https://pixabay.com/en/kid-plays-sand-sandbox-little-boy-395659/

blog: sandboxes and analog modeling

Adults immersed in tech fields are wisely choosing to remove tech from their kids’ school environments, specifically enrolling their kids in schools that do not have tech at every turn. There is a neurological reason for this that we feel in our own lives: the subtle pressure to stay connected, the nagging tiny fear of missing something, the fact that many kids now cannot read a paper map and navigate with it.

This article from the Center for Digital Education shows the importance of blending tech and environmental learning. They make each other stronger.

I also do not allow my kid to have 24/7 tech, and especially not to have xbox and ps2 as a proxy for other skills. He spends a lot of time drawing on the computer, creating op art and fractals, and even creating new fonts for himself. He even made barcodes and QR codes just for please of it–as art.

If you are thoughtful about your media consumption and technology use, you see that what it made it so useful was the analog problems it solved, but that dependency on technology is its own problem. Teach your kids to read a map!