Often in the Crunchy Parenting community I see others shunning technology, keeping little ones away from the internet and limiting their own exposure to it. I have to wonder why?
Certainly it is a prevalent theme in the waldorf groups for reasons I just cannot grasp. The internet was not even science fiction in the days of Steiner. Yet in many homes TVs are not to be found at all and computers are hidden from sight as to not corrupt the youth.
In a world where near everything blinks and beeps I see the value in down to earth natural toys and I see the value in how they let the imagination free. I can see how some would say TVs and Computers limit such play but only if that is all the play a child gets. I think instead that TVs and Computers should be seen as books are. Tools to be shared and enjoyed and learned from. Children’s’ play is very much influenced by what they read, same as their play is influenced by what they see on TV and learn on computers. Why not let technology help seed imaginations to grow?
Alas, I could always be wrong.
I was thinking about this topic yesterday when my 6 year old saw his younger sister drawing a green caterpillar on one of her home work pages and he asked how many legs it should have. None of us knew! Rather than try and dig it out of a book, and have it derail a lot of our homeschooling time I told him that he should look it up online. He asked me if I would type for him and so I did. We learned quickly together that for the most part caterpillars can be said to have 16 legs. He was happy to share this news with his other three siblings. I am betting he will remember it too as he then went on to draw his own caterpillar later in the day with the correct amount of legs.
I feel very fortunate to live in the time of the interwebs where information is just a blink away. I feel that it helps me parent better and that including its use in my home will help prepare my children for a quickly changing future.
Are you a crunchy or waldorf parent that uses technology in the home as well without guilt?
I dont know what we would do without our computers….my 7 year old is a very advanced reader and i gave him my 1st gen Nook…my goodness..there is no way i could afford to keep him in print books the way he goes through them! lol