When to start DC on the computer?

[mommysammi]

Or should I even start DC on the computer? We let DS do Starfall.com when he was 2 but I did all the navigating and made sure he sat far from the screen. He's now 4 and can use the laptop himself with minimal help, but I notice that he puts his face right up to the screen. So, I stopped letting him use the laptop all together. We don't have a desktop so he's not on the computer anymore.

Is spending time on the computer like spending time in front of the TV watching an educational program?

Will sitting in front of the screen hurt his vision?

Will using the computer be like playing too much video games?

TIA.

[kijip]

Until recently, I thought computer was pretty much the same as TV time exactly. However, he is doing some really cool artistic and educational things on the computer now rather than only games, so it seems more active and engaged to me than TV and more constructive/creative. You don't walk away from a TV with a personalized recipe book in hand or a collage of pictures from your microscope slides. We got T an old iMac when he was 4. He uses it 1-7 times a week, usually for about 20-40 minutes at a time. I would say he averages 3-4 days a week right now but we don't limit it so it has been as often as daily. Sometimes he does not go to it for a week or so. I think 4 was a good age for him. I think it is "screen time" for sure, especially for younger kids...I did not see anything coming from T's computer time until very recently when he started exploring the software features and navigating things with more ease.

Word to the wise: ration printer paper, even if it is all reused scratch paper because otherwise you should buy your own toner cartridge manufacturing company. You could comp yourself the product and make a fortune selling toner to all the other parents with printer-trigger happy kiddos. We never leave paper in his printer, we have to load it up when he wants to print. Otherwise he would be destroying a forest of his very own every few months and we would be buried in printouts.

[kedss]

We don't have a tv, so DS uses the time on the computer, I try not to let him spend too much time, but he does use it to do cool stuff, he has an olpc, as well as using 'my' computer. I think as long as he does educational sites, learning to navigate the internet on safe sites is a good skill to have. :)

Have you had his vision checked recently to see if he has problems seeing?

[hillview]

We started to let DS #1 at about 3 years and 3 months. He is on the computer a few times a week for about 30 mins. He has no TV. He gets videos on airplanes and occasionaly a video at home when sick or other random time (<1x/month).

We let him play on pbs.org -- kids. I am ok with it b/c it isn't a lot of time and it is more interactive then the veg out in front of the TV.
/hillary