Sitting with my 5 year old this morning for our daily coffee and conversations, we were enjoying Between The Lions (PBSkids.org) and as he was listening to the book being read and watching the character come to life from a 2 dimensional image on a book cover to real moving, talking, dancing person; I thought that’s an ebook! Meaning, mothers watch stories being read on show like this and Reading Rainbow, Blues Clues, Sesame Street, and Word World; but it is not perceived as an ebook, its perceived as a story on TV which somehow makes it different.

Putting the two together the same animation and sound that is being played for our pre-schoolers and young children on TV is being focused for ebooks. Mothers I asked about ebooks for their children, were most hesitant about letting a computer do the reading, but they said they allowed their children to watch some of the programs mentioned above for a small amount of time. When asked why most said something along the lines of  it was only for a select about of time and in conjunction with the one-on-one reading they did with them. 

Ok, so I think we need a new perception of what educational partners are. If we allow our children to watch programs that assist in their learning and then allow then to go to the computer to play the games provided by those television shows to again partner with parents in the name of education, we should be willing to cut out some of the middle man.  Ebook sites, especially Wizz-E.com provide education through books with or without sound, games, and only accept books from the best of authors. This way publishers of ebooks can provide the education and entertainment that goes side by side with learning to read. 

I am not saying that educational shows are not valuable, but I will take books over TV any day. I know that this morning while conversating with Chandler (5 year old) he gets the most out of Between the Lions when they show stories coming to life and talking to him. When words and music are showing him something, he locks into it. I love PBSkids and the shows they provide, it gives us a block to stand on for reaching the top shelf of books. But, I also love great ebooks that come to life, they give me as a parent another tool to show how fantastic and magical books are. 

What do you think? Have you ever looked at books/TV this way?

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.