Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
The back to school shopping list has always been my biggest enemy. After spending all my money on a Christmas Lunch, New Year’s booze and term one school fees….already….I then get slammed with a list that carries on about ball point pens and (what may as well be) handcrafted lead pencils.
This year however, I received an even bigger shock with the suggestion that I purchase my kids a laptop as well. As much as I would love to treat my kids to computers, I don’t see why they shouldn’t have to suffer as I did during my schooling years without technology. Determined to show them how hard the real world was, I told my kids that they weren’t getting laptops as they didn’t need them. Looks of horror and hatred shot back at me as they began a seemingly rehearsed speech on why they really did need them. At first I thought it was trivial but after listening to them, I realised that they actually really do need them in this age of modern learning and that I might have to pull back on the budget for Australia Day celebrations to give them the best start to their year.
While I take you through the reasons that might change your mind too, have a look at Harvey Norman with the best Laptops for children going back to school.
Collaboration
The last thing you want to do is get left behind. Laptops allow kids to take part in a collaborative learning space both in the classroom and at home. With group projects, more time can be spent actually doing the work rather than me trying to allocate a time after school in between Timmy’s diving lessons and Sarah’s double bass recital. Even though you may worry about unsafe browsing or hackers, there are a range of programs that give you the power to control and limit the content accessed through their device. Laptops like the Acer Aspire A114 is preloaded with Windows 10 which harnesses access to the Windows Defender security suite. This ensures protection on your child’s device against harmful malware or various other threats.
It’s Too Easy
With information overflowing from their computers, your kids will be able to create in depth and thoroughly researched papers from sources other than your encyclopaedia from the 80’s left to gather dust on your bookcase. This portability and ease of research means they can take their learning with them everywhere. They don’t need to be afflicted by a permanent hunch back as I was left with after lugging huge textbooks to school each day.
Learn it for Life
Finally, computers and technology are the future. Giving your children the tools to learn about technology and how basic computing programs work means that they have skills that they can take with them throughout life. Our kids help us to keep in touch with what is going on and without computers; it’s harder to stay in the loop. With endless complementary learning aids and effective educational programs available online, your children can deepen their knowledge and understanding in all aspects of their academia. The HP Pavilion X360 14 inch modern PC is a great quality low cost laptop that would be perfect for children going back to school. This computer has a dual-core Intel Pentium 4415U processor and 4GB RAM which means that even with a whole number of programs running, you can still expect high speed performance. I has an inbuilt 128GB SSD for amazing storage and a huge HD SVA WLED-backlit touch screen that will give your kids an immersive learning experience.
While I do wish that my kids were brought up in the tough times of my youth so they would appreciate how they have it, I realised that times have changed beyond what I had thought. While it may seem like they have it easier, with the addition of laptops and accessible internet, the expectations on our kids are a lot higher. Without a laptop, it’s hard for your kid not to fall behind in this era of the ‘online classroom’. While it may be hard to extend the budget to allow for laptops, going back to school with their own device will allow your children to stay on top of their studies and unlock their full potential.
