I’ve just recently begun to explore the possibilities of educational blogging. I helped my oldest daughter, age 13, set up a blog several weeks ago. So far it’s been a social thing with a little typing practice. Her favorite thing to do is post pictures with her hand-me-down digital camera.
We’re on Blogger, so it was easy to set some safely precautions into place. Some of those precautions area:
No published feed. I have let her set her blog to public, so her friends can read without being “invited,” but I don’t have her blog publishing a feed. This should prevent people finding her blog by using the “random blog” feature.
Copy of posts emailed to me. We discussed the rules of blogging, including information that should not be shared, before we set up Brianna’s blog. However, I set the blog up so that I am emailed a copy of whatever she posts. This allows me to catch anything that shouldn’t be posted before anyone else sees it, in case she forgets the rules.
Comment moderation. I have comment moderation enabled and the comments are sent to my email address. This way, if any questionable comments are posted, I can reject them before my daughter even sees them.
Although her blog has been primarily personal, at this point, I set up some guidelines this past weekend to get the most educational value from blogging from my reluctant writer. Some of those guidelines include:
Correct spelling, capitalization and punctuation. Hey, she’s 13; I thought this was a reasonable enough request.
“Educational content” required. At least twice a week, Brianna is supposed to include something about the things we’ve been learning in school. This can include her commentary on topics we’ve covered, how-to posts explaining things we’ve done, creative writing posts and other things along those lines.
Word-count. I’m not actually going to count words, but I am requiring a set number of good, quality sentences for her required posts. If blogging is going to be part of our writing program, two or three sentences aren’t going to cut it.
I see a wealth of real-world application available with using blogging as a learning tool. Are you using blogging in your homeschool? If so, tell us a bit about how you’re doing it.
Kris is the sweet-tea-drinking, classically eclectic, slightly Charlotte Mason, homeschooling mom to her three Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
photo by DeclanTM
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
LOL
I would have thought I was reading about MY FAMILY!
My dd, also 13, ALSO with a hand-me-down digital camera, has begun a very similar thing for very similar reasons!!!
While I don’t count words, I do insist on correct grammar/punctuation.
And, in addition to her personal blog (which is only open to three other people at this time), she and I have launched a Nature Journal online so that she can feature her photography AND supplement our sciences! Take a peek: http://backyardglory.blogspot.com/
If you decide to add a link on the Homeschool Classroom to your dd’s blog…we’d love to stop by!
What a great post!! My oldest is only four, so this won’t apply to my family for a long time, but it’s nice to have these ideas to refer to when the time comes :o)
My sixteen year old son has a blog but is required to post book reviews as well as his original stories. He also posts videos that he and a younger brother make together.
Anita at busyhandsbusyminds.blogspot.com
I have a 10 year old that is blogging his clay animations and cartoons that he makes. I figure its an art project. Also, my 12 year old is an avid reader and he is keeping a record of fantasy creatures, while writing snippets of information about each one. He is going to be starting a novel next year using The One Year Novel writing course, and he will be using his blog for a catalog of possible characters. You can visit both of these by clicking on them from my side bar.
I started a blog for my five year old when she was complaining about writing sentences. Now the sentences flow easily because it is fun for her and it spilled into other areas of her learning. It is a privatized blog and fairly simple right now.
I've been thinking about starting a blog of my own. I hadn't thought of using that for homeschooling, w/our 2 oldest…I like that idea. Seems like a fun way to document yearly activities. Doing our own blog is a whole new area for us, so I have to do my homework before we get 1 up & going. Thanks for sharing.
I love this Idea. Its a great way of intergrating different academic areas. You have a great of ensuring saftey as well. I bet your daughter find this enjoyable as well!