The recent article “Real Talk About Kids and Technology” (Psychology Today Jan 2024), explored the use of technology by age group. Their research supports the ALSC Core Competency I Commitment to Client Group – Understands theories of infant, child, and adolescent learning, literacy development and brain development, and their implications for library service. Psychology Today’s research found “48 percent of parents with children under the age of 5 say their children interact with tablet computers and 55 percent with smartphones.” This increased with the age of the child “with 80 percent of children between 5 and 11 interacting with tablet computers and 63 percent in that age group interacting with smartphones.” In the teen and tween group, half of teens reported “spending at least 4 hours daily on social media like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (now X). Older teens spend more time online than younger teens, ranging from 4…
Tag: Brain Development
Developing Executive Function @ the Library
Ever since Every Child Ready to Read focused children’s librarianship on scientific research and empowered librarians to see themselves as experts who can speak to parents, our field has increasingly looked to brain development to support our practices and inform what we do. Early literacy, however, is not the only growth going on in the brains of our early childhood customers. Executive Functioning skills start to develop at around 7-8 months and peak between ages 3-5. Can librarians help with this development as well?