Posted by 3homeschoolers | Posted in Blogging, Language Arts, Life-based Learning | Posted on 11-05-2011
If I were to title this in words versus a date, it would be: Becoming More Social Online. Two of my three children are ‘tweens (one soon to be a full blown teen!), and I am trying to support their budding independence and need for more peer interaction by creating ways for them to be involved online, yet in ways that are safe and appropriate.
My oldest is almost 13 and has his own e-mail account, which for a long time languished with cyber-cobwebs. But, he decided to send holiday greetings to a few friends a couple of months ago, and has slooooowly ramped up his usage of e-mail as a medium for communication.
He’s blogged for a couple of years now, but only as of this school year did I “mandate” it on certain days to assist with his language arts. So, he navigates, composes posts, and responds to comments. Though there is an associated Twitter feed for the blog, he doesn’t really do much with it, it’s just there to automatically tweet his blog posts.
Last year he played Wii online with a couple of friends, but so few of them used the online feature that we really don’t do much of that anymore. So, the bulk of his online time is spent playing chess with friends. He has about 4 friends or so, and sites like ChessKid.com and its older sibling: chess.com via Chess with Friends.
My other ‘tween is a bit younger, and is learning responsibility and restraint when it comes to online behavior. All three of my kids had Webkinz accounts a couple of years back when all that was in vogue. Though a very safe venue, it was enough to let us know we needed to tweak a few things given her personality. So now, she has her own blog with posts twice per week (generally), and a longtime e-mail account that, like her older brother’s initially, doesn’t get a lot of use . . .Which, for now, is about the speed she’s at, and that’s okay.
