MINNEAPOLIS — For our nation’s youngest learners, computers are as familiar as the “Cat in the Hat.”

Two-thirds of all preschoolers and 80 percent of kindergartners now use computers, according to a recently released study by the U.S. Department of Education.

In a high-tech world, many parents and educators believe, there’s value in getting children in front of computers, even those too young to read or type.

“This is an essential modern skill,” said Lisa Peralta of Minneapolis. Her sons, 2-year-old Emileo and 4-year-old Mateo, aren’t allowed to watch TV, but they do visit Thomas & Friends and other children’s Web sites.

Jennifer Hank of Edina, Minn., makes birthday and holiday cards on the computer with her daughters, 3-year-old Rachel and 5-year-old Sarah. When Sarah started kindergarten this fall, the teacher told the children to find the thing in the classroom that interested them the most. Sarah pointed to the computer.

“As long as you’re monitoring and you know how much time they’re spending, it’s not a problem,” Hank said. “If I didn’t monitor her, she’d never get outside.”

That’s exactly what concerns some educators, who fear that computers will simply become this generation’s electronic baby sitter.

“The computer has become part of the culture now, and people are no more thoughtful about kids being in front of computers than they are about sitting in front of televisions,” said Lowell Monke, an associate professor of education at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.

Monke, who taught computer science in an Iowa high school for 20 years, doesn’t believe that students need computer instruction until middle school or even high school.

“Kids ought to be digging in the ground and playing with dogs and listening to their grandparents tell stories,” he said. “Computers take that time away from them.”

Creating data-entry droids?

Research shows that computer use might help promote cognitive development, according to the Department of Education study. Computer use also is linked to higher levels of education and standards of living, the report says, and computers can help motivate young students to do their schoolwork.

But to critics, machines are no substitute for teaching.

“Everyone is gung-ho to give kids computers, but you see more improvement with one-on-one tutoring,” said Lucy Payne, an associate professor of teacher education at the University of St. Thomas. “If we took the money we’re dumping into technology and spent it on people who can interact with children, we’d be better off.”

Payne isn’t anticomputer; her own 4-year-old daughter plays a computer phonics game featuring Clifford the Big Red Dog. But it’s always done with a parent, Payne said, and there’s always discussion during and after the game.

Unless computer use by young children is coupled with adult interaction, Payne said, the machines yield few benefits in creative thinking and problem-solving skills.

“I’m afraid if we keep pushing this technology, we’re going to have a whole bunch of people who can do data entry, but nobody who can solve a problem,” she said.

At Wood Park Montessori in Burnsville, Minn., students are offered an optional weekly class in computers. About one-fourth of the school’s 70 preschoolers take it, said school director Priyanthi Sundaram.

“I think it’s a necessary skill for the students,” Sundaram said. “The kids pick it up so fast. And whether it’s music or computers, it’s best if you start at a young age.”

Wood Park’s class is offered by the Fourth R, a company started 12 years ago by Burnsville resident Bob Gits. This year his instructors will teach computer skills to about 600 kids in 50 preschools around the Twin Cities. The classes don’t cover the Internet at all, focusing instead on basics such as mousing, keyboarding and printing.

Gits sits three Wood Park pupils in front of a laptop computer and shows them how to plug in a microphone and a Web camera. Then he asks the kids to do it.

The children are enraptured, furrowing their brows in concentration and beaming when they complete the tasks. Gits turns on the Web camera, and the children break out in giggles when they see themselves on the computer screen.

The kids, all 4 years old, are veteran computer users. Myles Mayes plays games at Noggin.com and practices words with his mother. Daniella Munoz likes Dora the Explorer’s Web site, and Joey Buckley plays Xbox games.

The children seem energized by their time on the computer, but Monke, the education professor, questions whether it’s the right kind of energy.

“We get them interested by stimulating their adrenal gland,” he said. “That’s not meaning. Then you turn the computer off, and the kid turns off.”

Gits thinks there’s room in kids’ lives and classrooms for technology.

“This isn’t to replace the traditional reading, writing and ’rithmetic,” Gits said. “Some kids might get that extra spark for reading or math from using the computer. It heightens their excitement, their curiosity about learning. It’s fun.”