How did we ever travel without electronics! We traveled to all over Kansas this Holiday break and the trip went so much better with the kids glued to movies, ipods and computers. There was peace in the car. The adults carried on conversations. We even enjoyed the view along the way but what are we teaching our children? They have not learned patience or how to carry on a conversation with others. They are certainly not asking any questions besides "are we there yet". It is important to unplug and teach our children the wonder of nature and how to ask questions.
I will also add that I will still use videos and ipods but we will turn them off once in a while to work on those skills.
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I can not imagine traveling without technology. I know that we did it as a family growing up but as an adult I can not fathom leaving my ipod at home. On the drive down to TN this thanksgiving, I think we found a healthy balance of conversation and technology use. I am not sure what this would look like in a car with younger travelers.
ReplyDeleteCindy,
ReplyDeleteThis a is sore subject for me. Even though I love technology and I am rarely without a computer, I do believe "powering down" is something I think everyone should do every now and then. I am one, that does not carry his cell phone everywhere and I am trying to limit myself to the computer. The main reason I say this is because I feel that our communication skills are hurting because of it. Now, I am not saying technology has not made our lives better and easier, I just think we rely on it sometimes to much.
Cindy,
ReplyDeleteThe memories of riding in the car! I loved the 'abc' game (find something outside the car window that started with the letter 'a' and then so on and so on). I think simple games like that would be a great break for kids from the technology! They also have bingo cards that you can look for objects outside the car window as you are driving and play the game like bingo. I know the technology makes it easier on the parents but I do believe in conversation / communication...like David said, these skills are 'hurting' because of not having to use these skill!
sorry about the typos in my blog. I was pretty tired. Thank goodness for the editing tool. I have fixed them.
ReplyDeleteWe have a lake cabin and although we do have tv. I don't let the kids watch it until after the sun goes down. We have a large family and a lot of open space around us at the cabins. The kids always find something to do outside. They come up with their own games and activities. This is also where most of the family history and stories are passed down to the other generations. We have started a journal about our visits at the lake. The kids love to look back and read what they did just last summer. We also try to journal on our vacations when possible. It so important to catch and preserve those wonderful moments of wonder and achievements.
I wonder if I can come up with a journal assignments over the Winter holiday. I will have to think about this. If you have any ideas let me know.
My husband and I have always loved listening to books on CD when we travel. Does this count as technology? I was the kid who read a book or three when we traveled, but now I get carsick. The book on CD is our compromise. We actually can't travel without them. It's not that we don't communicate; we just really enjoy sharing the books together.
ReplyDeleteAs for our kids, we do have DVD players for them. Our families live in Illinois, so we are always traveling six hours each way to visit. Mack is three and he loves when he gets to have his TV in the car. He understands that he only gets it when we go visit Grandma. We are even using it for my daughter now, who is nine months. I feel guilty when we let them watch movies, but to be in the car for that long is hard for little ones. My son also plays cars, colors, and looks at books. I feel better that he is doing other things besides just watching cartoons. I do plan to make them power down when they are able to read and write so that they can practice those skills.
We just listened to a book on CD on our trip to Conn. Not easy to find something that our children - ages 10-20 can all agree upon. We ended up with John Grisham's new book for kids - and everyone loved it!
ReplyDeletePeter and the Starcatcher is also a great book on tape. It satisfies young and old needs. This is prequel for Peter Pan. When we listened to it last no one wanted to get out of the car when we got to our destination because we were not finished with it. Thanks for book tip.
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to discuss this.
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