From: Dossy (dossy@panoptic.com)
Date: Thu May 16 2002 - 08:09:30 MDT
On 2002.05.16, Amara Graps <amara@amara.com> wrote:
> Dossy:
> > J.W. Harris:
> > However, he loves computers.
> >My daughter loves computers, too.
>
> Can you say something regarding how their computer use supports a
> child's imagination? Say, compare their youth to what you remember
> as a child.
>
> I worry that something big is missing in supporting a child's
> imagination with the toys I see kids using today. [...]
My daughter is fortunate enough to have an _original_ (I'm
talking 15+ years old) Fisher Price rotary dial pull-along
telephone. She's got an original Fisher Price record player,
that's also probably 15+ years old. She's got a rocking horse,
a horse-head-on-a-stick (I have no idea what the proper name
is), nearly 30 stuffed animals, slides, a playhouse, and lots
of kiddie musical instruments as well as a real piano and a
guitar to play with.
Call it nostalgia, but she's getting to play with the toys that
we actually (literally) grew up with. She doesn't watch
Teletubbies or any of that nonsense. She enjoys watching
Dumbo, Bambi, and the Silly Symphony (original, classic
Disney) DVD's as well as the original Winnie the Pooh.
She also really enjoys watching Rolie Polie Olie, but I don't
see a problem with that.
Lately, her favorite toy has been her snake -- a 2.5 foot
long fuzzy thing with googly eyes attached to the end of a
coat-hanger and the other end is bent in a loop and wrapped
with a leather cover. She walks around the house walking
the snake, hiding it under the couch or around the corner
and otherwise has a great time with it. She also loves
her newly acquired Wallace and Grommit stuffed dolls,
too. She walks around with Wallace going "Cheese! Grommit,
cheese!" and "Wrong trousers, Grommit!" It's so very
adorable. We have both Wallace and Grommit and Creature
Comforts on DVD -- she only seems to like watching the
Wallace and Grommit DVD, but that's perfectly fine --
Creature Comforts really isn't accessible to kids at
two years of age ...
Just as I can't believe people use television as a sole
source of intellectual stimulation for kids, computing or
other technology shouldn't be, either. I don't think
_anything_ can possibly be a suitable sole source. I
do think that you should expose your kids to _everything_
that can get their minds going and that certainly includes
technology.
Thanks for the thoughtful question, Amara.
-- Dossy
--
Dossy Shiobara mail: dossy@panoptic.com
Panoptic Computer Network web: http://www.panoptic.com/
"He realized the fastest way to change is to laugh at your own
folly -- then you can let go and quickly move on." (p. 70)
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:14:08 MST