Just Like Mommy

My daughter walks up to me and says "I want to type something".

Not only cute, but articulate.

I finally broke down and opened Word and let her type.

And, man, did she!

typetypetypetypetypetypebackspacebackspacetypetyptypetype

It was very cute.

Right up until she brought up all of the Word menus and Start menu and changed my headphone balance.

So, mommy realized that we need to find a laptop for the little typist.  When I went to look at toddler laptops, I found a mixed bag.  Most of them are straight up dumb.  I don't understand why you'd want to buy a toy that looks like a laptop but has a 2" screen with poor resolution.

And the keyboard.

Most of the keyboards (Leapfrog, FisherPrice, etc) are not qwerty keyboards.  They're some cutsie version of a keyboard with the letters in alphabetical order, most likely to help kids learn the ABCs.  (note the irony I feel after my Qwerty article).

But to this point, I wish to bring up that V-Tech does have a Qwerty keyboard on their toddler laptop.  It has poor reviews for batteries, but otherwise, it does have  a Qwerty keyboard.

Why would you want to teach your child anything other than a Qwerty keyboard?  (in America, that is- I don't know what to tell you out there in Europe and Asia.  Perhaps you're all smarter than American toy manufacturers).   We're talking about THE MOST IMPRESSIONABLE TIME in a child's life.  If they learn something now, they never forget.

Why on EARTH would you want to handicap them by teaching them a keyboard in alphabetical order?  Not to mention the higher level knowledge that is required to not only recall which letter they're looking for and what it looks like, but also to assess that this is the one I want out of more than 26 options!

Please, people, be smarter about your children.  Don't baby them.  Teach them.