Technology and digital devices are now part of everyday life and most of you will have a smartphone or tablet at home.
As a parent, you might be worried about how your child is using technology and when it comes to touchscreens it can often feel that there’s conflicting advice about what is best for children.
The good news is that if it is used correctly alongside books, technology can play an important role in supporting your child’s early learning and literacy skills and the interactive nature of touchscreens can help them to learn in new ways.
But if you’re feeling confused about the best way to use technology to support your child, here are some tips from the National Literacy Trust:
- Be a role model when you use technology yourself, thinking aloud and explaining your thought processes
- Help your child learn while they play by showing them new words, stories, games and songs
- Ask your child questions about what they are doing as they use technology and respond to the answers
- Find stories and songs in your own language to share with children
- Children will want to copy you, so involve them in simple digital tasks, for example making an online shopping list
To help parents to choose the best apps to support the early language and communication skills of children under five, the National Literacy Trust has launched a new online app guide. LiteracyApps (www.literacyapps.org) features 100 apps, broken down by age, literacy skill and app feature. On the site there is also guidance on choosing apps to support your child.
For more advice on using touchscreens with young children, there are ideas on the National Literacy Trust’s Words for Life website: www.wordsforlife.org.uk.
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