When it comes to educational software for your children, you have to take a few things into consideration. Unlike pens, pencils, and notebooks, your child doesn’t have the ability to really let loose. Educational software isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. Meaning, you should be especially careful with what software titles you choose for your child. Often times, the wrong software is chosen for a child with negative results.
Although technology has certainly been an exceptional innovation in our time, it has a lot of rough edges. Software can sometimes be limiting in the way it teaches our children to learn. They have to wait for certain prompts and the processing of the software by the processor. This can take away from the spontaneous way in which life takes place without the inclusion of technology.
However, the facts can’t be denied. We are moving towards a much more technologically advanced society and anything we can do to further our children’s interest in it is, well, in our best interest as well. The technical aspect of computers and the creative aspect of ourselves, and our children, has merged, but only in the right software choices.
For example, some software titles allow children to create a story and then have it read back to them. They can choose to create characters of their choice and control the flow of the story in general. The more custom a software title is, the better. For children who work better with computers than with a pen and paper, this can be wonderful. This is an example of a good piece of software, but you have to remember that it won’t be for everyone. One child may do exceptionally well with one piece of software and totally hate the next one. You have to be aware of these instances and try to use them to your advantage. Maybe the same software company that made the title your child really liked will come out with a new version or more software that runs along the same lines.
Another thing to remember about educational software, is that it’s simply one of the many tools we have at our disposal to learn and become the best we can be. This truth is passed onto our children whenever they boot up their computers or experience a new piece of software. Always be thinking about the choices you make for children’s educational software and what you can do to improve their likelihood of successful learning.
The hearts and minds of the software creators somehow make their way into the titles themselves. Meaning, when a child really likes a specific piece of software, they are connecting with the part of the their mind that understands the process that went into creating it. Children are understanding concepts when it comes to liking specific software and become a part of the bigger picture.
For example, some parts of the human psyche are a part of all our children’s lives as well as our own. Fear, love, happiness, understanding, learning, they’re all part of each one of us as humans. When children’s educational software does an exceptional job at picking up on one or more of these human factors, something special happens. The child can connect with the specific software title and enjoy the learning process all the more because it hits on one of these factors.
As a parent, doing thorough research into any software title for your child is really something you should be doing. You should try the software title out for yourself to see if you yourself like the look, feel, and way it teaches. Also, as a parent, you know you’re something very similar to your child. If you like it, they probably will too
