What do you do to keep your kids from becoming robots?
(And, okay, what are your favorite kid apps??)
Currently, we are camping in the great wide open so this post is ironic, but being semi-unplugged makes me ponder our normal electronics-obsessed culture. Our kids love sitting in their separate bedrooms and playing electronic Uno and Monopoly, shouting back and forth when needed. Summer's all over her letters with the amazing learning apps she does when Mom's trying to prevent a meltdown at the shops. It's a love/hate relationship...
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| TV zombies...start 'em when they're young |
I do try to keep healthy tabs on their screen time. For instance, the aforementioned chore charts and point systems. Screen time being a dependable reward and/or punishment.
Hopefully we keep it balanced enough with healthy doses of this...
Such a constant balancing act - even for adults! As our kids are older we've decided one way we've cut back on screen time is by having them buy all their own electronics (as in they know they won't get them for C'mas or b'days). The older 2 already have our old iphones as ipods but they are quickly wearing out and they are wanting kindle fires, etc... Great motivation to get the chores done to earn money. We limit screen time to Fridays afterschool & Saturdays. They occasionally read on a device or play something while waiting at big brother's bball game, or maybe we try out a new app Dad found, etc... They use to harass me about it but we've done the weekend only rule for so long now they are pretty well trained.
ReplyDeleteYour real concern is not screentime. It is something else. You should focus on that.
ReplyDeleteHere's why I say this.
Are you concerned with your children doing too much of any of the following:
Reading
Writing
Communicating
Chatting
Computer programming
Calculating
Brainteasers
Social action
etc etc etc
Most would not be concerned when our children do these things. We don't worry about book time, paper time, or pen time.
Stop focusing on the tool and focus on whatever it is that is at the heart of your underlying concern.