Strategy
Remote iPad Instruction with a Toddler: Mother’s Perspective
This working mother of three shares her experiences of introducing her toddler to an iPad during the pandemic!
In the first post, Remote iPad Instruction with a Toddler: Luke, we followed 22 month old Luke through his first couple of months learning to use an iPad. In this post, Luke’s mother, Jenny, shares her perspective of introducing her son to an iPad through remote learning during the pandemic.
Heather (Luke’s TVI) has been such a wonderful resource for us! We have really missed the in-person visits. At first, we tried to FaceTime. At Luke’s age, it just made it difficult. He was running all over the place or banging on my keyboard so we decided to just do weekly calls and videos. Heather would provide apps for us to download and tried to tailor it to his interests. She would give a few goals for us to work on and that was helpful. One week we would focus all on tapping and using his “point” and would move on to swiping or selecting specific things.
It was hard to develop a good routine with this. I work from home and had all three boys here until school started back up. I’m very fortunate because my mom helps on some days. She’s just as passionate as I am about teaching and helping Luke (and his brothers). When we first started out and he wasn’t enjoying it, Heather recommended to keep it short. I would have him use it for 10 minutes like three times a week. He really seemed so disinterested at first. Once he developed the couple skills he has with it and learned how to navigate around apps more he seemed to start enjoying it. Those Peekaboo apps were his favorite, but now he seems over them because they are pretty simple. They saved us at the eye doctor and the haircut though! We do most of his iPad time in the early afternoon before his nap. Since he shares it with Ryan, it’s just easier to do it while he’s at school. Sometimes he will help Luke, but most of the time he tries to take over. I do think in the beginning Will (6) and Ryan (4) were both helpful in showing him how it worked. I think it will be so much easier when he has his own device so I can organize it and see if he can/will select apps himself.
There was a definite progression from just hitting the iPad with his full hand to using his pointer to tap and swipe. He has come so far and I’m so proud of him. We are SO thankful for all of the support from Heather. Giving Luke these skills brings me some peace knowing he will have the tools he needs to succeed, especially as he gets older and into a school setting.
Video of Luke turning the page and selecting the desired firetruck. Accessible video description attached here.
Attached File(s)
https://www.perkins.org/sites/elearning.perkinsdev1.org/files/Video%20description.docx
By Diane Brauner
