I have come to a recent conclusion: my daughter needs her own blog. She’s only 8. . .but hear me out.
Besides the fact that I like blogging (it’s kind of fun and addictive–isn’t it?), homeschoolers can use it as a nifty way to teach some necessary skills.
#1. Use blogging to teach writing skills.
This seems obvious. Kids get excited when their work is published for the world to see. Blogging gives them an immediate outlet to publish their thoughts.
#2. Blogging teaches computer skills and typing.
I don’t care what anyone says, learning things like html and typing are valuable skills to have in this day and age. To give you a little food for thought–when I was in college–e-mail was just sort of on the horizon. I remember one of my professors saying, “I have a hunch this internet thing is going to change the world as we know it.” A good knowledge of the computer is just plain common sense.
#3. Use blogging to record the years.
Letting your child have a blog, helps you keep a record of what was done during the school year. You can even use it as an electronic yearbook!
As with anything, the internet requires adult supervision. Please make a point to teach your kids how to stay safe online. Then by all means–help them get blogging!
Wendy said
Amen. My apathetic little misspeller turned into an impassioned, serious writer (and a decent photographer) when I gave him space on my servers to document what interests him. All of the posts are set to private so only friends, family, and other homeschoolers (with approval) can view and comment on his posts.
We did go through a stage where he wanted every concievable plugin and widget installed on his blog, but he’s matured since then and cut back significantly on blinking things in the side bar.