User:Plutinos

Good educational program enables children to develop and practice broad range of skills. It can help them learn, for example, about letters, numbers, shapes, colors, and rhythm. It can also help children to develop their understanding of cause and effect, higher order problem solving, procedural thinking, and creative expression. A few essential skills are required for directly controlling a computer software program. Children must first have adequate fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination to operate a mouse or track ball. Secondly, they must possess the cognitive skills of causality and vertical/horizontal transfer in order to understand that what they are doing with the keyboard or mouse is making things happen on the computer screen. They also need to possess the related skill of knowing what is up, down, right and left; so that they can control which direction they want the cursor to move on the computer screen. Typically these capabilities are present in the three to three-and-half-year-old. This is when becoming proficient with a mouse is a quasi-effortless, rapidly acquired skill. With basic mouse skills, three-year-olds can explore and experiment with cause and effect in simple environments like interactive stories and play rooms. As they master computers, children build positive attitudes toward technology that will pay dividends for the rest of their lives.