"Love @ First Touch! "

My little girl is turning 4 this weekend.Like every child,she is pestering for her birthday wish to be granted.Guess what is her on birthday wish list? iPhone apps..yes,I am not kidding...Amiellie is fascinated with iPhone apps.If you ask her who is her best friend,she would say it is the iPhone. Yikes,it can be scary judging from the response,but i totally understand from where she is coming from.She is just a child and literal answers like that often pops out from the mouth of babes.As long as I don't observe alarming signals that she is having obsessive compulsion with the iPhone,I am fine with her seemingly passionate affiliation with the iPhone.

Amiellie's fascination with the iPhone is not uncommon.In fact,many children who have been exposed or introduced to the iPhone,often are hooked at the first instance.I call it "Love at first touch!"

Well,there is logical explanation based on early childhood theories on why toddlers or preschoolers can easily fall in love with any of these touch-enabled devices such as the iPhone or the iPads.

Children learn best from experience.They learn by doing, using their senses, and of course by exploring their environment.This is especially true in the preschool years.The iPhone provides all that sensorial stimulation a child needs to fuel his/her drive to explore.The interactive nature of these smart touch enabled devices is the key element that anchor these children to the devices.

As a professional in the early childhood industry,i am pro iPhone usage for children in general.

Why ?

Well,from experience I observe that children do not learn as effectively when they are passive. Active engagement with ideas or concepts promotes mental activity that helps children retain new learning and integrate it with what they already know. Iphone apps can be this interactive platform for a fun ,engaging learning.

But of course ,it is up to the discretion of parents to decide what apps your children will play.If you are just a "give in to your child whims" type of parent,then iphone apps can be a dangerous tool of self destruction in children's healthy learning habits. Your role as a parent is crucial in deciding what kind of apps is most beneficial for your child. The act of  researching the learning values  and careful selection of these available apps goes to show  that you an involved participant in your child's learning.

There are hundreds of thousands of apps available at Itunes. How  do we select the best apps for preschoolers in terms of its fun or educational values? This is where I would like to help...

I would like to put more than a decade of my experience as an early childhood professional by evaluating and giving you unbiased reviews of preschool kids apps available in Itunes to help you decide on their educational values and entertainment level.