{"id":199,"date":"2015-07-02T06:19:20","date_gmt":"2015-07-02T06:19:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/employeesmatter.co.uk\/?p=199"},"modified":"2017-01-30T10:22:48","modified_gmt":"2017-01-30T10:22:48","slug":"parenting-in-a-digital-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/employeesmatter.co.uk\/parenting-in-a-digital-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Parenting in a Digital World"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Parenting in an increasingly digital world brings a lot of challenges. As well as e-safety and managing screen time, once parents allow their children to use screen time, it\u2019s a minefield trying to find apps that are suitable and engaging for children.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone, even children, need some downtime in life and\u00a0in these brief periods use of apps that are\u00a0just\u00a0fun is fine. However, if these are the main use of screen time then parents are missing a great opportunity to help their children learn and develop. Some apps can help develop a child\u2019s softer skills like social skills or even encourage exercise. There are many, many fabulously fun educational games\/ developmentally beneficial apps out there that children will be only too happy to play, the challenge is to find them.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re trying to choose the best apps for your children:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Choose apps that are age appropriate:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong> To support their development and ensure children have fun playing apps it is important that they are well targeted to the age of your child.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Choose apps that support development:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>to be really beneficial apps need to challenge children just enough to make them fun without being too easy or failing to teach them anything new. Ideally it\u2019s great to find apps that help children master skills they are on the verge of developing or practice newly acquired skills. There are apps out there to support development of a huge range of skills<\/li>\n<li><strong>Choose apps that encourage active play, social interaction and creativity<\/strong>:\u00a0apps are often criticised for encouraging children to become coach potatoes and insular, what better way to counter that argument than to look for apps that get your child active and are fun to play together with friends or parents, encourage\u00a0social development\u00a0and\u00a0creativity\u00a0and beyond.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Choose apps that support learning at school<\/strong>:\u00a0whilst I\u2019m sure the last thing many children want to do\u00a0outside school hours\u00a0is what they consider to be \u2018homework\u2019, if learning is part of a fun game, children will happily play and learn without complaint! We particularly encourage finding good apps to support\u00a0reading skills. Whether your child is just starting to learn to read or extending their vocabulary,\u00a0ebooks and interactive books\u00a0can be extremely valuable.\u00a0Think of a subject that your child is passionate about and look for an app that supports his\/her learning in this whether that is about volcanoes, tudors, trucks or princesses!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Apps for holidays\/trips away<\/strong>:\u00a0Using a tablet to keep children occupied while you travel?\u00a0Trips whether in the UK or abroad, or even day trips, provide huge opportunities for children to learn. See if you can find apps that encourage your child to\u00a0think about\u00a0geography,\u00a0history, cultures, religions, languages, currencies related to the places they go as well as about transport and local cuisine!\u00a0 There are apps out there that help develop\u00a0understanding of the world\u00a0in\u00a0most of these areas and beyond.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be willing to pay for good apps<\/strong>:\u00a0whilst there are a lot of free apps out there, generally the best apps come at a small price which can often be as little as 69p. Given the quality of content this really is an exceptional price point and one you would never see offline.\u00a0If you\u2019ve checked reviews and know the app is good, or if you\u2019ve tried the free \u2018lite\u2019 version and like it, don\u2019t be put off by a small price tag.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Check reviews<\/strong>:\u00a0whatever apps you are considering we strongly recommend you look at independent, expert reviews such as the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fundamentallychildren.com\/good-app-guide\/\">Good App Guide<\/a> before you download.\u00a0 These can really help you to determine whether they are appropriate for your child.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parenting in an increasingly digital world brings a lot of challenges. As well as e-safety and managing screen time, once parents allow their children to use screen time, it\u2019s a minefield trying to find apps that are suitable and engaging for children. Everyone, even children, need some downtime in life and\u00a0in these brief periods use [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Parenting in a Digital World - Employees Matter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/employeesmatter.co.uk\/parenting-in-a-digital-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Parenting in a Digital World - Employees Matter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Parenting in an increasingly digital world brings a lot of challenges. 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