I''m pretty sure that as parents of my students shop for Christmas I am not their favorite person.
We have an iPAD in my classroom now. And they are all asking Santa for one. Wait...all but one. One is asking for a beard. But back to the point. My kiddos are asking for iPADs. And so are a huge number of American kids. According to a Nielsen poll, the iPAD is on 44% of kid's (ages 6-12) Christmas lists. iPOD touch is on 30%, and the iPhone (keep dreaming, kid) is on 27%. This seems so high, but I'd be willing to bet that if Nielson polled Moms and Dads about their Christmas lists the results would be the same or higher.
Since it's a pretty good bet that at least 44% of Moms and Dads would rather play with an iPAD than a Let's Rock Elmo, there's a lot of kids who will have a new techie toy. Santa will probably leave it for Mom or Dad, but everyone will get a turn.
My wish for Christmas is that parents recognize the value in using their child's inevitable screen time wisely. I know the argument can be made that Angry Birds is an excellent physics lesson. All sorts of velocity and acceleration calculations can be made about the silly things. But for your little ones? A waste of screen time. There are so many wonderful educational apps out there!
One that I love for my four year old and for my beginning readers in my kindergarten and first grade class is BOB Books Reading Magic and BOB Books Reading Magic 2. Based on a popular series of easy reader books, this engaging app helps children develop phonemic awareness practice essential phonological skills. In order to successfully learn to read in the early grades children must be able to hear and manipulate sounds in words. The BOB Books app allows your child to practice at home a piece of what they will be learning in school as a beginning reader.
Download BOB Books by clicking the link below and watch your child learn!
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