Kids and Computers

PRESCHOOLERS
Software CDs can be checked out from the Alachua County Public 
Library, and the collection of "Easy" software for preschoolers is 
particularly extensive.  Try these categories in the catalog:
    Early childhood education--Juvenile software.           
    Educational games
    CD-ROMs--Juvenile software
    Alphabets--Interactive multimedia
    Reading (Elementary)--Juvenile software       
  
COMPUTERS IN SCHOOL
Questions to ask your child's school about computer use:
1.  How often are computers used?  What sort of activities are 
they used for?  Do they just run programs or are they connected to 
the Internet?  
2.  How are the terminals arranged?  Can a teacher easily see what 
children are doing?
3.  Do they use headphones?  If so, what kind of protection is 
available to prevent the spread of head lice?
4.  If they are connected to the internet, what kinds of 
cyberspace activities can it be used for?  Web searches?  Chat 
rooms?  E-mail?
5.  If students have access to e-mail, are they given individual 
mail accounts, or does the entire class use one account which is 
monitored by the teacher?  
6.  If students can do web searches, do they have unlimited access 
to the entire web, or only to certain home pages on specific 
topics?