laptop for an 8 yr old.

crazygeryy

Can i have a few opinions please. Is 8 years old to young for a laptop?

solomafioso

crazygeryy wrote: »

Can i have a few opinions please. Is 8 years old too young for a laptop?

Yes.

thirteen.

What would an 8 year old do with a laptop?

crazygeryy

thirteen. wrote: »

What would an 8 year old do with a laptop?

Play minecraft basicly.

5uspect

You can run Minecraft on a €35 Raspberry Pi. They might even learn something.

SMJSF

He's 8!! He should be outside playing- not with his head stuck behind a screen!!
I didn't get a laptop til I was 18!

crazygeryy

SMJSF wrote: »

He's 8!! He should be outside playing- not with his head stuck behind a screen!!
I didn't get a laptop til I was 18!

He does rugby gaelic football hurling and swimming and plays outside with his friends. Hes not and won't be on it 24/7.
But thank you for your opinion.

crazygeryy

5uspect wrote: »

You can run Minecraft on a €35 Raspberry Pi. They might even learn something.

So for just 35 euro i can buy a rasberry pi and it will run minecraft? I don't need anything else?

LionelNashe

crazygeryy wrote: »

Can i have a few opinions please. Is 8 years old to young for a laptop?

I would say so. Youtube, social media, even boards.ie is somewhat addictive; no point in exposing an 8 year old to it.

dimcoin

definantly something cheap. you canget away with getting a laptop running win xp. he wont be able to play man y games but he will get experience navigating the operating system.

zanador

My son has an old sony vaio. He's nine now but had it since he was 8. He uses it for coder dojo, coding at home, CAD (design) - as well as minecraft, of course .

I don't think he's too young, it's a different time now and his ability to code from a young age will be invaluable to him in the future.

He also climbs mountains, plays tennis, swims, bikes etc etc it's all about balance

zanador

crazygeryy wrote: »

So for just 35 euro i can buy a rasberry pi and it will run minecraft? I don't need anything else?

You need a monitor, a lan cable (at first), a usb mouse and a usb keyboard. I'd also recommend getting a case and a wifi enabler. Chargers are bought separately too. We got a whole kit (minus mouse and keyboard) for about 65€ - that was for the latest model. Also, an understanding of linux operating systes and python is useful

Lucyfur

My lad is 12 now but had a laptop at 8. He has two now, one for school and one for his own use. He codes and plays minecraft. He's fit and healthy - and passionate about coding and learning. I'm all for him having his own laptop. He bought it himself with money he had saved but if he hadn't, I would have been willing to part pay for one for him.

eviltwin

I wouldn't buy an eight yr old their own laptop. Do you have a family one he could use, it would be easier to control as well.

SterlingArcher

Get him a desktop instead.

5uspect

crazygeryy wrote: »

So for just 35 euro i can buy a rasberry pi and it will run minecraft? I don't need anything else?

You need a Raspberry Pi B+, a mouse, keyboard, HDMI cable, TV (or monitor) 5V power supply, an Ethernet cable and a microSD. Mostly things you need for any PC.

Put the latest build of Raspbian onto it and you get Minecraft as an icon on the desktop. If he ****s it up you can simply reflash the SD card or let him learn by ****ing it up some more.

It's designed to teach kids Linux and Python. You can add a camera module to it and build apps. You can program arduino microcontrollers with it.

Oh to be a child again with one of these! We give them to our interns to play with

Orion

Back on topic please. The Pi is not for everyone and the question was not pi -vs- desktop -vs- laptop.

/mod

I don't think 8 is too young for a laptop - just too young to have ownership of one. Get a 'family' laptop that he can have access to for Minecraft and other things too. The key thing is to only allow him access in a common area - and make him aware that you will be checking what he's using it for. My own kids have been using computers at home since they were 6 - but always in the full knowledge that I have full access to what they've been using them for - and they know it's for their own safety that I monitor their usage. Now they have phones too and it's a condition that I can look at their phones and see what they have been doing on them. The tool isn't the issue - it's making sure that your child is protected.

Gordon Minard

I would keep him away for all this techie stuff for as long as you can . . .

He will, no doubt, get loads of access to it very quickly everywhere . . .

Technology usually puts an end to "Quality Time" . . .

biketard

We have a Raspberry Pi set up already, but it's not for everyone and really my old Acer Aspire One is a better match for my daughter (8).

Both my son (10) and daughter recently got their own touchpad (both hand-me-downs from the parents) that have educational apps only on them.

I should add that we closely monitor the kids' computer use. They can't just go on them when they want, but have to ask, and time is limited. But that's just our particular situation.

Blikes

I think it's the perfect age to buy a kid a laptop. The more he knows now, the more it will benefit him in the future. grabonestore, the deal site are having a sale on refurbished laptops now.

Just make sure to set him up on a child account and set limits from the admin account.

Ranjo

I would suggest a tablet over a laptop. I bought my son a cheap 7" android tablet when he was about 8. It served him well until it was accidently damaged.

For a replacement I have bought him a 8" Microsoft Windows tablet. The reason being he can play the full version of Minecraft, instead of pocket edition, and most importantly Windows comes with built in family safety so I get a brilliant summary of his usage and can monitor and control his time on it.

DoYouEvenLift

Definitely get him a laptop at that age, shpuld've had him using computers and tech even younger to be honest so he grows up to be knowledgable and comfortable with it. Setup a way to monitor what he's doing on your own computer op, just set boundaries as time goes on when he gets older. If you have knowledge on computers and coding then teach him, op. If you don't then learn with him in your free time together. This could end up being a huge interest that lands him a great job when he's older.

thirteen. wrote: »

What would an 8 year old do with a laptop?

Learn about how computers work? I used to love playing with the computers at school when I was a kid but couldn't do much since it was during class and we didn't have one at time. Exposure from a young age can get them interested and familiar with it and getting an early start with things like coding results in the best skills. How do you think we have teenagers creating successful apps?

Lucyfur wrote: »

My lad is 12 now but had a laptop at 8. He has two now, one for school and one for his own use. He codes and plays minecraft. He's fit and healthy - and passionate about coding and learning. I'm all for him having his own laptop. He bought it himself with money he had saved but if he hadn't, I would have been willing to part pay for one for him.

Parenting done right!

mrkiscool2

8 is definitely the right age for children now to be starting to use technology. As users above have said it will help the child in later life, he could develop an interest in IT and have a lifelong career from it and it's a good way for you to teach your child about how to use and mind technology properly.

Important thing would obviously to install a parental blocker, make sure the child is in view when on the laptop (not in his room for example, maybe the kitchen or sitting-room where you can keep an eye on him) limit him to a certain amount of time either per week or day (per week is better as it teaches him about time management) and have at least 1 (if not 2) days per week of no laptop.

DoYouEvenLift

mrkiscool2 wrote: »

8 is definitely the right age for children now to be starting to use technology. As users above have said it will help the child in later life, he could develop an interest in IT and have a lifelong career from it and it's a good way for you to teach your child about how to use and mind technology properly.

Important thing would obviously to install a parental blocker, make sure the child is in view when on the laptop (not in his room for example, maybe the kitchen or sitting-room where you can keep an eye on him) limit him to a certain amount of time either per week or day (per week is better as it teaches him about time management) and have at least 1 (if not 2) days per week of no laptop.

Don't even have to do that if you have another computer, just setup one of the programs for watching or even controlling what's happening on another computer in real time, you can even do this from work while your kids at home if you wanted and your kid would never even know you watch everything they're doing

crazygeryy

We have a desktop that he's been using since he was 4ish and we have monitored that closely and as a result he asks us can he do this on the pc can he do that etc
But we hog the pc as well and he s asking for the laptop so he can play minecraft ,in other words a bit of independence which I'm all for.
Supervision is the key as some of you have said.

crazygeryy

DoYouEvenLift wrote: »

Don't even have to do that if you have another computer, just setup one of the programs for watching or even controlling what's happening on another computer in real time, you can even do this from work while your kids at home if you wanted and your kid would never even know you watch everything they're doing

Can you tell me what program specifically does this ?

CrazyRabbit

There is tons of educational software available for kids, many of it free. And it's never too early to learn about something that will only become a more important part of life in the next 20-30 years. Computers are a significant tool now in both business and in social interactions.

Of course, usage needs to be monitored. That goes without saying. But keeping him away from tech because of the potential for misuse is foolish. He is going to have access to this tech during his lifetime. So better to teach him good usage habits now than wait for him to pick up bad habits later on when you are not around to guide him.

Education is always vastly superior to ignorance.

ch750536

Setup OpenDNS for your entire home and choose what they can \ cant see from there. You can also review what has been seen.

Have rules around screen time. Our kids have to earn screen time, 400 skips gets you an hour. Dribble a ball around the house 20 times for 30 mins.

Max 2 hrs screen time per day.

Recognise idle games vs creative play. Minecraft is incredibly creative. Praise your kids work and take an interest. Treat it the same as if they were painting.

Our kids need to embrace technology, it is a huge part of their lives. The most important thing we can teach them is balance. This like everything else needs to be taught in the informative years, 7-12.

Get your kid a laptop and let them use it, learn from it & understand what a fantastic tool it can be.

deisemum

I thought all primary school children were using computers for homework etc nowadays. I mind children afterschool and they go to different schools and one school in particular has their own page for each year from JI upwards that the pupils can do at home.

GarIT

crazygeryy wrote: »

Can you tell me what program specifically does this ?

LogMeIn

My brother had a laptop from 2years. He used to use it for playing games on the Nick Jr. website. Locked it down by setting him up his own account without admin privileges and a dodgy content filter on the router.

pwurple

I think 8 is fine for a laptop. Get them a few typing games as well... the ability to touch type is very useful as an adult, and is so easy for children to pick up. All my typing speed was all built up as a child. It stood to me in college and still does at work.

Minecraft is very creative, and there are some simple programming games as well. The ones that interact with lego are great fun (Lego mindstorms I think?).

splashthecash

zanador wrote: »

You need a monitor, a lan cable (at first), a usb mouse and a usb keyboard. I'd also recommend getting a case and a wifi enabler. Chargers are bought separately too. We got a whole kit (minus mouse and keyboard) for about 65€ - that was for the latest model. Also, an understanding of linux operating systes and python is useful

And you'll also need to buy Minecraft

mr kr0nik

I recycled an old netbook I had for my daughter. I put Windows 8 on it which is great. You can set up a kids account (I'm the designated parent) and get weekly reports on

1. What sites they visit (can be blacklist or whitelist)
2. What apps they use
3. What apps they download
4. How long they are on for each day.

All the above aren't a substitute for good supervision but are a useful add-on for additional reassurance. The windows account can also be used on the xbox with similar restrictions on what they can see and do on it.

I'd actually recommend Windows 8 (everything else I use is Linux based) for this role.

LovelySpuds

I'm 17 and I've been using a computer for as long as I can remember. Got my first PC when I was 9 which was a slow and frustrating Windows 98 Packard Bell but I made the most of it. I am now planning on doing computer science when I leave school and I cannot express how important it is for young people to become computer literate from a young age as it's not only a skill for life but with an ever increasing need for computer science graduates, this could be their chance.

Lucyfur

deisemum wrote: »

I thought all primary school children were using computers for homework etc nowadays. I mind children afterschool and they go to different schools and one school in particular has their own page for each year from JI upwards that the pupils can do at home.

This is why I'm glad my son is into computers. His school has NO computer based lessons at all. They have one computer in the whole school and when something goes wrong it's my son that fixes it.

_Kaiser_

Earlier the better IMO as no matter what they end up doing they'll need to be computer literate.

The only thing to be concerned about is that you as a parent monitor and supervise what they're doing - preferably in an open way that make the whole thing a mutual experience between ye.

My 2 year old little fella can already navigate the phone, open YouTube and expand the video to full screen. He can also ring people and send the occasional garbled text. Kinda freaky how comfortable he is with it all already!

skallywag

I see no issue at all with it, my daughter is 4 and she uses my old one.

DoYouEvenLift

crazygeryy wrote: »

Can you tell me what program specifically does this ?

Haven't used any since I'm not a parent but Google and test out a few different ones with the options you want, someone on this forum will probably even be able to give advice on one they've used. A remote desktop is what you're looking for, but one where the computer being monitored doesn't have any indications that it's being monitored is what you want


Here's one I found with a small search

http://www.ammyy.com/en/admin_parental_control.html

zanador

madforthebike wrote: »

I'm 17 and I've been using a computer for as long as I can remember. Got my first PC when I was 9 which was a slow and frustrating Windows 98 Packard Bell but I made the most of it. I am now planning on doing computer science when I leave school and I cannot express how important it is for young people to become computer literate from a young age as it's not only a skill for life but with an ever increasing need for computer science graduates, this could be their chance.

The word bolded above is very important - one of the modern criteria for being considered literate is a competency with technology such as computers. It's not just about reading and writing anymore. Hence why we can get such a low literacy score in some surprising countries.

Also, computer competency is not just about being able to use Microsoft Office etc nowadays.

We live in a world of software, it is in everything we do. Everything is run using software of some kind or another - and this is just going to increase. In the future being computer illiterate will be the same as being illiterate, or innumerate now. Our children may not all be designing software when they grow up, but it will hamper them if they don't understand it. (paraphrased from an article I read on the subject!)

Edit - here's the link to the original article, it's very interesting:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/07/year-of-code-dan-crow-songkick

implausible

Screentime, supervision and sense are key.

I am sick of listening to parents who tell me that their young fella is great on the computers, when I know that all they can do is search YouTube and play online games. One of my 5th year students, who "is great on the computer" and wants to become a games designer, gave me a blank look when I asked him if he was learning how to code.

People baulk at the idea of an 8 year old having a laptop because we all know a kid who sits in a corner on the laptop ignoring everyone or who stays up half the night on it. Kids can discover unsuitable material when searching unsupervised online and they don't possess the skills to recognise or understand it. When parents don't educate themselves on what their kids are up to, it can be a disaster. Plus, spending €500 on a brand new piece of tech for the exclusive use of an eight year old is excessive, in my opinion.

Not every kid who has a laptop will become a computer scientist or develop the next million-making app.

In case you think I'm a grumpy old woman, my 4 1/2 year old uses my ipad to watch cartoons and play games, my 2 1/2 year old can play games on my phone. I use ICT in my classes all the time. Yes, computers are being used in schools, to a greater or lesser degree, yes, kids may have to do homework on them or use them for research. There is no reason these activities cannot take place on a shared family laptop/tablet.

I just think parents can be sold on the idea of their kids not being left behind and it can turn into an unsupervised and unrestricted mess.

If you must, buy a reasonably-priced family laptop, closely monitor it and limit screen-time.

Akrasia

Some people suggested that a tablet is better than a laptop.

I strongly disagree

Tablets are far too user friendly. The only thing an 8 year old will learn from owning a tablet is how to waste hours of his/her time on casual games or social media/youtube.

Someone else said that the kid should have access to the laptop but not 'own' it. I disagree again. One part of computer literacy is how to maintain and troubleshoot the computer. The kid should be able to tinker with it, change the settings, personalise it, learn about the file systems, managing ram, managing profiles, navigating the control panel and recognising the tools that are useful for and those that are bloatware/malware

I would highly recommend getting a cheap used laptop and installing Linux mint or something similar onto it and letting the child own the laptop. Linux can play lots of games but to make them work sometimes requires a bit of effort and figuring out how to get them to work is a great way to learn about computers.

The Corinthian

crazygeryy wrote: »

Can i have a few opinions please. Is 8 years old to young for a laptop?

No. Yes. Maybe. Depends on the child.

My son, aged 7, regularly uses a laptop. As has been suggested, much of the time it's for games like Minecraft or Club Penguin. However, he uses it to Skype me and has taken to also writing chats (originally through a form of emoticon hieroglyphics, but recently also in English). I've also used it to introduce him to things like programming (scratch) and to play chess with him. Finally, it can also double up as a portable DVD, as it were (for cartoons and movies) - especially if you're familiar with BitTorrent... not that I am in any way condoning or encouraging people to download movies.

The only two caveats are security and overexposure, IMO. The first does not appear to be an issue YET, as he has yet to figure out how to surf or communicate outside of those games I mentioned earlier - I expect this to become an issue before he's ten.

The second is overexposure and that's where he ends up spending too much time on it, which is unhealthy, so that requires boundaries to be set and enforced.

As to options, as long as it supports those games that a child is likely to play (i.e. Minecraft, Flash-based browser games), it can be a pretty cheap affair and so something under 300 Euro would likely do. I'd also think twice about a tablet, as these tend not to support Flash, which is the bread and butter of many kids games nowadays.

_Kaiser_

Akrasia wrote: »

I would highly recommend getting a cheap used laptop and installing Linux mint or something similar onto it and letting the child own the laptop. Linux can play lots of games but to make them work sometimes requires a bit of effort and figuring out how to get them to work is a great way to learn about computers.

I was with you right up until this..

There's no point in installing something that virtually no-one (outside the server side of things) actually uses. Far better to install Win 7/8 (which it'll probably come with anyway) and let them get used to that as there's a 99% chance that it's what they'll be using when they're in school/work.

Keeping a Windows install running smoothly - especially if you're playing games - can still be tricky enough.

biketard

I've got Linux Mint on the netbook that my daughter uses. I don't see the problem. They already learn Windows stuff at school. Having an additional OS at home is like bringing them up bilingual.

5uspect

splashthecash wrote: »

And you'll also need to buy Minecraft

No, you don't.
http://pi.minecraft.net

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

I was with you right up until this..

There's no point in installing something that virtually no-one (outside the server side of things) actually uses. Far better to install Win 7/8 (which it'll probably come with anyway) and let them get used to that as there's a 99% chance that it's what they'll be using when they're in school/work.

Keeping a Windows install running smoothly - especially if you're playing games - can still be tricky enough.

Linux is far more important than a few server things. Android, iOS, OS X and many other UNiX derivatives are becoming much more mainstream than Windows in day to day life whereas Windows is declining. Linux is hugely important for a whole host of applications - it even gaining traction as a gaming platform.

We have had a few TY students into us this week (we also take in third level interns and have visiting PhD students). Very few of them can code, nevermind find their way around Windows.
I asked one of the TY kids what they do with computers in school and if he enjoyed using them. I was told that he had solid basics. When I asked what the basics were I was informed that this was merely Word and ****ing PowerPoint. I think I died a little inside.

Why are we teaching kids to use crappy proprietary productivity software when we could be teaching them about actual computers? They have no idea what a text editor is. I had a student send me me his contribution to a TeX document in a Word file! I see people spend hours with excel spreadsheets when a simple script could have completed the task in seconds.

We need to teach children what a computer is. What it can do. How they can build one, program it, make it talk to another computer, break it, fix it. We shouldn't turn our school time into training or kids to use expensive vendor locked software. If you can actually use a computer learning something as simple as Word is not something that schools should have to waste time on.

The Corinthian

5uspect wrote: »

I asked one of the TY kids what they do with computers in school and if he enjoyed using them. I was told that he had solid basics. When I asked what the basics were I was informed that this was merely Word and ****ing PowerPoint. I think I died a little inside.

Not everyone in the World is a techie and the reality is that common packages such as Word and PowerPoint are the basics for the other 99% of the population. Neither should we presume that our children will follow us into technical professions or even be terribly technical (e.g. they may take after their other parent there).

Given this, if one does want to introduce their children to programming, I would recommend Scratch.

5uspect

The Corinthian wrote: »

Not everyone in the World is a techie and the reality is that common packages such as Word and PowerPoint are the basics for the other 99% of the population. Neither should we presume that our children will follow us into technical professions or even be terribly technical (e.g. they may take after their other parent there).

Given this, if one does want to introduce their children to programming, I would recommend Scratch.

When you go to school you learn the fundamentals. You don't just learn how to read the Star. You don't just learn how to figure out the cost of texting X factor. Why then when you study basic computer use are we teaching children MS Office? Why not show them general purpose skills that enable them to use these commercial packages if they so wish? It's not about entering a technical field, it's about learning some very basic concepts.

This weeks TY student, when I asked him if he know the equation for the area of a circle, told me that they didn't have to know that in the exam so it wasn't important. I was planning to spend the next hour teaching him the basics of Photography, as he had a photo assignment coming up, but after that I could barely bring myself to spend fifteen minutes giving a damn.

On the flip side we recently got an intern right out of first year from the UK and he could code in C# and Matlab and could string together more than two syllables together.

Lisha

The Corinthian wrote: »

Not everyone in the World is a techie and the reality is that common packages such as Word and PowerPoint are the basics for the other 99% of the population. Neither should we presume that our children will follow us into technical professions or even be terribly technical (e.g. they may take after their other parent there).

Given this, if one does want to introduce their children to programming, I would recommend Scratch.

As a non techie parent I've been slightly shamefaced reading this thread. I've downloaded scratch and hopefully my children will benifit from this. Thanks for the tip re scratch

wingnut

My 2C:

Defiantly not too young, I got my first computer at that age (Commodore 64).
I +1 the comments I would go for a laptop over a tablet for sure.

There are a slew of low cost laptops on the way as Microsoft are giving Windows free to manufactures for low cost devices, so a reasonable spec Windows laptop will come in around the €200-250 mark. You could also look at Chromebooks.

The obvious things regarding screen time is take it before bed time, no wifi access behind closed doors. I would also look at installing a free screen sharing software (VNC, Chrome Remote Desktop or the like) and let the kid know that you reserve the right to spot check their activity for their own protection. At 8 you could just say he must use it in a supervised area like the living room etc.

The Corinthian

Five-year-old passes Microsoft exam.

crazygeryy

THANK YOU all for your replies. I have decided Santa is going to bring the laptop after all. I knew it wasn't a bad idea but just wanted a few opinions.
I'm off now to have a nice slice of rasberry pi and ice cream.