Educational games and activities on the computer offer a valuable opportunity for children to learn new skills and practice old ones. For parents, the trick is knowing how computer learning works. Doing a dozen math problems in a workbook is boring. Solving math problems so you can win prizes or cause musical or comical rewards encourages more effort. Computer games also present problems in simplified ways that make them easy for children to comprehend.
Computers are also infinitely patient and support individual differences.
Children take as long as they like to solve problems, and progress at their own pace. Computer games can even track children s progress, making problems harder or easier based on children s wrong and right answers. But while computer learning has many beneficial features, its value is dramatically increased by parental participation. There are a number of simple things parents can do that make a big difference in learning. For example, parents can model appropriate problem-solving by thinking out loud as they work on problems.