Laptop for Kids?

My son started saving for his laptop when he was 5. He was very, very adamant about wanting a MacBook (his K class had Macs, and I have a MacBookPro). Okay, kiddo, house rules: You save up half and pay for ongoing charges (or part of them, at any rate... for example he pays $10 a month for his phone line which is what it costs us to add a line), and we'll match the half you save.

It took him 3 years. It didn't NEED to take him that long. He got $5-$10 dollars a week in allowance. If he earned his full allowance AND didn't spend any of it he could have had it in a year. BUT he has his expenses (like his phone line), and any purchases he chooses to make (games, strawberry & creme drinks, birthday gifts, going dutch, etc.) and his pet charity (he has a thing about summer kids lunch program he gives $50-$100 to every year), and he has had weeks where he only earns part of his allowance or none at all.

He had the money for half just after his 8th bday. We matched it. And he has owned his own laptop for just about a year now.

In the intervening years he's used an old hand-me-down-dinosaur-dell laptop (free) and the desktop.

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I don't think there's a blanket "right" age for things. I think it's a family by family decision. I have friends in the country who will drop 2k on a pony for a 5yo, but not even let their 5yo use the house desktop computer much less buy one or have their own, even if it's free. Is a pony the right decision for ALL families? Heck no. Neither is a computer. Family by family choices. Our son has had access to our desktop since he was 2 and a half. He wanted his own laptop since he was 5, he saved for (half of) it. Some parents will be aghast we agreed, others will be aghast that we didn't buy it ourselves for him. Whatever :) Different families, different wants & needs & priorities.
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People often gripe "What will they want next???" Well. My son has had a camera since he was a toddler, ditto a hand-me-down laptop, a phone, and an iPod all from 5 and under (all costing $0/free - $50, btw., I've spent more on legos). What has he ASKED for in the past few years since for bdays & xmases? Squirt guns. Legos. A paddle ball (yeah, the 99 cent type), a $10 game.

6 is too young to buy their own laptop for , now our kids use an old laptop we got 7 almost 8 years ago that still works but no way I would buy them their own laptop , my kids are 6 and 9.

Six is too young for your own laptop. At that age they can use a family laptop. Their own laptop at 6 spoils them and entitles them.

High school is the appropriate age to get them their own laptop, since they use it so much for schoolwork. Before that, if they want one bad enough, they'd better start saving all their money.

My opinion is that it is too young. My daughter is leaving for college in a few weeks and we just got her a (used) laptop as her HS graduation gift.

As someone else said the entitlement issue is huge to consider, spoiling another, and monitoring their usage would be something that is also high on the list of cautions. A desktop computer that the family uses is my suggestion. We've always had a family computer and my husband has one he uses for his business.

It helps to be able to monitor usage in an area where everyone can see what's on the screen to ensure nothing is getting on the screen that shouldn't be. It also helps children prioritize and share. When your children have homework assignments they have to make room for their sibling's use, etc.

Also, consider that having a desktop allows for easily connecting to a printer and other devices all in one place.

Our kids use an old work laptop of ours - it is completely set up for them and they are the only ones who use it. They use it in the living room or dining room. They just turned 7 and 9 and have been using it for almost 2yrs. I dont' let them use it or keep it in their rooms. It is always in a public space and they must ask to use it and I limit time just like tv and video game time. There are tons of free and educational games online! I highly recommend it for a gift for your daughter as long as she will follow your rules and understand that even though it is hers, it is kept under you control until she is older (like High School !)

We have many computers in the house used for family and daycare. Desktops have their place because they can so easily be set up for the quick 5 minute email check. But when we want to relax or study and we want to get comfortable, laptops are wonderful. I believe in this computer driven world it's good to get kids into computers early. It's one thing to play on them sometimes. But to have your own is quite another learning experience. If you are concerned about predators you can get software for kids.

We got our oldest DD a laptop for her 11th birthday, just before she started middle school. We wanted her to have her own computer mostly for school papers and research, which we did not want stored on our personal computers. She uses her laptop only sporadically for personal entertainment. We have ultra high parental security on it, no social networking sites, etc. We limit her time, but she isn't the type to sit on for hours and hours anyway. We also don't allow it to stay in her room overnight, or to leave the house. Of course then our 3rd grader was extremely jealous because she wanted one too, but our rule will be same as the oldest child, she will get one when she starts middle school. Our youngest doesn't have a need for her own computer, she has enough screen time entertainment as is.

My grandson is turning 13 in October, and uses a desktop computer that Dad monitors. But as he will be starting high school in a year I do plan to purchase him his own laptop for graduation from middle school next June. One of my granddaughters, his sister, has been computer savvy since she was a baby in my lap. She's now almost 10 and knows so much about computers it amazes me because so do I ; ) My 28 month old has always been exposed to the computer as well, he knows how and loves to turn it on, we do online storytime with Barnes & Noble and other sites, use the PBS and Sprout online sites and I find videos of Elmo and such on YouTube to entertain him.

I would say IF you keep the laptop in a common area for your daughter to use and you and Dad to monitor her use, not allow it to be taken to her room, and use parental controls on sites you allow her to frequent, you could buy her a laptop for Christmas. As SLM said, we live in a computer driven world and they're not going away.

Here are your family questions. Also stick with your values not a keep up with the friends and family.
What will it be used for?
How much time do I want my child to devote to computer vs outside play vs imaginative play vs socializing with friends?
How does she take care of all of her belongings?
Have I had the strangers ar3 everywhere conversation?
Will a computer fit into a public part of our home?
Will she be disappointed to get a smaller pile of toys and understand cost ratios or just see that she got less by volumme this year?
Does she have wii or other gaming system? Is it used?
How heathy is the child emotionally, physically?

I wouldn't do it for our house not until I was sure that it was absolutely necessary and I couldn't squeeze my kids budgeted 45 minutes out of our main computer. We have tokens(poker chips) that can buy computer time,tv time and video gaming time to a max of 1 hour 15 minutes a day with a max of 45 minutes on any given item a day. Good luck in your decision.

I have never bought a laptop for a young child. My kids were all going into high school when I got them one. My younger two are 10 and 12 but they only got my hand me down laptop.

I did buy them their own desktop when they were in kindergarten. Not four different ones only that there is the kids desktop in the house. Kids just don't have enough common sense to take care of a portable.

I think six is way too young. We have our family desktop set up in a visible area and our 9 yr old daughter and 5 yr old son use it for games, or checking their classroom websites. They have no need for a laptop. If my daughter starts needing to use it heavily for school in the future, we will consider getting her one at that time.

Our two oldest children got laptops for Christmas (a sixth-grader and eighth-grader). In middle school, all of their homework needs to be typed and they're given lots of information to research on the internet. When the oldest was in middle school we were able to share our desktop computer with her, but with two of them in middle school, we were constantly fighting over computer time. Now they each have their own and it works well. My youngest won't get one until she starts middle school. I can't imagine a reason why a 6-year-old would want or need a computer.

How about a Netbook computer for around $100?

My husband and I each have laptops, but we don't let our kids use them since we can't risk having anything go wrong with them because we rely on them too much in our work as attorneys. However, we decided to get our oldest 2 kids (then ages 7.5 and almost 6) their own "laptops" for Christmas this past year so that they could begin learning to use a keyboard and generally become more familiar with computers, since it's probably never too young to start learning those skills.

I got a very old hand-me-down laptop from a friend and a cheap ($49) used laptop off Craigslist, only to find that both were too slow to do even the most basic things. I then ordered 2 Netbooks/Notebooks, one pink and one green, from a website vendor for about $110 each. (CVS has, I think, black and silver ones made by Sylvania for $99 plus tax.) They are supposed to be able to connect wirelessly to the internet, but so far only our oldest child has figured out how to do that.

Of course, our kids really enjoyed using the Netbooks at first, but, once the novelty wore off, they became less interested in them. While the money we spent was a lot, at least it was not as bad as buying a real laptop for hundreds of dollars (times 2 for both kids), yet we were able to get something new, not used, and we like the small size of the Netbook (and so do our kids).

Im going to get a lap top in Christmas for my DD she's turning 8 and because she's been asking for one since long time ago, I promise her to get her one when she learns to read( my gosh I didn't new it was going to happens so soon). So now I'm stock with that promese, I'm not sure yet if I will get her a lap top or a deck one...

We have a laptop that we use as a family. My 7 year old uses it to play games and look information up on. I feel he's too young to have his own until he either buys his own or he is going off to college. If you have a family computer why would your child need their own if they have access to it?

My 4 year old granddaughter can navigate my laptop and her mothers with ease, She is able to type her name and find the letters on the keybord when I ask where is d, k, etc. In this day and age it is almost necessary to have computer skill comiing into 1st grade. You think it is too young but look at the owrld we live in. We no longer write we type e-mails, text messages, or IM's. WE no longer have to buy books with kindles, nooks and other book readers. We have gone technology only in a matter of 2-3 years. I am a teacher and most of the test now are given on the computer so I would suggest that you get her a netbook which is small enough for her to use and begin to teach her the keybord while her mind is willing to learn and remember everything. She will still need to be supervised, but there are so many programs that teach letter sound recognition, shapes, colors and even algebra for kindergarten. If you want you child to be part of the 21st century then that could be the way to go. Unless you want to give up your computer so that she can uses those excellent reading and math programs. She can use her laptop while you use yours. Just my opinion. We are looking into getiin my granddaughter one and she is 4.
I just read your response and in 1st grade they will do some research. We are starting everything early so that by the time they get to the middle grades they know how to do it without much help. The only thing that bother me about all the computer and technology we use is that children don't know how to write in cursive and their printing is aweful because they type most of their assignments.

Our kids each had their own computers at around 4. They play games on them, had learning games and fun both, they could do activities like color/paint pictures, all kinds of things. Kids these days are expected to be able to navigate computers in Preschool, ours had lessons on the one in his 3 yr. old pre-K classroom.

I say go for it but no internet access without a password, so you or hubby can download more games and such, updates for software, etc...but no internet until older.

A.

I too thought 6 was too young, however my Daughter just finished 1st grade in June and yes she had plenty of homework that we had to use her laptop for. She can't use it unless she is sitting at the table with me monitoring what she is doing. Her 1st grade teacher set the class up with alot of math games/links they had to do for homework and things like that.
good luck with your decision it can be a hard one.

My daughter is 8.
She has a laptop. A Mac.
It was one we had already... but designated it for her because we also have our iMacs on our desk. I hardly used the laptop myself.

My Daugher needs it... per school. They DO have assignments/homework online connected with the school and for other research.
She is responsible.
She knew, how to use a computer, even before she was 8.
Her school, has Macs. Thus, she learns how to use it there too.
She only uses it in the family room.

For me and my Husband, it is about school and that she needs it.
She does her homework on it.
If she were to use my Mac or my Husbands, well, that would be really interrupting for us because we do work on the computer too.

I can't decide what age is appropriate for your child... but for us, well my daughter was ready and is fine and is responsible and no... she does not surf the net. We only allow her certain sites... PER school and research and what we use for home schooling too.
We can... Trust her. We know that. And she fully knows how to use a computer and at school they had classes on it, per 'safety' and what not.

I have my own laptop as does my husband. When our daughter wants/requests her own computer, we will purchase a desktop to be placed in a common area for her to use. This could be as young as 4 (she is currently 2). It would be monitored and most websites would be blocked. And it would be mainly for educational websites mixed in with a couple of "for fun" websites. Laptop purchase would be for going into high school but it would still be monitored and for use only in a family common area.

What is the purpose of her having her own laptop? I think if you can give a solid answer to that question, then you know whether or not it is reasonable.

Really... why does he want her to have one? To watch movies on? To learn to keyboard? To email? What? What does he expect her to do with/on it?

For me, the age that it becomes appropriate is all tied up in what their intended use of it is. Our kids got "old" ones (hand me downs) a year ago and never really used them much. This summer (last month) they were gifted with brand new ones. They will be using them for online school starting a week from Monday. They are 10 and 13 yrs old.

Honestly? Didn't your family have some major financial trouble recently? I think if he wants to get her a laptop he should first call into the Suze Orman show for the "Can I Afford It" segment. I bet Suze will say "Denied!"