Parenting Young Children: Exploring the Internet, Television, Play, and Reading

Parents of young children (ages 3-8) experience more complicated challenges and opportunities than prior generations. Growing up is also more complex because of communications technology that requires new tools for learning. Introducing daughters and sons to what will be expected of them in a digital society is unprecedented and demanding. This new obligation for parents, not examined in other books, involves arranging opportunities for children to observe, practice, and develop attitudes and skills that will be their foundation for Internet learning and healthy social networking. The orientation to the Internet that children need cannot be provided by group care where staff must supervise many children. In addition to Internet teaching, parents should offer instruction about critical thinking while watching television with children, encourage practice in readiness skills for reading and mathematics, support creativity by participation in imaginative play, and accept responsibility for correction of child misbehavior as a basis for socialization.