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Computers: Grade Schoolers

When your child has an idea, she wants to learn more about it, to give it voice, to see it built. This exploration is a key part of your child's development. A computer can spur it along.

Like libraries, the Web is a great place for your child to explore and learn. As your gradeschooler uses the Internet for homework, you can help her form good "habits of mind"—the practice of asking critical questions. Establishing a routine of asking questions, rather than copying and therefore accepting information, teaches your child there is no single expert, no single source of information and no single way of doing something. In using the Web, you can also help her learn to organize information and develop successful search strategies.

5 Ways to Make the Most of Computers

1. Introduce your child to the librarians at your local branch.

   Librarians know how to sort information. They can help teach your child how to search the Web to find answers to her questions.

2. Encourage your child to recast Internet information in her own words.

   If your child uses an electronic picture from the Web, have her write an original caption describing the action in the picture—and what it means. Also, teach her to credit the source when she uses something—a quote, a picture or an idea—that isn't hers. One common way to do this is to cite the Web site address from which she pulled the information.

3. Stress the importance of online safety.

   Help your child become a savvy Internet user. Introduce her to sources of Web safety information such as CyberSmart. As you talk about the value of personal information, discourage her from sharing her name, address, phone number or any other details that could identify her to someone else online. Show her how to select and use a screen name—never her real name. Forbid your gradeschooler from signing up for a sweepstakes or any other contest online.

4. Introduce your child to kid-friendly search engines and directories.

   By introducing your child to a few starting points written at her vocabulary level, you can help her explore what interests her. Good places to begin include:

   The American Library Association's Great Web Sites for Kids
   Museums such as the Exploratorium
   BJ Pinchbeck's Homework Helper

   You can visit these sites (and any others related to her interests) yourself; then bookmark the ones you both like—and that you approve.

5. Help your child scrutinize online sources of information.

   Ask some key questions:

   • What is the main idea?
   • Who is speaking? Is it a person, an organization, a company, a government agency?
   • Why is this information here? Is there a purpose? Is the Web site trying to sell me something? Make me believe something? Get me to do something? Is there an "About this Site" page?
   • Where do the facts that support the main idea come from?
   • How is the main idea communicated—in words, pictures, personal histories, opinions or as research? How does the format change what I think about the information? (For instance, are pictures and personal stories more believable than wordy facts?)
   • What is missing? Can you think of any information not covered by the Web site? Are certain people and opinions absent?
   • Who cares? Why does the information on this Web site matter?

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