old has been using a computer for 3 years already. Even my 2 year old has her favorite website (Sesamestreet.org)
I would set up one computer at a special desk. Make the kids sign up to use it, they will learn about taking turns. Have filtered net access that only allows them to go to a few websites. Parents here have to sign a permission form , you might want to check with your lawyer.
If you are teaching a class where the children have had no exposure to computers, I would begin by setting one up, explaining what it does and teaching them the names of each piece ie: mouse, monitor etc
Since you already have the webcams set up,do you let them watch themselves?
Since you already have the webcams set up,do you let them watch themselves?
At first we were trying to avoid that. The installed cameras (16 in total) are CMOS cameras which are really small mainly because we didn't want the kids to feel observed all the time. It took them less than an hour until even the 2 year olds realized that "daddy" was "whatching me on tv". So eventually we just had to go ahead and try to explain how they worked. The first couple of weeks, the classroom (i mean the teachers AND kids) we behaving kind of oddly or "acted" if you will (most teachers strongly opposed the idea, at least at first). Time took care of that. So know i transmit live feeds to parents and keep a record of up to 3 months of classes for latter assessment for quality control and so on. Quite an experience!
I set up something similar to this for my daugher (2.5 years old).
She can browse through selected pictures of animals, family, friends, etc.
There's an interactive portion where it shows three pictures and plays a recording "Where is the ball". When she touches the correct one, plays a small animation. Amazing what it's done for her vocabulary, and I have it running in English and Mandarin Chinese (wife's side of the family) for each object. She loves to play with it, gets about a half hour a day.
It's amazing what you can do with a cheap touchscreen.
If anyone's interested, drop me a note and I'll share it.
The copy designed for the touchscreen I used (search eBay for "ramline tablet") doesn't work too well when viewed on non-touchscreen, as I hide the mouse cursor and some javascript tricks to make the 'tapping' of an icon more sensitive.
If you're seriously interested, I can set up a slightly different copy so you can play with it on a PC.
my children used to go to a magnet school in chattanooga when we lived there(makes me think seriously about commuting only for their education)http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/innov ator/2004/1018.html
this style of teaching is outstanding. my son, in kindergarten was learning algebra and spanish along with the colors and shapes, they made it fun and he loved it. he is in the fourth grade now and still talks about kindergarten at his "good" school.
don't dumb down the subjects because they are 5, it really doesn't seem to matter, just make it interesting.
my fourth grader also has been using a computer since he was about eighteen months old. my daughter is 7 and not as interested in computers as she is cell phones(wtf?) and clothes(i don't remember being like that when i was little ) her preschool was highly lacking in the kind of development that my son's first school had.
technology rocks and all, but you need to send the pudgy little kids out into the yard to play with their buddies, computers are great, but dammit they are making us fat. i am not sure that letting little kids on the computer is the greatest idea. (hindsight is 20/20) anyway, the touch screen idea is brilliant, don't have to worry about grubby little fingers dirtying up the keyboard and mouse, or picking the keyboard condom to death (kids love to screw with those things).
Ikea had a touchscreen system ...
by
pbhj
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· Score: 1
We were in Ikea about 10 days ago and our lad Jakob (19months) enjoyed a few minutes playing a memory game on a touchscreen system with a boy of about 5-6 looking on and butting in occasionally (as did I!).
I selected the game from the on-screen 2-level picture menu showed him how to touch it with his hand to turn over the "cards" and reveal the different items and let him play. He wasn't very good at matching the pairs but our little friend (the other boy) kept jumping in to do that for us.
It seemed a usable and useful system.
I can imagine teaching things with such a system more effectively than an other method - like maybe animal noises. I try to do a good range but I don't know my pine marten from my porcupine! Not vital but imitation by a child helps linguistic development.
Aside from that, being able to handle a menu and interact with a basic computer are pretty key skills for kids now.
Logo, Drape, Game Maker , more ...
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hadaso
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· Score: 1
There used to be a free program by Prof. Mark Overmars called Drape (see http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/markov/kids/drape.html) but unfortunately it is no longer available for free download (though there might be ways to get a copy). It's advantage over Logo is that it is used through a graphic interface and does not require the child to know anything about letters (perhaps it has some value as a preparation to reading as it makes a child realize how sequences of sybols arranged in different ways have different meanings.
The real reason to let kids use these is that it gives them more ways to be creative. It is not supposed to completely replace things like building blocks or Legos.
Game Maker (see http://www.gamemaker.nl/) by the same Prof. Overmars is suitable for older kids. My 6 year old child can do some things with it (actually he did when he was 5) but it's really not for his level and his success owes a lot to help from his 12 years old brother. For older kids it is a great way to learn programming in an environment that balances their needs for fast results with the ability to do complicated programming (and I've seen my older son progressing from simple graphic UI programming by dragging icons around and editting their property sheets to using more and more scripting). It's Windows only and the author claims it is not suitable for open sourcing or porting to other platforms as the code is too Windows-centric, but I think it can serve as a good model for creating a similar open source alternative - a programming environment that grows with the child.
Finally: even a standard graphics program such as MS Paint can let a child be creative, especially if a child learns to use Google images and copy/paste images to his/her own work. My younger son convinced himself at the age of 4 that he needs to learn to read because this is the key to obtain images from Google, and that he needs to learn English because searching in English produces more and better search results.
Prof. OverMars has one more cool program that kids can use to be creative and it is "Drawing for Children" (see http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/markov/kids/draw.html). It is not a replacement for a standard graphics program but it lets kids be creative in a different way (composing images from erady made components.) I think it has some cool things like fractal-based generation of trees, letting the child "draw" a forest with each tree a randomly generated fractal. (I haven't followed Tux paint too much. Does it have these things? Tux paint have a problem of "too many penguins". It makes a child's drawing look like a Windows desktop after an ISP instalation disk has been run, assuming the ISP's logo is a penguin;-) ).
geeks like you
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Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
should be banned from running *any* school.
give those kids a chance to be human beings with healthy pursuits, not smelly geeks with unshaven faces and the thought that computers are the only world.
Re:geeks like you
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Anonymous Coward
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· Score: 0
The question reffered to "technology" and not necessary to "computers" you asshole.
ideas from the MIT Media Lab
by
mvance
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· Score: 1
You may want to check out a recent video on Google Tech Talks called Sowing the Seeds for a more Creative Society. The video details a couple of projects from the MIT Media Lab that are designed to help expose kids to technology in a creative way. The first is a series of building blocks that kids can piece together to create inventions. The second is a software package that kids can use to create programs in a more modular, visual way. You could think of the projects as the next generations of Lego Mindstorms and Logo respectively.
I'm not sure how difficult it would be to get involved in the roll-out of the projects, but they both look interesting enough to at least look into further.
Slashdot Mirror
Something to keep lego's and lincoln logs out of the plebians' mouths...
Never mind your question - what I want to know is what you've got that baby on? It must be some good stuff! ;)
Dan East
Better known as 318230.
Truthfully, I think that it would be better to let the kindergarteners play with blocks, color with crayons, and generally let them act like little kids. They'll have plenty of time in the coming years to learn all about computers, iPods, and cellphones. There are enough problems with people being addicted to their computers without getting the kids hooked at such a young age.
There are so many educational devices that do their specific job well, that a PC is just a wasteful box in a young class.
Limits on technology aren't so bad either, let them go outside and play games, socialize, and begin building personalities.
If you have loads of money, then hire somebody to put up a Windows or Mac box loaded with all sorts of commercial software, which is exactly what many here will suggest. But since you are writing here and asking about it, I will assume that you are not Bill Gates. Instead, use Linux/BSD and there are a number of good applications out there. I am currently having my 3 y.o. use ChildPlay and gcomperie (sp). She is learning all about the mouse and loving it. There are a number of educational type games out there that encourage this behavior. And in general, you can even run the Windows apps in wine (keep in mind that these are simple apps). Check out some of the memory games. In addition, check out the site for TuxPaint. It is geared towards kids. In fact, just thinking about it, there are several distros geared for education. Ubuntu has a derivative called edubuntu.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
"What technology would you like to have seen applied in your kindergarten?"
Rubber pants.
The japanese bomb defusing kit.
Excellent way to teach kids about the mystical world of police.
The home chemistry kit of sugar and other stuff.
and most of all,
The Cowboy Neal punching doll.
Great for stress relief for all ages.
We got ID cards, chip implants, GPS tracking, polygraphs, MRI scanners,
iris scanners, highly sensitive mikes, DRM coded Sesame Street and
to top things off we have George Monbiot to read to them his latest
rantings on man-made global warming and against all the 911
"conspiracy theorists".
Tell you what, kids don't really even belong in Kindergarten. They should
spend their time in intact families than in the arms of the state.
Kindergarten is a fantastic place for kids to learn the basics of technology, like mouse skills. Don't underestimate the value of sitting them down quietly with a good picturebook.
;)
While I agree that a well set up computer will contribute greatly to their development, I suggest that you limit their time on it strongly. Children also need to learn that the world is not the instant-reward predictability of kids PC games. Give them blocks, let them build things, let them cry when it falls down.
I'm sure people will be able to post a bunch of links to some useful free (and Free) software though. Your main technical challenge is sourcing the hardware cheaply. Theres some great "kids" keyboards out there (from qwerty to pig/cow/horse), but they can be expensive
3laws: No freebies, no backsies, GTFO.
The poster RUNS a preschool. That is s?he is concerned with all aspects of a child's education. Since they are running a private one (and one with a nice web site), I would assume that they have loads of education on child development as well as how to teach. So, here you are trying to tell him how to run a pre-school (note: NOT a simple daycare). So, what experience do you have that you know so much about children pre-school AND you are also on a geek site?
Seriously, for the other posters (mgb68 and more to come), when somebody who is asking for help on something that they may not have loads of knowledge on, please do not put them down by telling them that they are wrong to explore options. It is damaging to this site, to the geek world, and the those that could use the help (and god knows that many in the world NEED help). I think that the director should be able to explore loads of good options. And yes, handling computers is now part of our society. Children will have to learn it.
For those of us with young children, I would bet that most if not all, have their children playing with the computers as well as playing on the jungle gym, the McyD's play ground, games, circle time, nap time, reading, etc. My daughter (and in about 2 years, my son) play with multiple educational packages on Linux. It is fun to watch her and she enjoys it.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
pencils, crayons, glue, paper, lego...
----
Go canucks, habs, and sens!
I remember playing on my TI-99 learn how to count in my preschool/kindergarden years. It'd show me different shapes like rabbits or spaceships n stuff, then I had to press the right number of how many there were. The game was really fun, so I'd count for hours on end. Then there was advanced stuff like addition and dreaded subtraction. What made the game was the fun animations it had to set up the scene. I think all little kids should be able to play learn how to count games on computer, they're really fun. And a fond memory!
God spoke to me.
LOGO: Turtle Graphics... hell, my two year old can wrangle that turtle
Technology is the one thing I can think of that, above all others, would have made kindergarten WORSE. The extent of readily-available technology we had in my kindergarten in 1986 was the cassette player for random songs for us to dance to and sing along with.
Biotech was another issue entirely. Our teacher had an extra set of eyes IN THE BACK OF HER HEAD!!!!!! And we learned of a sharp tooth snail that lives IN OUR NOSES and will cut off any fingers that end up inside.
As far as giving kids an advantage, though, I think keeping tech, especially computers, OUT of kindergarten is the best thing you can do.
-- I prefer the term "karma escort."
To use technology to make Kindergartens better would be to make stronger bars for the cages.
I had great fun (and learned a lot) by playing with Legos as a kid, but I can also say exactly the same thing about LOGO too. Sure, it teaches you about geometry and programming and whatnot, but more importantly it was the coolest thing since Oregon Trail!
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
As far as I can remember Kindergarten involved learning the alphabet, numbers and writing english, so I think that the sooner children are taught to touch-type they'll more easily adopt any computer-related technology later on. Obviously learning to touch-type perfectly at any great speed is out of the question, but if they can get the fundamentals of typing, not to me mention loss of fear and novelty, they'll be on equal footing with writing - an equal skill in these modern times.
Since you are running a kindergarten, I really believe there should be no technology at all. There could be educational games, sure, but nothing that involves technology.
This is entirely unscientific, but I have a gut feeling that a lot of the autism and similar developmental problems stem from the fact that people these days are not getting enough social interaction anymore. Technology should not be in a kindergarten, the time when children have the cognitive abilities to take an advantage of that will be later on.
|Disclaimer| I used to work for the company which distributed and supported the following products. I no longer work for said company, but feel deeply about the high quality of the product |end Disclaimer|
It is called "The Waterford Early Reading Program" [although I believe they now have Math and Science as well, but haven't personally seen these newer products]. It is currently distributed by Pearson Digital Learning [It was called Electronic Education, a division of Addison Wesley Longman when I worked there]
Anyway, the idea is that for Level One, a set of one to three computers [depending on class size] is placed in a Kindergarten [or Pre-K] classroom. Each day the students spend 15 minutes on the computer. Much like many reading programs the program guides the student through the process of learning to read, [actually the first couple days are spent teaching the child to use the mouse] using songs and games. In this case, the instruction is backed by research done by the Waterford Institute and the Waterford School [a private school in Utah]. The software is able to keep track of lessons/concepts which the student has or hasn't mastered, and can keep giving lessons on the items the student still needs help with.
In addition to the 15 minutes on the computer, each student gets a set of videos [with videos from the program], a set of cd's [with music from the program of course], and books [can you guess? With stories from the program]. These are for the students to take home, in the hopes that they can get their family to read with them, or at least play the music/video's to enforce the learning.
After Level One, they have Level 2 [First Grade] and Level 3 [Second grade] to continue building on the lessons].
In my years of supporting the product, and spending time in the classrooms, I have to say that I really believe it was a great program. The kids absolutely LOVED it! If the computers were down, the teacher would tell the kids that I was there to fix the computers. Without fail, the entire class would cheer loudly! Of only one system was down, and I had to stop some kids from using the other working computers, they would plead with me not to make them get off the computers until I swore to them that they would not lose their turn for that day.
I even had one kid stand up, turn around, look at me and pee his pants! The teacher said that this was not uncommon. The kids were so worried about losing their turn at the program, that they didn't want to get up to go to the bathroom!
There is a downside to this wonderful system though. It is NOT cheap. I don't know what the prices are these days [when I worked there, Pentium 2's were hot stuff], and I don't know what kind of deals can be done with private [especially out of US] schools. Generally the system was sold with anywhere from 1 to 3 computers plus a printer, and the cost included student sets [books/vid/cd's] and support for three years.
Generally our sales force spent 20% of their time selling the product to school districts, and 80% of their time helping the school districts find grants or other funding.
But if it's something your school might be able to afford, I highly, highly, highly recommend the product. Of course, it's only for English, but your students will get a great start on learning to read English with this program.
Nothing to see here
how to solder. Basic electronics is also a must. This all ties in together, because kids need to learn basic electronics, and nothing says fun like 20 kids with 40 watt irons.
I think children should learn programming languages and good software design principles as early as possible, especially scripting languages, and especially software security.
C, Ruby, Javascript, Actionscript/Flash are what I'd push now.
Kindergarten may be a bit early, but certainly by third grade, I think all students should be required to program as an integral part of all the curricula. An emphasis should be placed not on just computer languages, but on robust and secure software design methods.
And yes, you did read that correctly: third grade.
I also think that children should play online strategy games (like prisoner's dilemma, chess, and poker, at different ages) until they reliably and repeatedly win against novice players.
Technology is a tool, nothing more. If it helps get the job done and is cost-effective, use it. If not, don't.
Kids won't be hurt if they go their entire kindergarten year never using anything battery- or electrically-operated other than the water cooler and ceiling lights.
On the other hand, if you have a particular teaching goal that can be further enhanced by technology, then by all means use it.
When I was in Kindergarten, we had audiovisual technology like record/tape players and movie/filmstrip players and that was about it. The teacher used them to help her teach and to help us learn and explore not as an end into themselves.
Oh, of course we used all kinds of "non-tech tech" like pencils, paper, glue, and paints - tech cavemen kids of 60,000 years didn't have. The teacher used an iron and oven to finish off some of our heat-cured artwork. Shrinky-Dinks anyone?
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
I see it all the time. When I was child, I heard in such notables as Nixon, Reagan, and these days W. Everybody remembers the past in a better light. Afterall, if it really was all that good, and nothing beat it, then competition would take hold and wipe out the new stuff.
So with all that in mind, lets skip the computers, the blocks, the books, and even the pictures. Instead, just tie down the baby and infant and let them learn it by genetics and osmotic absorption. Now that was the GOOD OLD DAYS.
Or perhaps there is good stuff available today that will be beaten in years to come?
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
LOGO. It's kinda fun, doesn't take much brainpower to play with, but has a huge amount of depth to plumb. Then when you find the handful of kids who take LOGO to its limits, start them off on even more interesting things.
Many years ago I was setting up some spiffy new computers for a local kindergarten.
At the time I had fairly long hair, a goatee and was dressed head to toe in black. Black shoes, black trousers, black long sleeve business shirt, black tie. Not so much trying to make a statement, but I kept most of my wardrobe black so I always had something that would go with everything else. I lacked imagination, ok?
Anyway, I'm setting up one of these machines and I turn around to find a small girl sitting on the table watching me. She was probably five years old.
I said to her, "Hello sweetie, could you please hand that to me", pointing to the mouse sitting next to her and flashing my most pleasant smile.
She looked at me with a really miserable look and said "No."
"Oh" I remarked. "Why is that?" I asked, expecting her to tell me that teacher had instructed her not to talk to strangers, or some other good moral learning.
"Because, you're the bad man." I held back a bit of shock and proceeded to grab my own damn mouse and finish the job.
I wasn't just any bad man, I was *THE* bad man. Knowing I scared children so much kinda broke my heart. The next day I trimmed my goatee, got a haircut and started wearing Hawaiian shirts to work.
So I guess my advice is: When improving kindergartens through IT services, wear Hawaiian shirts.
You shouldn't be asking "how can I use technology to teach the children?". You should be asking "How can I teach the children?". If technology helps you with your primary goal, great, but it's a means to an end.
http://outcampaign.org/
You mean besides wireless fences, right?
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
I don't think the question was specifically asking how to teach computer skills to kids, but how to use technology to enrich the educational environment. That being said, you can do a lot with a projector, a computer, and an internet connection. I teach English in elementary schools in Japan. If the kids are interested in a topic, I go to google for some images, and youtube for some video. I can show them anything in the world, rather than relying on what pictures the library might have. I was even able to introduce them to my parents over a video conference. I can help my students explore their interests to a much greater extent than if I didn't have these resources. Like most cases, I think it's best to look at your goals first, and then see where technology can help you achieve them.
None.
Based on your link to Landover, I couldn't tell whether you were speaking tongue-in-cheek; but I was just having a conversation with my wife today about the homosexual persecution fantasy (even though homosexuality is the de facto standard nowadays), and that taking a stand for the nuclear family is a radical and violent gesture.
This site has about a dozen free software titles for Linux that are good for kids. I've used a few of them with my kids. They've been great, and the price is right.
Enough said.
You can let the kids make their own themes, stories, etc. and let them run with their imaginations.
You can handle the hard parts, and if they're curious they can learn how to run the capture/playback software too, but it shouldn't be required.
Okay, so I'm a bit weird in the head ...
We do not live in the 21st century. We live in the 20 second century.
When it comes to preschoolers, I'd teach what you are already teaching:
reading, verbal communication, sharing, motor control, imagination, all the
usual stuff.
If you can use technology to do that better, great, otherwise don't bother.
Whether or not you use "real computers," I WOULD put "toy computers" or
"pretend computers" in your classroom so the kids will have something that
"looks like a computer" that is OK to drop or abuse as kids will do. Also,
with toy computers they can pretend to draw and pretend to do other "computer
things," exercising their imagination without waiting for a real computer to
become available.
Back when I was growing up we had non-functioning toy sinks, toy phones, etc.
to help my generation use its imagination. We also had real Speak-And-Spells
and other electronic toys that actually worked.
If you have one computer in your classroom, consider buying a handful of cheap
digital cameras (under $20 in USA at Wal-Mart, possibly available at
walmart.com). These cameras do not have an LCD screen. A handful of cameras
and a computer and printer can teach photography, sharing, cooperation,
patience waiting for the printout, plus give them something to take home to mom
and dad. Combine it with a simple picture editor and you can teach spelling,
keyboarding, saving and retrieving files, and some photo-editing.
The Incredible Machinen e
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Machi
"Back to basics" - check
"Something to keep lego's and lincoln logs out of the plebians' mouths" - check
"runs on cheap equipment" - check
Actually learning something useful - check
Great big fun! - check
"Good news, everyone!"
Wow. You guys are great. First we have single guy telling us what to do with our kids. Then we have nuclear family guy telling us that homosexuals are not only bringing down the family unit (what do they do, stand outside your house and hand out recruitment flyers?) but also that they are now the standard unit of mankind. Here was me thinking the gays were just looking for the ability to live their own lives under the same conditions as everyone else, when all along they are actively campaigning against our right to be straight and have a family. And to think I was buying into that woolly-minded, liberal, each to their own crap. I better go and tell my gays that they can't visit anymore in case they destroy my family.
Around here, technology is the answer to EVERYTHING.
You would think you would have learned that by now.
For example - I hear kids in Africa don't have enough food to eat or water to drink? Send them cheap laptops!
Who said that technology = less social interaction? Why not try something like setting up a video link with another school? Hell, another school in another country. All you need is Skype and a webcam - you could even have it setup and running 24/7 as a screen on the wall that acts like a "window" to another location...
I see lots of useless comments here that offer you nothing but sarcasm. That's unfortunate. What I'd like to suggest to you, however, is this:
You can provide children software without putting any computers in the classroom. All you have to do is give them displays which have a network connection. These are available from an Australian company called ThinLinx. You won't need to put network cables everywhere, either. You can use wireless networking. All you need for this is a wireless router, about $50.
You can add touchscreens to the displays at a very low cost by going with any of the Chinese touchscreen manufacturers. This will give you the ability to provide software that the children can interact with by just using their fingers. This software can teach them virtually any subject that you want to teach them. I have several such programs for children. They are fast learners and typically master interacting with the software in just minutes.
Foundations love to give money to educational institutions and educators looking for ways to apply technology to helping children learn. I'm willing to bet that you can get the small amount of equipment you need (since you don't need computers) from any foundation with children and education as their primary target. This describes most foundations. Any individual with a few thousand dollars could also provide enough money to properly equip your classroom.
With your Internet connection you will be find that anyone in the world could remotely manage, update and support a computer located in, for instance, your office, and that this computer would be more than adequate to support ALL of the wireless touchscreen displays that the children would be interacting with.
As a teaching tool, eschew technology. We're talking about five and six-year-olds. Teach them to count, and to read and write: for that you need phonics, pencil and paper. After that, it's all gravy. I'd even go so far as to say that trying to integrate computing into a kindergarten curriculum is really putting the cart before the horse. I'd wager that technology at that age is more likely to be an impediment to learning than a boon: skip it. Computers will still be there in a few years, by which time, they'll (hopefully) be able to read, write, and do arithmetic. (Never mind that schooling is probably too regimented in the first place: why make the kids sit still even longer?)
Canthros
This technology.
#1 Drop the flash on your website, it is far too excessive. (sorry, had to comment)
)
#2 Techology for the kids: Etch-A-Sketch, Speak & Spell and See-n-Say were hot items in my day that are pretty beneficial. The See-n-Say was popular with the younger kids and the Speak & Spell was a very hot item with the older kids. The Etch-A-Sketch had some durability issues as I recall though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/See_'n_Say
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speak_%26_Spell_(toy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etch-A-Sketch
I'm not sure if there are any new toys that match the level of success of these old classics. I'm too out of touch with the kids toy market today to know really. But look for similar qualities in new techy toys that these old classics display and they're sure to be a hit with the kids.
The most important single factor in daycare is the quality of the food. They are not livestock, they are children. (though they are little animals in fact)
Perhaps you cold best apply technology to kindergarten management, menu planning etc.
This thought just occurred to me. Perhaps parents would appreciate a few web cams so they can check up on their kids from work at lunch or break time. It would be sure to brighten a parents day to watch their kids play or eat lunch for a few minutes while at work. It would also be reassuring to new customers that their kids are being treated well and having a good time. Of course they could not be public and only accessible by your parents.
If I had learned maths using the Nintendo DS brain age game, I would be a maths genius by now. This is way kids should learn 'boring' tasks like rudimentary arithmetic, by making it a fun, competitive (with themself) game.
Simon
Headsprout (headsprout.com) is an awesome online early reading tool. It may be of limited use to you as it seems to be only in English, but I definitely wanted to include it for anyone else who might be looking for this answer.
(I know some people involved with it, but I have no formal connection.)
The second thing I have to recommend is Precision Teaching. This is 1970s educational high-tech, but the important principles are missed in most education I've seen recently. The required hardware is a special kind of graph paper and a pencil - so it's not exactly digital. The wiki below I maintain, and it has a relatively good overview of why you should be interested in PT - and then a very large links page for more detailed or scholarly information.
http://aimchart.schtuff.com/
Looking for freelance Actionscript (Flash/Flex) or ColdFusion work and/or freelance developers. Email me, put Slashdot
As someone who has had glasses since 4 and started using computers at 7, I think bad eyesight leads to computer usage.
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
I found interesting that under the "Philosophy" section of the school's site they quote the "educator" L. Ronald Hubbard, better know as a pulp fiction and science fiction writer and founder of Dianetics and Scientology.
I also don't see the need for much tech in K. Paste, scissors, crayons, paper, blocks, Legos, Lincoln Logs. Tinkertoys would be good, but I'm not even sure you can get those any more.
I really think kids need to learn to work in the real world before we drop them into virtual worlds. And at that age, interacting with people is far more crucial than interacting with machines.
Unless, of course, one thinks SkyNet is taking over tomorrow. In that case, make sure you start teaching them how to make bombs, tracking systems and time machines.
I was suprised no one mentioned this but set up a web-cam so the parents can log in and watch from work or from home. You can have it on all the time or just for a specified group time. Alot of daycares here do this, it helps involve the parents in their child's life.
--"even though homosexuality is the de facto standard nowadays"
I don't think homosexality is the de facto standard nowadays though I would no doubt
enjoy being in a minority of straight men left to provide pleasure to millions of lonely
and immensely horny women. Ah, the fantasies of male puberty.
As far as homosexual persecution goes, I'll agree with you in that it follows the
ADL standard pattern: "We need special and elevated rights to defend against persecution".
Encourage art and music. Both use analytical and mathematical processes and teach design, form, shape. The artistic process also teaches to see beyond the "rules," something I think many technical teaching styles are hampered by. They say that developers develop open source software because they have an itch they need to scratch. Creativity is important as well as an uninhibited approach to problem solving and for thinking of ways to scratch that itch. Legos teach building and are creative tools, but they aren't everything. Drawing, sketching, keeping an idea journal, encouraging expression, are important too. Teach them how to write well so they can communicate their ideas with others. Teach them how to persuade and visually communicate what they are enthusiastic about. If they are meant to be programmers or a developer - that will happen in time. At this young age, helping them realize their abilities and have confidence are more important in my opinion.
Lane Myer: I have great fear of tools. I once made a birdhouse in woodshop and the fair housing committee condemned it.
Is here. Do schools today kill creativity? Awesome TEDtalk from Sir Ken Robinson
As a former technology teacher - the issue in most American schools isn't what technology is available, but that teachers continue to use the same classroom methodologies that were in use before the technology was available. The majority of classroom teachers have no idea how to effectively employ technology to support learning goals. Some teachers might use powerpoint to reenforce a lecture - or use one-trick edutainment software to teach a specific skill like typing, math, or spelling drills; but by and large educators have no idea how to leverage technology to support current and future learning.
I agree with what seems to be the majority opinion here. The primary purpose of kindergarden is foundational skills like letters (perhaps reading), counting, and socialization. Some of these skills might be teachable by computer for some children, but the computer (in its current state as a GUI) is really only good at engaging visual and perhaps auditory learners. Many kids require tactile, and kinesthetic reenforcement, especially with foundational concepts like numbers (especially zero), language skills, and social skills like turn taking and sharing.
What I would really love to see in school technology curricula is using the computer as a means of communication and problem solving across disciplines. Most school curricula focus on specific languages or applications (how to use MS office). I believe they should focus on using available software to communicate thoughts, concepts and data visually, aurally, and collaboratively. Tools like social networking, wikis, scripting/programming and media production like podcasting and video editing can all be leveraged to help kids learn to reseach, write, calculate, reason, debate and collaborate. Unfortunately most school are just at the point where teachers are using email and can fire up a projector and run Powerpoint.
"Encourage art and music. Both use analytical and mathematical processes and teach design, form, shape. The artistic process also teaches to see beyond the "rules," something I think many technical teaching styles are hampered by."
Just make certain they don't try to make a living with it.
I recently wrote an article on the beauty of giving my friend's kindgartener her very own copy of the Edubuntu 6.10 LiveCD. In a nutshell, she loved it & is getting lots of use out of it. Her parents love it since there's nothing to install. Then again, this isn't the normal type of gift you give 5-6 year old kids but I prefer to give kids books or learning materials instead of video games & dollies (mostly since the human brain is SO much of a sponge at that stage of development that, imho, if they're not learning, you're handcuffing them for the rest of their life). The (obvious) benefit of a Linux distro is cost but a side benefit is that you're also teaching them a completely different OS (which is like teaching your kids 2 speech languages at once)!
Having said that, though, you have to be careful how much you allow them to play on the computer. I'm a very BIG believer in that kids should be outside playing & interacting as this develops a healthy appreciation for nature as well social skills. You see, I have a BIG BEEF with how are children are being raised (here in the US), you never see kids playing out in the streets anymore (something I looked forward to daily when I was growing up). Instead, parents drop a dvd into the dvd player, buy their kids xbox'es and/or allow their kids too much time on the computer. Sure, it's borne out of the need for 2-income households these days (meaning no time to be w/the kids) but I'm very worried for our future leaders. This behavior might (but hopefully won't) lead to our nation's future leaders having ZERO SOCIAL SKILLS! I mean, kids don't even know how to share these days, how are they supposed to learn diplomacy & pass good laws when our lives are in their hands in the future?
In the end, a healthy mix of educational software (there's other Linux distros like eduMorphix, etc.), books & social interactivity with children their age are the best "tools" for your pre-school.
Buena Suerte!
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. -Mahatma Ghandi
The developmental tasks of a five year old are tough enough. They need to develop the attention span, visual discrimination, and other pre-reading skills necessary to begin reading. They need to work on the fine muscle control that will assist them with writing. They need to continue figuring out how to get along with the other kids. They need to be able to sit still for longer periods of time. They need to work out the kind of abstract reasoning that will help them when they start doing arithmetic. At home, they're hard at work with a variety of difficult jobs such as telling time, doing up their buttons correctly, and tying their shoes. Physically, they're developing enough balance and coordination to ride bicycles, skate or rollerblade, and play organized sports. Fortunately, most five year olds are up to these tasks, and it's a genuine pleasure to watch them enjoying their many accomplishments. But that's a pretty full plate. Don't rush them. Work with them on these truly important skills, and they'll be ready for the technology when it comes along. Children need to build platforms for themselves so that they can make progress, and it's not good to add more to their work than what they already have. It's the job of the educator to assist them.
"Here's what's happening. You're starting to drive like your Dad..." - Red Green
I teach 5- and 6-year-olds in a cross-age K/1 classroom. I work at a private school that funds technology generously. We have an interactive white board & ceiling mounted projector in our primary meeting area, a small lab area that has 4 computers, and a couple of laptops. We also have access to cameras for making movies, microphones for podcasting, and things like scanners and external hard drives.
The interactive board is magical. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but writing with a stylus and projected light gathers attention and engagement in a way that's significantly different from dry-erase markers on a whiteboard or chalk on a blackboard (which I still occasionally use.) In a typical lesson, I'll write some letters on the board, and then click and drag them around to make words. Sometimes I'll open a browser window and show a short video clip to go with the lesson. We write stories on the board that I can save, email, or put on our class website. During exploratory time, kids take turn using the board on their own to do freehand drawing with a kid-friendly image editing program.
Our podcasting so far has been about reading fluency. Kids pick a book they want to read, and practice it until it sounds just like talking. I record their reading, add a little music and publish the podcast, and then kids either listen at home or on the computers in the classroom. We publish books as well, where kids write and illustrate the content, I scan the pages, and we end up with a nice hardcover book that stays in out classroom library. The movies we've made so far have been about our classroom routines ("This is how we do reading," "This is how we do math," "Here's what to do to clean up at the end of the day.") I thought they'd be beneficial for the next batch of kids, but the procedural thinking that goes into making these helps the current class even more.
I spend a lot of time with the following questions: "What does technology add to this lesson?" and "How much of this should I teach kids to do and how much should I do myself?" I follow their interest and answer as many questions as I can when they want to create technology projects, but some things are just "teacher jobs." Kids in our class use the computers independently when they're playing math and reading software. They use the interactive board with minimal guidance. I set up the camera and laptop when they want to make stop-motion videos, and they shoot all the frames. I do the scanning for book projects, as well as most of the audio and video editing for podcasts and movies. We primarily use Macs, which have been very graceful at handling these media tasks. However, the interactive whiteboard company has been slow to produce Mac driver updates.
As I read all this, it may sound like we're using technology all the time. The truth is these kids are building, reading, doing math, and playing outside more on any given day than they are holding a mouse, a camera, or a microphone. Technology in our classroom is just another tool, and when used appropriately is extends, enriches, and chronicles our learning.
What technology would you like to have seen applied in your kindergarten?
I request that this newfangled technology called "written language" be applied in kindergarten.
Yes, I realize it's still in beta as it's only been around for a few thousand years, but I think written language is ready for the kindergarten level.
Such language can be implemented with either a traditional pencil/china-marker or the more technologically advanced "ball-point pen".
Where I live the average 5 year old has been using a computer for 3 years already. Even my 2 year old has her favorite website (Sesamestreet.org) I would set up one computer at a special desk. Make the kids sign up to use it, they will learn about taking turns. Have filtered net access that only allows them to go to a few websites. Parents here have to sign a permission form , you might want to check with your lawyer. If you are teaching a class where the children have had no exposure to computers, I would begin by setting one up, explaining what it does and teaching them the names of each piece ie: mouse, monitor etc Since you already have the webcams set up ,do you let them watch themselves?
I set up something similar to this for my daugher (2.5 years old).
She can browse through selected pictures of animals, family, friends, etc.
There's an interactive portion where it shows three pictures and plays a recording "Where is the ball". When she touches the correct one, plays a small animation. Amazing what it's done for her vocabulary, and I have it running in English and Mandarin Chinese (wife's side of the family) for each object. She loves to play with it, gets about a half hour a day.
It's amazing what you can do with a cheap touchscreen.
If anyone's interested, drop me a note and I'll share it.
BTW, I would suggest that you contact the olpc folks and ask them about their computers as well as what software. The laptops are designed to handle punishment and are cheap.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
my children used to go to a magnet school in chattanooga when we lived there(makes me think seriously about commuting only for their education)http://www.ed.gov/news/newsletters/innov ator/2004/1018.html
this style of teaching is outstanding. my son, in kindergarten was learning algebra and spanish along with the colors and shapes, they made it fun and he loved it. he is in the fourth grade now and still talks about kindergarten at his "good" school.
don't dumb down the subjects because they are 5, it really doesn't seem to matter, just make it interesting.
my fourth grader also has been using a computer since he was about eighteen months old. my daughter is 7 and not as interested in computers as she is cell phones(wtf?) and clothes(i don't remember being like that when i was little ) her preschool was highly lacking in the kind of development that my son's first school had.
technology rocks and all, but you need to send the pudgy little kids out into the yard to play with their buddies, computers are great, but dammit they are making us fat. i am not sure that letting little kids on the computer is the greatest idea. (hindsight is 20/20) anyway, the touch screen idea is brilliant, don't have to worry about grubby little fingers dirtying up the keyboard and mouse, or picking the keyboard condom to death (kids love to screw with those things).
We were in Ikea about 10 days ago and our lad Jakob (19months) enjoyed a few minutes playing a memory game on a touchscreen system with a boy of about 5-6 looking on and butting in occasionally (as did I!).
I selected the game from the on-screen 2-level picture menu showed him how to touch it with his hand to turn over the "cards" and reveal the different items and let him play. He wasn't very good at matching the pairs but our little friend (the other boy) kept jumping in to do that for us.
It seemed a usable and useful system.
I can imagine teaching things with such a system more effectively than an other method - like maybe animal noises. I try to do a good range but I don't know my pine marten from my porcupine! Not vital but imitation by a child helps linguistic development.
Aside from that, being able to handle a menu and interact with a basic computer are pretty key skills for kids now.
There are various Logo environments, some are free. They are great for kids that know a few letters (see http://el.media.mit.edu/Logo-foundation/)
) but unfortunately it is no longer available for free download (though there might be ways to get a copy). It's advantage over Logo is that it is used through a graphic interface and does not require the child to know anything about letters (perhaps it has some value as a preparation to reading as it makes a child realize how sequences of sybols arranged in different ways have different meanings.
. It is not a replacement for a standard graphics program but it lets kids be creative in a different way (composing images from erady made components.) I think it has some cool things like fractal-based generation of trees, letting the child "draw" a forest with each tree a randomly generated fractal. (I haven't followed Tux paint too much. Does it have these things? Tux paint have a problem of "too many penguins". It makes a child's drawing look like a Windows desktop after an ISP instalation disk has been run, assuming the ISP's logo is a penguin ;-) ).
There used to be a free program by Prof. Mark Overmars called Drape (see http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/markov/kids/drape.html
The real reason to let kids use these is that it gives them more ways to be creative. It is not supposed to completely replace things like building blocks or Legos.
Game Maker (see http://www.gamemaker.nl/) by the same Prof. Overmars is suitable for older kids. My 6 year old child can do some things with it (actually he did when he was 5) but it's really not for his level and his success owes a lot to help from his 12 years old brother. For older kids it is a great way to learn programming in an environment that balances their needs for fast results with the ability to do complicated programming (and I've seen my older son progressing from simple graphic UI programming by dragging icons around and editting their property sheets to using more and more scripting). It's Windows only and the author claims it is not suitable for open sourcing or porting to other platforms as the code is too Windows-centric, but I think it can serve as a good model for creating a similar open source alternative - a programming environment that grows with the child.
Finally: even a standard graphics program such as MS Paint can let a child be creative, especially if a child learns to use Google images and copy/paste images to his/her own work. My younger son convinced himself at the age of 4 that he needs to learn to read because this is the key to obtain images from Google, and that he needs to learn English because searching in English produces more and better search results.
Prof. OverMars has one more cool program that kids can use to be creative and it is "Drawing for Children" (see http://www.cs.uu.nl/people/markov/kids/draw.html)
should be banned from running *any* school.
give those kids a chance to be human beings with healthy pursuits, not smelly geeks with unshaven faces and the thought that computers are the only world.
You may want to check out a recent video on Google Tech Talks called Sowing the Seeds for a more Creative Society. The video details a couple of projects from the MIT Media Lab that are designed to help expose kids to technology in a creative way. The first is a series of building blocks that kids can piece together to create inventions. The second is a software package that kids can use to create programs in a more modular, visual way. You could think of the projects as the next generations of Lego Mindstorms and Logo respectively. I'm not sure how difficult it would be to get involved in the roll-out of the projects, but they both look interesting enough to at least look into further.