Let your children teach you about the computer
Learn valuable skills by sitting down with them at the PC
Published: September 20, 2004
By Georgie Binks
When 14-year-old Miles Gertler presented his Christmas list to his parents in December, it was not on a sticky handwritten note. Miles treated them to a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation. "It had six slides," Miles explains. "I got a lot of pictures from the Internet and put them on there, then toyed around with the graphics on the software, the visual aids, and things like that."
His dad Meric, a professor, was impressed. "I don't think I have ever done a PowerPoint presentation with sound, but Miles did."
Discovering if your child is computer-savvy
The great thing about kids and computers is that because children are so adventurous, there's a lot they can teach their parents, says Christa Love, vice-president of TechnoKids Inc., a computer-curriculum publishing company that offers computer training for kids. "My experience with kids and computers is that they really have no fear," she says. "They're very comfortable with clicking around to see what the computer can do for them. If something doesn't work, they just try something else."
Having your child teach you what he or she knows is a great way for the family to interact and to build a child's self-esteem, says Gary Walters, a psychology professor who has developed child studies programs.
"It's one of the few areas where kids have power over the parents. It's something they do a lot better," he says. "One of the tricks for the parents is to let the child do the leading, instead of the parent saying: 'I think this is interesting, let's look at it.' If it's searching genealogy or looking up music or videos, let the child tell you what he or she is interested in."
Learning general computer tasks
"I've taught my parents a lot of visual things: how to operate the desktop and screen-saver features, as well as different software like Photoshop," says Miles. His father agrees: "There are many things my kids can do that I wouldn't have known how to do if they hadn't discovered them by experimentation." Kids also quickly get the hang of opening and closing documents, saving material, and finding programs on the Start menu.
Setting up e-mail
Parents tend to have a particular e-mail program they prefer, but for kids, instant messaging is all the rage and children are more than happy to teach what they know. My kids have showed me some of the goodies that go along with the program like the host of emoticons (smiley faces) and the fancy features that would have taken me hours to navigate.
Not only does learning about instant messaging programs from your kids give you an idea of whom they are talking to via the computer and what about, they are a great way to get people to come to dinner. When repeated calls fail, I simply log on and send a cute little message with happy faces. They're at the table in no time.
Surfing the Web
You may have trouble getting your kids to do the dishes, but having them do research for you is a snap. Last summer, 11-year-old Meredith Plant helped her mom landscape their backyard by going online. "She was doing some landscaping and she was trying to find a picture, so I told her to go to www.google.com, then images, so she could find something," Meredith explains.
Getting expert advice
"My son, Sherwood, came upstairs last week and said: 'You really need to clean your computer up, remove unnecessary files.' So my husband asked him to make a list of what needed to be removed," says Meredith's mom, Faye. "Even Dad was turning to Sherwood for help." The older the child, the more sophisticated the skills. "I met a high school teacher who had to teach Flash to the students, and she didn't know [the animation technology], so they had to hire a student to come in at lunchtime to teach the teacher," says Love.
Several weeks ago, I noticed my 12-year-old son had changed the background picture on his computer to some type of scan of the head of his guitar. When I asked him about it, he told me he'd taken a picture of his guitar with my new digital camera, morphed the photo into a piece of graphic art, and set it as his background. He's promised to teach me how he did it. Or maybe I could try doing what he does—sit down at the computer and play. That's what seems to be giving the kids the edge these days.
Article written by Georgie Binks and adapted from an original piece from Microsoft Home Magazine.
