One purchase you can make very early -- well before your child begins attending school -- is a learning computer. These “toy computers” can cost as little as $50 and are aimed at kids around three years of age; they are rugged and can withstand rough treatment. Get one with a QWERTY keyboard, so your child will become accustomed to keyboards from an early age. A learning computer will teach simple typing, letters, sounds, numbers, shapes, and other basic concepts. This advanced toy will also divert your child from wanting to play with your real computer -- which is more expensive and more perishable.

Purchasing Your Child’s First Computer

Very soon thereafter, your child will be ready for a real computer. Whether you purchase a computer for your child and set it up in his or her room, or whether you let your child begin using your own home computer, you’ll need to think right away about Internet access. At least at first, it might be a good idea to have the computer set up in a common area in the house, where you can easily supervise your child’s activities simply by glancing over his or her shoulder periodically. You child with then more easily be able to ask you questions, too, about computer use. Be sure to read up on various software filters that can be used with web browsers that block out questionable sites; as your child eventually becomes more computer savvy than you, he or she will find workarounds, but put up the good fight for as long as possible!

The most important aspect of controlling your child’s computer use is open communication. Some parents are so driven by fear of online predators that they withhold their children from computer use altogether. This is not a good solution. You should gradually let your child know that the Internet is not always a friendly place, and that the same caution should be used as when exploring a strange neighborhood in your city. Set some ground rules as appropriate, and limit computer time to a certain number of hours per week. Some traditional parents have even fretted that their children’s excessive computer use is eating away at the time they spend watching TV. Being diverted from television is not necessarily a bad thing! When the computer is turned off, don’t let your child park in front of the TV instead; rather, send him or her outside to play with neighbor children, or plan outside activities that you and your child can do together, such as walking in the park or visiting the zoo.

Even if you start your child off with your computer, you’ll quickly want to purchase a dedicated computer exclusively for your child’s use. If you have a desk set up in your child’s room, you might purchase an inexpensive desktop computer and set it up there -- $500 will be all you need to spend. If you expect that your child will be moving around quite a bit with the computer, even taking it to school or the library, then a laptop is more appropriate. Don’t spend a lot, because the computer will get banged around; a refurbished laptop from a local computer repair shop, for instance, might be all you need.

In any work areas that you can directly control, be sure that your child’s posture while using the computer is ergonomically correct. A desk should not be too high, for instance; when your child’s hands are at the keyboard, his or her elbows should be bent at a 90-degree angle. If you purchase an adjustable chair, then the chair can be set at a height appropriate to a variety of work surfaces, especially if your child has a laptop that he or she uses at various locations around the house. A chair is easier to move around than a desk.

The decades-old debate about the respective virtues of the PC and the Mac has carried over onto online forums for parents buying computers for their children. The decision is almost as significant as, in a mixed-faith family, whether the child will be raised in the Catholic or Jewish tradition. Or whether your child will be raised as a Red Sox fan or a Yankees fan. You’ll have to decide. Ninety percent of computers around the world operate with a Windows platform, and PCs from any manufacturer are generally cheaper than Apple computers. But Macs are more intuitive and less susceptible to computer viruses. If your child will be taking the computer to school, you might call the teacher and ask for advice; perhaps the school’s operating environment will make the decision for you.

Advances in computer technology are often difficult to keep up with; in the past twelve months alone (from the vantage point of June 2011), sales of tablet computers have soared, and more and more pundits forecast that most of us will be doing the majority of our computing on a tablet in the near future. Should your child’s first computer be a tablet? Tablets, because they rely on touch technology, will be much more user friendly for your child. Software, particularly applications for children, is not as varied as what’s available for traditional computers, but certainly there’s enough available. Tablets are much more portable than even notebook computers, not to speak of desktops. And it’s much easier to pass around and share -- or, in adult-speak, “collaborate” -- with a tablet.

Using a QWERTY keyboard may be awkward on a tablet; if your child needs to type as much as touch, you can purchase a collapsible or full-sized keyboard, even an ergonomic keyboard, and hook it up to the tablet as an input device. And, because they are so portable, tablets can get dinged around; you’ll have to teach your child proper care. But as the months wear on and a few years pass by, a tablet may become an obvious choice, for your child as well as for you.

Don’t shrink back from providing your child with a computer. If you monitor the process carefully and communicate with your child and other family members about computer-related issues, your child can transition into becoming a normal, safe computer user without a hitch.