Do you cringe at the idea of allowing your child to use your personal computer?  Are you afraid that you will come back to that horrible blue screen of death?  If this is one of your fears then some computer training for your child is a necessity.  While most people hate to admit that their kids know more about computers than they do, the children have to start somewhere. 

I have two small children, one is 4 the youngest is 2.  I have to constantly supervise their computer usage.  My goal is to have computer savvy children who are able to learn advanced computer techniques.  However, I do not want to produce new fodder for the internet predators that are lurking around every web page for innocent children. 

I am working hard with my children to make sure they are well-rounded individuals who know how to behave and can use their computers effectively.  At this point, we are working on how to use the mouse properly, as well as how to treat a keyboard.  While it will be a long time before they are computer savvy I am reassured that, they are at least working towards some basic computer skills. 

While kids need to have many opportunities to use a computer, they also need to be monitored closely to ensure they are using it properly.  If a child is allowed to have unsupervised use of a computer, they are more likely to end up in the dangerous chat rooms where many internet predators pray. 

Some of the best computer skills are often overlooked.  Most adults have some use for typing skills.  My mother upset me badly as a child by forcing me to learn to type, I always thought she was the meanest thing in the world until I became an adult.  Now I type on almost a daily basis, and I am quite proficient at it.  This is a skill that I now highly value. 

Aside from typing, the use of word processor programs and e-mail is also highly useful to learn as kids.  While many people do not use this until they are adults, more and more kids are learning and using these skills.  More and more teachers are also requiring that assignments be typed before they are submitted.  With typewriters being out of date, this leaves computers as the next reasonable choice. 

While many parents spend hours and hours each week teaching their kids about math, geography and other subjects’ computer skills are often neglected.  As technology improves, the use of computers for our children will improve more and more.  Giving them the tools they need to succeed with computers is a lesson and skills that they will value and cherish as adults.