THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 5, 1994 TAG: 9406030282
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940605 LENGTH: SUNBURY, N.C.
At least it is at Sunbury Elementary School, where kindergarteners divide their time between coloring and learning manners, how to tell time and how to operate a computer.
{REST} The state-funded computer program is a learning tool for math and reading.
``We've had the computer lab for five years,'' said teacher Helen Pierce.
A decade ago, the school gave her a computer.
``I learned it over one summer - learned it at home,'' she said. ``Every morning I'd spend an hour with it before doing my house chores.''
Pierce's lab is home to 12 MacIntosh computers for students in kindergarten through third grade.
``Our object is to sequentially start kids in kindergarten with minimal skills,'' Pierce said, ``then let them go.''
It is a learning-can-be-fun concept.
For examples, the letter ``A'' is flashed on the screen, and the children find it on the computer.
Math is taught by flashing such familiar items as birds and flowers on the screen, ready to be counted.
In one exercise, animated characters talk to the children. In another, a door opens to display picture-letter combinations: ``E'' for egg, ``R'' for rainbow, and so on.
Sometimes sentences, in addition to letters, peer through the door.
``I'd rather learn on a computer - it's more fun,'' said Kiri Wiggins, 7, a second-grader who, like some of her peers, is allowed to use the lab during free time.
``We do that for those who are capable of working independently,'' Pierce said. ``It's in addition to their instruction program.''
The children also are taught typing skills on the keyboard.
``The keys are covered, so the students - second- and third-graders - can't look,'' Pierce said. ``They're able to time themselves and improve their motor skills. At their age, those skills are not fully developed.''
Later, children learn to edit and write compositions on computer.
``Mrs. Pierce taught us how to use the computer,'' said Y'Nechia Hall, 6, a kindergartener. ``We do everything - play and learn games.''
Pierce emphasizes that computers will not replace books.
``We use them mostly for drill and practice for reading programs and math,'' she said. ``Now, it's mostly reading programs. We center in on word processing skills.''
In Gates County, computer education continues in the middle schools, where the children work with a data base and learn marketing and other practical aspects of the computer.
These days, many of the children have access to home computers.
``My parents are thinking of buying one,'' said Scott Powell, 6, a kindergartener. ``Grandma and grandpa have a farm. They sell eggs and keep track on a computer. I play games on it.''
by CNB