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My oldest is six and going into grade one. He does not use anything like a tablet, desktop computer, or phone. He won a contest and will be getting a new tablet.
I hesitate. I know tech is important. I'm also a teacher and worked in a grade one classroom last year. It was horrifying to see how some of these kids wouldn't do a darn thing unless it was an iPad. Playing COD, watching zombie movies on Netflix. Ick.
My boy loves books ("reads" a dozen per day), is terrified of any sad scenes in movies, is he too young? Or am I just overgeneralizing from what I see at work? He is on the Autism spectrum too.
I had an answer for you, but then I read about the autism and now I'm not really comfortable saying anything bc it seems like something you should discuss with his health care worker.
As a retired special education teacher I can tell you that it all depends on the child. I have seen children with autism blossom when spending time on computers/various devices and I have also seen extreme, extreme obsessive behavior.
As with most things, moderation is best and if you notice problems developing it is best to try to solve them when they are just beginning.
I will not speak to the autism aspect, because I am not an expert, nor do i have children with such a condition.
For my children we started them young with a tablet and working our phones, but moderation is the key. We made it clear all the technology belongs to mom/dad and is not theirs in anyway. They have to ask to use it, and if we say no, that is it. Watching TV or movies on the tablet/phone only occurs on car trips over 2 hours. In-fact it has worked so well, that the other day I found the tablet under the drivers seat from our last car trip, two weeks ago. Never once did they even ask where it was.
One problem we ran into with our daughter came about on open house night before kindergarten, we noticed computers in the classroom had a mouse. We actually had to sit her down and show her how to use a mouse instead of a touchscreen. Man did we feel old.
As others have stated, moderation is the key. We didn't allow our kids any access to tablets until they turned 5 and the only kids-related app we have is one that has painting, music and recording. We only allow them 15-20 minutes of play each time and we allow that about 3 times a week and they do it together. Luckily, we never did the "just hand the cell phone to the baby to shut her up" thing so neither one of our kids ask for them. I mean, why the heck would we hand over our phones that cost us $600+ to our kids?? You know how many busted phones I've seen due to children being careless with them? I've lost count.
OP, you're a teacher and I think that instinctively you know what is appropriate for your son. You sound more like me, where you don't want your child to be saturated in the world of technology. Books, good toys, art and music are still VERY important for children's development and it sounds as if you're doing just fine already. You always have the option of controlling exactly how much time he spends on it and exactly what apps are used on the tablet, too. I think you'll be just fine
I personally think he would be old enough at that age, as long as you limit time. I don't pretend to know much about autism, so no comment in that regard.
My oldest is only 3. Someone sent him a Leap Pad tablet a year ago for his 2nd birthday. We still haven't given it to him. We feel that at his young age he is still developing in so many ways and that a tablet would not benefit him in any way. I love watching his imagination develop when he's playing with actual toys or just walking around the house playing pretend. I hate the thought of him just staring at something on a screen. He has the rest of his life to do that.
We do let him flip through photos on our phones, but that is about as far as his gadget use goes at this point.
My husband and I are techies. My kids had ipads at age 2, albiet with only educational apps and lots and lots of supervision. My daughter got her own computer at 5, right next to mommy's and daddy's computer, where we have family computer time (always 100% supervised). Now at 7, she can type, use a browser (again 100% supervised), and has already started learning to program. We are currently working on building her 4 year old brother his own computer, and she is helping build it.
We are able to be high-tech while still avoiding the pitfalls. My kids have never played COD (or anything similar) or watched a zombie movie on netflix. They are not addicted and only spend a moderate amount of time on technology. For example, my daughter is allowed to watch My Little Pony on netflix, or read her online books, or play Minecraft (which by the way is a highly creative building game), but only when she has already played outside, finished her homework, her piano practice, and her extra mom-assigned advanced math practice.
LOL, this thread wasn't what I thought it would be from reading the title.
There were no home computers or tablets when I was 6. I built my own radio receiver so I could listen to "The Shadow" at night when I was supposed to be in bed sleeping.
If he is reading (or playing) with books, there is no way in heck I would give him a tablet. In my opinion, tablets are the ruin of children these days.
I bought my grandsons each an iPad when they were about five. They do play games on them, they are both big readers so they read a lot on them. My daughter and sil (both educators) do limit the time they spend on them . They are now nine and ten and heavily involved in sports so they are extremely active and well rounded lads. Your son will be fine because you will be very aware of what's going on.
This past Christmas I bought my younger grandson a Kindle Fire and he loves learning programs that he and my daughter do together. He just turned two in April and knows all of his colors. He is being raised in a bi-lingual home and speaking in and understanding two languages. I think children are so fortunate to have so much knowledge at their fingertips but they are children and need to be closely monitored.
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