A guest article by: Jasmin Block (MA), Editor Handbook Digital Kita
Digital media has long since found its way into all of our family lives. Whether for communicating with daycare or for organizing everyday family challenges, Jasmin Block, editor of the Digital Daycare Handbook, is convinced that apps are an important tool in our modern world and shows you how to mindfully integrate them into your daily routine.
Digital media makes family life easier
The small computer in our pockets has become almost indispensable. Parents use their smartphones to organize their daily lives and use digital media in both their private and professional lives. Children are growing up in a media-driven world and are fascinated by the content on colorful screens. Whether we like it or are skeptical, we have entered the age of digitalization. How can families harness its potential?
Smart options for parents and children
Virtually all families with young children have digital devices and internet access. This means that parents spend approximately 129 minutes of personal online surfing per day, and their 4- to 5-year-old children spend approximately one and a quarter hours per day watching video content (see miniKIM study 2020). Does this seem (too) much to you? Or would you say these figures roughly reflect your everyday family life?
Of course, it's important to consider the amount of time you use your smartphone daily. But even though we're often told that "the dose makes the poison," the way we navigate the digital world plays an equally significant role. To ensure that people control the media, and not the other way around, a dose of self-awareness is beneficial. What do you primarily use your smartphone for? It's important to discover the possibilities of digital media and use them for what they can be: smart helpers.
Like a colorful, versatile toolbox, digital media, especially mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, serve us well. Used correctly, they can provide excellent assistance, simplify many things, and make many things possible. I usually get tools like a hammer out of the basement when I want to hammer a nail into the wall—and more rarely, just to do a bit of hammering. It should be the same with screen devices. Do you use digital tools like modern tools and do you pursue goals with them, such as passing on important information to the daycare center, offering your child meaningful learning games, or organizing everyday family life? In this way, you are also setting an example of appropriate and confident media use.
To help you consciously fill your digital toolbox, here are some suggestions on how you can use digitalization effectively to achieve your goals.
Kita app: The direct connection to kindergarten
6:00 a.m.… and your child has a fever. Today, of all days, is the day you have to spontaneously reorganize your day and try to remember everything. You won't be able to reach anyone at daycare by phone for another 30 minutes, and at work as well. How helpful would it be to be able to notify the teachers immediately via the daycare app? The time for a phone call, including the wait, could be better used elsewhere!
One thing's for sure: A daycare app like CARE ensures a direct, fast, and data-protected connection to the daycare center. As parents, you can share daily updates or special information with the center, such as permissions, pick-up times, allergies, and vacation days. Conversely, you receive useful information from the daycare center directly on your smartphone, such as appointments, information, and daily news from the center. The teachers have more time for the children because up-to-date information reaches the right recipients quickly. And as parents, you feel well-informed, gain insight into your child's day at daycare, and participate in the spirit of a successful parenting partnership!
By the way, access to the CARE daycare app is only possible through a two-step personal registration process. You don't need to worry about data protection: The content is stored in Germany in compliance with GDPR and, of course, is not used for commercial purposes or made accessible to unauthorized third parties. These are clear advantages over messaging apps like WhatsApp and others, where your data can end up in the US or China. With a professional daycare app like CARE, you can stay in touch with confidence – about everything that matters.
Children's app: Learning in magical worlds
Did you know? Along with reading, writing, and arithmetic, media literacy is now considered the fourth cultural skill. This demonstrates that confident use of media in the digital world is a truly future-oriented skill that must be developed from the very beginning. Therefore, children should acquire so-called precursor skills even before they start school. With digital learning games like EDURINO, you can support your child in a personalized and contemporary way.
Children's "analog" play can be excellently supplemented by learning with apps. If the virtual game worlds are well designed, they can increase children's motivation to learn and their own initiative. In this context, it is desirable for girls and boys to be equally interested in STEM subjects – because in the future, many professions will likely be digitally based. This is why EDURINO, for example, also uses gender-appropriate language to avoid exclusion. Particularly harmonious: Learning with EDURINO even combines haptic and digital elements. With the help of the ergonomic triangular pencil, both right- and left-handed people move through the adventures of the learning games and at the same time practice a relaxed pencil grip and fluid pen movement.
Data protection is especially important when it comes to children's apps. EDURINO therefore offers a secure parental area that ensures the protection of sensitive data and also allows you to set the maximum usage time. You also keep track of your child's progress within the learning game. This way, you can utilize the educational potential of digitalization with a clear conscience!
Family app: Everything under control
Is there a place at home where you forgot your shopping list? You can put this somewhat annoying problem behind you, because you and your family always have digital notes with you! You can also quickly change or add something to the smart list on your phone before your partner goes shopping at the supermarket...
Use online tools to organize your shopping, family appointments, or to-do lists. This way, everyone involved can access them at any time. With family apps like Bring!, Famanice, or FamilyWall, you can manage your daily routine in a time-saving way while remaining flexible. To-do lists are no longer just sitting there on the kitchen table, but can be viewed, added to, edited, and reused by both mom and dad. Isn't that practical?
Conclusion
On average, we pick up our smartphones about 80 times a day. We have just as many opportunities to use these smart gadgets in our pockets as a versatile toolbox. Digital devices and applications such as daycare apps, family apps, and children's apps help us manage our busy family life a little more easily and provide our children with contemporary support. Develop confident media usage habits yourself and model them for your child so that digitalization can serve us well!
