We live in an era where...
-
We work really hard to let our kids have a good outdoor experience and a good video game one. We live in cool European villages with great playgrounds and stuff. But we also set them up with Steam and loads of interesting, thought provoking games. And lots of games that they can play with others.
The things that I seek to avoid are based on passivity, rather than technology. The things that I like them doing the least are watching television or reading books.... passive activities where you just zone out. They are okay in small amounts, but video games or imagination games or physical activities are so much better. Things that engage the brain, rather than shutting it off.
-
My kiddies get limited TV time, mini-nadnerB gets to play games on the iPad (mine from work) sometimes and spends most of his time using his imagination while playing with his toys or outside doing stuff or asking if he can "do gardening" (which equates to playing near by while Mrs nadnerB and I do the weeding or something else garden related).
Miss-nadnerB only sees the TV if she's awake and in the same room as Mini-nadnerB. She stares at it and smiles & claps when animals are on. It's unfortunate that her usual set of toys is near the TV but she's too little to let wander around the house unattended.
EDIT: Mini-naderB also like to play the Lego Avengers game on PS3 but that's rare for it to happen. I also like to play with him.
-
@scottalanmiller said in We live in an era where...:
We work really hard to let our kids have a good outdoor experience and a good video game one. We live in cool European villages with great playgrounds and stuff. But we also set them up with Steam and loads of interesting, thought provoking games. And lots of games that they can play with others.
The things that I seek to avoid are based on passivity, rather than technology. The things that I like them doing the least are watching television or reading books.... passive activities where you just zone out. They are okay in small amounts, but video games or imagination games or physical activities are so much better. Things that engage the brain, rather than shutting it off.
I grew-up in the 80s , where although we had TV, the programming was rather dull .. We mostly watched recorded sports telecasts ...Sundays, were the only days, where there would be something better to watch ... Only the uber rich kids had video games .. So, for us, it was mostly going out and playing with the other kids, which I thoroughly enjoyed .. time indoors was spent reading, snakes-n-ladders, scrable, 1etc with the family ... All this reduced, as the programming on the tele improved, I got my first computer, and then the internet ... quality family time reduced drastically ..
But yeah, I agree - The key is "Balance ", which is challenging, to achieve, but not impossible
-
We have a no tech at the table policy.
We all sit at the kitchen table together to have dinner. While that's happening, all phones, tablets, etc are moved away. -
@momurda said in We live in an era where...:
What is a watch?
This is a watch.. It's got more parts and an iPhone, iWatch, iwhatever... It takes longer to make, than an i-whatever, and is infinitely more beautiful ...
-
@Veet said in We live in an era where...:
@scottalanmiller said in We live in an era where...:
We work really hard to let our kids have a good outdoor experience and a good video game one. We live in cool European villages with great playgrounds and stuff. But we also set them up with Steam and loads of interesting, thought provoking games. And lots of games that they can play with others.
The things that I seek to avoid are based on passivity, rather than technology. The things that I like them doing the least are watching television or reading books.... passive activities where you just zone out. They are okay in small amounts, but video games or imagination games or physical activities are so much better. Things that engage the brain, rather than shutting it off.
I grew-up in the 80s , where although we had TV, the programming was rather dull .. We mostly watched recorded sports telecasts ...Sundays, were the only days, where there would be something better to watch ... Only the uber rich kids had video games .. So, for us, it was mostly going out and playing with the other kids, which I thoroughly enjoyed .. time indoors was spent reading, snakes-n-ladders, scrable, 1etc with the family ... All this reduced, as the programming on the tele improved, I got my first computer, and then the internet ... quality family time reduced drastically ..
But yeah, I agree - The key is "Balance ", which is challenging, to achieve, but not impossible
For me it was... only uber rich kids had other kids close enough to go see. I grew up on a farm miles from any other kids. Seeing another kid was a very special occasion thing.
-
@Veet said in We live in an era where...:
This is a watch.. It's got more parts and an iPhone, iWatch, iwhatever... It takes longer to make, than an i-whatever, and is infinitely more beautiful ...
Because... Swiss
-
@scottalanmiller said in We live in an era where...:
@Veet said in We live in an era where...:
This is a watch.. It's got more parts and an iPhone, iWatch, iwhatever... It takes longer to make, than an i-whatever, and is infinitely more beautiful ...
Because... Swiss
brings me to the question ... whereabouts in Europe ?
-
@Veet said in We live in an era where...:
@momurda said in We live in an era where...:
What is a watch?
This is a watch.. It's got more parts and an iPhone, iWatch, iwhatever... It takes longer to make, than an i-whatever, and is infinitely more beautiful ...
Beautiful watch but there are a couple billion transistors in any given iDevice
-
@tiagom said in We live in an era where...:
@Veet said in We live in an era where...:
@momurda said in We live in an era where...:
What is a watch?
This is a watch.. It's got more parts and an iPhone, iWatch, iwhatever... It takes longer to make, than an i-whatever, and is infinitely more beautiful ...
Beautiful watch but there are a couple billion transistors in any given iDevice
Yeah yeah ... transistors .. building blocks of all microchips, n all that ... but we don't say "oh, my iDevice has 3 GB RAM, and 200 million bazillion transistors", now do we ...
-
@Veet said in We live in an era where...:
@tiagom said in We live in an era where...:
@Veet said in We live in an era where...:
@momurda said in We live in an era where...:
What is a watch?
This is a watch.. It's got more parts and an iPhone, iWatch, iwhatever... It takes longer to make, than an i-whatever, and is infinitely more beautiful ...
Beautiful watch but there are a couple billion transistors in any given iDevice
Yeah yeah ... transistors .. building blocks of all microchips, n all that ... but we don't say "oh, my iDevice has 3 GB RAM, and 200 million bazillion transistors", now do we ...
Well, I do.
-
lol... you're an exception(al)
-
btw, you mentioned you're in Europe ... but, whereabouts, in Europe ?
-
@Veet said in We live in an era where...:
btw, you mentioned you're in Europe ... but, whereabouts, in Europe ?
LOL, well at the moment, Texas. I was in NY last week.
We are calling Romania home, more than anywhere else these days. I was just talking to some kids in the village not half an hour ago on Facebook. Central Transylvania, we are house shopping there out in the country.
We move around a lot. Current best guess plan is that we will be spending the autumn in Mexico and Belize, then winter in southern Italy and up to the house in Romania in the spring.
-
sounds awesome ...
-
@scottalanmiller said in We live in an era where...:
We work really hard to let our kids have a good outdoor experience and a good video game one. We live in cool European villages with great playgrounds and stuff. But we also set them up with Steam and loads of interesting, thought provoking games. And lots of games that they can play with others.
The things that I seek to avoid are based on passivity, rather than technology. The things that I like them doing the least are watching television or reading books.... passive activities where you just zone out. They are okay in small amounts, but video games or imagination games or physical activities are so much better. Things that engage the brain, rather than shutting it off.
I definitely consider television a passive activity. Reading, not so much. It takes brain power to read and construct the images in your own mind based on what you are reading. A well written book [regardless of topic], to me, is just as beautiful as anything else to me. Worlds can be made and destroyed. Wars can be fought and won...or lost... all within the confines of your own mind.
Ideas can be planted, things can be understood, all be cause of the power of the written word. If you don't encourage reading... why do you write your own blog?
-
-
@scottalanmiller said in We live in an era where...:
We are calling Romania home, more than anywhere else these days.
Beautiful place, I hear ... One of the more under-rated European countries... it's my dream to drive/ride on the The Transfagarasan mountain road
-
@dafyre said in We live in an era where...:
@scottalanmiller said in We live in an era where...:
We work really hard to let our kids have a good outdoor experience and a good video game one. We live in cool European villages with great playgrounds and stuff. But we also set them up with Steam and loads of interesting, thought provoking games. And lots of games that they can play with others.
The things that I seek to avoid are based on passivity, rather than technology. The things that I like them doing the least are watching television or reading books.... passive activities where you just zone out. They are okay in small amounts, but video games or imagination games or physical activities are so much better. Things that engage the brain, rather than shutting it off.
I definitely consider television a passive activity. Reading, not so much. It takes brain power to read and construct the images in your own mind based on what you are reading. A well written book [regardless of topic], to me, is just as beautiful as anything else to me. Worlds can be made and destroyed. Wars can be fought and won...or lost... all within the confines of your own mind.
Ideas can be planted, things can be understood, all be cause of the power of the written word. If you don't encourage reading... why do you write your own blog?
You can say the same things about television or being told a story, I actually find listening to a book slightly less passive than actually reading because I'm so much less likely to just fall asleep or skip whole sections with my eyes moving but my brain disengages. Reading lets you imagine, but doesn't make you. It isn't interactive and doesn't engage you. You are still being fed everything. Culturally we accept it as being a technology that isn't treated as technology and an exception from passivity concerns, but in reality, it's far closer to television than to video games.
-
@Veet said in We live in an era where...:
@scottalanmiller said in We live in an era where...:
We are calling Romania home, more than anywhere else these days.
Beautiful place, I hear ... One of the more under-rated European countries... it's my dream to drive/ride on the The Transfagarasan mountain road
It's an amazing place, we really love it. Our village is in the heart of Transylvania and very, very far from everything. Totally remote. Horse drawn carts are the standard transportation.
We drove the road next to that one, my wife gets sick on those, though, so we try to avoid them. I'm a "driver" though and want to do it sometime. I know where all the good roads are in the mountains
