Device for my daughters schooling (aged 7)

[Spare tyre]

My daughter has started a new school where they need to use Google classroom for homework

Presumably there will be word / PowerPoint / excel (or the free alternatives) being used as well

Do we get here a laptop, iPad (with a keyboard / mouse) or chrome book


Laptop - probably a good all rounder, but it’s gonna get dropped off the sofa / drinks spilt / non sympathetic kid trying to shut the lid when a pencil case is in it

iPad - I’ve always found them very resilient - also very portable

Chromebook - don’t know much about these

Any advice?

[petemurphy]

has the school not said? most prep use chromebooks or at least used to. would wait as long as poss to get an ipad

[breamster]

I'm sure many will disagree but I'm a fan of desktops for kids *if* you have a suitable space. It doesn't need to be expensive for the sort of stuff that age group will need to do.

Laptops, tablets, ipads etc can be taken away and used in bedrooms etc away from parental supervision.

Laptops are also bad for posture when used (ironically) on laps. They also overheat when used on cushions, duvets etc.

[Alex Z]

Chromebook, but make sure you get one with a higher resolution screen than the bargain basement ones, turn on all the parental controls and then set it up in the lounge or dining room and not the bedroom.

[petemurphy]

breamster said:

I'm sure many will disagree but I'm a fan of desktops for kids *if* you have a suitable space. It doesn't need to be expensive for the sort of stuff that age group will need to do.

Laptops, tablets, ipads etc can be taken away and used in bedrooms etc away from parental supervision.

Laptops are also bad for posture when used (ironically) on laps. They also overheat when used on cushions, duvets etc.

Would agree with that

[danb79]

iPad with an ESR keyboard case and when setting it up; set it up for a child

Or a Chromebook; something like: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Chromebook-Plus-CB51...

And again, set it up for a child

[mike9009]

My kids have been using chromebook throughout their schooling...... Lad is currently 13 years old and the latest intake at high school have been issued with Chromebooks too.

Cannot make any particular recommendations except they won't need anything too fancy or expensive.

[AddyT.]

My son is 7 and has an Amazon Fire tablet to do his homework at the weekend which are a couple of apps based around maths. Tablet has been fine and wasn’t too expensive to buy. He has a few games on it but he doesn’t sit there playing them often. I was dead against it at first but it’s been much better than I expected and he rarely asks to use it.

[lufbramatt]

My sons school provide them all with Lenovo yoga chromebooks. Seems to run all the google classroom stuff well and are nice sturdy things. Touchscreen is good with a stylus too for note taking and sketching etc.

[Murph7355]

petemurphy said:

has the school not said? most prep use chromebooks or at least used to. would wait as long as poss to get an ipad

This.

Check with the school what they recommend, and ask what apps they use.

Chromebooks are the best option if you want parental control (you do) as it's pretty straightforward to do. School may well have something on this front too.

My 11yr old was just given a Windows laptop by his new school (that they manage), after having a Chromebook (that we bought) for 6yrs. My 14yr old does his homework on his PC, spec'd and built together. He also started out with a Chromebook, Windows machines are much more hassle to apply parental controls on, especially the way time is managed on specific apps.

Regardless of which device you land on, I would also advise using parental controls as an aid only...talk to your kids about safe use of devices. Go through the reasons for putting controls in place, try and get across that you trust them, but these controls help keep them safe etc etc etc. None of this is easy and takes time, but is worth the investment (I think, Thus far!).