Over the past few decades, more and more of our services and pastimes have migrated onto the internet. We can go shopping online, do our banking, play games, and do just about anything that doesn’t actually require our physical presence in a specific location. Shopping and banking are mostly seen as adult activities, but children, even very young children, are spending more and more time on the internet as technological aptitude becomes less of an adult attribute. There are websites, online games and even online preschool curriculum programs dedicated to entertaining and educating children of all ages and interests. But with such a wide variety, what is the best place online for your child?
Whether a website is meant to be education or just plain fun (or both), your first concern should be whether or not your child enjoys being on the website. It should go without saying that, like most adults, children won’t do things they don’t enjoy doing or spend time on websites that don’t interest them. No matter how interesting or edifying an online preschool curriculum might seem to you, if your child won’t have anything to do with it, it probably isn’t worth your time. Test out any potential websites with the person who’s going to be using it: your child!
Next, an online preschool curriculum should be educational. There’s nothing wrong with websites and games that exist just for fun and play, but an education website should teach children useful skills. At a preschool age, there should be a strong focus on reading and early mathematics, even if the website is just teaching children how to count and recite the alphabet. It can help to talk to your child to find out whether he or she is learning from using the website. Remember that even very simple games and activities can be educational to children, and easy games can build confidence for future learning.
Finally, the best online preschool curriculum websites will have ways for children and parents to interact. All websites aimed at small children should have parental controls in place, making certain that the internet remains a safe and enjoyable place for the little ones. A good children’s’ educational website will have pages for parents as well, devoted to advising parents on how to make that website a great learning experience for their small children. There may even be games designed for parents and children to play together.
An online preschool curriculum can provide wonderful learning opportunities for small children. It can be used to supplement learning in school or provide extra learning for children who can’t get to preschool as often. An online curriculum also has the added side effect of teaching children computer skills which will inevitably come in many other areas of their lives. Have a look around the internet at the options for preschool-aged online learning websites. Look for a fun, educational and parent-friendly curriculum, and you and your child will have hours of fun together – all while learning the basics for grade school.
Leave a Reply