Do Kids Really Need An iPad?

[Ariel Babalao]

I don't see how it is any different than giving a child a toy. But that's just me. I think that introducing children's to technology only benefits them. I wish my parents had when I was younger. Would have made things a lot easier when I was expected to use it in school. There are so many educational things that children can do with the iPad. I just don't understand why people are against giving their children one.


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Money matter first for them I think. Ipad is not just 10$ and if not protected, a kid can easily break it meaning parents just throw away $ out of the window. Other than that, for the parents who are financially capable of purchasing ipad to their kids doing it and controlling the time and the quality of the kid entertainment with ipad.


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[dkhmwilliams]

Money matter first for them I think. Ipad is not just 10$ and if not protected, a kid can easily break it meaning parents just throw away $ out of the window. Other than that, for the parents who are financially capable of purchasing ipad to their kids doing it and controlling the time and the quality of the kid entertainment with ipad.


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There are cases for children that make the iPad drop proof and/or safe from spills. And there are settings to restrict apps and media content.


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[CJ Allan]

Do your kids read books on their iPads?

Do you find it difficult to find suitable books for them?

 

[CJ Allan]

I'm not a parent and each to their own on parent techniques etc but what ever happened to a bat and a ball? Do we need tech at that age?

You are thinking of the iPad as a toy... it is far more than that.

If the iPad had been available when my kids were little, they would have had iPads.

What bliss to have so much reading material!

 

[the_tech_eater]

I don't see how it is any different than giving a child a toy. But that's just me. I think that introducing children's to technology only benefits them. I wish my parents had when I was younger. Would have made things a lot easier when I was expected to use it in school. There are so many educational things that children can do with the iPad. I just don't understand why people are against giving their children one.


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That was quote, which is why I used quotation marks but I totally agree with everything you said!


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[dkhmwilliams]

Do your kids read books on their iPads?

Do you find it difficult to find suitable books for them?

They do read books on the iPad and there are so many of them. And there are books that are interactive. It makes story time a lot of fun and encourages them to read.


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[CJ Allan]

They do read books on the iPad and there are so many of them. And there are books that are interactive. It makes story time a lot of fun and encourages them to read.


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Would you give me some titles of books your kids enjoy?

Thanks!

 

[Furt]

When I was a kid, my parents bought me a gameboy. I used it to play games, used to the gameboy camera to take pictures, and ended up buying my own systems and handhelds as I got older. Is it really any different than that now? An iPad it just a more functional gaming and multimedia device than what I had at the time.


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[CJ Allan]

When I was a kid, my parents bought me a gameboy. I used it to play games, used to the gameboy camera to take pictures, and ended up buying my own systems and handhelds as I got older. Is it really any different than that now? An iPad it just a more functional gaming and multimedia device than what I had at the time.


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If a kid does nothing more with an iPad than play games, I'd consider it a colossal waste of money!

There are many devices that do a better job of games at far less cost.

 

[Furt]

If a kid does nothing more with an iPad than play games, I'd consider it a colossal waste of money!

There are many devices that do a better job of games at far less cost.

That's why I said "and multimedia device". Thanks for reading.


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[Doug B]

I let our kids use our first generation iPad when we got our iPad Air. I basically dumbed it down and left the minimal amount of stuff on it. I put some bookmarks to educational sites on the main screen that promote learning. I also have a few games installed that are also educational. My kids are 2, 3, 6 and 11. I don't let the 2 year old use it yet. My wife or I supervise the 3 year old and my 11 year old has a Chromebook for school that she uses. My 6 year old is the only one who uses by himself and he knows he only has one hour at most to use it. And that's if his chores and homework are done. The iPad is still in its otterbox so it puts up with the abuse kids can provide. There are also parental restrictions in place to keep them from doing things that they shouldn't.

It's all about parents being smart when letting your kids use technology. Sadly a lot of parents use things like this as a babysitter and don't take the time to supervise.


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[iOS Gravity]

Thanks for the replies. Although I was talking about giving each child an individual iPad, I got some good replies. I was just confused since I saw a 4 year-old that had their own iPad.

 

[seanpr]

Thanks for the replies. Although I was talking about giving each child an individual iPad, I got some good replies. I was just confused since I saw a 4 year-old that had their own iPad.

It works great for special needs kids! My son started around 4 y. o. with it

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[Derrick4Real]

No. An I have too much money problem.

 

[blessed2bamommie]

You are thinking of the iPad as a toy... it is far more than that.

If the iPad had been available when my kids were little, they would have had iPads.

What bliss to have so much reading material!

Mine has both!


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[CJ Allan]

It works great for special needs kids! My son started around 4 y. o. with it

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I can see how an iPad would be a great benefit for your son, as it will help him do so much on his own.

The first thing that got me interested in ebooks was a message from a mother who wrote of how excited her young teen was, when he, for the first time, completed a book all by himself.

He was using a Kindle with text-to-speech. He would try to read a page, the mother wrote, then if he got stuck, he would turn on "text to speech", watch as the words were read to him, then turn the voice off and read it for himself.

I use Kindle text to speech all the time to read to me while I'm doing something boring... such as housework... or, more often, for "bedtime reading" with the Kindle on the bedside table (otherwise, I fall asleep and drop the Kindle), but I had not yet found an iPad text to speech feature.

I just found it; it's called VoiceOver.

I also found the following article about how to set up and use VoiceOver:

iPad Accessibility Tip Sheet
iPad Accessibility Tip Sheet | District of Columbia Public Library

If there's any interest here, I'll report back my successes or lack thereof in the use of iPad VoiceOver.

 

[CJ Allan]

No. An I have too much money problem.

True... the iPad is expensive, but there are more and more inexpensive e-readers becoming available.

The benefits are so great, it's worth the effort to start with whatever you can afford.

 

[blessed2bamommie]

Target, then Best Buy & Walmart dropped the 1st gen mini to 199. That's how mine got iOS & Granny! It's a different generation. Keeps them off my phone and I have a 9 yo and I'm trying to move to her ebooks to keep books from burying me!

 

[iOS Gravity]

True... the iPad is expensive, but there are more and more inexpensive e-readers becoming available.

The benefits are so great, it's worth the effort to start with whatever you can afford.

The Kindle is great and now there's a mayday button. I wish there was something like that for iOS.

 

[blessed2bamommie]

We had a Kindle and now have mini. It was the first gen. No one can beat
The App Store!