iKindergartener

Two days ago I took my six year old, along with the money she'd been saving in her piggy bank, to our neighborhood Apple store where she bought an iPod Touch. White. 8GB. $199. She was stoked and so was I. Here's why.

Camera - the first thing my daughter did when we got in the car was locate and turn on the camera. By the time we reached home she'd figured out how to toggle between stills and video and had snapped a dozen photographs and produced a homemade music video of sorts starring, of course, her. She enjoys discovering the world through her first camera and I enjoy the angles and perspectives she collects for me to see.

Apps - of course the App Store is a huge part of the iUniverse and for good reason. After downloading a number of free titles together I gave my daughter a $10 shopping spree on iTunes. Together we found some great games and educational apps.

Music - My daughter shares my love of music and now we have a new way to enjoy, discover, and even make music together. The included earbuds are way too big for her though so I'm investing in a pair of inexpensive but quality on ear headphones.

Communication - I created a unique Apple ID for my daughter to use with iOS' Messaging and FaceTime apps allowing her to send and receive messages to family members. She already loves pinging me for a FaceTime chat and I already enjoy planting messages for her to read each evening when she is allowed time to use the iPod.

Restrictions - Apple's iOS software offers me many ways to control my daughter's experience and access. I can restrict her from purchasing or deleting apps, accessing the internet and YouTube, accepting friend requests, and modifying account settings. This gives me peace of mind because it means my little girl gets the freedom to explore some very cool parts of the digital world but without exposure to other areas that she's not ready for. Through careful selection of apps I'm also able to assume some risk, which I feel is important. For instance, I loaded the Netflix app on her device. Netflix contains a ton of great content as well as some content I definitely don't want her consuming. She knows our boundaries and has some ability to cross them but not nearly as much as she would if I opened up the entire web to her.

Ultimately I feel this was a great purchase for our family to make because it provides fun, learning, and an opportunity to engage in something together. It also provides my wife and I a platform to develop our daughter to be a wise consumer and a safe and responsible connected citizen. What are your experiences with technology and young children?