5 Reasons I Love Screen Time
Screen time gets a bad rap, I think.
Of course, like anything it can be a problem if there’s too much of it, but it has so many benefits that I am grateful for on a daily basis in our family life.
A few weeks ago, the girls and I were playing together on the tablet and I started a little running list of reasons I’m so glad to have screen time available to our family and the benefits of screen time for both me and the girls:
1. It makes audiobooks easily accessible. I mean, who would I even be if I didn’t mention this? My girls listen to audiobooks every single day, and between Overdrive and Audible, I have thousands of options of things they can listen to during quiet time, when they’re going to bed or any time they want someone to read to them. It’s just the simplest thing to let them listen and re-listen to their favorite stories and right now, while Ani is obsessed with the Boxcar Children, I love hearing her tell me about every new development in the latest mystery.
2. It teaches them things I can’t teach them. I feel like a pretty confident teacher for my children in many areas, but there are things I’d like them to learn that I just can’t teach them. For instance, Ella this past year became really interested in learning Spanish. We strongly considered sending her to an immersion elementary school, but in the end opted not to, but we still wanted her to have an opportunity to learn at least the basics of a foreign language.
I took two years of Spanish in high school, but I remember all of about five words (languages are NOT my forte). Bart downloaded the Duolingo app and Ella does it every night before bed (she recently hit a 120 day streak). It’s the cutest thing to hear her teaching Ani the words she’s learned in Spanish, and I’m grateful that the Kids tablet makes that possible!
3. It makes it easier for our family to travel. I grew up in a traveling family and so did Bart, so it’s a high priority for us to travel with our children, but sometimes the realities of road-tripping with small children can get pretty overwhelming.
Happily, this holiday season, everyone is traveling to us (Bart’s parents, his brother, and his sister and her husband and their six kids for Thanksgiving, and my parents and my brother for Christmas), but we still are doing a few short trips that are made a lot more pleasant with a little screen time.
We usually let the girls watch a few videos and play games for an hour or two, then we can play road-trip games (Bart’s endless supply of “Would You Rather” questions are a family favorite) and then we might listen to an audiobook together for a while before handing the tablet back and having some grown-up conversations while the girls play.
4. It allows me to have one-on-one time with each of my girls. I really try hard to have individual time with each of my girls, whether it’s taking one of them along on an evening errand, playing card games with one of them, or reading a few books just to them with no one arguing about who gets to sit on which side of me. On the days when the girls do some educational apps on the tablet after school, it’s a great time to spend a little individual time with one of them while the others use the tablet.
5. It doesn’t make me be the bad guy. I LOVE that parental controls means I can set limits and because I’m not the one enforcing it, they don’t push back when the tablet turns off. It lets me enjoy it with them but not have to worry about being the bad guy shutting down their fun. And because it’s consistent, it’s not a surprise when it won’t turn log them on after a certain time or when they’ve had their time for the day.
What do you love about technology and what benefits of screen time do you see in your family?
Photos by Christie Knight Photography
My daughter will be getting one from my in-laws for Christmas and while I support it my husband and I are also a little nervous about starting the device adventure. I really appreciate this post- I already have some audiobooks downloaded! I think she’ll love all the educational games and activities (she’s 4 and adores school) but I just want to make sure it’s managed.
I’ll be going through your archives but also would appreciate any future posts on devices and little ones!
I put together a Google site about iPads for Elementary Education which lists free and paid apps as well as websites. I’m sure much of it would apply to other devices.
Where do you buy your photo frames ? I love the ones in this post and the previous.
Thanks !
They’re from Target! These are the exact ones: http://bit.ly/2i7jznB
I love this post! I totally agree that screen time gets a bad rap, and I also have a deep love for my 3 year old’s kindle! It’s such a better solution than letting him use my phone or the iPad. Thanks for new ideas too! I want to look up that language app.
We just started talking about getting our 4 year old a tablet, mainly so he can listen to audiobooks/story podcasts during quiet time. Still thinking about that one though. Ani’s 4? And she’s listening to the Boxcar Children? That makes me feel like my 4 year old should be able to work up to longer books!
She’s almost five (in a few weeks), and she really started getting into chapter books like Boxcar Children at around 4.5.
I’ve heard some people recommend not getting the kid version because it is too restrictive. Are there any functions of the regular Fire that you wish you could use?
We don’t have a regular Fire, so I don’t know!
I love audio books and think they are an extremely valuable tool for families, especially with more then one child. However please read some articles out there about blue light and screen time effects on young children’s brain speed and eye sight. Every year at the beginning of a new kindergarten year I can pin point which students are given screen time at hom. It effects the rate of brain sinapses (slows it down) and the “learning” that occurs on a screen vs. rote memorization is very interesting as well.
I’ll have to read more about that!
About how much time do you allow each child and do you vary the time according to their age? And does each child have an individual tablet?
We have three tablets, but the girls don’t each have their own – they all belong to the family and we parcel them out as needed.
The girls can listen to audiobooks as much as they want (they aren’t watching the screen when they use them, so it doesn’t feel like actual screen time to me – they’re usually just doing other things). Then Ella does DuoLingo for about 15-20 minutes each day, and then they do games or shows a few times a week, for usually about 30 minutes.
Thank you! Great tips
Hi!
We’re getting our daughter an Amazon Fire kids tablet for Christmas. I’m getting it preloaded with some audiobooks and apps. Do your girls listen to podcasts on their tablets? If so do what app do they listen to? We like the Circle Round podcast and a few others. I’d like to give my daughter the option to listen to those too. Thanks for your help!