Introduction

           What does “screen time” mean to you? Are you picturing a kid zoning out? Slack-jawed and stupefied in front of the TV or video game console? The whole thing has gotten a bad rap thanks to the American Association of Pediatrics’ ban on television for the under two-year-olds and limit of 1-2 hours per day for older children. I mean, let’s be honest, how many of us really find that realistic?

          The real culprit is a lack of interaction. What those pediatricians want—what we all should want—is for someone to talk with those kids. Twenty years ago, Hart and Risley’s research showed us how very important it is that infants hear thousands of conversational words from their caregivers every hour (to read more about Hart and Risley’s groundbreaking research, as well as current applications of that research, start here: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/the-power-of-talking-to-your-baby/). Without that conversational interaction, a three-year-old has heard 30,000 fewer words than his peers. This develops into a lower IQ and lower school achievement. By the time kids start kindergarten, the disparity in vocabulary and pre-reading skills is so large, even fantastic schools and teachers have a hard time making up the difference.

          But back to “screen time.” I’ve been trying to decide lately if the term has any meaning whatsoever as it relates to my preschoolers. There is such a wide variety of activities that they engage in that involves a screen… And some of it does involve zoning out. But some of it is creative and engaging, and yes, interactive.

          Of course kids need to go outside and get dirty and experience life. But kids of this generation are also, as Marc Prensky put it, digitial natives, who were born with iOS devices in their hands. Rather than try to enforce a super-restrictive rule like no screen time during the week, I decided to do some research for myself and guide them toward the apps I think worth their time.  This blog will be a collection of short reviews/thoughts about the apps that are on our Apple devices. I plan to write about which ones my kids prefer, as well as my thoughts--as both a parent and an educator--on what the kids might be learning. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, right?!