As I’ve mentioned before, having pre-kindergarten age children, I am able to assess technology not only from the perspective of a teacher, but also from the perspective of a mother. I can see first-hand what works and what doesn’t with my children; what captures their attention, what does not.

I am also able to assess what enhances my children educationally and developmentally. I can distinguish applications or websites that are purely recreational from those that actually have educational enrichment capabilities.

Below, I’ve outlined the applications and websites that I recommend for young children—sites where I have witnessed their value firsthand:

• iwrite
  This application allows a child to use touch to learn the proper formation of letters, numbers and three-letter words. It reinforces on directionality (all letters and numbers start at the top): the child drags their finger along a dotted path to the finish line in sequential order to properly form the featured letter or number. Once completed, they are given the auditory confirmation of what they just made.
  Once a child has mastered letters and numbers, it’s time to move on to three-letter words and to begin some basic reading—my kids love it!
• Math Magic
  This is a favorite of my kids as they learn number recognition, number value and basic addition and subtraction
• Hangman
  Thought this game was just for adults? Nope!
  I play it daily with my five year olds. If you enter two-player mode, you can create your own word (or words) to be guessed by your opponent. We create puzzles with their names to reinforce the spelling, and we use simple sentences to reinforce the few words they know how to read like, “I Love you.” They love it!
• Connect Four and Tic Tac Toe
  These are not just games—they enhance spatial awareness, critical thinking, taking turns and more!
• Doodlebuddy
  This application is utilized the most in our family! We love to play “The Squiggle Game” (that’s what we have named it); to play, one person makes a squiggle and hands it over to another person to turn it into something. You will be amazed at the creativity that is sparked and the vocabulary development opportunities that are created. Try it with your little one and I promise you will be playing for quite awhile!
• Starfall
  This website should be accessible to EVERY pre-school age child. It is such a great resource for children and parents—from making letter-sound connections to beginning reading you will find it all here. It is a site that is easy to navigate for children and also has the resource for parents to print out reproducible pages to work on with their child. A definite treasure of a site!

I am a huge proponent of the philosophy that “Learning can be fun!” There are so many other applications and websites out there, and the fun is in finding them and seeing what kind of learning light they turn on for your child.

When you find technology that is benenficial for pre-school age children, please share! The parent-teacher-child realtionship of learning is so powerful when all are committed!