Laptop or tablet for a first grader?
My son will be starting first grade next year and I know they will start working on typing and basic computer skills in school. We are considering getting him a laptop or notebook as we don't have a home computer (both I and my husband have our laptops we use for work so he won't be able to borrow and use). He already has an old ipad and a new kindle fire he is sharing with his preschool-aged sibling so he likely does not need another device for apps and games as he uses the tablets for these, but not sure if tablets replace a laptop for everything and there is likely no replacing a laptop for learning to type and use a computer. Any advice as to which laptop or notebook is good for a first grader and would work well for school and other educational uses? Or will it be a waste as he will be too young to use a laptop independently and will continue to prefer the tablets anyway and we should wait another year or so? Thanks.
Parent Replies
I'd recommend a Chromebook. They are cheap, don't store any data locally (so if it gets lost his stuff will all be in the cloud) and pretty much everything you need to do (document editing, web browsing, etc) is easier than on a PC laptop. The one thing you can't really do is play serious video games - yet another advantage :) .. In high school my son was required to get one and bring it to class and most of their work is on-line.
Does a first grader actually need a laptop? Usually they don't write "reports" until 3rd or 4th grade. Seems like it is important to practice writing/drawing by hand to develop fine motor coordination. I agree about the chromebook if you do get him one.
A plug in Apple keyboard for the iPad has been better for my kid than a standard keyboard. Her smaller hands navigate the smaller board and keys. She has done her typing tutorial on it and it works fine. In the interest of keeping down the already overpopulated colony of tech drvices in our home, we opted to stick with what we already had and nobody has missed out on anything thus far.
Chromebook. We are part of a charter school and the school issued chromebook for our children (age 6 and 9). Its light and has the basic that they need.