When speaking recently a comment was made that:
“parents are just not ready to utilize ebooks for their children.”
I asked the commenter why and the response surprised me:
“Learning is not a game, and how can a child learn from games or electronic books?”
After taking a moment to consider the response I could give I asked myself the same question. The answer came swiftly and strongly. Today’s children are bombarded with electronica, video games, iPods, iPhones, Blackberry’s, Laptops, Wii (Nintendo) and PlayStation.
Those aren’t even the items that preschoolers are using; they are learning to read from Leapfrog’s “laptop”, Leapster Handheld game consoles and even playing Dora the Explorer and Diego games on Nintendo DS they can even “Build-a-Bear” on the Wii.
So I ask you, is learning a game?
OF COURSE!
Ask any teacher how they teach the alphabet - with the alphabet song, or teach kindergartners how to remember numbers, a game, a song or a rhythm. Children learn math from games such as Count the Beans, Stack the Pigs and blocks. So why can’t they learn reading from a book online that is a animated version of the 2D book on their bookshelf?
Children learn through repitition: hearing, seeing, and interacting with information. The more we can visualize the information they are to take in, the more information they will want to take in.
SO, start playing games and see what you learn.
