In this day and age, we see more kids reaching for a smartphone before they’ve even reached for a sippy cup. This early and frequent exposure to the tech world makes it crucial to understand how your children are using their technology. The digital age has brought with it many possibilities that can be used to your advantage in educating your children, but must also be monitored to prevent contact with inappropriate and harmful web content. If you set a goal to use technology appropriately, you’ll be able to harness the potential it has to enhance your child’s cognitive learning abilities.

Guiding your child through their technological journey

• Get involved. Monitor your child’s use of the computer or tablet. One way to do this is to designate an area in the house, such as the family room, where you can easily watch them and guide them if need be. Encourage them to come to you if they see anything on the Internet that disturbs them or if they simply have questions or need help.
• Set rules. With so much downtime in the summer, your kids might want to spend countless hours online or on their gadgets. To keep them from spending too much time in front of the screen, set a time limit for how long they can use their computer or tablet and make sure they follow these rules.
• Teach them about privacy. It is extremely important to make sure that your child knows that they should never give out their personal information online. Teach them that they should never give out their name, phone number, e-mail, address, password, postal address, school or picture without first asking you for permission. You should also stress the fact that passwords are private and that they should never give them out to anyone, not even friends.
• Use your ISP. Your internet service provider can be used to set parental controls for free. These controls include limited access to website and communication features by age, content categories, and time. Be sure to block an access to any apps or websites you don’t want them to visit.
• Teach them about links. Make sure that your child has a basic understanding of which links are safe and which ones may be suspicious, such as pop-up ads.
• Talk to them about cyberbullying. Tell them that if they’re being bullied online they shouldn’t respond to the messages but instead inform you about it right away. From there you should save the messages and report them to either the website or your child’s school. If the messages contain threats, you should report it to the police. Emphasize that they should always log out of the computer when they are finished using it, this will prevent others from logging in after them and sending or posting something from their account without them knowing.
• Conduct regular checkups. You should consistently check your child’s browser history to see where he has been going online. This allows you to familiarize yourself with the types of websites that he visits regularly.  
• Know who your child talks to.  Always keep tabs on who your child is communicating with online. Check her contact list and make sure that she personally knows everyone she is talking to online or via messaging apps. Beware of friends of friends or people who claim to know her but that she has never met in person. Always keep tabs on who your child is communicating with online. Check her contact list and make sure that she personally knows everyone she is talking to online or via messaging apps. Beware of anyone who she has never met in person but claims to be a friend.

At Cranium Academy, we believe in using technology to benefit your children. We make use of the latest technology including smartboards in every room, laptops, and tablets combined with multisensory exploration to prepare success in the 21st century. Overall, we stress the value of creating a safe and positive learning environment where technology can be used to educate and engage each child both inside and outside the classroom.