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[quote=Anonymous]I am wondering how others react to this (my husband and I have different reactions and I'm trying to judge whether I'm being unreasonable).

My child is in KG and our school recently started rolling out new technology, including an iPad in the classroom that children can use during "center" time when they rotate through various activities such as reading, art, puzzles, pretend play in a kitchen, etc.  We were told the idea was that the iPad would have educational games that children could choose to play every now and then during center time. 
My child told me a while back that he and other kids were playing "Angry Birds."  I was surprised and asked the teacher about it, and it turns out that the teachers were not aware that Angry Birds was on the iPad (I guess it comes standard) and some of the kids had found it on their own.  I was told that this classroom was the first to get the iPad and the programs hadn't been fully installed yet; that the kids would not be allowed to play Angry Birds; and that the only games available would be "educational" games.  Fast forward a few months and I find out that my child plays "Fruit Ninja" on the iPad...I had never played Fruit Ninja but had heard of it through a niece and suspected it was no more educational than Angry Birds, so I asked about it, thinking maybe I would learn that it does have some educational value.  The teachers told me that the kids are allowed to play Fruit Ninja (though they are not allowed to use the iPad every day) because it has to do with math and fractions because the object is to cut fruits into pieces.  So I thought OK, that makes sense.  But then recently I saw what it is and it really has nothing to do with math or fractions.  I don't think it's a bad or harmful video game (and for the record we do allow our kids to play some video games at home so I am not someone who forbids video or computer use), but I wonder why children are playing this game at school, where they are supposed to be learning, under the guise that it teaches math when it does no such thing as far as I can tell.

Does anyone else find this inappropriate?  Or am I being unreasonable?  It's not that I don't want any play time in KG...I think play time is fine and can be very appropriate and beneficial for KG especially.  I just don't think kids should be passively playing a video game at school on a dubious theory that it is teaching them math when it is not.   Please no haters, I am just curious about what others think and/or whether anyone would approach the teachers or principal about this issue (in a friendly manner, of course).[/quote]

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