Computers - what age recommended for Thai children?

Hi

Hoping for some simple advice here. I am good friends with a local Thai family, they have a 6yr old girl and want to buy her a computer at a cost of about 20k. This is way beyond their financial means, and I can't think what benefit it would have on her education at this point in time (and in 2-3yrs time may be obsolete); they have asked me to advise on which model to buy - simply because they know I have a laptop therefore appear to be an 'expert'.

I am not familiar with the Thai education system so please excuse my ignorance, but I simply don't see how this huge expense (probably involving borrowed money) could be the best use of their hard-earned baht.

As a six-year old at a government school in Chalong, can anyone give me a good argument for/against buying one? What exactly would a 6yr old use one for, she never seems to have homework? I think that the parents believe that a computer will somehow produce miracles in her education; I'd suggest some baht would be better spent on private tuition.

Thanks for your response (in anticipation).

"I think that the parents believe that a computer will somehow produce miracles in her education;"
-----
It will, if they also have someone to show her how to use it, and what to do with it -- of course, chances are she'll get a Windows PC, so it'll be infected with virus and malware within hours, and be useless within days, with no one to help, assist, or properly configure.

Tell them to give her a Pentium 2 with 128 Mb of RAM and a Gentoo stage 1 disk.

By the time she has figured it out she'll have graduated from Uni. :)

Serious answer,

I wouldn't imagine there is a lot of Thai language software out there for children so young. Perhaps she could use it for drawing stuff and generally learning her way around. If they have an internet connection she'll probably just play Warcraft or Ragnarok 24/7. I suppose you could show the father the benefits of the internet for, ahem, research

I think they'd be better off saving their money for a few years. Maybe get them to ask her teachers if there is any benefit to a child that young having a comp?

My 6 year old daughter has one of those v-tech things, cost about 70 or 80 quid from Argos, it looks like a laptop and got loads of spelling, maths, science etc. stuff on it plus a few games.

here you go, quick search and found it...........

Buy Vtech Touch Tablet - Pink. at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for .

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by slackula

I wouldn't imagine there is a lot of Thai language software out there for children so young.

---

You imagine wrong mate, shedloads of good programs, many bilingual. My son is 6 and most of his Thai mates have been using computers since they were around 3. He is now in Aus and most of his mates at the same age are doing their own Google searches.

Can easily pick up a good desktop from one of the IT malls, nice screen and decent specs these days for around 15,000 baht.

but the thai kid just does not need it. Find another learning tool as has been suggested. With nobody to take care of the machine it will be fucked in a matter of weeks. Again already said. Dont get involved if you can help it. Cause when it breaks its got to be somebodies problem.

I don't know how to put this politely so I'll just say it; I bought a laptop for an ex roommates daughter. Very studious girl with a bargirl for a mother and worthless grandparents. Later found out as soon as I left their home in Issan, it was taken away from her to be sold and her grandparents kept the money. Make sure as best you can that if it's given to the children, it's theirs, and not something their parents are free to allocate as they see fit.
Sorry if this sounds negative, but I really felt bad for that child.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BobR

but I really felt bad for that child.

---

No shit I hope she learned the right lesson from it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by buriramboy

My 6 year old daughter has one of those v-tech things, cost about 70 or 80 quid from Argos, it looks like a laptop and got loads of spelling, maths, science etc. stuff on it plus a few games.

---

Sounds ideal, no need for a full on lap-top even if her friends parents have bought them for their kids..which was probably the initial motivation behind it...u knows these Thai creatures..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wayne Kerr

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by slackula

I wouldn't imagine there is a lot of Thai language software out there for children so young.

---

You imagine wrong mate, shedloads of good programs, many bilingual. My son is 6 and most of his Thai mates have been using computers since they were around 3. He is now in Aus and most of his mates at the same age are doing their own Google searches.

Can easily pick up a good desktop from one of the IT malls, nice screen and decent specs these days for around 15,000 baht.

---

I agree with Wayne, my kids have been using a computer from 3 y/o also. Even though there main interest is games they have learned their way around Windows, can search with google etc, and most important have learned some English as they were forced too if they want to play certain games. As for using it for shool work our 13 y/o is getting some use out of it now. Definetly worth it in my opinion even if they are not ready to use Office and such.

6 year olds can definitely benefit from having a computer.

I teach kids in second grade, they can use MSPaint, or TuxPaint, she could also start to tiptoe into typing programs.

Installing an encyclopedia would be awesome too. She can buy a fine computer for 20k, might even be able to pull it off with less. Go for 2nd hand, They were selling a whole bunch of surplus cuasi-obsolete computers (perfect for a 6 year old) on the top of Fortune Town (Rama 9 MRT station)

there are also great websites, fisher-price, BBC-School, and others, where they can learn english, and play games that are related to basic math, science, phonics etc.

Well worth it.