SciFrog:

My kids love LEGOs. Over 50% of the toys they get are LEGOs (sometimes I fell like we own an entire LEGO store). They build  them, play with them, undo them then make their own... It has helped us tremendously to resist giving them electronic devices (they have very restricted access to iPad, do not have iPhones and no electronic tous with a screen, only a Sony camera). I don't think we could have done it without LEGO. It also makes them huge readers, my daughter reads 200 books a year or so...

No, our kids always had full access to electronic devices since they were small. This is why both kids speak fluently English and with an American accent. Smiley Their English teachers always think they are native speakers, which is funny. They never watched  German TV or movies, not even now.

 Both are very good in school, so no worries here. Son unfortunately doesn't like to read (he reads books on a Kindle but loves his computer stuff) but the daughter reads at least a book or two per month but it isn't easy since she has a lot of work for school because she is preparing for her high school diploma in two years and usually she goes to bed at 11 pm or 12 am...at age 15. Smiley 

School over here was 13 classes but they switched to 12 classes and instead of eliminating unnecessary subject matters, they left everything like it was before and so they have more hours in school and of course more to learn.
I do not see any negative impact from using electronic devices that early but me and my wife were always very strict about school, homework and grades, so maybe this is actually the most important thing to make sure the kids stay on track.

When it comes to school, no leeway in our family...zero tolerance. Actually, right now, we are trying to push our daughter into the right direction what she wants to study. We were thinking something involving medicine or maybe a bit easier like dentistry (orthodontists, especially for kids, make a fortune here) but right now, she is more interested in something involving language or technology. Not long ago, she wanted to become an actress or singer, so we made progress. Smiley Smiley

She loves doing the Cryptokids stuff on the NSA site, she is very fascinated by it...riddles, codes..., also loves the NSA Crypto app with games but unfortunately there is no way she can do that in Germany (Germans are vey conservative about intelligence agencies) and since she is no US citizen, no chance with NSA. Smiley Smiley

Sorry for the long rant but I love talking about my kids (I guess all parents are that boring... Smiley Smiley).


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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet, Porsche Macan Turbo, Ford Mustang GT500 Shelby SVT (2014), Mini JCW (2015), Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT (2014)