Sunday, February 6, 2011

Wooden Trains and Max's i.Pod

WOODEN TRAINS AND MAX'S i.POD

Took some old wooden train pieces down to three year old Max - one old too tall blue engine and two bridges that were too low for trains to go under. Max was actively playing with the old wooden trains that belonged to his father and uncle many years ago prior to this digital nation.

We got right busy and enjoyed almost an hour of play. We had numerous problems that needed to be solved as the old blue engine (we named it POWERFUL) would crash into the tunnels and bridges. The bridges would even let the smaller, older trains through. Max would have to go get his Percy engine (who has a very strong magnet) to push and pull the wrecks out of the way.

Suddenly he declared, "I need my i.Pod. What would Thomas do about this mess?" He runs to his i.Pod and starts swishing his finger across the screen, turning it first Landscape and the Portrait. He searches for the app he needs, ignores the beginning part, and goes to an episode that will tell him what he needs. He works with that i.Pod for over 15 minutes, quiet and attentive but also able to monitor what his dad and I were talking about, what his sister needed (her binkie), what the dogs were barking about, and what was on the TV (some kid movie). He could multi-task with seeming ease.

When he located what he needed, he stashed the i.Pod and returned to the wooden trains. He used the solution and rebuilt the basic layout of the track to fix the problems so his trains would not keep crashing. This very young digital native used his play skills, problem solving skills, fine-motor dexterity skills, communication skills, gross motor skills, thinking skills, and social skills. He is the complete package. What will he be able to do in the future? I cannot imagine.

If only my digital immigrant mind were wired with neurons that could put this all together, I might be able to run the remote control to our flat-screen TV and DVR at the same time. The play Max does with that wooden train is not much different that what his dad and uncle did for more hours than I can count. But he solves his problems with a different part of his brain than they did.

What do we call these young people? Digital prodigy?

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