I loved finding this blog post, Why Am I Surprised? from mom and tech integration coach Melanie Holtsman. Melanie shares a wonderful anecdote (and the cutest picture ever) about her five year old twins and their Nintendo DSs.
But I was surprised when I heard them giggling at the same time and it occurred to me…if they are playing two different games, then why are they laughing at the same time? I went to investigate and this is what I discovered.
They were texting each other!
First of all, I didn’t know that a Nintendo DS had this feature. Second of all, my twins are non-readers and non-writers. So how were they texting? In rebus style!
I shouldn’t be surprised. This is why I love technology. Kids do things with technology that exceed my expectations. All. the. time.
So – did you see that? These kids are “non-readers and non-writers” but they are natural collaborators and communicators. This is a perfect example of what kids do ALL the time if we set up the conditions, encourage them, and then LET THEM. They will exceed expectations, as Melanie says, “All. the. time.”
Sylvia
This was supposed to be on the XO, too. Doesn’t look like it will make it anytime soon though.
Well that’s a neat little story. Guess this is yet another example of why the XO laptop works. Speaking of which, I need to remember to budget for it this time…
I want to get one and possibly attempt to help develop software for it in the long term feature, so I was waiting for the give one get one deal to come back.
Are you gonna advocate for that one again on your blog, Sylvia? I was going to give a link to it on my blog and explain it this year. (Watch me donate the one I get to Capital/another educational institute or something though, and dare the GenTECH class to program software for it… That’d just be an excuse for me to do it again at a later date.)
Hey Dillon, you must be reading the blog post I’m writing right now!
Sylvia,
Thanks for sharing my post. I am still in awe over this and smile when I think about it. No parent thinks that they are underestimating their children’s ability – but we all do without meaning to. This taught me a lesson about valuing explore time as much as scheduled time for activities. They’ll probably do more with their explore time than I can ever “plan” for them.
🙂 Melanie