From bane to boon! 5 tips to harness mobile tech to help your child

In the current scenario, mobile phones are becoming the most highly-used technological device. What is more, smartphones are now even influencing not only elders, but children as well. As per research cited by Slonkit, an average adult spends around 4 hours a day on her/his mobile phone. Children are no exception. Also a recent report, children younger than eight are reportedly spending an average of two hours and 19 minutes per day glued to screens. Roughly 30 percent of that time is spent on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.

Javed Tapia, Founder Slonkit said, “Parents are increasingly striving to enhance the value of time spent by their children on mobile devices. Research suggests that when children work with useful apps, they are likely to pick up several skills that will help them solve problems, draw inferences, make predictions, reason better and validate choices.”

Five areas where learning can be fast-tracked using mobile devices, as per Slonkit Founder.

Enhance analytical and problem-solving skills – it’s important to provide avenues to children to develop their analytical and problem-solving skills at an early age. Allow your children to use gaming apps that force them to use reasoning to answer quizzes and brainteasers.

Learn new languages – Learning a foreign language is always helpful. There are many apps available on mobile devices that teach different languages such as German, French, Spanish, Dutch, English and even Hindi. Parents just need to download them from the app stores for their children. The fun quizzes and tests make it easy for children to learn a new language. Interestingly, parents too can participate and help their children learn the language of their choice by practicing it with them.

Build vocabulary – As per a recent study, word games are effective tools to build children’s vocabulary. They are fun to play and can be played with multiple friends online. This powerful avenue helps children to learn new words, remember their meanings and strengthen their command over the language. These apps make learning new words an interesting experience. This combined learning tool and game is built on sophisticated algorithms to customize question and exercises for each user. The apps that aid enhancement of children’s vocabulary is a good investment of time spent on mobile devices.

Augment logical and visual reasoning – Puzzles and games such as Sudoku can be played by children on mobile devices whenever and wherever they want. Parents can also step in and make the game more interesting for their children by setting a time limit within which the puzzle should be solved. This a great way to teach children how to achieve goals in stipulated timeline.

Practice money management – As per research, a significant percentage of parents understand that money management is a critical skill but have little information on how to teach it to their children. To cater to this need, money management apps are developed. Using these apps, parents can enable their children to manage their allowances independently. They can also monitor the expenses made by their children and guide them with valuable insights on how to manage money better. Such skills, if taught early, enable parents to make their children financially prudent.