See mom. See mom type a letter on the computer.
See dad. See dad print out a graphic.
At Van Bokkelen Elementary School in Severn, students and their parents are learning to use computers together -- at home.
Third-, fourth- and fifth-graders are the only ones in the county public school system who can check out the notebook-size Librex computers in gray carrying cases. Last year, 67 students borrowed the $3,000 IBM-compatible computers, and 22 have this year.
"We have not had any casualties," said Betty Esposito, the school's computer lab technician, who developed the lending program last fall. Three of the school's 10 laptops can be taken home for three days at a time. The other seven stay in the classroom.
The check-out procedure is simple: A parent comes to school and signs out the computer. Mrs. Esposito gives a folder full of instructions and exercises the children can practice.
The program is designed to reinforce computer and writing skills, and to encourage parents to learn with their children.
To help spark interest in the program and convert skeptics, Mrs. Esposito offers student-parent tutorials one evening a week to show how the laptops can be incorporated into home studies.
"I'm learning also," said Sandi Carruthers, a parent with three sons at Van Bokkelen. Each has brought home a laptop. "When they bring one home, they argue over who gets to work on it," she said.
Mrs. Esposito and staff development teachers Laurie Ullery and Paula Despot came up with the program after serving on a local literacy committee that stresses family learning. The three thought that expanding basic library lending to include laptops could help hone basic skills, just as books do.
At home, students can work on sentence structure, storytelling and writing directions. Most students also use the computers to type up homework assignments or letters to friends and grandparents, said Mrs. Esposito.
Students can choose from three writing programs installed on the laptops: the Children's Writing and Publishing Center, Logo Writer and Bank Street Writer. Students are familiar with the programs because two of them are installed on the 32 IBM computers in the school's lab.
The walls and the halls of Van Bokkelen, a school with 558 students from preschool to sixth grade, make it evident how quickly the laptops are being accepted by students. Next to traditional pencil-printed essays are computer-printed ones, some with colorful computer-generated pictures.
Four years ago, the school opened up its technology lab, with IBM computers loaded with writing and math programs. Mrs. Esposito works with teachers to ensure that what is learned in the lab complements their lesson plans.
A year after the lab opened, Librex, a computer company, donated 20 IBM-compatible laptop computers to the school system, which in turn bought 10 more with state and federal grants, said Principal Charles Owens.
"The notebook computers really allowed us to get into the home," said Mr. Owens, "and, in many instances, into homes which often don't have technology in them."
For 8-year-old Darnell Dixon, the laptop allows him to write at home, where there is no working computer. "You can do stories -- scary and jet stories," said Darnell, poking at the keyboard to call up a menu option of pictures that serve to inspire his typed tales.
"If you want a picture, you push F4. . . . It's very fun."