1989-1990: Computing in Kindergarten

My first memories of computing probably date back to about 1989-90. In Kindergarten, my mom would come into my classroom and help all of us on our class computer. We would play math games on big floppy disks, (which of course were all the rage back then). In first grade I remember my parents bought me two floppy disks games, "Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers" and "Mother Goose." I would play them for hours! My very first CD ROM (oooohh.....ahhhhh) was the Encarta Encyclopedia. I was a big nerd (still am) and I was extremely proud of my academic record. I wrote many reports with the aid of that CD ROM. It not only had amazing articles, but it had pictures, video time lines, and sound recordings. I never typed my own reports, though. My mom always helped me with that. I didn't learn to actually type until the 6th and 7th grades. Of course by then, computers were much more advanced and very different from those funny floppy disks and green type. It's amazing what kindergarteners do today versus when I was that age. I taught preschool for a while and some of them knew how to not only turn on the computer, but load and play a program! Who knows what kids that young will be able to do in another 10 or 20 years.

Kristina