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Software for Babies

by Susan Ohanian

Noting that Giggles won an award from the American Library Association, I decided to take a look. Software for babies ages six months and up.

I just visited a Waldorf kindergarten, where they don't allow computers in the classrooms K-8--because they believe so strongly in helping children develop their imaginations. Let me tell you, those kindergarten classrooms are wonderful places to be. I almost cried when I walked into the first room, with the places for children to climb and build and make believe.

I urge you to visit the site--and think about cuddling with a baby while singing/reciting a nursery rhyme--instead of holding that baby up to a computer screen.

What is the American Library Association thinking of?



The Great Interactive Software for Kids list identifies exemplary computer software and multi-platform media for children currently available.



The American Library Association should be encouraging parents to be talking to their babies, reading to their babies, not propping them up in front of computer screens.

And the American Library Association should exhibit good practice regarding child development in their awards.

They call the product Giggles. I'm not laughing.

The Alliance for Childhood posts this statement:



Computers and Children

Computer usage in childhood has become common-place, even among toddlers. Yet children pay a price for this alluring entertainment. They spend far less time in face-to-face relationships with others than in the past, and businesses now remark that their young employees are very tech savvy but lack social skills. They also lack hands-on skills, a major problem for engineering firms who find that employees who played with real objects and tinkered with them as children are better problem-solvers than those who did not. In addition elementary-age children in the U.S. spend 4-6 hours per day in front of screens and less than half an hour outdoor which has a great impact on their physical and mental health. Computers have their place, but in childhood we recommend first things first: real relationships with people and nature, real hands-on activities, and lots of time for play and artistic activities.




Remember, you can get a beautiful poster about the Essentials of Healthy Childhood by making a contribution to the Alliance for Childhood.
Alliance for Childhood
PO Box 444
College Park, MD 20741
Voice and Fax: 301-779-1033
Click here to sign up with the Alliance or
e-mail: info@allianceforchildhood.org


— Susan Ohanian

2010-01-15
http://www.giggles.net/

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