The Core

My 5 year-old has just finished primary 1 (Grade1).

Her reading is very good and she is navigating her websites fairly well.

I am beginning to think that she is ready for a netbook so that she doesn't keep bothering me.

Is anyone going through the same or has gone through the same?

Am I being a twat?

I am sure there is software out there to protect against that stuff and I am sure I could just add www.th3core.com to that.

If she asked me for a mobile phone, I would tell her where to get off.  But seeing her on my desktop, she is way more advanced than I thought and I would prefer her to get more into it than less.

My 3 Year-old is only being held back by reading - he can manoeuvre round the computer on boomerang tv site and disney sites by memory.

They both use the wife's iphone no problem to play games or watch Dr. Who

I am just wondering whether 5 is too young for a netbook - and I wish I'd asked the teacher yesterday before the School broke up.

Gurtie, I noticed this http://scratch.mit.edu/ and am presuming this is what you mean.

I'm leaning towards giving it a go with something cheap - but am still wondering whether I am doing it for me to see her with her own machine!

This has 25% off on check-out http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/hp-mini-210-2006sa-refurbished-netbook-pink-09727224-pdt.html

My 3 and 6 year olds each have one of my discarded Asus eee-pcs, used mainly for web and open office.

As far as the web's concerned, their homepages are set to CBeebies with a few other favourite sites bookmarked, and these are all they go to. They don't have email or chat, and I (gasp) haven't introduced them to the concept of search, so their chances of finding something undesirable are pretty limited, at least for now.

Lucy (10) has her own PC, and only uses it in view.  Not pc, games, or tv in the bedroom, although to be honest, there is little time for them.

my lad got dragged over the hot coals off the headmaster and we got called into school when he was 12 for typing porn words at google....I said good lad for spelling the words correctly but it did not go down well with the headmaster

kids are kids and you can wrap them up in as much cotton wool as you want but they all communicate in the playground, the school bus and facebook and learn things off each other whether we like it or not, I am not saying its right, just saying whether we like it or not they can get access to it just like we all can

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Am I being a twat?

no your just a twat anyway

My 6 year girl got a netbook at age 4 and uses it every day to watch cartoons, youtube etc.

Our 4 year old is constantly bugging her to try it and we need to get her one too eventually.

>They work it out fast don't they!!

You got that right thesaint

>My 2.5 y/old uses the ipad & iphone

One of my friends bought his 2 y/old daughter an Ipad 1 when they first came out. About 6 months later we quizzed him as to how it went. He says it became one of her favorite toys and she played games and watched selected/monitored children shows, etc. on it all the time but it didn't consume her day.

One of my daughters has a problem keeping her iphone out of the hands of her 18 month old. The kid has been able to use it for apps since she was able to crawl. My daughter says the ipad is a kid favorite for toddler games.

One of my other daughters has a boy age 3. He regularly entertains himself with smartphones or ipods that he spirits away.

I keep an old asus eee running linux and chrome around for the grandkids. The older the kids get, the more prone they are to load virus crap and linux solved that problem.