By BEN FELLER, AP Education Writer
Before they can even read, almost one in four children in nursery
school is learning a skill that even some adults have yet to master:
using the Internet.
Some 23 percent of children in nursery school -- kids age 3, 4 or 5 --
have gone online, according to the Education Department. By
kindergarten, 32 percent have used the Internet, typically under adult
supervision.
The numbers underscore a trend in which the largest group of new users
of the Internet are kids 2 to 5. At school and home, children are
viewing Web sites with interactive stories and animated lessons that
teach letters, numbers and rhymes.
"Young students don't differentiate between the face-to-face world and
the Internet world," said Susan Patrick, who oversees technology for
the department. "They were born into the age of the Internet. They see
it as part of the continuum of the way life is today."
At a preschool age, children need some grown-up help to get online,
said Francie Alexander, chief academic officer for children's book
publisher Scholastic Inc.
One of their favorite computer activities is writing an e-mail to a
grandparent, said Alexander, author of a children's guide to the
Internet.
"It's great for letter recognition," she said. "Everybody likes to get
mail and little kids don't have great tolerance for waiting. So the
whole idea that they can write grandma and get an e-mail back a
half-hour later saying, 'I got your note' -- they love that, and are
thrilled that 'grandma' saw what they had done.
Scholastic has a section of its Web site that is intended just for
children, who go online to read, write and play with "Clifford the Big
Red Dog." PBS Kids Online has more than a dozen educational Web sites
for preschool children, including "Sesame Street" and "Barney and
Friends."
Overall computer use, too, is becoming more common among the youngest
learners. Department figures show that two-thirds of nursery school
children and 80 percent of kindergartners have used computers.
At the Arnold & Porter Children's Center in Washington, 4- and
5-year-olds have the option to spend time on a computer, working in
small teams. They learn basic problem-solving and hand-eye coordin-
ation, but the social component of working with classmates on computer
exercises is just as important, said Sally D'Italia, director of the
center, which a law firm offers for its employees.
"It helps them become more relaxed, more adventurous, and more willing
to take risks as they learn," she said. "With adults, we're still
afraid that we're going to blow up the computer. You never know if
you're going to push the wrong button and lose all your data."
Virtually all U.S. schools are connected to the Internet, with about
one computer for every five students, the government reports. Many
older students are often far ahead of their teachers in computer
literacy and they know their younger siblings are gaining on them.
As one high school student told Patrick recently: "You grew up with
music in your blood. Well, we have technology in our blood."
Educators say such access needs scrutiny.
Beyond blocking inappropriate content, schools must be certain the
lessons they choose are based on research and geared to the
developmental stage of the children, experts say.
"Kids have a tremendous ability to expand their learning, and a
computer is just one tool," said Mark Ginsberg, executive director of
the National Association for the Education of Young Children. The
potential danger, he said, is putting 3- and 4-year-olds in front of a
computer lesson that demands graphic skills or word-recognition
knowledge for which they are not ready.
Still, Ginsberg said, more educators are using technology creatively --
and appropriately.
On the Net:
Education Department report:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid2005111
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press.
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Lisa Minter (lisa_minter2001@yahoo.com)