My husband is an online producer. His entire work week centers around the way a Web site looks and what topics are trending on Google. This is oversimplification and he’s cringing somewhere reading this, but its the gist. He goes into the office but could literally do his work from anywhere that has a Wifi connection.

 

Photo via Healia.com

I have built an entire business (albeit a small, humble one) on working remotely. Of my four permanent clients, I have met zero in person and never even spoken on the phone with three. Everything is done through email and instant messaging and hey, it works. There are women who write for this blog who I have never met or spoken with on the phone but I consider friends and colleagues.

Some people may criticize how “out of touch” people have become as a result of technology, but in my experience, it has actually made me feel more connected to my employers, friends and family.

It probably comes as no surprise that our kids also love technology. Sometimes the things that I observe them doing are downright eerie (i.e. — two-year-old turning on and unlocking Kindle Fire, searching apps and finding Angry Birds, turning the volume up, and whizzing through the levels) but I have yet to find a real reason to tell them to step away from the tech.

They have a Nintendo DS, a Nintendo 3DS (big difference here people), my Kindle, daddy’s iPhone, a Wii (a generous gift from their aunt and uncle) and a laptop that is theirs (our castoff) for opening Word Docs to “type” the words and letters that they find in their books (from actual shelves).

For every minute they sit behind a “screen,” there is at least another when they are running around in the backyard or tromping through the house making up imaginary scenarios that involve picnics with dinosaurs. Right now I can hear all three having a pretend Easter egg hunt in the next room. I’m pretty sure that they invited Mario and Peach to the Easter egg hunt but it could be worse.

So, for all its perceived dangers and faults, I give you my top three reasons that technology is good for Pre-K kids.

1. Technology empowers kids. My kids know that they have unlimited access to the toys and books in the house. When it comes to the items that belong to the adults, however, they are restricted. No touching my purse. No throwing the pillows off our bed. No opening the refrigerator. No opening the pantry. And absolutely NO coming anywhere near the stove even if it has been cool for hours. Kids have a lot of restrictions that are in place for their own safety and boundaries prepare them for the real world (see next point). Being able to control something and give it commands is good for them. Winning something, anything, gives a boost of confidence. In the same respect, working toward a goal, developing a strategy and learning from mistakes are always good lessons.

2. Technology prepares kids for the “real world.” Like it or not, the runaway technology train is never coming back to the station. I joke that I’m just going to put the iPad 7 on my Christmas list now and that hopefully my husband can buy it on clearance. No matter how tech-savvy you may consider yourself, you kid is/will be even more so. Don’t fight it. Just hope that your kid doesn’t laugh at you TOO hard when you talk about your “Facebook” days.

3. Technology makes them happy. It would touch my heart if all they ever wanted to do was sit in a room together and read each other library books but that’s a far cry from reality. Sometimes they need to bond over virtual wake boarding or have some time alone with Mario Kart. There are so many unhappy things that our kids encounter. Sometimes its okay for them to just have fun — even if there is no educational, religious or practical significance.

Let’s connect on social media too:

Mumbling Mommy on Facebook

Mumbling Mommy on Twitter

Mumbling Mommy on Pinterest

 

Category: Kids

Tags: Katie