Creating Smart Home for Kids

Creating a Smart Home for Kids

Today’s technology enables us to wire our homes and make them computerized. Coffee can be set to begin before we wake up and lights turned on before we arrive home from work at night. But this column isn’t focused on creating a smart home from a technological perspective, but rather how a home supports and protects a child and reinforces the love of learning.

Kid safe

Most homes have at least one computer. In my own home, we have five and a sixth is on the way. Of course, we work out of our home and the majority of our business is conducted via computers and the Internet. My exposure to the World Wide Web on a daily basis is what makes me more skeptical of the Internet and knowledgeable about how to protect myself and my family. If you have children in the house, and even if you don’t, computer protection is a must. The first step in protecting your children is to only allow Internet access in a public area such as the living room or kitchen. The computer monitor should also be shown and the child made to sit with their back to you so you can monitor where the browser is going and the sites and pages visited.

Take precautions

Many perfectly good and well-meaning parents allow unsupervised Internet browsing yet would never drop their child off in downtown Houston in the middle of the night and just leave. Yet, when parents allow unsupervised access on the Internet, they have effectively done the same thing. Having a computer in a child’s bedroom is fine, but Internet access in the bedroom is an open opportunity for trouble, predators and worse. For safety, computers need barriers, such as firewalls, parental controls and virus protection. Televisions are another source of exposure for children. Many can be programmed to block inappropriate channels and shows. Cable and satellite television services also offer blocking options.

Encourage smarts

Besides erecting barriers to the flotsam and jetsam coming into your home via the Web and TV, it’s equally important to create opportunities for learning in your décor. Some of my favorite decorating elements include maps and books. A large coffee table atlas provides an opportunity for rainy-day browsing by kids. In our home, we have a standing globe to inspire creativity and knowledge of the world. We watch the news every evening and when a question comes up about some event, we go straight to the globe to find out where the event’s happening. Americans have notoriously poor geography skills, but an atlas, globe or map will encourage your child to learn more about world geography.

Another wonderful addition to a home is a dictionary stand. We have one in with a large unabridged dictionary. This encourages interaction with language and creates a strong symbol in our home of the importance of education. Even a wall hanging with a large key and the word “knowledge” imparts important values about learning and education. I truly believe that our globe and dictionary stand are the reasons why my eight-year-old son’s my most frequent questions are about where something is and what a particular word means. These two items stimulate many interesting conversations between us and our son. As a result, his vocabulary is excellent and he often surprises me with his wonderful, and precise, use of words. Creating a home that encourages growth and learning is a wonderful way to support your children and their education. Making your home one that encourages – and protects – your children creates a smart and nurturing environment where they’re both safe and supported.