Sams Teach Yourself Today e-Parenting: Using the Internet and Computers to Be a Better Parent

I heartily recommend this book. It gives plenty of tips & tidbits on how time spent with your child on the Internet can be a top-notch experience for you both. Tonight, while exploring sites recommended in this book with my 7-year-old daughter Hannah, we came upon a science site with a geography game. We clicked "Easy" and saw a map of the United States with one state highlighted and 4 clickable possibilities from which to choose. Hannah called, "I'll get the globe!" hopped up out of her seat and retrieved the globe. She delightedly located the correct answer, time after time. I was impressed with how the game on the Internet sparked her interest and, just as author Evelyn Petersen says, inspired the child to connect with the world around her. Plus, it was a fun time for us both! What's more, Petersen organizes the book in a way I gratefully appreciate. Her numerous web site recommendations are listed in the back by chapter for easy reference, a nice touch. This feature alone is well worth the price of the book. In all, a five star report from this family!

What a clever, and important idea to write a book about e-parenting. The Petersens give us enough information and enough resources including important web-sites to find anything we want to know -- from discipline and other parenting issues for parents to stimulating and thought-provoking games and exercizes for their kids. In addition to the wealth of information given, we are helped to sift through and evaluate choice of existing web-sites so we can make responsible and informed choices of our own and help our kids learn how to choose and evaluate from the array of information available to them on the web as well. I especially like the way the Petersens relate the child's e-world to his or own real world and how, for example e-friends, while important, must not replace school friends; e-homework help should not replace the library, a real book, or personal parent support. In short, parenting by internet, while a tremendous addition, must not be a substitute for our personal and interpersonal worlds. The Petersens help us do that. Nice touch.

People who write about technology come in two varieties: the technophobes and the technophiles. The t-phobes argue that technology is diminishing the quality of human life. The t-philes assert that technology will bring us a new state-of-the-art paradise on Earth. The tech-haters include heavyweight social thinkers such as Neil Postman (The Disappearance Of Childhood and Technopoly); Sven Birkerts (The Gutenberg Elegies); and Jane Healey (Endangered Minds and Failure To Connect). Among the tech-lovers we should name Harley Hahn (Harley Hahn Teaches The Internet); Esther Dyson (Release 2.1); and two authors who I've just discovered, Evelyn Petersen and her daughter Karin. Their new book, Sams Teach Yourself E-Parenting Today, explains how using computers and the Internet can enhance our parenting skills.Petersen and Petersen have set themselves two difficult goals: to counsel about parenting in general, and to explain how the Internet can help to forge a friendly relationship between parents and kids. In both these areas they have succeeded admirably. The person-to-person sections contain parenting advice which is savvy, compassionate, and sensible. The chapters about computers are clear, balanced, and written expertly.The book contains excellent sections about many issues, some well-publicized and others little-known. How can children use the Internet to make friends worldwide? What does every parent need to know about the various aspects of Internet safety? How can using computers build family togetherness? Which web sites offer the most pertinent parenting activities and advice? ... I was especially impressed with Petersen's 40-page Appendix titled 'A Brief Guide To Child Development.' This section is eminently useful as a gage for helping us to understand what is "normal" (and abnormal) for children at various ages and stages of growth.Ready or not, the Internet is here in our schools and homes. Computers are powerful tools, and -- let us not forget -- potentially dangerous ones. Children unsupervised, or children who receive poor computer instruction, will become at best technologically illiterate, and at worst harmed by misuse and over-use of these tremendous tools. Fortunately, for kids are who receive the right training, the Internet offers many remarkable benefits. The great virtue of Sams Teach Yourself E-Parenting Today is the way it teaches us to use technology well, while reminding us that creating a caring and enjoyable relationship with our children is the most important parenting skill of all.Michael Pastore, Reviewer

The multi-generational authors deliver an insightful, obviously exhaustive work, which introduces the concept of e-Parenting with clarity and sensitivity.For those of us facing the responsibility of raising children in the new millennium, this book is a treasure trove of helpful guidance. A wonderful combination of information and advice that is concise and practical while at the same time is on the cutting edge of our information age. Using technology to enhance the parenting experience, while it would probably give our grandparents a coronary, is as practical today as Castor Oil must have been at the turn of the previous century. There is a misconception that e-Parenting means less hands-on involvement and interaction between parents and children. The authors shatter this myth by emphasizing that his brave new e-World is one to be shared, embraced and celebrated together.The wealth of information and resources included here makes this book an invaluable tool. The care and enthusiasm of the authors makes it a pleasure to experience. It's scary to think of the hours the authors must have spent crawling around the Web for worthwhile sites to include and review. Lucky for us they did! It is their thorough work that makes this book one you'll want to keep handy the next time you log on.David Katzner, President, The National Parenting Center