This app made its debut as an editor’s choice and featured app for the iPad on the iTunes kids’ store and was developed by teachers from the UK. The developing company Hip Hop Hen has other educational based apps that are worth a download. The app focus on phonics taking children through learning the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they represent (phonemes). 

Features
The abc flashcard songs has over 30 fun interactive pages that has a catchy phonic song. The graphics are a good balance of alluring without being too distracting. The app’s method of teaching the child is through the use of a game, which is to collect all the images that begin with the specific letter sound and get a star points. The image glows and an audio recording name the pictures when the screen is touched.

Drawback
This is not a major drawback but more to do with preference as the app follows the UK Primary National Strategy from Phase 2 and Phase 3, which contains 26 single letter sounds and 9 consonant blends such as ‘th’, ‘ck’ and ‘ch’.

Ages: 4+
Category: Education
Content: Games
Platform: iPad only
Language: English
Price: USD 4.99

Photos: iTunes

‘Mum…?’

‘Mmm.’

‘Mum!……’

‘Mmhmm…’

‘Mum I can’t believe you are using your phone at the table…! Do you remember that you did not allow us to use our Game Boys during meal time when we were little?’

‘Oh…sorry…yes… but I am not playing here…I just need to check something…’

My daughter is right. When handheld video games appeared in the early 90’s children loved them but they were addictive and we had to set up rules. Rule number one was: no Game Boys at the table (well, except at the end of the meal at the restaurant – after paper, pencils and card games had lost the children’s interest). Game Boys have since been replaced by mobile phones and tablets and it is no longer only children who get totally engrossed by their electronic devices… I, for one, have realised that the challenge of addiction is stronger than I imagined and you may have recognised yourself in the above scenario.

The Journal of Pediatrics recently published an interesting study conducted by researchers at the Boston University Medical Centre about the ‘Patterns of Mobile Device Use by Caregivers and Children While Dining in Restaurants‘. The concern is a lack of attention given to children, the potential consequences on their well being and the long term impact on the parent-child relationship.  The responses of the children to the lack of interaction by the adult in charge showed that some were able to entertain themselves, some just remained passive and that some acted out and tested limits in order to attract attention. It also showed that when interrupted, the adults often lashed out more harshly than necessary.

Boston psychologist Catherine Steiner-Adair explains: “When you’re texting or answering email, the part of your brain that is engaged is the ‘to do’ part, where there’s also a sense of urgency to get the task accomplished, a sense of time pressure. So we’re much more irritable when interrupted.”

Mobile devices are a new cultural phenomena. They are here to stay and we have to learn to live with them. We also have to be aware of the impact of the message we give when we use our phone in a social setting.  ”We are behaving in ways that certainly tell children they don’t matter, they’re not interesting to us, they’re not as compelling as anybody, anything, or any ping that may interrupt our time with them,” says Steiner-Adair.

I believe this message applies to children or adults alike. How often have you felt relegated to secondary degree importance when your friend, your spouse or your child answers the phone or sends a text in the middle of your conversation? Let’s be honest, it hurts, but we’re adults and we can understand the potential urgency of that incoming message.

Children, on the other hand, learn by imitation. By watching us they learn how to interact, how to have conversations, how to express their feelings and validate their emotions. They learn how to behave and how to conduct themselves in social situations. Based on the quality of the interaction with their parents they make decisions about themselves that will impact them for life:

‘When Dad stares at his smartphone while we are having dinner it probably means that I am boring and that I am not worthy of his interest’.

‘When Mum has a long conversation with her friend while she is pushing my pram she indicates that she would probably prefer to be with her friend and doesn’t really like spending time with me’.

The list of faux-pas is long, I am as guilty as anyone and we can all try to be more thoughtful when we use our devices around our children. Let’s ask ourselves: “Do I really need to look at that right now? Could it wait?” Use it briefly if it can’t wait, but explain what we are about to do and apologise to our children so they know we are not ignoring them for something better or that much more important than them.

Pediatrician Dr Claire McCarthy admits she is addicted to her smartphone but is trying to get the balance right with her family by making meal times phone-free zones.

We could all create a list of phone-free zones to display on our fridges: No phones allowed – be mindful of the present moment –

– feeding Baby:  babble with her, talk to her, comment on the food and on her new skills, they grow up so fast.

– taking Toddler to the park: show her the birds, teach her new words, help him interact with other children.

– pushing Son on the swing:  watch his happy face, the array of emotions he is experiencing. Laugh with him.

– listening to Child who has just come home from school and has so much to tell you right now (but nothing left to say later when you might be more available)!

– shopping with your teen: help him/her choose the all perfect outfit even if it takes longer than expected!

– eating in a restaurant: talk about food, life and the universe…

I recently discovered that the local Health Spa imposes a 10pm internet curfew to their overnight guests and I am pondering weather to install this in my own home!

Mobile devices are not all bad, on the contrary! My children are very savvy at finding fun facts, Apps and games and we have shared many great moments together as a family watching entertaining YouTube videos or looking at photos and updates from friends or even checking word definitions for that scrabble game we were playing.  All together around one device. Recommended!

Most importantly though we must work on being fully present in the moment when we spend time with our children and give them our full attention. It is that feeling of being the most important thing in their parents life (and they are!) that will give our children the self worth indispensable to developing self esteem, confidence, happiness and independence.

This post first appeared on Lyliane Stewart’s site parentingeastwest.com on April 28, 2014.

Lyliane Stewart is a teacher, a positive discipline parent educator and a mother of two young adults. Originally from Switzerland, she lives with her husband in Beijing where she has been very active with the school community over the years.  Her personal experience of living internationally in a cross-cultural family has given her a good understanding of the various challenges encountered by multi-cultural, multi-lingual expatriate families. Passionate about psychology and education, she founded Parenting East West to offer support to families around the world. Lyliane believes that by gaining a better understanding of ourselves, and of human relationships in general, we become better equipped for parenting.  She offers weekly interactive parenting classes through which she introduces positive parenting tools and strategies.

The Mums2B group she started meets in Sanlitun weekly and welcomes new expectant parents.To get in touch, send a message to: parentingeastwest@gmail.com

Photo courtesy of Lyliane Stewart

Now that school is back in session, many families will be struggling to balance screen time at home. Lots of kids would happily while away the hours in a zombie-like trance, bathed in the twilight glow of a flickering screen, but the evidence overwhelmingly suggests that moderation, supervision, quality, and cooperative engagement are key when it comes to balancing screen time. Screen time is defined as the time spent using screens such as computers, televisions, video games, and digital handheld devices.

Every year, the figures for “total hours watched” continue to rise, and there’s a yawning chasm between expert recommendations and actual viewing patterns. Psychologist Dr. Aric Sigman recently published an influential review on the effects of screen time on children around the world. He found that, by the time the average child turns 18, they will have watched the equivalent of three years of continuous, 24/7 screen media. To make sense of it all, we examine official recommendations, weigh the pros and cons of screen time, and speak to two Beijing families about their philosophies of tech-in-action.

Listed opposite are just a few of the pros and cons of screen time, which families may want to consider before setting out their own rules.

Pros:
Trained Brain: A series of recent studies found that playing video games can have a positive impact on concentration and decision-making skills. While gaming, kids receive instant reinforcement and reward for focusing on a task and making quick decisions.
Box-ing Clever: TV can be both an effective entertainer and educator. Shows like Sesame Street and Blue’s Clues revolutionized children’s television. Limited co-viewing of these programs with parents can have positive learning effects. In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell credits these educational TV shows with creating a learning epidemic in preschoolers. Kids may love Elmo and Blue, but the shows are painstakingly and scientifically designed to direct their attention toward the real star – learning.
Better Hand-Eye Coordination: Multiple studies have shown that playing video games that require finely-tuned spatial skills go on to build hand-eye coordination and manual dexterity away from the screen.
Big Mother: Installing GPS tracking software on children’s phones is a growing trend. There are many free apps available
to turn your child’s smart phone into a device locator. Even if they forget to text or call, you can still track of their whereabouts. Check out free apps Securafone, Life360, or SMS Tracker (available for both Android and iPhone).
Tech to Teach: In traditional education, students learned what the teacher had to teach. Technology has advanced student-centered learning and served as the catalyst for an educational revolution. In today’s classrooms, teachers are using technology to drive dialogical learning and facilitate self-directed research. For today’s digital natives (the kids who’ve grown up swiping and typing), self-directed learning is as automatic and reflexive as breathing.

Cons:
Shoddy Body: Quality kids’ TV shows encourage movement and console makers have released active games for Wii and Xbox Kinect, but screen time generally leaves kids slumped in one position for hours. Sedentary behavior increases the prevalence of obesity and disturbed sleep.
I Don’t Think You’re Ready for this Telly: The average American child consumes three to four hours of TV and five to seven hours of screen time in total every day. Excessive TV, particularly on weekdays, can lead to worsened school performance. The problems are compounded for the 70 percent of American children who have a TV in their bedrooms (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010). These kids watch more TV and more violent programming each day, as bedroom viewing tends to be unsupervised. No wonder these little tykes suffer from nightmares and disordered sleep!
Damaged Eyes and Hands: In addition to the obesity risk, there are other screen-specific ill effects to beware of, such as eye strain, and repetitive stress injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome and iPad finger.
Big Brother: Kids who grew up on the web may think nothing of tweeting their every thought. However, a recent Kaplan Test Prep survey confirmed that over 25 percent of university admission officials investigate applicants online.  Some students have even had their college offers revoked due to inappropriate remarks. Students need to be aware of and manage their digital footprint appropriately.
A Web of Lies: When a deadline is looming, many students resort to plagiarism. The Internet makes it too easy for students to copy and paste vast chunks of text or pay for a professionally-written term paper. According to the Ad Council and Educational Testing Service, over 75 percent of college cheaters admitted they began cutting corners in high school. If students plagiarize their way through, they miss out on developing vital critical analysis and writing skills.

What Do Experts Say?
In a study published earlier this year, Northwestern University revealed that most parents not only ignore guidelines on screen time, but are not generally concerned about media use. Given the widespread incidence of excessive screen time and its
potentially damaging effects on health and learning, it’s clear that there is a major breakdown in communication between parents and experts.
So what are considered safe guidelines? For starters, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that:
Bedrooms and dining tables remain screen-free zones. No TV, computers or video games allowed.
Children over 2 should be limited to no more than two hours of non-school related media per day. Kids learn best by engaging with activities in the real world, such as simply playing and exploring with friends and family.
Children under 2 should completely avoid TV and other entertainment media. Instead, lavish your little ones with human interaction. That initial period of face-to-face learning and communication is critical for their development into a healthy human being.

Parenting 2.0
Even with these guidelines, it can be difficult to figure out how to put it all together. To find out how real families deal with screen time, we spoke to two tech-savvy Beijing parents about their cyber house rules: Silas Newland and Rebecca Taylor.

The Newland Family
Silas Newland: The kids and I are dual US/Canada citizens and Erica is a US citizen. We’ve lived in Beijing almost two years. Erica works for Intel and I work for Morris Williams, a real estate company based in the US. Both Kylie (11) and Lance (9) attend the International Montessori School of Beijing.
What part does screen time play in your family? 
Except on trips longer than 1.5 hours and the odd family movie night, screen time almost exclusively centers on dedicated eReaders such as our Nooks by Barnes & Noble. In the evenings, we play board games, read together, take the dog for a walk, or go for a bike ride. Lance is learning how to code via a program called Small Basic. Both kids enjoy making stop-motion movies and using Microsoft Movie Maker to edit and produce. They’ve made countless Lego movies and scrolling-captures where drawings are wound from one reel to another – think a rocket ship traveling through the galaxy.

Do you restrict screen time? 
We have read many studies that link brain development with the absence of digital media, so having a strict electronics policy from day one was pretty obvious. The children share a computer specifically for school work. Our youngest has access from 4pm to 6pm each day; the oldest gets an additional hour. The Internet is monitored and filtered by McAfee. No games, chat rooms, YouTube, [and the like]can be accessed during those times. In our house, the Internet is for academic endeavors only!
We also worry what the kids might come across online; even innocuous search terms can return very disturbing results! We mitigate the risk by keeping the PC in a common area. I also monitor their apps. I can see everything that’s downloaded, so there’s no possibility of downloading new apps without my knowledge.
Do your kids have a TV in their bedroom?
No one in the family has a TV in the bedroom, as we think it creates too much focus on television and makes it harder to manage screen time.
Do you experience conflict with your children over screen time? 
We have been using the same methods for a few years now and there are no conflicts about the rules. Although we can limit screen time at our house, it is impossible to manage it at other people’s homes, and we know we will have still less control as they mature. But if we’ve done our job right, they will make good choices whether we are there or not.

How was your childhood different from your kids’ when it comes to screen time?
Growing up in Vermont, I lived between mountains that blocked all television reception, and my childhood tech revolved around the sole PC that my school had available to the students.
Are there benefits to exposing kids to technology at a young age?
Technology is everywhere and very easy to interact with. Our children have plenty of exposure to “screen time” through school and our limited allowance. I don’t believe there’s any risk that tech-light kids will be left behind. If we create a love of learning, then children will embrace technology at the right time as an additional tool.
The Taylor Family
Rebecca Taylor:  We’re an Australian family beginning our fifth year in Beijing. Doug is one of the elementary technology integrators at the Western Academy of Beijing; I am an elementary teacher currently working from home promoting my online children’s shoe business and finishing my Master’s of Teacher Librarianship. We have two kids: son Will (4) and daughter Charlotte (1). Will attends WAB.
What part does screen time play in your family? 
We never put the TV on at home unless we’re watching sports as a family.  Instead, we ride our bikes, do puzzles, read a lot, and most of all engage in imaginative play. We believe that the family that plays together stays together! We also watch DVDs once a week; often, it’s Thomas the Tank Engine – Will’s favorite. Will also loves the tactile, interactive nature of the iPad. He usually makes a movie every weekend with his dad Doug, which can take two to three hours.
Do you restrict screen time? 
At Will’s age, under an hour of screen time is plenty; for Charlotte, there is none. We also avoid using electronic devices at meal times. At restaurants, we take a “restaurant bag,” which has toys, books, and play dough inside. We limit screen time rigorously because I see how zoned-out Will becomes after 30 minutes. His body and brain need stimulation, especially physical movement, and screen time reduces that considerably.  When Will is over-engaged in tech, he’s not aware of his surroundings, he can’t hear us when we talk to him, he loses track of time, and he sometimes even forgets to go to the toilet.

Do your kids have a TV in their bedroom?
I am passionately against TVs in the bedroom. There’s so much crap out there that is absolutely unsuitable for kids. Why risk exposing them to sex and violence when they really don’t need to see it? I am even more passionately against bedroom computers. The net is so full of predators and unsuitable content. Children need our guidance to navigate all the muck.

Do you experience conflict with your children over screen time?
Not currently, as they are simply too young. But the situation may change as they get older and peer pressure gets stronger. I hope that by discussing with them the rights and responsibilities they have as members of our family and of the community, they learn to value the concept of balance.
How was your childhood different from your kids’ when it comes to screen time?
What screen time? We watched the occasional movie and some cartoons on weekend mornings. I didn’t use a computer consistently until I left home to board for Grade 11 and 12. I didn’t even have a cell phone till the ripe old age of 21!
Are there benefits of exposing kids to technology at a young age?
Purposeful, supervised technology can be exciting, educational and fun – a great springboard into the plugged-in world. But it’s critical that tech is about creation, not just consumption. Creative technology could potentially transform society with communal wisdom and global change. Tech can be used for harm but, overwhelmingly, it can be used for social good. It’s up to parents and educators to guide kids through the information maze, and open them up to the wider world.

Resources
1. Books
Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax
Examines the correlation between screen time and underachieving young men.
Screen Time by Lisa Guernsey
Recommends that parents focus on “the three C’s”: content, context, and the individual child.
The Winter of Our Disconnect by Susan Maushart
A mother of three teenage kids pulls the plug on family tech and reaps the benefits in better communication.
2. Websites
www.letsmove.gov/reduce-screen-time-and-get-active
Advice on screen time from US First Lady Michelle Obama’s program to tackle childhood obesity.

Recommended Apps for Learning
Pre-School and Kindergarten
1. Endless Alphabet
Monsters teach letters.
2. Bugs and Buttons
A wide range of mathematical and literacy games.
3. SquiggleFish
Draw and color fish to populate an aquarium.

Elementary
1. Book Creator
Make your own books.
2. Puppet Pals Directors Pass
Star in your own cartoon!
3. iMotion HD
Create stop motion or time lapse videos.

Middle and High School
1. Evernote
Take, store and share notes
2. Khan Academy
Thousands of videos on many subjects.
3. Studious
Plan your homework and exam prep.

Middle and High School
1. Evernote
Take, store and share notes
2. Khan Academy
Thousands of videos on many subjects.
3. Studious
Plan your homework and exam prep.

photos by Mitchell Pe Masilun

This article originally appeared on p56-61 of the beijingkids September 2013 issue.

Check out the PDF version online at Issuu.com

Sadly, I’m not one of those “I have a degree in Chinese” expats. Nor am I even one of those “I took a year at language school when I first arrived” types.

No, I’m just a straight-up: “I landed in Beijing with no Mandarin and I’m learning on the job.”

But after a hard day’s work at beijingkids, it’s impossible to muster the motivation required to spend my evening staring at a lifeless textbook. Like a child, I need the learning process to be fun or, quite frankly, I’m going to spend the rest of my days staring blankly at menus, gesticulating wildly and answering every question with that ultimate conversation killer – “wǒ tīng bù dǒng” (complete with toneless British accent).

So, I have turned to apps. For starters, touch screen is inherently more fun. And when Chinese is turned into a game I suddenly find myself engrossed in learning for hours. Given that my Mandarin is at an infantile level, I am now very well qualified to present to our readers my tried-and-tested list of the best beginner language apps for kids.

If these learning methods can work for my decrepit neurons then imagine what they can do for your child’s young and adaptable mind. Take it from this old dog going through the painful process of learning new tricks.

Learning Chinese the Fun Way (above)
This attractively laid-out app takes you through over 1,000 of the most common characters, with the usual lineup of animated stroke orders and audio pronunciation. But this app stands out as being particularly good for visual learners, thanks to its drawing board feature. A blank canvas is attached to each character so you can create and save your own doodle to help you remember its appearance.

For iOS and Android, USD 2.99 and USD 4.85 respectively

Kids Learn Mandarin Beginner
Despite the matter-of-fact name, this app is one of the most creative and varied on the market. Designed for kids aged 2-8, Pei Pei the panda will lead you through a world of videos, animations and writing exercises. The best part is the range of mini-games which will see you climbing trees and hopping over turtle shells if you correctly match words to pictures. For iOS, free with additional lesson sets at USD 1.99

Memrise
There are a lot of flashcard-based apps available, largely because it has long-been seen as one of the best methods for remembering characters. Founded by a Grand Master of Memory (there are only 122 in the world currently) Memrise’s system works over the course of days and weeks rather than hours. ‘Seeds’ are planted using images and word association, then you are prompted to return to the app at spaced intervals until the characters are well-rooted in your memory.

For iOS and Android, basic app is free with online courses a mixture of free and paid-for.

LinguPinguin
A very simple concept but perfect for pre-schoolers, due to its colorful design and focus on pronunciation. Users are presented with a number of cartoon scenes based on themes such as transportation and food. Toggle between English and Chinese and then touch on each item to see an animation and hear how it’s pronounced. There’s also a simple quiz to test what you’ve learned. The eponymous penguin actually has very little involvement in proceedings, though he does of course feature in the animal scene.

For iOS, USD 1.99 

Writer
This app is particularly useful for that all-important stroke order. Characters fall down from the top of the screen and you trace the strokes on the screen. If you let five reach the bottom then it’s game over. You can vary the speed that the characters fall and toggle between tracing and writing modes.

A quick word of warning: I lost about half an hour by failing to realize that the default mode is for traditional characters rather than simplified, so be sure to change this in the settings. For iOS and Android, free with additional character sets at USD 0.99

As I only wanted to recommend apps that I have personally tried and tested, all of the above were tested on iOS. If you have any suggestions for Android users, or have any other recommendations for Chinese language learning apps then drop me an email to oscarholland@beijingkids.com. I need all the help I can get.
 

According to Apple: Recent reports have suggested that some counterfeit and third party adapters may not be designed properly and could result in safety issues. While not all third party adapters have an issue, we are announcing a USB Power Adapter Takeback Program to enable customers to acquire properly designed adapters.

Chinese parents know all too well how handy iPads can be when it comes to keeping kids nice and (educationally) distracted – according to a Fudan University study (via Shanghaiist), 80% of the kids in the families they surveyed are "obsessed" with iPads:

Professor Cao Jin interviewed 100 children and their parents at a kindergarden in Yangpu District, finding that 42.6 percent of parents who owned an iPad bought it for themselves, half of them bought it for their children to use alongside them, and 7.2 percent of them bought an iPad strictly for their children.

… Many adults and children are becoming "obsessed" with their iPads, Cao said, to the point where "They cannot sleep without it," and 80 percent of children "reacted emotionally" when their iPads were taken away. Electronic devices are creating social barriers within the family household, Cao found during the survey. "Dad was playing computer games; mom was watching American soap drama while the kid was sliding his or her fingers on the [iPad] screen. No one talks to others anymore," Cao said. The survey showed that a third of children used the iPad between 30 minutes to an hour a day and 64.4 percent of children used it between 10 to 30 minutes a day.

The debate over the pros and cons of iPads and kids has been going on for as long as the device has been on the market, but no one can definitively say how and to what extent interacting with such devices are affecting children’s brains.

Last year at this time, the Wall Street Journal wrote:

A young child will look away from a TV screen 150 times an hour, says Daniel Anderson, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Massachusetts. His studies over the past 30 years also showed children have trouble knowing where on a TV screen to look. A well-designed iPad app is more engaging because often the place on the screen that a child touches is the same as where the action happens.

Many researchers hope this will help children learn. One study using an iPod Touch and sponsored by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop found children 4- to 7-years-old improved on a vocabulary test after using an educational app called "Martha Speaks." The 13 5-year-olds tested averaged a 27% gain. A study using a different educational app had a similar result, with 3-year-olds exhibiting a 17% gain.

But further down in the same article:

In many ways, the average toddler using an iPad is a guinea pig. While the iPad went on sale two years ago, rigorous, scientific studies of how such a device affects the development of young children typically take three to five years.

There is "little research on the impact of technology like this on kids," says Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Hospital. The iPad and similar devices allow children to interact with technology at a younger age than ever before. Tiny fingers not yet old enough to manipulate a mouse or operate a videogame console can navigate a tablet touch screen.

… In the list of parental worries about tablet use: that it will make kids more sedentary and less sociable. There’s also the mystery of just what is happening in a child’s brain while using the device.

The brain develops quickest during the first few years of a child’s life. At birth, the human brain has formed about 2,500 synapses—the connections that allow the brain to pass along signals—per brain cell. That number grows to about 15,000 per brain cell by age 3. In later years, the number decreases.

The more television children watch during these formative years, Dr. Christakis says, the more likely they are to develop attention problems later on. The study was based on observation, not lab research, he says. Other studies haven’t found a correlation. While he hasn’t studied tablets and young children, he suspects the effect could be similar—or perhaps more significant. "One of the strengths of the iPad"—it is interactive—"may be the weakness," Dr. Christakis says.

It’s been over a year since this article was published and the jury is still out on what, exactly, is going on in those little brains as they stare entranced at those touch screens. No doubt those little synapses are firing and fusing as they learn from those apps and interactive stories, but at what point is all that tech-time too much and in fact, counterproductive?

There is nothing inherently bad with exposing your kids to technology at an early age (not too early, mind you) and as the Cooney Study suggests, there are probably very tangible educational benefits – if your 5-year-old wants you to read her an interactive story or play a numbers game on your smartphone, by all means, go for it.

But remember to follow a few simple rules of thumb – keep the brightness settings low and her screen-viewing time well under control (we try to stick with 10 minutes max each time, and never right before bedtime). You should also talk to your child about what stories and games she’s reading and playing – make sure the iPad is truly a learning tool and not just another barrier to communication. And most importantly, set the example yourself – there’s more to life than sitting transfixed in front of  a screen – get out of the house and spend due time (at least two hours outside, according to experts) with your kids.

We’ve done our fair share of covering iPads and apps for kids on this site, and for good reason – there are now literally tens of thousands of titles aimed at young children and their insatiable appetites for playing games on smart devices.

As any parent with an iPad can attest the explosive growth of the this industry should come as no surprise – after all, what more justifiable way to keep your restless kids absorbed and entertained than with a touchscreen tablet filled with "educational" games? (And yes, I’m using the term "educational" loosely here).

So now that kids and apps have become as integral a part of modern childhood as TV was for generations past (and present, in many families), it’s also not surprising to see an article like Hanna Rosin’s piece in latest issue of The Atlantic ("The Touch Screen Generation," April 2013). It’s a long one, but very much worth reading. Among the insights:

"… Technological competence and sophistication have not, for parents, translated into comfort and ease. They have merely created yet another sphere that parents feel they have to navigate in exactly the right way. On the one hand, parents want their children to swim expertly in the digital stream that they will have to navigate all their lives; on the other hand, they fear that too much digital media, too early, will sink them. Parents end up treating tablets like precision surgical instruments, gadgets that might perform miracles for their child’s IQ and help him win some nifty robotics competition—but only if they are used just so. Otherwise, their child could end up one of those sad, pale creatures who can’t make eye contact and has an avatar for a girlfriend."

To date, no body of research has definitively proved that the iPad will make your preschooler smarter or teach her to speak Chinese, or alternatively that it will rust her neural circuitry—the device has been out for only three years, not much more than the time it takes some academics to find funding and gather research subjects. So what’s a parent to do?

Despite these common misgivings, Rosin goes on to explain how in spite of the perceived intellectual passivity of electronic media consumption, the "cognitive interactivity" of many educational apps and even certain TV shows (i.e. " Blue’s Clues") can still be construed as "educational" for children – in other words, there’s more to that zombie-like expression your kids get when they’re absorbed in an app (or watching an educational TVshow, for that matter) than meets the eye. Research indicates that in many instances, kids are, in fact, learning from these programs and apps. But questions still remain as to how and why such learning is taking place.

I’ll be the first to admit that, for better or worse, I am as hooked on smart devices as they come – and no parent would wish a full-blown addiction on their children. But, as Rosin points out, I, too, want my children to "swim expertly in the digital stream that they will navigate for the rest of their lives" and if anything, I wish my daughter could actually use and learn from our iPad more.

To explain: Following doctor’s orders we strictly restricted my daughter’s iPad use after she was prescribed corrective lenses for her congenital far-sightedness. It seems that high resolution screens, especially ones with Apple’s much-touted Retina Display, is very bad for young eyes and we were warned against letting her watch TV or use iPads (Rosin’s article interestingly does not even touch on this issue).

This makes perfect sense and we have followed suit, but I can’t help but feel like she’s missing out on some fantastic learning experiences from truly well designed educational apps. Experience tells me that there are indeed a lot of great apps for kids out there and we have used some with our daughter in the past. Of course books and paper shouldn’t be discounted and we continue reading stories and drawing pictures with our daughter the old fashioned way, but the technogeek in me makes me yearn for the opportunity to have my daughter experience and learn from more apps and yes, even some TV shows (the quality ones like Leap Frog and Blues Clues, that is).

Hopefully my daughter’s eyesight will improve over time and we won’t need to be so cautious about her screen time (even now, we do allow her a few minutes here and there) – I’m sure there will be a day when she will be able to swipe away as much as all the other kids. In these regards I fully agree with Rosin’s conclusion: We do indeed live in a screen age and iPads and tablets are here to stay, it’s really up to us adults to determine our own comfort zones when it comes to managing our kids and smart devices – how our kids work it into their own lives is ultimately best left up to them.

Auryn, Inc., one of the most award-winning digital publishers and creator of unprecedented children storybook apps for iPad and tablet devices, is supporting children everywhere during the month of March by giving away one free storybook app each day to promote children’s literacy. Auryn has consistently produced great storybook apps that feature fantastic stories. Since my daughter and I began reviewing apps for Beijing Kids over two years ago, Auryn has always pushed innovation and creativity in this exciting area of storybook publishing, and I felt they had the best app of 2011/2012 with Van Gogh and the Sunflowers.

Each day in March, Auryn will unveil a free title on their website (blog.auryn.com), Facebook, and Twitter pages. Many notable and award-winning apps from the company’s popular collection will be offered free throughout the month, including the following award-winning titles:

·      Where Do Balloons Go? (Winner of multiple awards including School Library Journal 10 Best Apps of the Year)

·      Teddy’s Day (Winner of multiple awards including the first ever Appy Award)

·      The Little Mermaid, Teddy’s Night, and Bunny Fun: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (all Parent’s Choice Award winners)

“We are happy to support National Reading Month [in the USA]during March. By giving back with free storybook apps, we hope to inspire kids to read in a way that they will find fun and engaging,” said Umesh Shukla, Founder and CEO of Auryn, Inc. “Bringing illustrations to life through animation and interactivity seems to brighten the eyes and minds of today’s youngsters, and we couldn’t be happier to support that renewed enthusiasm.”

To help inspire your kids’ love of reading, visit Auryn on their website www.auryn.com, or find them on the pages of Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest by clicking the links.

photo by Auryn

Tales2Go is a collection of thousands of well-known stories (and numerous songs) narrated by professional storytellers. The stories are divided into a variety of categories and easily searcheable, making it possible to quickly find favorites like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Tom Sawyer, How to Train Your Dragon, The Princess and the Pea, and The Tortoise and the Hare with just a few swipes of the screen.

The other day, I was pleasantly surprised to find several different narrated versions of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Once your child approves a story, she can star her favorites to quickly find past books that she wants to hear again and again. The developers have also added a category for parents, with a handful of novels like Pride and Prejudice, titles on parenting, and a few recommended stories.

With titles appropriate for parents, toddlers to teens, and all the ages in between, Tales2Go is the best app you can buy for your child and still enjoy time and again. The breadth of content grows with your child and teaches her that she does not need to be glued to a screen to enjoy using a tablet or mobile phone.

Tales2Go has a free 30-day trial period, so you can check out plenty of stories with your kid(s) to make sure it is a great fit before you commit to buying. The app is available on iTunes here for free and would make a great gift for someone this holiday season.