My kid can play Angry Birds but can't tie his shoes.

[Michele]

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/01/19/learning-to-play-angry-birds-before-you-can-tie-your-shoes/

[Michele]

These kids today. They’re playing with apps and computer games and learning to use a mouse. Whatever happened to tying their shoes and learning to ride a bike?


Bloomberg News
Young children are still learning to do those traditional activities, but they’re also mastering a variety of tech skills early in life — raising questions about how quickly the world is changing for kids and parents.

Take the skill of tying shoelaces, for example. In a recent survey, 14% of kids age 4 or 5 could tie their shoes, while 21% could play or operate at least one smartphone app.

In the same study, which polled 2,200 mothers in several developed countries, 22% of children that age knew at least one Web address, 34% could open a Web browser and 76% could play an online computer game. By comparison, 31% knew to dial 9-1-1 in an emergency, 35% could get their own breakfast (which we assume doesn’t mean making eggs) and 53% knew their home address. (A full 67% could ride a bike, which makes your Digits blogger feel bad for not learning until she was well into elementary school.)

The study also found some interesting differences among countries — like the fact that 30% of children between the ages of 2 and 5 in the U.S. could operate smartphone apps, while 11% of kids in Japan could. About 70% of young children in the U.K. and France could play computer games, compared with 61% in the U.S. and 44% in Japan.

But what does all of that mean? Tying, for instance, is typically listed as a developmental milestone reached by the time a child is 5 or 6. But it’s unclear at what age children should be learning to use apps, which don’t all require fine motor skills. We at Digits know of one kindergartener who is a whiz at “Angry Birds” and doesn’t yet know how to tie her shoes. This seems pretty normal.

The survey, released by Internet security company AVG Technologies, seems meant to show parents just how much their kids are using technology, so parents can be aware of potential risks their kids are facing. That’s an important point, but the results also raise questions about how much we should be teaching our kids, and when.

Is the child who can play with smartphone apps by age 2 a tech genius, or is touchscreen usage something we should expect of a toddler? Do we need a new list of developmental milestones that takes technology into account? And should we be concerned if children learn to navigate the Web before they can write their name?

Readers, what do you think? Do you have young kids who have mastered things like apps? And how should we view the use of technology by very young children?

[Michele]

Both my boys could use my iPhone by 2 y old. I have several games just for them. D plays Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds regularly and K likes Monkey Preschool Lunchbox and Preschool Adventure. They also like matching games, bubbles and koi pond.

D knows his last name, but not our address or how to call 911. He can write his first name pretty well. We've never tried to tie shoes, he only has Velcro shoes and Crocs. He knows how to work the DVR on our TV and by sight words or letters or something knows which shows he wants to play. He's also pretty good at the Wii.

I think their technology use and abilities are perfectly normal.

But should I now be working on shoe tying? . I don't want him to know how to call 911. He and K can already call my sister and my mom from our house line. I've taught D how to call Russ....that's good enough for me in an emergency.

[migirl]

My 5yo can't tie shoes either (he's still wearing Velcros), I guess I didn't realize that was a developmental milestone that I was supposed to be teaching him now. Better get working on that!

He's also really good with the touch-screen mobile technology, plays Angry Birds and other apps by himself. He can set up and turn on the Wii to play by himself, which I actually view as a positive because it means I don't have to drop what I'm doing to turn on a game for him!

He knows his last name and our address, I don't think he knows how to call 911 and - like Michele - I'm not sure I want him to know how yet. Although I should probably think about teaching him how/who to call in an emergency.

I think it's fine, too. He's otherwise normal and hitting all of the other milestones appropriately, I guess I see the technology stuff as just "extras" that he can do.

[Vanquisher]

My 6 yo dd can do anything on that list except ride a bike. She can text and uses Skype and e-mail. I really, really need to get the training wheels off of her bike. I think that tying shoes just isn't as important as it used to be though - even my sneakers don't have laces anymore! I haven't seen her type lately. I know she does, but I wonder how fast she is and if she uses all her fingers or if she hunts and pecks. I think I installed Spongebob typing on her computer. Kids just need different skills now. Cursive handwriting is larely not even taught in schools anymore. In fact, emphasis on handwriting anything is low to nonexistent. I distinctly remember getting a grade for handwriting when I was in elementary school, but neither of my kids has ever received a grade for their handwriting, and my son's is poor. It's a completely different world! My DS is an angry birds savant. He can get 3 stars on any board you give to him first try. Meanwhile, I will have tried for hours. Sigh.

[PrincessFiona]

LOL Zoe plays fruit Ninja, angry birds and cut the rope. That girl is freakin' awesome at Cut the Rope. She is a master. I think it's a good game for cognitive skill development though because you have to really think about the order that you cut it and what will happen when you do. Same with Angry birds .... Where to toss the bird to get the most impact. LOL I suck at these games ....

[peggyfromwastate]

Tying shoes, Meh... I don't think it's a big deal. I don't think DD2 learned until 3rd grade. She just didn't need to until then, when her basketball league wanted them to have "tied shoes". Her twin bro picked it up much faster. I remember trying to teach them when they were in Kindergarten because I thought they should know how. But it was more frustration and it was kind of silly. They said, we have our shoes right there and they are velcro...

All of the kids can operate the iphone though. J learned at about 18 months I think. At least how to turn it on, off, and swipe the screen. There are apps for young toddlers, and I have a few puzzle apps and what not but they don't hold her interest a lot. She knows how to get it from one video (I have 5 short tv shows on the ipod) to another one...

I took the training wheels off of Luke's bike this past fall. He was 6- it took only about 10 minutes and he was able to ride around without any help. Much less frustration for all concerned than trying to teach at 4 years old-- yes I speak from experience! When they start getting embarrassed by the training wheels, that's a good time to take them off.

The kids have lots of computer games. They each have a user name on our home computer in the living room. Since about kindergarten they have known how to get on to their games. I set the homepage to the game they want, and I don't let them google anything. We have Windows 7 and there is a bar on top of their browser with the different sites they are allowed to go to.

And Luke was able to operate Wii menus, save games, turn on "extras", etc, well before he was able to read. He didn't even recognize "No" or "Yes", but he remembered the location of the "save" button on the screen so that his "data" wouldn't be lost.

It's just a different era.

And my kids don't walk to school by themselves either, like I did. They will have cell phones to keep in touch starting in middle school. They have to check in with their teachers, too, via the internet of course and the grade-tracking online program where they find their assignments, links to the online textbooks (rare to have an actual textbook anymore), their grades, and study guides for upcoming exams...

[diggitydot]

Our youngest has ALWAYS been drawn to electronics like a moth to flame. By age 2 he could change the language on both our TV and his sister's GameBoy into Japanese. To this day he's still the only person in the house who knows how.

Tying his shoes? Not so much. But that's OK. They'll have an app for that.

[Thirteen]

My good friend's 3 year old can unlock the iPad and play games and start up the computer and call his grandparents on Skype. He's been doing that since right before his 3rd birthday.
This is the same child who, at 2, learned how to unlock my iPhone and called my mother.
They are like sponges when it comes to this stuff, I swear.

[DCJenn]

I don't have a smartphone or an ipad or anything like that so therefore the kiddo has never been exposed to games, etc. He can completely negotiate the computer though- I'm getting ready to put some parent limitation stuff on there this weekend in fact. I do plan on getting an iphone this year when my dinosaur finally dies but I have no plans on sharing it with my kid. He can buy his own smartphone of he wants to play games. It's my same theory on having a playroom full of his toys. When he pays the mortgage, he can have as many play rooms as he'd like but as long as he's living in MY house, his toys stay in his room. It's bad enough that I have to step on legos in his room- I'm not doing it anywhere else!

As for shoes? He's learning to tie his shoes, he's working on riding his bike- I also have to remove the training wheels, etc.

The 1st graders have computer lab a couple days a week and I know for some of the kids it's their only exposure to computers at all. We're trying to totally automate the PTA stuff but can't because at least a quarter of the parents don't have email and don't have any plans to get email.

Jenn

[peggyfromwastate]

The 1st graders have computer lab a couple days a week and I know for some of the kids it's their only exposure to computers at all. We're trying to totally automate the PTA stuff but can't because at least a quarter of the parents don't have email and don't have any plans to get email.

Jenn

Wow!!! I think everyone is wired out here, because we do almost everything through email now. The school newsletter is on line- no more print versions. It's just expected out here.