What?! Screen time?!! Isn't that taboo? Nope. At least, not for me. Screens are part of our world, and trying to avoid them can be difficult and frustrating. Screens are also tools! They can be extremely useful for certain things and in certain situations, and I believe that excluding them entirely is not helpful.
In fact, research shows that screens can actually be beneficial! The key here is using them as a tool and not overusing them to the exclusion of other activities and experiences. Here are some of my favorite ways to use screens with my young children:
Watching videos of books being read aloud. You can find loads of read-aloud videos on Youtube, and the quality of those videos varies greatly. So before choosing which ones to share with your children, watch the videos yourself. If you find a person or group whose read-aloud videos you enjoy and find to be high-quality, subscribe to them so that you can return to their videos. I have found a few author-read videos that my kids and I have really enjoyed. We're Going on a Bear Hunt read by Michael Rosen is one of our favorites that we have watched countless times.
Learning games/programs. This is a tough one, because there is so much out there that is marketed as "learning games" or "educational apps." So, you really need to look at those products with a critical eye to judge them for yourself. You can also take the word of experts you trust in determining which ones are high quality. One app I have really found useful and of high quality for my kids is ABC Mouse. Yes, it requires a subscription, but at least for now, I have found that it is worth it. With any of these games or apps, I don't allow my children unlimited time on them. I use them as a tool and I pay attention to what they are doing on the device. I typically use these games/apps when I need to occupy my children for a brief period of time, the most common one being when I'm doing their hair! Hair time can be a struggle for us, but I have found that letting my kids play on ABC Mouse on a tablet while I do their hair gives them some good literacy practice, which I can observe because I am sitting with them, and it keeps them happy and occupied.
Watching high-quality educational programs. Hello, Ms. Rachel! My kids, especially my youngest, LOVE Ms. Rachel. And guess what? I do too! Her videos are developmentally appropriate, highly engaging, and very educational. My youngest child began speaking very early and his vocabulary exploded quickly. And while I know I put in a lot of work with him on language, I also attribute some of his literacy learning and development to Ms. Rachel. Again, all "educational programs" are not created equally, and so you, as the parent and consumer, have to be discerning when selecting what is appropriate and beneficial for your children. But I can tell you from my knowledge and experience as an educator and as a parent, Ms. Rachel's programs are top-notch and definitely worth your child's time.
In the classroom, I have enjoyed using screens in a few ways too. I have enjoyed watching clips of the movies of books we read for students to compare and contrast the book and movie. I have several graphic organizers (included in my Novel Study Resource) I use to help them organize these thoughts. Also, when I have found good video clips of read-alouds, whether it's an author, public figure, or expert reading a book aloud, I like to share some of those with my students as well. It's fun for them to see and hear others reading, rather than always hearing my voice.
With all of that being said, I am obviously not advocating for unlimited and unsupervised screen time. I am simply suggesting that screens are tools that CAN be beneficial to our children's literacy development, if we are conscious about how we use them and are careful about the resources we select to access.
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