growing up online by Carolyn Jabs

Websites Worthy of a Summer Afternoon
Make Time Online Count for Fun and Learning

Many parents fantasize about unplugging their families during the summer. In most households, it can’t be done. Parents and kids are so deeply enmeshed in digital media that unplugging really isn’t feasible even during vacation. (To join a conversation with other parents who are seeking digital balance, visit www.unplugyourkids.com.)

When disengagement isn’t an option, the question is quality.
If kids are going to spend summer hours online, it’s up to adults to steer them towards safe and wholesome online activities that help them nail down skills they learned in school, delve more deeply into things they are curious about and discover interests they didn’t know they had.

Finding those opportunities isn’t always easy. A sobering report released earlier this year by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop surveyed the digital landscape for children and noted major concerns with “overall quality, developmental appropriateness and educational value.”

Although the report, “D is for Digital,” describes many worthwhile interactive toys, games and websites for children, its author Carly Shuler notes they are often eclipsed by digital products that are mindless, crass and commercial.
This may seem harmless, but Shuler also cites studies showing that by fourth grade, one third of American children cannot read at grade level. The inevitable conclusion is that time spent with beeping, mindless media has the potential to interfere with the education children need.
During the school year, of course, many teachers comb through websites and software searching for products that will introduce new ideas and challenge young minds to grapple with problems. During the summer, parents have to take up this mission, seeking out digital activities that actually deserve the attention of children.
Here are some ideas about what makes sense at different developmental stages.

Preschool
Children ages 3 to 6 should stay unplugged as long as they can. In her report, Shuler found promise in electronic learning activity products like those from Leapfrog and V-Tech, but she points out that their educational potential is not confirmed by research.
Many of these products simply add lights and color to school worksheets that were boring to begin with, creating what Henry Jenkins, an M.I.T. researcher, calls “spinach sundaes.”

Often the best interactive experiences for very young children are shared with a parent. At littleclickers.com, for example, parents can find websites organized around themes that appeal to preschoolers.

Whenever possible, websites that young children visit should be commercial-free because they simply don’t recognize ads for what they are. Some parents decide subscribing to sites like mynoggin.com and pbskidsplay.org is the best way to shield preschoolers from ads; others search out free sites like panwapa.com and Gamegoo at www.earobics.com/gamegoo/gooeyhome.html.

Early Elementary
Kids ages 7 to 10 are eager learners, so look for websites which build on their interests or fill gaps in the school curriculum.
For example, a child with an interest in music can spend constructive hours exploring the sounds of different instruments and creating musical compositions at nyphilkids.org, a website sponsored by the New York Philharmonic. A child who is curious about other cultures can develop familiarity with foreign languages by playing games in four different languages at uptoten.com.

To To find other quality websites that dovetail with your child’s interests, visit Great Websites for Kids from the American Library Association at www.ala.org/greatsites.

Middle School
At ages 11 to 13, kids are still barred from most social networking sites and need parental permission to register at kid’s sites. Use that control to steer them toward websites that will challenge them to think.
For example, Scratch (scratch.mit.edu), a free software program from MIT, gives kids the power to create stories, games and videos by fitting together colorful blocks that are actually bits of programming code. The site also encourages the collaboration middle-schoolers love and allows them to share what they’ve done in a safe setting.

Kids who are passionate about games can be nudged toward websites like Headbone.com. Not only is the site commercial free, but the games depend more on ingenuity than fine motor control. Or check out sites like ActivityTV.com where videos and printed instructions encourage kids to actually step away from the computer to do crafts, fly paper airplanes or try out magic tricks.

High School
Teens ages 14 to 16 will be skeptical about the possibility that parents know anything about websites worth visiting. Still, it’s worth at least suggesting that teens take a crack at simulations like Cybernations.net, a game in which participants must create and run their own countries by managing defense, trade, infrastructure and even the contentment of the population.
For other ideas, check your local high school’s website. Many now include lists of interesting links for teens. If yours doesn’t, borrow the list from the librarian at Scarsdale High School (home.computer.net/~dibianco/)

More suggestions about quality digital media for children of all ages are embedded in the “D is for Digital” report, available at www.joanganzcooneycenter.org. It also recommends reviews by Common Sense Media (www.commonsensemedia.org), an organization that provides detailed, current information about music and movies as well as video games and websites.
Like television, the Internet can enrich and educate kids, but only if parents help them find online pursuits that actually deserve the irreplaceable summer hours of childhood.

Carolyn Jabs, MA, has been writing about families and the Internet for over a decade. More Growing Up Online columns are available a www.growing-up-online.com.

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