No, I haven't let my kids use the computer yet...I have occasionally gone to the PBS Website and found a video to put on if my husband was watching another channel on TV but I never just let them sit at the PC and do anything. Maybe when they are a bit older, and I'm sure they'll be using them in school anyway.

My 4 year old loves the computer.  We do limit her time on it, but she has been using it since she was probably about 2 1/2.  She is very good on it.  We limit what she can do, and like I said the amount of time that she can spend.  We have bought her some of the learning games for it and also found that playhousedisney.com and nickjr.com are good sites.  I am a teacher, and seeing what is expected of these children it does not hurt to get them used to the computer early, especially if it is done in a fun way.

Paige is 3.5 and sends emails to Daddy at work and occassionaly a friend or two.  By that, I mean she'll pick what smiley face she wants to put on it and she'll type a few words with my help to find the right letter.  We don't have a normal mouse on the laptop so I haven't introduced her to websited for something other than watching a show.

Cat - Mom to Paige & Zoe
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I introduced my daughter to the computer when she was three years old. It has helped her out a lot with reading and learning new things faster. Now she is in the gifted program, and wants to learn so much more. It is a great tool if monitored and used correctly by our kids. Yes there are a lot of creeps out there using it too, but if you are monitoring and doing your part as an involved parent your child will have a fun experience with computers and not a bad one. We are in the age of technology and if we are not using them we are behind in the times.

My husband is a computer programmer and I was a web designer/graphic designer for 12 years before I started staying home with the kids. Having the kids on the computer was a No Duh for us. They have been around them since birth, especially the boys because I had to work from home during my leave. I got very good a typing while nursing.

We generally start teaching them mouse skills around three. Our daughter received her laptop for Christmas, right before she turned 7. My husband has just bought a new one and she received his old one. Our middle son received his when he was four, because again, Dad got a new one. He actually doesn’t like using a mouse but is better at the track pad than most adults. They are allowed on the internet, but only to sites like Disney, Nick Jr. and PBS kids. Their laptops are controlled via an administrator account so they can only go to those sites. With our son, he does not have access to anything but those three sites. Our daughter has access to Google for school reasons, but it is limited in the content she can see, so many sites that she finds are blocked and she has to come to us to unblock them. She also has access to websites that test math skills and one that allows her to enter her spelling lists and then she can play games with them.

Our three year old has not started his computer lessons, because when we have him a parts laptop (the hard drive was removed) he pulled all the keys off. He is a little more destructive than his siblings. :D

 We used the computer for games at first to give them the introduction to the controls... now e urge them to use it because it is a great learning tool and there is so much the online community can offer.

~Cary~

 Happy to be the mommy to three!

My son is going to be 3 in December and I"ve started teaching him how to use the computer like a month ago.  He really loves it. We only go on kids sites. He's able to navigate the mouse and play games on his own while being supervised.

Ramonita the love nurse.

DD started playing games (Dora, etc.) on the computer when she was ~ 2 1/2.  She still plays on there.  She has her favorites bookmarked and will play on there about once a week.  WebKinz is a good site for kids.  DD is now 6 1/2.

I make her do her homework on the computer at least once a week so she can become more familiar with the keyboard.

Robin

My daughter started using the computer when she was about 3. Then my mom got her first computer. It was my 3-year-old daughter who taught her grandmother how to use a mouse!

http://www.starfall.com/   is a great site for kids.  My DS -5 actually goes to public school on-line through K12.  I have just enrolled my 11 & 12 yr olds in it also.