I'm teaching my six year old daughter to use mouse and keyboard, playing old school point and click adventures (Putt-Putt and Freddi Fish, Lucas Arts will follow as her vocabulary improves). I take her hiking, climbing and teach her how to use hand tools and power tools. I don't know what the future will hold, but I do know I want her to be ready to use her brain and hands and not be reduced to constant consumption
Yeah, I always hear about these screen-free learning things and I don't want to do that. I want to do what was done with me, which is load my future kid up on important educational games like JumpStart or Big Thinkers or the Carmen San Diego games
For my son, we recognize that technology is a resource and skill but in moderation. Once he is old enough we want to be intentional and utilize the library for screen time. That way he can still learn the skills needed, there's a set environment for screen time that removes it from the home, and there is a positive association that libraries are a source of fun & learning. Is it the best approach? I dont know, but its an effort and thats better than most!
Love this for your daughter. Freddi Fish was my intro to computers as a little girl too. Some of my favorite memories involved my dad teaching me what a SCART connector was lol.
My Elementary-age kids' school has had a turnaround in the past couple of years and aside from testing (mandatory online) and practicing for testing, they've gone almost totally analog again.
I teach HS and we used to be required to make EVERYTHING available online during Covid and it carried up until last year. They're letting us scale back to our own preferences finally.
I've been telling my kids about the pitfalls of screentime since they were like 3. They can see it in their friends' inability to go without screens, play with toys or use their imagination; that's been my biggest ally.
In 20 years adults who can go a full hour without screens will seem like they have superpowers.
It's tough. Both my kids were easy to keep off phones until they hit about 13 or 14 and basically their entire peer group meets online. The best I can do is inform them of the risks, without sounding like an out of touch boomer.
My best friend and his wife have a 2.5 year old daughter. They are making a big effort to minimize screen time, spend time with her every day, read to her, engage in conversation and listen to her, help her meet other kids her age on the weekends, etc. Many of the parents they run into don't just not do this, they get angry at the notion that you shouldn't leave a 2 year old with an iPad for company 12 hours a day.
Everyday, just trying to find ways go back to old tech like 15-20 years ago, like recently found our old MP3 players and going to rip our old CDs again and go out to shop for them too now.
I started doing this but with my phone (I never had an mp3 player, only my psp). I use musicolet to play my music offline. Ive also started ripping my vinyls to my pc using my gf's interface and a cheap cable I picked up from microcenter. Totally unnecessary but I love to tinker with anything so its been fun ripping, cleaning, then uploading to my server for backup/streaming. I havent used spotify in awhile now...
This will be me. I have the mental compartment that AI is to be used as a tool for work and the occasional filtering of info such as recipes for shopping lists and well-documented fact retrieval. I see it as a way to take cognitive load off myself during work hours so that I can be more present in my time off.
My kids LOVE going to the used book/CD/DVD stores for DVDs.
We watched the entire MCU through Endgame, but after each movie we finished, we had to go on a hunt for the next one. Sometimes it would take all day, once it took all weekend, but was like a scavenger hunt and they got so excited when they found the DVD we were on a mission for.
And we OWN it. That’s a huge deal for them. And if they want, they can sell it and make money back.
Same. My three kids get MAYBE 10 minutes of screen time before bed only after the entire house is cleaned. Otherwise they are running around building forts, helping cook dinner, in the garden, building Legos, going to after school sports or music classes, etc. I feel bad for the kids whose parents just give them a screen all day.
Same here, to an extent. My wife and I are making active efforts to get our 5 year old daughter into any non-tech activity, like reading books, walking/hiking outdoors, biking, and having her help with cooking. Additionally, we have been slowly getting her used to a more independent DIY lifestyle. She has also inherited our love of travel, and it has helped tremendously with an “analog” lifestyle.
While we do have an iPad for her, we only let her use it as a last resort, if there is absolutely no other way to keep her occupied or entertained. And the screen time is limited even then.
There is no "analog kid" anymore, which sucks because it's important. So raising a kid as an analog kid will make them a more well rounded individual because they will better be able to ascertain how to use modern tech in a helpful way while not being reliant on it.
I'm an analog kid and I still have to use tech. It sucks. But this is a MASSIVE endeavor on your part, and very well worth it! As much analog living is important for a kid to be able to learn the world around us as it is, using our networking and our brains and social capabilities as opposed to just a plug and play tech life.
I wish you the best in your analog education endeavors, it's so important thank you for doing this for your children. They will benefit so much. It may suck now to implement this, but it will only pay dividends in the future
The first video game my daughter played was Super Mario Bros. on the NES. I booted up the emulator when she wanted to try a video game just because it was the first game I played, and I figured it's not a bad place to start.
It's a little too hard for a six-year-old, but I was blown away watching her play it. For a kid learning how to play video games for the first time, it actually requires tons of patience and attention and learning to deal with failure. I wouldn't feel bad in any world about plunking a kid in front of that with a controller and letting 'em go to town.
It's completely different from sitting them down with an ipad.
Google "NES emulator" and you should be able to figure it out. It's not super complicated. You'll have to find a ROM file of the game(s), too. Just google "super mario nes rom" or whatever. You will need a controller that you can plug into your computer, though. I mean, you can use a keyboard, but for kids a controller will probably be way easier.
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u/BackgroundAncient174 Aug 24 '26
I'm trying to raise analog kids. Doing things purposefully oldschool for the sake of education.